The 3 Big, Very Common, Easily-Avoidable-but-Correctable Mistakes Solopreneurs Make With Their Websites
by Caleb Woods on Unsplash
Ah, your business website.
For many entrepreneurs, it’s the business version of a blind date and first impressions are everything. If things don’t mentally click in right away for website visitors, you may lose clicks from your ideal prospective clients.
Here are some of the biggest mistakes I regularly see website owners make, and in case you find yourself thinking “oops I do that!,” I want to assure you I’m also going to share what to do to course correct:
MISTAKE #1
Diving into the website build without giving any thought to the messaging until… you’re 15 hours deep into futzing around with your homepage and miles down the Road to Nowhere.
When you’re first starting to offer a new product or service, of course you want to get that information out to your future clients as quickly as possible and if you don’t have a website, then where and how are you going to share it?
Plus, having a website makes you/your offer legit, right?
So it’s totally understandable that getting that website built is a top priority. Plus, creating a website is a tactile (and for some folks fun) way to focus all that business-building energy.
However, if you haven’t taken the time to do the writing first, I can almost guarantee you haven’t taken the time to think everything through. Which means when it comes time to put words on those website pages, you will be wondering what the heck to put where.
Unfortunately, it’s much more difficult to reverse-engineer and try to plug words into a website that’s mostly complete with design but isn’t structured around what your ideal client needs to know and do when they get there.
THE FIX:
If you find yourself having already gone down the rabbithole of website building before the copywriting, it’s okay. Put a pause on the pixel pushing and take a step back to focus on your brand positioning, a fancypants term for what is essentially your answer to the What Do You Do? question.
Now, figuring out a clear and succinct way to say who you are, who you’re for, and what you do isn’t always easy (frankly it’s often not which is why people hire me!), but here are a few big prompting questions to get you started:
Who do you serve?
What problem do you solve and how do you solve it?
What makes your work unique and valuable?
All of your messaging will be derived from and center around your brand positioning. Once you’re clear on what it is, it will be 100X easier to tackle the copy that goes on your Work With Me and About pages and everywhere else.
MISTAKE #2
Basing your entire website around what you like aesthetically and feel like saying instead of what your ideal customer needs to see and know.
Instead of guessing at images and words you think your ideal customer would like, you can gather real data and tailor your messaging to their needs. This is formally called “market research” or “customer research.”
Whichever term you use, I get that the idea of market research might sound good but also way too complicated and hard so why bother.
It doesn’t have to be!
A simple way to conduct customer research is to find 3-5 people who represent your ideal client (not your cousin Denise who is cool and all but will never be in the market for your services). If you’re not already working with someone who represents your ideal client, ask your colleagues for referrals. You can also reach out cold to prospects. (Remember you’re doing research here, not sales, so no worries about coming off as presumptuous or pushy.) And finally Facebook groups can be wonderful pools of insight into your ideal client.
Once you’ve identified a few folks, then just have a conversation! Ask some questions about what challenges they’ve faced (relating to your offer) and pay attention to the words they use. Those are the words you’re going to want to use on your website!
MISTAKE #3
Trying to do all the things on the website hoping it will do the job for you when it comes to selling—especially that high-ticket offer you still feel awkward talking about to prospective clients.
You may think that putting as much content on your site as possible means that you’ll pull in that many more clients or that if you dump everything you know on the pages it will be enough info to get someone to buy.
But truly the approach here is less is more combined with a strategic placement of the selective information you do include that maps to the Buyer’s Journey.
How can you map your content so that process is as easy and comfortable for your customers as possible? What path can you start potential customers on so they naturally come to trust, and ultimately decide to work with you?
When it comes down to it, the most important part of any website is the messaging. Once you have your messaging and brand positioning in place, you can effectively create any offer, tailored to your specific audience!
Have a comment? Or a specific question about what you just read?
Email me—I really will respond. I love getting email from readers, and I’m happy to give you a quick strategy or tip to make sure you’re rocking your message and your marketing feels fun and productive!