Most entrepreneurs don’t realize that they need to put together a website. Even if they are planning on launching a website within the same business week, you need the option of having a website ready before the day of launch. Building a website takes time and money and can be overwhelming when you are first starting. If you are thinking about starting a small business website and don’t have a firm strategy in place, you could be wasting valuable time while your potential customers are going to Google looking for information about your business instead of finding valuable information online about your business.
Why you need to build a strategy before you launch a website
A website strategy is used to ensure that your needs are received, prioritized, and addressed on your website. It provides direction on your marketing goals, statistics on website traffic and performance, organization of content, and search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.
The 8 steps to build a website strategy
1.Decide who the target audience is for your content, and then write with them in mind.
Before you start your design, make sure that it’s going to be useful to the people you want to reach.
2. Determine your website goals
Every business need websites, but businesses needs different websites for different reasons. Each site may have different goals, and the sites will have different strategy to build it.
3. Define your primary call-to-action
A primary CTA is the direction you’d like people to take when they visit your website.
For example, The primary CTA of a restaurant might be to make a reservation. The primary CTA of a spa might be to schedule an appointment, and the primary CTA of a boutique might invite people to browse their online shop.
4. Define your secondary call-to-action
A secondary CTA is another action you invite website visitors to take. It is not as consequential as the primary CTA, but it should also lead visitors down a path toward doing business with you.
The secondary call-to-action should resonate with people who are further down in the sales funnel. The step should require more commitment while also guiding website visitors closer toward becoming a customer.
5.Define your unique selling propositions
Once you know who you are talking to and what you want them to do, consider why they should take this action. Outline your unique selling proposition (USP) — the thing or things that make you different from your competition.
6. Conduct keyword research
You should conduct keyword research for each page on your site to identify the terms your target audience is searching for that are related to your business and popular, but with low competition. Check out our blog on How To Find Keywords For Your Business for more information on keywords.
7.Outline the pages you need
Before you launch your website, you need to make a decision about your content strategy. This will determine what pages you need to have and what content to publish.
8.Create a strategy for each page
Once you know what pages you need, develop an individual strategy for each page. Plug every page into your larger strategy so that each guides visitors toward your primary or secondary CTA. Also, optimize each page so it gives both visitors and search engines what
