How To Design Your Website Into An Important Marketing Asset
When you look at your site, do you feel like it is a money-maker? If not, you have a problem.
You’ve invested in a designer to create your website. The colors and layout seem good to you, but the website isn’t making you any event sales. In fact, if you look at your invoices before and after your website build, you don’t see much difference. The pride you were feeling about your website has faded into disappointment.
Perhaps you are also frustrated because you thought that a new website was going to be your business’ silver bullet to success. You included your best event photos, threw in a testimonial from your favorite couple, and even have your packages clearly outlined. But, you still aren’t generating the revenue you want to and you aren’t sure of how to attract more event clients online. You don’t know what exactly was wrong with your site, or how to fix it. It is all fashion and no function.
A website shouldn’t just be a bunch of well-designed pictures of florals and tablescapes. Your website should make you money.
Here are three ways to make sure your website can fulfill its role of being one of your most important marketing assets.
1. Talk About Your Customer More Than Yourself
Many websites have long sections of text that outline your company’s origins, favorite things, and philosophical musings about your craft but they don’t mention the customer at all. There is nothing to grab your customer’s attention or help them even stay on your website long enough to get a quote.
When your customer lands on your homepage, they are only asking themselves one thing: “What’s in it for me?” You only have about 3-7 seconds to talk about how you can help improve their lives.
The best way to do that is to start off by succinctly talking about your customer’s number one problem and how you solve it. For example, if you are a wedding planner who specializes in budget-friendly weddings for the LGBTQ+ community, your website headline could be “Celebrating All Love, No Matter Your Budget: We Specialize in Planning Weddings for the LGBTQ+ Community That Leave More Than Enough Money in Your Bank Account to Have an Awesome Honeymoon”.
2. Use Headings and Limit Body Text
People skim websites; they don’t read them. That means, using large blocks of small text won’t work to convince someone to buy from you, no matter how well the text is written. Your website visitors will just skip right over the body copy because it requires too much of their attention.
Instead, use descriptive headers. Your headers and subheaders are the most important words on your website. Firstly, search engines like Google use headers to better understand the purpose of the webpage. Clear and descriptive headers increase your chances of ranking more favorably in search results. Secondly, your headers may be the only words that your potential customers will read. As you scroll down your website, can you understand the main selling points of your services just by reading the headings? Is it clear what your niche is within the event industry and how you can help someone’s celebration come to life? If not, re-write them to talk about the problem you solve, who you solve it for, how you solve it, and what working with you is like.
Make sure that your headers tell a story. Consider using headers paired with short body text that are in this order on your homepage:
- The problem you solve
- What value you add that is specific to you and your ideal customer
- What others have to say about you
- Steps to work with you
- Risk mitigation, like a money-back guarantee or deposit return policy
- Services and pricing
- Credibility points
- What others have to say about you part 2
- What life would be like if they don’t work with you
- Strong call-to-action to work with you
Yes, all of those sections should be on your homepage. Not only do website visitors not read, but they also don’t click. Make it easy for them to get the most important information by simply scanning the headers and scrolling. They will read the sections they care about more in-depth after you grab their attention.
3. Use Story Enabling Visuals
While it is the words on your website that will do the selling heavy lifting, the photos and layout are still incredibly valuable if used correctly. Make sure your photos follow these guidelines:
- Clear and high resolution – Only use professionally shot photos on your website. Blurry, pixelated, or dark images reduce the perceived value of your brand and will convey that you do not take your business seriously.
- Aligned color scheme – Match the colors in your photo to your brand colors. Also, coordinate the photos so that they look like a cohesive gallery. For example, if your brand colors are pink and green, use photos that include pink flowers, linens, and even lipstick in a similar shade. Pick up green hues from grass, bridesmaid dresses, and bouquets. Paying attention to detail will give your brand an overall polished look.
- Demonstrate success – Include lots of pictures of smiling, happy people. The first impression you should leave on your website visitor is that when people work with you, they have a positive experience. While it is tempting to just show your rentals, decor, or designs, make sure to show how your work made your clients feel. Remember the famous Maya Angelou quote, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Once you have chosen the proper photos, make sure to place them in a way that corresponds to the story you tell with your header sections. Your goal should be to convey what problem you solve, who you solve it for, and what working with you would feel like to your website visitors even if all they did was scroll down your website and look at the photos.
Need help trying to figure out if your website will help you drive profit in your business? Download this free Highly-Converting Website Checklist to get a clear picture of what you are doing great and what you may need to work on. Make the changes to your website now to give your business its best chance for online success. You can continue with your current website and keep having a broken tool that weighs down your business or you could make a change and see your business flourish. You deserve to make money doing what you love and your website should help you do just that.
Aleya Harris, an award-winning marketer and former chef and catering company owner, is the Owner of Flourish Marketing, an agency that provides marketing education, strategy, and tools to help wedding, catering, and event professionals get and keep a consistent stream of clients. Aleya is a StoryBrand Certified Guide and she uses that narrative-based framework to develop clear, engaging, and highly converting marketing assets, like websites and social media solutions, for her clients. Aleya is the current Marketing Committee Chair for NACE and a top speaker at conferences and events like Catersource and The Special Event.
