Do You Know What Your Website Is For?
Thinking strategically is one of the most important things you can do for your business.
It means having clearly defined goals, a path to get there and way to measure if your actions are working.
Every action you take should be a fit for your strategic plan.
Sometimes I'll hear someone in the early part of their business make a comment like "I have to start tweeting!" This seems to be true since many successful business owners are tweeting, but my response is always "Why?" or "What do you hope to accomplish by tweeting?" If it's early on in our work together, it sometimes throws the person for a loop or they think I'm being sarcastic (I'm not).
Nothing is a given in my business world and everything has to pull it's weight.
Sometimes I ask the question in a different way such as "Let's say you became very successful at this new task you want to start.
How would that make money for your business?" Again, this often stumps people.
Forget how they would get to that success, even if we assume they can achieve that there still needs to be a plan in place to make money.
I ask the same question of your website.
You know you need one, but what's it for and does it perform that function well? A website can serve very different purposes depending on the business.
Here are some ideas to get you thinking:
This makes sense because you may want to accomplish several of the functions listed above, but asking someone to do all of them or pick from a big menu isn't making it easy for your potential customers.
Next time you look at your website, try to get the entire site and every page on it "on task," meaning you have a clear purpose for your site and each page.
Which of these functions should your website be serving? Does it? What changes would help your website function better? What other functions does it serve?
It means having clearly defined goals, a path to get there and way to measure if your actions are working.
Every action you take should be a fit for your strategic plan.
Sometimes I'll hear someone in the early part of their business make a comment like "I have to start tweeting!" This seems to be true since many successful business owners are tweeting, but my response is always "Why?" or "What do you hope to accomplish by tweeting?" If it's early on in our work together, it sometimes throws the person for a loop or they think I'm being sarcastic (I'm not).
Nothing is a given in my business world and everything has to pull it's weight.
Sometimes I ask the question in a different way such as "Let's say you became very successful at this new task you want to start.
How would that make money for your business?" Again, this often stumps people.
Forget how they would get to that success, even if we assume they can achieve that there still needs to be a plan in place to make money.
I ask the same question of your website.
You know you need one, but what's it for and does it perform that function well? A website can serve very different purposes depending on the business.
Here are some ideas to get you thinking:
- gather leads through a form
- build newsletter subscriber list
- encourage people to call for an appointment or consultation
- sales of product right on website
- provide basic information (the online version of a brochure)
- give potential customers an easy way to get to know you
- provide customer support or help
This makes sense because you may want to accomplish several of the functions listed above, but asking someone to do all of them or pick from a big menu isn't making it easy for your potential customers.
Next time you look at your website, try to get the entire site and every page on it "on task," meaning you have a clear purpose for your site and each page.
Which of these functions should your website be serving? Does it? What changes would help your website function better? What other functions does it serve?
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