Developing a website strategy is an essential part of marketing your business. It will help you create a more effective and useful website for your customers. It will also enable you to achieve your marketing goals, such as increasing sales or generating leads. Here are some important steps you should use to develop a good website strategy.
1. Getting Started
The first step in creating your website strategy is to gather with your team or managers and decide your objectives. This is an important step because it will determine what decisions you need to make during the planning phase. Examples of objectives include increasing online sales, generating leads, or improving customer satisfaction.
2. Building Your Audience
To develop a successful website, you must identify a target audience and build personas that represent that audience. Having personas helps you identify and target potential customers and increase their chances of buying your products or services. You can use these personas to design content and sections on your site that attract those people.
In addition, creating surveys and asking for feedback is another way to learn more about your target audience. It can also help you better understand their needs and wants, enabling you to provide better service and more effective marketing campaigns.
3. Communicate With Your Web Development Team
Before hiring a designer to work on your website, ensure everyone is clear on the expectations of the project. Schedule meetings to discuss your goals, technology choices, sitemap, wireframes, and content so that your web team knows what you want to achieve from the project. This will ensure that your goals are met and that the end product will meet your company’s expectations.
4. Define Your Branding and Messaging
Having a consistent brand and messaging across your entire website will make it easier for customers to relate to your business and remember its name, logo, and other branding elements. It will also allow your visitors to identify with you and make them more likely to stay on your site.
5. Craft a Sitemap
A sitemap is a flow chart showing how visitors can navigate your site, starting with the homepage and moving to other pages. This can be a very effective tool for ensuring your users are directed in the direction you want them to go, such as buying or scheduling.
6. Self-Identification Page
This type of page allows visitors to quickly find information on the topic they’re most interested in by clicking on the category that best describes their interests. For example, if you’re a manufacturer of solar panels, you may want to create a separate page for your solar panel buyers with all the relevant information they need, from industry insights and product specs to reviews and testimonials.
The best websites will not only look good, but they’ll work well. To do this, you need to take some time and create a site strategy that aligns with your business goals. It can be as simple as adding a contact form or as complex as implementing an on-site funnel that leads visitors to their next step.