PLAN YOUR WEBSITE

5 EASY STEPS

WHAT’S A WEBSITE STRATEGY?It’s working out:

- WHO you are targeting- WHAT you are selling- HOW you’re going to make those sales

YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER

YOU NEED TO CREATE A FICTIONAL CHARACTER your ideal customer as a single person

STALK YOUR COMPETITION

LEARN FROM WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING ALREADYFind out what your industry leaders are doing, and use this research as the foundation for your website build

HOW TO FIND WEBSITES IN YOUR INDUSTRYUse the Google Keyword Planner tool

Here’s what you do:

− Create a Google Adwords account

− Find out what are some top search terms in your industry

− Google those terms

− Make a list of websites that are on page 1 for those terms (they’re on Page 1 of Google because they’re doing something right)

GROUP YOUR RESEARCH INTO CATEGORIES− Design elements – colours, font and

photography

− User experience – how the website is laid out, and how easy is it to navigate

− Calls to Action – where are they placed, what do they look like, what is the path through the site

− Specific page designs – create a category for Home Pages, another for About pages, etc

− Products/services

− Prices

− What online marketing are they using (for example, are they gathering email subscribers)

HOW TO SAVE YOUR RESEARCH− Create a spreadsheet− Bookmarks on your browser with subfolders− Use Evernote

FIND YOUR BRAND IDENTITY

WHAT IS YOUR BRAND IDENTITY?− Design elements: logo, colour palette, photography style,

font choice

− The content on your website: what information you share

− Your ‘voice’: how you share your content, and what that sounds like

− How you interact with your clients or customers

− What products and services you offer

WRITE A MISSION STATEMENTA mission statement is a couple of sentences that describe the values and aims of your business.

NARROW DOWN YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICESDecide on your core offer

YOUR BRAND ADJECTIVESCome up with some descriptive words for your brand

CREATE A WEBSITE STYLE GUIDE

FIRSTLY, CREATE A MOOD BOARD ON PINTEREST

SECONDLY, CREATE A STYLE GUIDEIt will look something like this…

CREATE YOUR SITE ARCHITECTURE

1 - LIST OUT YOUR GOALSSome ideas for your website goals are:

− Sell a service directly online

− Sell products directly online

− Generate leads – eg. Get prospects to call you or send through an online enquiry

− Get subscribers on an email list –an amazing way to generate trust and loyalty

− Build a community – a great tactic if you want to build a membership site, for example

2 - CREATE AN EXCEL SPREADSHEETSet up 3 columns – one for goals, one for pages, and one for content

3 - LAY IT OUT ONLINEThe online tool is called Jumpchart

DID YOU FIND THESE STEPS USEFUL?

Read the full post here:

www.yourwebtoolkit.com

Click the link. It works!