You’ve probably seen many lists of website mistakes. I’ve got one too. Here are 3 of the most common website marketing mistakes I’ve seen in the past year.
Mistake #1: Your website tells the wrong story.
I used to think the website was supposed to tell my story. Now I realize websites need to respond to the client’s story.
When clients say, “My website isn’t bringing anything good,” the reason usually can be traced to a lack of planning and content strategy. The most effective content strategy begins with your client’s backstory.
True, you’ll get lots of visitors who don’t fit your ideal client profile. When you write to their
Backstory, your ideal clients will resonate. The others will click away (and you probably won’t miss them).
Mistake #2: You haven’t assigned a job to each website page.
- Your Home Page assures visitors they’re in the right place.
- Your About Page shows why you’re the obvious choice for their needs.
- Your Services Page guides prospects through your offers and encourages them to take action.
When I work with clients, a big part of our Diagnostic session involves assigning jobs to these pages.
Mistake #3: Waiting to write copy till you’ve commissioned a design.
The biggest mistake of all is (drum roll, please!) hiring a designer before you’ve created the content for your 4 basic pages – home, about, services, and contact.
You avoid ending up with “a nice-looking hotel in the middle of a desert.” You avoid creating copy that “breaks” design. One designer wrote: “As a designer, not having any boundaries with types of content and content length can be a recipe for disaster.”
These quotes come from a longish blog post with insights from marketers – including some designers. Read it here.
Best of all, I’m introducing a new course – Write Your Website With Stories. This course walks you through the steps to plan and write the Big 3 pages of your website (plus steps to write your Contact page).
