Contributed by Jenny Belanger of JennyB Designs
I love working with service providers to help them design beautiful websites that make money.
As an entrepreneur myself, I understand the importance of having a website that grows your business, feels professional, and attracts your ideal clients. When designed right, your website is your most valuable ‘employee’ working hard for you 24/7.
Here are 8 Must-Haves Your Website Should Include:
1. Simple Navigation Menu
The first thing you need is a menu at the top of the page where visitors can easily see it. Try to keep it to five options or less. Decision fatigue is real. If you give visitors too many options in the navigation, they’re less likely to choose any of them. Help them to quickly find the information they’ree looking for. If you have more pages, consider using dropdown menus or adding important pages to your footer.
Your pages should include:
- Home (no need to list in your navigation menu — people know when they click on your logo it takes you back home)
- About
- Work with me (or services)
- Blog
- Contact
2. It’s Instantly Clear Who You Are and What You Do
It takes less than a second for us to make up our minds about a website. Is it instantly clear what you do when someone gets to your website? If you don’t catch someone’s attention or give them a reason to stay, they’ll be gone.
Here’s what you need to have front and center on your home page:
- Introduce yourself and your service business and exactly who you help.
- Give them a good reason why they would read more and what’s in it for them.
- Make sure it is clear exactly what you do.
You should also consider this information throughout your entire site.
Sometimes people access your site through a different page, many times that’s your blog. Is it also obvious there? Maybe you need to add information to your sidebar or in an author box at the end?
3. Make it About Them, Not You.
Give your website copy a read. How many times do you start a sentence with “I” or “we”? Your copy needs to be about your ideal client, not about you. So for example:
“I have programs that help people struggling with their weight transform their bodies and live happier lives.”
That’s okay but would be better if focused with “you”.
“Are you ready to stop the struggle with your weight, transform your body and live a happier life? Let’s talk. I’m here to help you reach your goals.” I
4. Call to Action:
Every page should have a call to action (akaCTA) that supports the purpose of the page. This tells your visitors what to do. Do you want them to book a call with you? Or sign up for your masterclass? Maybe get on a waitlist for your upcoming course.
CTA’s should be brief and conversational. Always start with a verb and tell the user what they are going to get when they click on the button. For example, “Contact me!” becomes,”Contact me for a free consultation!” They should be placed where they’re most logical to someone reading the page, and it should be obvious that the user can click on them.
Put your site’s primary CTA in the upper right corner in the form of a button or a very visible call out. Be sure that every single page on your site includes a CTA. You can have more than one CTA on a page, but keep them to a minimum of three, otherwise you’ll confuse your visitors.
5. A Blog Where You Share Free Helpful Information
Content creation is vital in every niché but especially in the entrepreneurial service space. Whether it’s blogging, podcasting, or creating videos on YouTube, you need a place where you can share your educational content with others and establish yourself as an expert. By doing so, you’re creating relationships with your potential clients and building your “know, like, and trust factor”.
Having blog content also boosts your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Every time you publish a new blog post or YouTube tutorial, Google gets notified that you exist and are providing relevant and helpful content. In turn, your website will be rewarded for that.
If you don’t have a blog yet, get in touch with your web designer and get one added. Then, take it slowly. Consider posting one a month to begin. Consistency is key. Not sure what to write about? Ask your audience what they are interested in learning more about and start there.
6. Social Proof: Client Testimonials
Nothing brings more confidence in your visitors’ decision to choose you and your services than social proof.
Social proof is external validation from a client or donor that your product or service is worth their investment. Social proof in the form of testimonials builds a lot of trust. Trust is an essential factor in the purchasing decision of your potential clients and donors.
These testimonials should appear on both your homepage and your services page. To ensure it’s scannable, (because we already know our visitors attention spans are short ) pick out one to two sentences to stand out. You could highlight these sentences by designing them larger than the rest of the text, changing the color, or playing with the layout. If possible, try to include the photo of who gave you the rave review. Another way to incorporate social proof is to consider adding an interview series or case study to your blog to up your game.
7. An Irresistible Freebie:
Once people are on your website, besides getting them to take the first step with you in your sales process you also want to get them onto your email list. How do you do that? With an irresistible freebie (opt-in) that:
- Is actionable.You can take action and get results
- Sa problem or resolves a pain point
- Makes the subscriber the hero
- Makes you wonder if you’re giving too much away for free
Your freebie should be designed to attract your ideal client and make sure that the people who sign up want to be there.
Ideas include:
- Tutorials
- How-to guides
- Checklists
- Toolkits
- Sneak peeks
- Done-or-Your templates
Your freebie can be anything that gives immense value to your visitor and makes them be happy to be part of your email community. You can learn more about how to make and integrate an irresistible freebie here.
8. A Call Scheduler
I find my scheduler to be such an important integration on my website and makes for an insane client experience. By having a scheduler, you can have your clients schedule that first call with you at the touch of a button. No more emailing back and forth to figure out the best day and time. It reduces a bunch of steps in the sales process and makes it simple for people to get started working with you. I use HoneyBook which is also a CRM but there are other options such as Calendly or Acuity that work just as well.
There you have it. My 8 Must Haves for Your Service Provider Website.
Having these things in place is going to help your website do so much more for you and your business – it really is your best employee!
I’d love to know if these tips have been helpful to you or if you feel like your website is working for you right now. Which of these tips do you think you can implement?