Effective Websites

 What Makes an Effective Website?

After looking on the wonderful world of Youtube, I came across Wes Mcdowel and his video "The Perfect Website Checklist: 7 Must Haves". It was a short and sweet, straight to the point video that hit some great key notes that I will share with you in this blog. 

1. Clear Value Proposition 

    This is the unique value that your business/ website offers to customers. You have to keep in mind that the viewer will come to your site and if they are not hooked within the first 10-15 seconds they will most likely click off of the site onto something that is grabbing their attention. Avoid using industry jargon, biographies, and any placeholder as the first thing your audience is going to see. Think of your target audience and what problems they have that you are there to solve. What benefits can you offer that your competitors cant? You want to lead with your Value Prop, and then add to that with your benefit section. Be clear and, use visuals. 

2. Clean and Easy Navigation

    Be intentional with your page layout, and be sure you are putting things in an order that feels natural and will keep the viewers attention. Keep them on a clear path. Wes likes to create his homepage like there is no other pages, so all of the information is in one place, easy to find, with guidance to each section. Also keep your navigation clean and to the basics for those who do want to explore your page further. 

3. Add Testimonials 

    Customer testimonials are great to have especially if you can add a name and photo to the testimonial. It makes it feel like a real person and not just a faceless person. These can come from places like facebook, google reviews, or yelp. Pick 3 of your best reviews and make sure they are on your homepage. It just gives the viewer insight on what you are capable of and effective you or your business can be.

4. Prominent Call Out Buttons

    Don't make your viewer search around the website to find your product or booking options. This should be easy to find and access. Here are some tips he added for when you want to create a call to action. 

-Style it like a button

-Put it at the top of your site in the "hero" section

-Repeat it through your page 

-Be specific with how you phrase things rather than saying 

"book now" try "Book a free consultation today"

-Make all of your call to action buttons uniform 

5. Include Video on Your Site. 

    When you have a video, especially of you or the business owner on the site, speaking directly to the viewer it feels more personal. Building that relationship with the viewer can give them a seance of connection with you and can make them inclined to trust you more. Making you their go to person, it is more likely for them to want to work with you or buy your product and such. This can also give them good reason to stay on your page longer and actually look through the site as well. 

6. Direct Booking Tools

    If you are looking to have a site that is intended for people to visit the site and book something, there are some great direct booking tools to use. He shared a great site that is called Calendy which can be sync'd with your calendars, as well as saves your availability. That way when someone goes to book, you are not getting double booked or people are booking during your off time. Its a great tool to use if that is what you want to drive people to your site for. 

7. Live Chat

    This is a great addition to use especially for small business owners, this is a great way to connect with viewers. Creating a relationship with the audience. There are some cool features Wes pointed out that you can have a video welcoming your viewer to your live chat, you can also respond with video, audio, or text. This can be a feature that can set you apart from the rest and really make the viewer feel a bit more personal with you and your site. When you are able to respond in timely manners and keep that relationship you are more likely to gain them as a client or customer. 

*I know the video says 7 tips but i wanted to break them down into 8 because I felt the Direct booking and Live Chat are great tips on their own. Yes they go hand in hand but also strong points alone.*

8. A Plan 

    Have a plan for your content and how you want to persuade the visitors. This is were our social media management and marketing skills come into play. We want to be sure we are putting up quality content and great advertisements for your viewers to be intrigued as well as loyal. Don't go into it blindly with no plan. 

Wes made some great points and even has a some training courses called The Automated Clients-On-Demand Website Blueprint. I just wanted to share this video because he had some great videos and learning material. Here is a link to the video I found, and hopefully he has some more helpful videos for anyone who decides to check them out. The Perfect Website Checklist