Does your website do what it needs to do for your business? In this week’s episode, we look at…
- The key elements you need to have on your website home page
- How to streamline your navigation so it takes people where they need to go
- Making sure you’re guiding the visitor to the next step
Pull up your website in a browser, and tune in to get some pointers on what needs improving.
*Resources mentioned during the episode*
The Outsiders Business Incubator – A mentoring programme focused on implementation support and accountability to help you grow your expert business faster – without sacrificing your personal life to do so. onestepoutside.com/grow
Website audit
Hello, welcome back to the podcast. And I have a really practical one for you today, which is how to run a website audit now sounds all very boring, or very interesting, hopefully, because you’re listening. So hopefully it’s a value to you. And but it’s a really important one. And it’s something that is quite hard to do for yourself, especially when you’re so deep into it. And, and I’m going to be a bit vulnerable here and share my own pieces here too. And I’m, of course, tweaking and evolving as I go as well. But it is hard to do for yourself. So I want to give you some guidance on really the absolute core elements. And although I could say so much more about this, you know, I come from this used to be my expertise I and still lose my expertise, albeit not the focus on my business.
It’s a core part of the work that I do in the personal brand work that I do, and particularly my one to one clients and in the group programs for new clients as well as those who want to elevate their personal brand.
It’s also what I used to do, as I said, in my corporate intent, I managed huge websites, ecommerce builds, and content strategies, and so on and multiple company. So you know, this is something I could talk about a lot. But I really believe that even if you just do the couple of things I’m talking about today, a lot of you don’t have this, right. And so if you could just make these little tweaks, then that will make a huge difference in your business. And so if you have a website, which I believe you do, if you’re here listening probably if you don’t, then you can skip on by or you can listen out of interest that I want you to pull it up in front of you. Or just listen as ever wash, the words of wash shaving, you come back to this another time. And but but if you want to be really actionable right now and use the next 10 minutes to do this, then Then let’s go.
So grab your computer, grab your website, put it up and have a look at the homepage.
So in my case, I’ve got one step as i.com. If you don’t have a website, you can use mine, so why not. And then you can give me your assessment on my website. And so specifically, we’re going to look above the fold. And what that means is what you can see, without scrolling or clicking into anything, now I have an iMac which is a pretty big screen. When I do this on my little desktop. Laptop, it’s much smaller. So it is important to do it, you know, depending on the kind of work that you’re doing, you do want to check it on different screens. I’m keeping it on my Mac, because I’m sitting comfortably at my desk right now. So there you go. But it’s something to consider when I did not to scare you. But when I did this for corporate Of course, we had multifunctional teams and tech people checking on every possible type of phone. So an iPhone, we’re not just iPhone, the different sizes, you know, would have been 1212, pro 12, Max, whatever, um, different iOS, Android, etc, etc. Obviously, we can’t do that when we say printer. So we do our best. And but for the basics, the first thing I want to ask you is, is it clear? Number one, what you do? And number two for whom you do it. So who are your clients that you help? And what do you help them do? I’m letting the silence speak for itself.
So this is hard to do. So if you want to you can another time ask a friend, somebody who doesn’t know you so well, a grandmother and aunt or cousin and whoever it is to have a look because having someone else say to you oh, we’re not sure or you know, yeah, absolutely. You do this for that. And then actually, it’s not what you want it to say that’s really valuable. So is it clear what you do and for whom? This is your headline. And if you’ve done the Academy with me, or you’ve worked with me on your elevator pitch, you’ll know that this is something we work on as part of the personal brand piece. But generally, I like to the way I’ve iterated to now is I like to have a headline a big call to action or not a call to action. In fact, although it is sort of call to action, a attention grabbing headline, and then a bit of a sub headline underneath. I also then like we’re not talking really design here. But I like to have the big picture of you there because we’re talking personal brand expert business. So I know some of you don’t feel comfortable with that. But I think that really helps to to build your trust and to connect with the audience as well to connect with your readers and your community.
So I have at the moment as you’ll see, if you want one step outside of calm, design a business and a life that gives you freedom from the nine to five. As you can imagine, I’ve been through a lot of iterations on this. It’s not perfect, but I think it brings across the elasticity that it’s not just business because I it’s a business and a life. I talk about the freedom which is the ultimate say what of what we do. And I do talk about the nine to five because we’re going out of that corporate world and escaping that kind of rigid framework, right? So design a business and a life that gives you freedom from the nine to five. I’ve then more recently tweaked the sub headline to be very tangible.
So I say at the moment of that the time of recording business branding and productivity strategies tailored to corporate professionals seeking to translate their expertise and experience into profitable and fulfilling business. So the headline can’t possibly capture everything, but I then get more tangible in terms of okay, I’m helping you the business model the personal brand product tivity strategies is for corporate professionals who are looking to translate their expertise and experience into profitable and fulfilling business. So that’s what I have. What do you have? Is it clear what you do and for whom you do it. Now, you can’t try to if you’re working with multiple clients, if you’ve got multiple hats, multiple strings to your bow, you can’t possibly capture all of them. If it’s your personal brand site, then you want to elevate above to your overall kind of umbrella theme.
And then you can double click further down, right, there are ways to do that. If you’re stuck, then just get in touch and we’ll we’ll have a chat how I can support you. And it gets more complicated when you’re doing multiple things. A few other examples for you have got this one. And I won’t tell you what they do, because it should be clear from the example I’m giving you from the headline, musician hire for weddings and events, very clear, a bespoke service helping busy people cut out hours of research and create lasting memories, three beautiful live music. So really lovely write I love the headline super clear and compelling. It’s so obvious what she does musician hire for weddings and events, bespoke service, you can see she’s either language there to already elevate to a particular type of clients, busy people helping them you’re talking about the transformation, the benefit, cutting out that reset and creating lasting memories, which is so important for that wedding in particular, but also for other events, three beautiful live music. So really clear there. One more for you, helping leaders and teams be inclusive and high performing.
That’s the overall headline. So leaders and teams be inclusive and high performing. And then the sub headline is support your personal growth and help you design your team’s roadmap to inclusion, innovation, reducing employee turnover and building high trust environment. So super, super clear benefits there as well. So that’s the first question. If you get nothing else, then do this. Is it clear what you do and for whom have that headline and sub headline, and that allows you really, I think, to tick a lot of boxes and make it super clear. If they do nothing else, they will have got that message, right? Because this is they visit your site if they if it’s not speaking to them, they’re going to right away bounce off as it’s called the bounce rate will be super high people like them. What is this? I’m confused. A confused mind says lo says no, not Lo Lo and behold, a confused mind says no. And they won’t stay if they don’t think it’s for them. Right?
So if they don’t know what’s going on, or they don’t think it’s speaking to them, then see you later. And that’s no good. So that’s number one. Is it clear what you do? And for whom? The second piece? A bit more subtle? Is is there then credibility or social proof to support your statement? This is when they’re looking a bit deeper. Okay, this sounds interesting. But who is this bozo? Who is this Anna. So if you see gamlen wants to have a photo calm, you should see my logos are seen in and I haven’t updated these recently. But Inc Business Insider Thrive global quartz 99 designs. So I’ve got my logos there to show that I’ve been in that media. And if you scroll down, we haven’t talked about scrolling down yet. But I and don’t be overwhelmed if you’re quite early on my website is big, because I’ve built a lot over the many years. So you know, and it’s only quite recently that I updated it and had a professional agency work on it said something far simpler before. If he’s got a little bit further down, we’ve got all sorts of other bits we’d have to worry about. But I’ve got three testimonials there.
And his knowledge and experience are priceless. I can’t recommend Anna highly enough, a valuable source of ongoing support and guidance. So reviews and testimonials. I’ve then got I don’t have as I shared on a recent podcast episode, millions of followers and so on. So having numbers you know, I’ve got 10 years in FMCG marketing, that’s my corporate experience, nine years of coaching because I started What’s that 2014 six continents reach because I don’t think I have any clients on Antarctica yet. So let me know if you’re there.
In fact, I know someone who’s going so I might ask him if I can coach him. And then I’ve got the number of podcast downloads that I forget to update, but you know, it’s growing steadily. So if you’re just starting out, hopefully, if you don’t have a podcast, that’s quite impressive. If you’ve got, you know, 10 million downloads, maybe you’re not impressed by my numbers. But generally those pieces, the numbers there that I’ve used that are personal to me, the reviews, testimonials, if you can have video testimonials, obviously they’re great, although people often don’t watch them. So it’s more just to tick the box. And then those media logos as well or companies you’ve worked with that kind of thing. Then the next piece and we’re almost done is is there a clear next step and that’s where the call to action comes in comes in. You need to you know, they’ve landed yet this is for me. Oh yeah. Looks like she knows what she’s talking about. What do I do now? And ideally, it’s visually super clear.
So you tell me but if you’re on one step outside.com. I’ve actually got find your one step and if you click on if you haven’t done it, by the way, do it you go through a little quiz. I’ll do it now which best describes you? I’m working. You know, I’m running my business as a side hustle that say, What are you looking to achieve? I want my current business to support the lifestyle that I want. And this is quite useful. We talked about attracting the right kind I went and filtering for the right clients in an episode recently, what kind of help are you after I’m just exploring for now, that’s the people who want the freebies or recommend a resource, take them to maybe the podcasts or blogs or the PDF, or I want Anna’s help to figure this out, if they want Anna’s help.
Let’s make your business success. I’ve got a little blurb there. And then you can book a call, I’ll help you bring your vision to life and build a profitable and enjoyable business that consistently brings an income. And that gives you the freedom, flexibility, fulfillment thereafter, put your name and email and you can book a call, right. And so I’ll get that through. And then we can have a call. In my case, I have that little quiz. And the action step is literally find your one step. Other options are, send an inquiry, book, your free call, and download the resource. If you’re really pushing your lead magnet, maybe that’s the step.
Maybe you’re a web designer, and you have download the free website or website audit or book your free website audit, you know, so that that’s a really clear call to action of where to go. And then finally, finally, we’re looking at the navigation. So someone who does want to do more. And this is something I did in my my latest, I guess big corporate ecommerce launch, we looked at the fast visitor. And we looked at the slow one. So someone who’s like, maybe they’ve listened to the podcast for whatever reason they’ve heard me or something else, or they’ve watched a webinar now they’re just now here. So I’m here to quickly find how do I speak to her, I want to work with her an incubator, boom, boom, boom, you want a pathway for that amazing client, of course, knowing that most people are going to more be browsing. So in my case, again, if you scroll down, you know, I’ve got how can we help you there, start exploring lay the foundations, let’s get you results.
There’s a video there. There’s my five pillars framework I’ve got then more concretely choose how to work together, you’ve got the foundational course, which is the academy mentoring program, which is the incubator and the advanced mastermind, of course, one to one coaching, I’ve got the reviews, testimonials, I’ve got a bit more about me. I’ve got the podcasts, I’ve got both books, I’ve got the latest podcast episodes, I’ve got the Facebook group, and I’ve got apply for a consultation.
So if they have gone all the way down there, then that’s the next step. And of course, there’s a footer there as well. So that’s one piece of the navigation, what happens when they scroll down, you’re probably going to have something simpler than what I have, unless you’re very, you know, complicated like me. And then you’ve got the menu at the top. So you’ll see that I have about, I’ve got work with Anna and then I have book podcasts and media and then I actually have the Finder one step there too. So if you can have your action step, you’ll send an inquiry book a call, that’s really good. If you can have in the top menu, things like FAQs, contacts, legal stuff, obviously, you can put in the footer, unless it’s a pathway you actually want them to follow, it doesn’t need to be there at the top. So the slow person can scroll through and read more.
And or they can find in the venue where they want to go to, you’re probably going to want to have, you know, not knowing the exact ins and outs of your business and about a services or work with me. Under contacts, that’s kind of the bare minimum bare bones. Again, I’ve got book podcast media, if you go to my website, Anna lundberg.com. By the way, that’s my personal brand website that I use more with corporates for what it’s worth, that has about, and then I’ve actually broken out the work with me. So it’s speaking coaching workshops and blog. So that’s just thinking about the the most important thing is thinking about what people are looking to do what you want them to do. So having that really one clear call to action, not a pop up that says this and a button that says that and like, hey, and then I don’t like the really vague. Get in touch to you know, reach out to me, no, no, what do you want them to do? Click here to message, apply book, download, whatever it is right?
Then of course you can and I would recommend you from time to time check how it looks on the phone, that’s different, check that your links work and so on, right and you can maybe get some people in your community to help with that as well. But again, super simple, right? I’ve then given some of my examples, a couple of other clients as well. But I hope that’s given you an insight into the kind of things you want to be checking, we need to do this from time to time, it may no longer reflect where you and your business are, you may have pivoted, you may have got more clarity on who you want to work with and so on. So it’s really important to do this from time to time not to waste months on you know, tweaking website and forgetting all the other stuff.
That’s important your business, but do do this now. And then so especially when you’re starting out, of course. So homepage above the fold, what you can see without scrolling, is it clear what you do and for whom you do it. Is there credibility, credibility, social proof, and is there a clear next step? And then secondarily, you can look at the navigation of what you’re giving them as options to do if they don’t if you know if that’s not enough Got to take action, where else can they go? So that was useful looking forward to hearing your insights from that. So do get in touch wherever we’re connected on social or you can email me at podcast at one step outside.com. And while I have you if you have any other questions you want me to cover so this is one that comes up quite a bit about you know, is this right on the website? What’s that? I have this there and the other than do let me know and I’m happy to create a podcast episode for you. Best of luck with your audit. I hope that helps you to get some clarity on what you need, perhaps tweak your headline, add a more clear call to action, improve the navigation, and I’ll see you back here next week. Bye for now
WORK WITH ANNA
Let us help you design a business and a life that gives you freedom from the 9 to 5. There are several options for how you can work with us. Choose the programme that’s right for you.
The Outsiders Business Incubator
A mentoring programme focused on implementation support and accountability to help you grow your expert business faster – without sacrificing your personal life to do so. onestepoutside.com/grow
The Outsiders Business Accelerator
An ongoing mastermind for service-based business owners, freelancers and online entrepreneurs who are ready to achieve success on their own terms. onestepoutside.com/accelerate
The Outsiders Business Academy
A self-paced course for you to work through in your own time, to learn – and implement – the foundations of building a profitable business that lets you escape the 9 to 5. onestepoutside.com/course
1:1 Coaching & Mentoring
If you’re looking for one-to-one support to help you achieve your specific life and business goals, Anna has a limited number of spots for individual coaching and mentoring. onestepoutside.com/coaching
The Outsiders Business Incubator
A mentoring programme focused on implementation support and accountability to help you grow your expert business faster – without sacrificing your personal life to do so.
