Strategic Website Practices For Service Providers That Actually Work
These are fundamental best practices that I use to take a custom website beyond “just because you need a website” TO the kind of site that facilitates effortless connection with Your Dream Clients AND actually works how YOUR service based-business needs it to.
(PSA, If you’re new here: Dream clients are the ones that You actually love working with & will get the most of your services–these are the kind of clients I want to help you get found by, because they’re the ones looking for you—nothing less than that deserves a place in your unique website strategy!)
Understand your website desires:
Is this you?
“I’m looking into getting a website because I know I need one, but to be frank–I don’t even spend time on them…so will my clients even use it?”
Well, my friend–you’re actually on a website right now, and here’s the deal, you will not get an effective website with the bare minimum of “I just need one”. You need to know why YOU uniquely need one—and why your Dream client does too.
Here are some Website Strategy guided questions to help you deine the heart of why you really need a website, because only You can answer these:
What are your goals/desires for your business? The most ideal client outcomes only! (This helps identify what you’ll need your website to do for You)
Who do your services actually work for? (This helps define who will actually be interacting with it & how they will)
What will make your life easier? (Deeper: How should a website be set up to make you glow from the inside out about your business and what you can do? Vrs dreading it or not valuing it’s purpose & place in your business.)
Strategic best practices actually starts with YOU
This isn’t your typical:
“Do these technical steps because you should…” kind of blog, because you deserve clarity into what an intentional website design could do for you.
These are the best practices that I use to help my clients facilitate genuine connection that actually converts–
Because it first, follows their unique strategy and aligns with their goals & desires, who they are, and who their Dream Client is.
That’s how we design an effective website that pulls it all together–your business deserves nothing less than an intentional, purposeful, & personal website user experience for both You & your Dream Client—right?!
The strategic website best practices to help you get there
These won’t work for you if you haven’t uncovered why & how you need each step to work for you–see questions above to get started, or you can grab my free Website Strategy Guide here, I’ll guide you with clear prompts that get you to the heart of Your unique website strategy.
1.
Use a platform that you feel at home in–and I mean it’s easy to use, doesn’t stress you out, and hosts the kind of website that you love to look at & can depend on.
WHY: If you have (or currently have) a chaotic & stress inducing website platform, you’re going to HATE your website & more than likely, it probably isn’t working for you as it should.
I recommend Squarespace website design for Service Providers & Small Businesses (especially for solopreneurs) . They are the least stressful platform & entirely intuitive (and yes, I believe in them so much that I exclusively design with them for my clients—see why here in my past blog post).
2.
Your website should be easy to navigate each layer of your story, services, & your call to actions should flow in a way that is intuitive to how your Dream Client will browse–from each page’s design to the primary menu (in the header AND the footer too!).
The user experience of your website should feel like each thought, question, & objection is already anticipated—when it is, all they’re thinking about is YOU & what you can do FOR THEM, not that they’re on a website–that becomes an afterthought–envisioning working with you should be their focus!
Craft your webcopy with the right amount of info (not too little nor too much) AND the design should flow intuitively with it. What that effortless flow IS– should be entirely unique to you & your Dream Client, this is the foundation of a conversion-focused layout that is genuine & human.
3.
Keep it clean—and this doesn’t mean bare, or lacking (or that it can’t be exciting & funky if that’s your thing). A clean website layout ensures that each section of the page is easy to read, to pick up the important information, and find the next step (your call-to-action design matters to help them book with you!)
Back to crafting your conversion-driven web copy:
Too little means your client feels like they’re still in the dark about what you can do for them—too much, and they completely miss the point. Either of these problems can make them leave (not reach out, because they’ll go look for someone who can answer their q’s & can guide them through what they need to know).
We want the right words in the right amount to build anticipation about what the outcome of your services can do—combining vision & some logistics, so that your Dream Client knows what they want, and feels competent about your services enough to take the next step. Your web design should guide them through that effortlessly.
Do Just What You Need–The BEST “Website Best Practice” of All
Know what you want, who you are, and who they are. This is how you build a strategic website that aligns with your brand to feel at home in it, and resonates with your Dream Clients.
Yep, I’m back to this, because ultimately—you could implement all the technical advice and it won’t do anything for you to move the needle. Understand this, and you’ll be doing only exactly what you need—which in turn helps you make money from doing what is fulfilling to you, saves your energy, and saves you time.
Next steps you can take today:
Get to the heart of what you need by getting my free Website Strategy Guide. I’ll walk you through intentionally written questions that take you through each step of what we discussed today. You’ll uncover what you need the most in a website and why–saving your time & energy in the long run!
If you have loved learning a bit about my website methodology and this is just what you’re looking for in web designer that you can trust with your brand & the experience your Dream Client will have from your website—Let’s get on a complimentary Discover Call to get started!
