Websites are a key tool for success when it comes to building your brand. More often than not, new users will ‘Google’ you, or seek new information about via the web. It is the 21st century after all. At Starting Dimensions, we like to divide websites into purpose – to make the most of your time and resources.
Why are websites so important for new businesses?
Websites are a primary source of information for your clients and customers. They allow individuals and organizations (such as your business) to easily share information about their products, services, and ideas. Furthermore with the widespread availability of the internet, it is now possible to reach a global audience – people can access your information from anywhere at any time.
If your business is commerce based, then a website can also act as a primary means of selling products and services. With E-commerce becoming increasingly popular, having a website is a great starting point for businesses looking to reach customers online. However, this is now always necessary as there are now many third party websites that allow you to sell your products without the upfront legwork of building your own platform.
Finally there is branding, websites can serve as a powerful branding tool in your arsenal. A well-designed website can help establish an organization’s identity, build credibility, and communicate its values to potential customers. It is like a virtual brochure, a virtual pitch of what you stand for. Many people will decide whether they want to work with you, buy from you, or partner with you within a few seconds of browsing your website.
Finding your website purpose
To give your website purpose, it’s important to identify your goals and objectives. If you’ve completed your homework and created your brand pillars like your mission, vision and values, as well as figured out your marketing strategy – then you should be in a great place to understand why you need (or don’t need) a website.
A crucial part of giving purpose to your website is to identify your target audience. Understanding who your website is intended for will help you create content that is relevant and valuable to them. This is something you should establish before you set out to build any sort of online presence.
The second question you must ask yourself, is. what do you want to achieve with your website? Whether it’s generating leads, making sales, or providing information, having a clear set of goals will help you create a website that serves that specific purpose.
Break it down into three objectives
If you’ve done your prep work, then by the time you want to create your website you already understand what a good customer journey is and how to funnel your users. If you haven’t, we highly recommend doing this first and completing a marketing crash-course before spending time and money building a website.
For us, we like to split the purpose into three different categories – to educate, to convert and to support. Your website can cover all three bases, two, or even just one. However if you find that your website purpose does not fall into any of these categories, it is advisable to rethink your strategy and perhaps go for a simple maintenance page or external landing page.
We cover these three purposes in more depth in our Digital Development modules within the Growth Programme,
Key Takeaways
A successful website is one that is first and foremost designed to meet the needs of its visitors. It should be easy to navigate and have a clear purpose. It should also provide useful information and be visually appealing. Like everything else, a website should be competitive – with content that is engaging and informative.
To build a competitive site, you need to have a purpose – established through the process of building your brand pillars and your marketing strategy. Without purpose, you may end up spending time and money blindly, which will put you behind your competitors.
Next Steps
â—‹ Ensure you have clear brand pillars (mission, vision, values & keywords)
â—‹ Create a cohesive marketing strategy
â—‹ Define your purpose – to educate, to convert or to support?
â—‹ Understand what type of website suits your purpose
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