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5 Things Every Website Should Include

Your website is the face of your business online. It tells people who you are and how you help them. 

It’s often how someone gets to know you and decides if they want to work with you.

It’s the place people go to “check you out” when you tell them about your business and they want to learn more and see if you are really legitimate.

Your website can be the first impression people have of your business–so make sure you set it up the right way.

When you’re building your website, there are 5 things every website should include to attract your ideal client and create a high-converting website.

5 Things Every Website Should Include

1. Have a clean, easy to understand “Hero Section”

The “Hero Section” is the very top of your website, often referred to as “above the fold.” It’s the first thing people see when they land on your site before scrolling.

Make sure you have a very easy to understand headline.

Often people try to be clever with their headline. The problem is that when you do this, only a few will understand what you are saying.

Be clear in what you are trying to get across. Use language everyone understands and use the words your audience actually uses.

For example, if you work with exhausted, sleep-deprived new moms and teach them how to create a schedule where their baby sleeps through the night and naps during the day so mom can get some rest and have energy each day, then say that!

Or something like that in your headline: “Want your baby to sleep through the night so you aren’t exhausted and have more energy during the day? Click Here to download my free 4-Step Guide to a Happier, Sleep-Fulfilled Mom!

NOT something vague like: “Wondering how you can be happy and get more sleep? Download the Free Guide Today”.

The 5 Second Test 1

Next, be sure your hero section can pass the 5-Second test.

When someone gets to your website, will they understand WHO you help, HOW you help them, the problem you solve, HOW it benefits them, and WHAT do I need to do to get it… in 5 seconds or less??

To test this, have someone go to your website and look at it for 5 seconds without scrolling. Can they answer those questions?

2. Have an obvious Call to Action (CTA). 

  • When people are on your website, do they know what TO DO? Is it obvious, easy to see, and in several places on your home page?
  • A Call to Action can be things like “Buy Now”, “Schedule a Free Consultation”, “Register Today”, “Download the Free Guide”. Very specific action words that tell people what DO.
  • The Call to Action should be a button in a contrasting color that stands out from everything else and is very obvious. Don’t use the same colors you have everywhere else on your website. The CTA button color should be completely different from every other color on your website and stand-out.
  • Your Call to Action should be on your top menu as a very easy to see button that the visitor recognizes right away they should click.
  • Really important, be sure your call to action is in the top hero section as well as repeated often throughout your page as people scroll down.

3. Visually show the success of your customer and your plan to get them there!

People will scan your website and probably not read every word you write. 

But they WILL notice the images.

Woman with her arms in the air next to a computer signifying she has accomplished something

Your images should tell a story. They should show your clients having success. 

For example, if you are a coach who helps people with gut health, don’t show people bent over obviously in pain. When you do that, the message you send is that people are still in pain after working with you.

Show images of happy, healthy people enjoying life.  Show what life will look like after someone works with you.

Give them a plan of how your program works and tell them the journey they will experience working with you and what success they can expect. Then back this up with images showing their success. 

Images are what the brain will see in a split second and remember. Your images need to reinforce the success you are promising.

4. Display the Services You Offer (Max of 3)

Can people easily see WHAT you do for them? 

People want to know HOW you help them and what you offer. This should be prominently displayed on your website. 

It can be on your home page briefly with links to your “services” or “work with me” page, or just on those pages.

You should have a maximum of three services.  More than that and it’s too many for people to decide.  Less is more!

If you offer other services, can you categorize what you do?  For example, if you are an business coach, you could offer one-on-one services, business strategy sessions, or a “Getting Started” 6-week group.

Take a look at your highest revenue streams and use those on your website. It doesn’t mean you may not offer other things for your current clients, but you want to put your top three most asked for services on your website.

5. Include a “Contact” page or a clear way to get a hold of you!

I am constantly amazed at how many websites I come across where I can’t figure out how to get a hold of someone or contact them. 

Don’t make contacting you hard to find. 

The easiest thing to do is to have a “Contact” page. Here you can put all the information someone needs:  email, phone number (if you want to post one), link to schedule a consultation, and social media links. 

You can also add contact information at the top of your website or at the very bottom in the footer as those are both very intuitive for website visitors.

If you offer a free consultation or a free coaching session, make sure that is prominently on your website so people don’t have to search for it! You want them to schedule with you, make it easy!

As you implement these 5 things every website should include on your own site, you will convert more visitors, and will have more people contacting you so you can grow your business!

For more valuable website Do’s and Don’ts, watch this detailed video:

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April Hiatt working on her laptop sitting at a desk

Hi, I’m April Hiatt.

Your website designer and strategist.

I work with online entrepreneurs (coaches, consultants and other service-based businesses) to create high converting websites that help you build a thriving business, do what you are most passionate about… and let automations do the rest.

And unlike other website designers, I don’t just tell you what you need to do and expect you to supply everything, I actually walk with you through the process and take the overwhelm out of the tech!

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