Mastering the Art of Website Strategy: Your Ultimate Guide to Setting Goals and Executing a Winning Plan
I often get asked, "Wait, what's in your website strategy? And do I REALLY need it?"
Well... since the main point of your website is to persuade your visitors to take some sort of action, I had to learn ways to design and build websites that convert. That means I also had to learn (and continually learn) how to develop sites that actually rank on Google.
Should your website be beautiful and dynamic? Yes, absolutely.
Should it also be built to convert? You betcha.
The balance between the two is an art form.
And mastering the art of website strategy... setting goals and executing a solid plan... is the key to taking your website to the next level.
I thought it'd be helpful to walk you through the process of developing a strong website strategy. From defining your goals to identifying your target audience, we will cover every aspect of creating a solid plan. We'll also explore the importance of user experience, keyword optimization, and content strategy in driving traffic and increasing conversions.
Whether you are a business owner, a marketer, or a website developer, this guide is designed to help you optimize your website and achieve your desired results. By the end of this guide, you'll be armed with the knowledge and tools to create a website strategy that attracts visitors, engages them, and turns them into loyal customers.
Let's dive in!
The Importance of Website Strategy
Having a website without a clear strategy is like driving without a destination. With no roadmap (or GPS), you're likely to get lost and waste valuable resources. That's why having a well-defined website strategy is crucial for success. A website strategy is a guiding light, helping you make informed decisions and focus on your goals.
To start, you need to set clear and measurable goals. What do you want your website to achieve? Do you want it to generate leads? Increase sales? Build brand awareness?
When you define your website goals, aligning your website strategy with your business objectives becomes easier.
Once you have your goals, it's time to understand your target audience. Who are your ideal customers? What are their needs, desires, and pain points?
By deeply understanding your target audience, you can tailor your website content and design to resonate with them.
Conducting a website audit is another crucial step in developing your website strategy. A website audit helps you identify areas of improvement and uncover any issues hindering your website's performance. By analyzing your website's strengths and weaknesses, you can make informed decisions on what to optimize and how to improve the user experience.
Remember to get your hands on my free Website Health Assessment checklist!
User Experience and Website Design
User experience (UX) plays a vital role in the success of your website. A well-designed, easy-to-navigate, visually appealing website can significantly impact your visitors' engagement and conversions.
When designing your website, you definitely want to consider factors such as page load speed, mobile responsiveness, and intuitive navigation.
One way to enhance the user experience is by conducting user testing. By observing real users interacting with your website, you can gain valuable insights into how they navigate, what frustrates them, and what motivates them to take action. This feedback can help you make data-driven decisions on how to improve your website's design and usability.
One of my favorite tools to see how users interact with your website is Hotjar. They have free and paid plan options. It's easy to add to your website, and the insights are always intriguing (and helpful to know where to make updates to your site!).
Image Source: Nielson Norman Group
In addition to user experience, your website design also plays a crucial role in capturing your brand's essence and creating a memorable online presence. Your website should reflect your brand's values, personality, and unique selling proposition. Consistency in colors, fonts, imagery, and layouts across your website helps create a cohesive and memorable brand experience for your visitors.
Here are 12 powerful design elements to help boost your website conversions.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Your Website
So yes, having a visually appealing and user-friendly website is essential...but it's equally important to ensure that your website is search engine optimized.
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps improve your website's visibility in search engine results and drives organic traffic to your site.
Keyword research is the foundation of SEO. By identifying the keywords and phrases your target audience uses to search for products or services like yours, you can optimize your website content to rank higher in search engine results. Incorporating these keywords strategically in your website's meta tags, headings, and content can help search engines understand what your website is about and improve your chances of ranking higher.
There are also other SEO factors to consider, including website speed, mobile optimization, and backlinks. Search engines value websites that load quickly, are mobile-friendly, and have high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources.
Optimizing these aspects of your website can improve your search engine rankings and increase organic traffic.
Content Strategy and Creation
(don't say it, don't say it, don't say it, Shannon...) Content is king when it comes to driving traffic and engaging your audience.
I said it.
But it's true.
A well-planned content strategy helps you create valuable and relevant content that resonates with your target audience.
By delivering high-quality content consistently, you can establish yourself as an authority in your industry and build trust with your visitors.
When developing your content strategy, it's important to understand your audience's needs and preferences. What type of content do they find valuable? Do they prefer blog posts, videos, or infographics?
By answering these questions, you can create content that aligns with your audience's preferences and keeps them coming back for more.
Creating compelling and optimized content involves more than just writing engaging copy. It also includes incorporating relevant keywords, optimizing meta tags, and structuring your content for easy readability. By following SEO best practices, you can increase the visibility of your content in search engine results and attract more organic traffic to your website.
Curious how often you should update your website to maximize conversions? You’ll want to read this.
Conversion Optimization and Lead Generation
Driving traffic to your website is only half the battle; the other half is converting that traffic into leads and customers.
(Oof. This is a lot, right? That's the point—your website is supposed to be doing some heavy lifting FOR you.)
Conversion optimization focuses on maximizing the number of visitors who take the desired action on your website. That desired action should have been decided on when you created goals for your website. Some ideas of these desired actions:
make a purchase
Fill out a form
Subscribe to your newsletter
book a call
To help optimize conversions, create clear and compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide your visitors toward the desired action. Your CTAs should be prominently placed, visually appealing, and clearly communicate the value your visitors will receive by taking action. And definitely work some of your brand voice into these CTAs! For example, if you have a fun brand voice, you can say something like "GRAB YOURS" instead of "ADD TO CART."
Another effective strategy for lead generation is offering valuable content in exchange for your visitor's contact information. This could be a free PDF download, guides, masterclass, an email challenge dripped out every X days, webinar, private podcast, etc.
By providing valuable resources, you can capture leads and nurture them through your sales funnel.
Read more: How to grow your email list with a lead magnet.
Measuring and Analyzing Website Performance
To know how your website is performing, you need to regularly measure and analyze it. This involves tracking key metrics such as traffic sources, bounce rate, time on page, and conversion rate. By understanding how visitors interact with your website, you can identify areas of improvement and make data-driven decisions.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that provides valuable insights into your website's performance. That's free. By setting up goals and tracking events, you can measure your website strategy's effectiveness and identify optimization opportunities.
Additionally, A/B testing can help you compare different versions of your website or landing pages to determine which performs better regarding conversions.
Implementing and Adjusting Your Website Strategy
A website strategy is not a one-time effort; it requires continuous monitoring and adjustment. As your business evolves and your target audience's preferences change, you'll want to adapt your website strategy accordingly. Regularly review your goals, analyze your website's performance, and make necessary adjustments to stay ahead of the competition.
Implementing your website strategy involves coordinating your website design, content creation, SEO, and conversion optimization. Creating a clear roadmap can help ensure your website strategy is executed effectively and efficiently.... and ultimately help you make sure your website is pulling its own weight.
Look... I know. It's a lot. But when you learn the delicate dance of balancing a beautifully designed website with a conversion-focused website, your website will be positioned as essentially another employee of your company.
I LOVE talking about website design, web strategy, and brand strategy.... so let me know in the comments below - what are your key takeaways? What questions do you have?
And remember to grab that free DIY Website Health Assessment checklist!
