It’s the start of the year (February is still classified as the start, right?) and it’s the perfect time to really knuckle down, reassess and plan your web strategy for 2021. What are your goals and how are you going to get there?
Your digital presence is a lot like a game of chess. It requires knowing what you want to achieve and the right strategy to beat your competition and come out on top.
Why Do I Even Need A Website?
The reality is, you don’t need a website. You need the results a website generates!
Typically, business owners need two things. They want to elevate themselves as an expert or an authority in their chosen field or space.
The other thing is they want to generate new leads and enquiries. That means get more people to actually raise their hand and get in touch.
In both instances, you need to make sure that there is a consistent brand and tone of voice from a digital perspective.
The trouble is that a website alone won’t do this! What you need is a recipe that uses key ingredients with a method for online success. If digital is not your biggest marketing channel in 2021, you have a problem…
As you have probably seen in the last week through Facebook shutting down certain news outlet pages is that you can’t rely on social media as your main traffic source.
In fact, 93% of internet sessions actually start with a search engine. As a business owner, a website coupled with SEO needs to be your priority as you can no longer rely on one platform. You need diversity in your digital landscape.
How do I create a professional online presence?
Five By Five have been around for 15 years and historically, all our work has come from referrals. But what we’ve noticed in the last few years is that a referred prospective client will check us out digitally before approaching us.
They look at all our digital assets including our blog posts, downloads, the audio version of our book and our Google reviews. This is crucial as it works as social proof and is something you must think about as a new business owner.
So, even though you may have had a very warm referral from a happy client, your potential clients are still checking out all your digital assets and online presence. It is critical that you are nailing it as a thought expert and a leader in our industry.
Let us just say here at Five By Five we are foodies, and we don’t mind indulging in a big juicy burger every now and then.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, what we need to do is get really clear on the ingredients to ensure that you are found and are able to convert online.
So we think a burger is the perfect analogy for a full and remarkable approach to your digital marketing and professional online presence. That is why we have lovingly dubbed our complete digital solution as “The Burger With The Lot”.
The first phase (first four months), is where we do the preparation. This is where a lot of the heavy lifting comes in as we gather all the lovely ingredients together. The next four months is where we cook up a storm and the final phase is where we yield the results and serve up the mouthwatering burger.
The Prep Phase
So let’s start with the bun. This is the customised web strategy and where the business magic is defined. Think about what makes you unique?
This is where you need to get very clear around who you are communicating with by defining the buyer persona. Who are your ideal clients?
Here at Five By Five, we can help identify your unique value proposition and what the competitive landscape looks like.
Next comes defining the website structure. This is the architecture, different pages, menu structure and how the website actually hangs together. As part of our Burger With The Lot, we put together wireframes for you and workshop what the key things are that people are interested in.
Ultimately, this is the framework for your website design and also your online presence.
Then look at your logo and branding and define it through a design. Historically, businesses that invest in their branding achieve much better results than those that don’t. We are able to give you the tools in the form of a style guide to ensure the look and feel of your brand stays on point.
What are the other ingredients for a web strategy and online success?
The natural flow on from this is your photography and video. The real mindset in 2021 is each and every business is now a media production house.
Your photography needs to simulate the client journey when they engage with you online. You need to do at least two or three photo shoots every single year that allows you to scatter those images through your website, social media and other marketing collateral.
Video really helps to paint the picture as to what your client experience will actually look like. If you have an amazing video where you can look down the lens and translate your passion for whatever it is that you’re doing, it is a really powerful asset.
This should sit front and center on your home page. It allows people to establish rapport at a glance so when they get in touch, they feel like they know you already.
Website design is obviously the patty in the burger, the centrepiece of your online strategy.
A high-performing WordPress website is going to generate you leads, and is going to act as the hardest working sales person in your business. WordPress just reached the milestone of driving 40% of all websites on the internet which proves how reliable these websites are.
How do I improve my online presence?
Of course, copywriting comes next. Copy is a massive influencing factor, not only from a search perspective, but from a conversion perspective.
It is not only to attract and keep Google happy, that’s just half of the puzzle. You need to make sure that people are compelled, that your content compels people to actually raise their hand and want to get in touch. Layered into this copy should be some solid keyword research to complete your content strategy for your website.
Now for the mayo on top, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Remember, no one wants a dry burger.
Using specific tools, we can help you get clear on the opportunities that exist out there in the world for your business. We can research for you exactly what people are typing in to Google to find your products and services.
We can match your website’s architecture, content, title tags and meta descriptions to then align to those potential opportunities.
Finally, you need to tick all the technical boxes like your site hosting and support. Make sure the user experience is great and all your security updates are taken care of. You need to have a plan in place for tweaks and iterations on the website which is an integral component of your web strategy.
Launching your new website completes the prep phase of the Burger With The Lot and you have a solid plan in place for the next eight months.
The Cook Phase
Now it’s time to cook up a storm. Start this phase by making Google aware of your new site so you can start firing up your traffic.
We know the best ways to say, “Hey, Google, here’s an amazing new, well-structured, well-designed website jam packed full of useful content. I want you to sit up and take notice of that!”.
But in doing so, Google is going to give feedback. This is where we are able to monitor your website to check for issues and errors like dead links and broken links. We also are able to create backlinks to your site, raising its authority and gaining Google’s trust.
This is just a little bit of housekeeping that happens in the post-launch process, but it’s critical from a technical perspective.
Conversion tracking is driven by a free tool called Google Analytics. Basically, this is the measurement for your web strategy success. It’s all nice and well to get these vanity metrics from an increase in traffic, but ask yourself, are people actually converting?
Now is also the time to think about your Google My Business. Prioritise getting 5 star Google reviews from happy customers to create social proof and send traffic to your site.
The Serve Phase
This last four month period is the final phase where we serve our beautifully made Burger With The Lot. This is where you see a lot of momentum in your web search strategy.
So from an SEO perspective, this is where you see a really nice uptake and conversions on your website should be happening consistently.
We can utilise different tools, such as heat mapping and recording user sessions to see what people are actually doing on your website in real time. All the user’s data is hidden, but we can record their sessions to understand the user experience and where maybe they’re getting blocked.
These are the little 1% tweaks and changes that our Support Team can do consistently over time that are going to help your site from a general conversion perspective.
Content is limitless and the content on your site should never come to an end! Content needs to keep being added to your website to result in a good position on Google (hello Page 1), and bring in a steady influx of new leads and enquiries.
The Proof Is In The Pudding
Cross Carpets is a local family owned business that has been on the Gold Coast for four generations.
12 months ago, we built them a new site, starting their hosting and took over their SEO which was launched in April 2020 while the world was overcome by the coronavirus pandemic. But you can see the progress that they’ve made over the last year. This huge increase in traffic is generating them a lot of great results.
Digital marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. That’s a real mindset you need to have… Even though we know you want to fast forward the first 12 months of a new website!
Over the last 15 years of doing this, the themes and the concepts are largely the same. Like most things in life, consistency is the key. So keep showing up every day, doing the work and it will compound and it will grow.
Google Display Ads Sample Gallery
The reality is, you don’t need a website. You need the results a website generates!
The trouble is that a website alone won’t do this! What you need is a recipe that uses key ingredients with a method for online success.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, what we need to do is get really clear on the ingredients to ensure that you are found and are able to convert online.
We are the web strategy agency who can help you with website structure and design, logo and branding, photography and videography, copywriting, SEO and hosting and support.
This is the Burger With The Lot, your complete digital solution.
To be guided through the process, you are welcome to also view the recording of the Five By Five Lunch and Learn Webinar based on this topic. Feel free to click on the link below.
Lunch & Learn
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