8 tactics for building a successful website › wp-content › uploads › ...(the hour after...

8 Tactics for Building a Successful Website

“In today’s dynamic digital environment the web is the

primary method of exploration, discovery and introduction

to a brand’s purpose, credentials and value for highly segmented

and well-informed audience groups.”

Guy ParkerChief Marketing OfficeWorkhorse Marketing

Think of your website like a brick-and-mortar

location in the digital world. You need a place to

direct all of your prospects and cultivate

conversions. A great website will do a lot of the

cultivation work for you, increasing your sales

without a lot of overhead or employee cost. Your

sales team will be able to focus on bagging the

bigger customers and answering the

harder questions.

As a starting point, the following 8 tactics will

help your website better connect with and

persuade your visitors.

| 8 Tactics For Building a Successful Website

1. Segment Your Website Content for Relevancy

2. Direct Your User’s Path

3. Build Credibility

4. Create and Measure Conversion Strategies

5. Use Real Photography

6. Establish Content Hierarchy

7. Use a Responsive/Adaptive Format

8. Minimize Your Social Media Representation


Segment Your Website Content for Relevancy 1Today’s market expects brands to cater to their individual needs.

If you aren’t personalizing your website content, then you are

missing out on a way to improve your impact on your audience.

Provide options for your audience segments to self-identify as

soon as possible. STA Travel used an Offerpop quiz to gather

information about their young audience, placing them into five

personality-based groups (Thrill Seeker, Free Wheeler, A-Lister,

Life & Soul and Live Like a Local). With over 40,000 responses,

the travel company got plenty of persona data to help customize

their offers to their audience segments. The website traffic for

STA increased and they got over 10,000 new leads that

boosted sales.

You want to cater the experience and content to the needs of

your visitors. Generic content is less likely to strike a note with

an individual user who has unique needs, pains and problems.


Direct Your User’s Path 2Practice navigation hierarchy and establish focused points to help your visitors move in a direction helpful for conversion. Don’t throw all options in the main navigation menu, since this will offer too many rabbit holes or may be overwhelming. Rather, focus your main navigation on a core set of items fundamental to your target audience needs.

Users expect pages like “About” or “Contact” to be placed in a secondary location that may take a split second to find (like the top bar or bottom of page links). Use buttons and links that are in the main parts of your pages to direct users to areas that are more likely to lead to sales and conversions. Offer easy-to-spot “share” buttons by your content in order to increase your reach. Check out what your competition is doing to see what might be working or could be done better. Then, look at what companies outside of your industry are doing in order to facilitate the same target audience you are targeting. Website navigation can be tricky because it has to feel second-nature in order to avoid detracting from the message and offer.


Build Credibility3How are you creating an undeniable brand authority within your

industry? You need to have information right on your homepage

to build credibility. Information such as testimonials, clients

served, years in business and awards can help turn a visit into a

lead. You may only get a few seconds on any given page to

connect with your users, so don’t mince words. Use headlines,

buttons and statements to help make an immediate

connection with your user.

According to Hubspot, the average user will spend about

15 seconds on your website, skimming your images, layout and

content to see if you are what they are looking for. Take this time

to demonstrate that you are a proven brand they can trust.


Create and Measure Conversion Strategies4With CTA (Calls to Action), exit marketing, entrance marketing

and remarketing, you will want to consider every angle where

visitors can be converted into leads. If you do nothing, expect

your conversion rates to be less than optimal.

Once you’ve established your methods, content and goals, make

sure you are measuring the results. You need to know if your

efforts are working or falling short. Give yourself a deadline for

each strategy with a specific, measurable goal so that you know

if you achieved success or not. While feeling like you failed may

be hard, not knowing if you failed may be detrimental. If your

strategy isn’t working, then it’s time to re-think your approach.


Use Real Photography5Determine an optimal photography approach and when at all possible, use real photography that captures the true essence of your product or service, even if it’s not as good as stock photography. Stock photography is generic and can make your company look fake. Images are important for sharability and engagement, so you will need to start brushing up on your ability to produce quality images. The best images will have a similar feel, keeping your branding consistent across the boards.

Use editing software to make your pictures look better. Good lighting can help improve the graininess, focus and colors of an image. The best lighting is actually found during golden hour (the hour after sunrise or before sunset) or on a grey day (when the sun rays are evenly filtered). When taking product shots, consider taking them outside with a simple backdrop (wood, cement, grass, a textured fabric, etc.). If you are shooting people, take a lot and choose the best image to edit later when your eyes are fresh. Pay attention to what kinds of images your audience seems to respond to. The more you practice (and read photography tips online), the better you will get.


Establish Content Hierarchy6Your website is having a conversation with each visitor. Think of

their entry point as if they’re walking into “your store.” What

questions would they ask or how would you guide them if they

were sitting directly in front of you? Translate this content

hierarchy to your website and direct your visitors through a sales

funnel towards conversion.

While some of your content will be for new visitors, other articles

might support regular customers. Make sure you are segmenting

your users to help guide them toward the follow-up content that

is right for them.


Use a Responsive/ Adaptive Format7As recently reported by Google, the number of mobile users has

officially outpaced desktop usage. Website users don’t like

having to pinch, zoom and squint to navigate websites that

aren’t designed to fit on their small screens. Mobile-optimized

websites are vital for retaining mobile visitors.

Websites should work well on desktop, mobile and tablet

devices, which will require a responsive design. Pay specific

attention to the mobile experience, with an understanding of

your users’ needs in that environment. Your phone number and

directions may be more important on a mobile device than

desktop, so make sure they are well represented. Text will seem

much longer on a smaller screen and images need to be com-

pressed to load quickly on mobile data. Additionally, buttons will

be even more important and your “above the fold” space (the

area you see before scrolling down) will be much smaller for your

most important content.


Minimize Your Social Media Representation 8Your visitor is already on your site. There is no point in sending

them to a social profile of your brand. Allow your user to

primarily experience and understand your product or service.

Include sharing buttons, but put your profile links to social media

pages toward the bottom, where they are out of the way and less

of a distraction. Like with your “About” or “Contact Us” pages,

your user won’t find it strange to have to search if they want to

visit your social pages. If you are working to increase your fol-

lowers, then send your customers CTAs for social media

conversion in emails after they buy. Create loyal customers and

don’t distract your leads. Social is extremely important to your

brand, but it has to have a proper place in your website.


Thank you for reading.

We hope these tactics are useful and help you improve your

website. Should you need assistance, you can trust Workhorse

Marketing to help with these tactics and more.

Workhorse Marketing is a full-service branding, marketing and

advertising agency located in Austin, Texas. For more than 13

years, we’ve been helping our clients build and execute full mar-

keting plans. At the center of a great marketing plan should be

a website that helps your business produce leads, improve cus-

tomer service and build your brand.

For a free consultation, contact us at 512-910-7017 or send an

email to Allie Higgs - [email protected].

3809 South 2nd St, C-100Austin, Texas 78704512-910-7017www.WorkhorseMkt.com

8 tactics for building a successful website › wp-content › uploads › ...(the hour after...

Documents