Do You Know Why You Have a Website? In Blackboard Fridays Episode 69, Jacob talks about Marketing. Need this implemented into your business? Talk to the international business advisor who can do exactly that – Contact Jacob, Learn More, or Subscribe for Updates.

I’ve been in business long enough to remember when websites were optional. It was hardly ‘the good old days’ – we used to spend $20,000 a year on a Yellow Pages ad – but they were simpler times.

Of course, we’ve all realised that’s no longer the case. Every business today needs a website.

Remarkably, however, most business founders I speak to haven’t asked the follow-up question. They know, absolutely, that they need a website … they’re just not sure exactly why, or what purpose their website needs to have for their operations.

So in one of my punchier Blackboard Fridays episodes, let me walk you through the answer. The purpose of your website doesn’t start and end with the HTML code on your homepage – but are you making the extra steps required to turn this expense into a revenue stream?

Watch this week’s episode to find out.

Who is Jacob Aldridge, Business Coach?

“The smart and quirky advisor who gets sh!t done in business.”

Since April 2006, I’ve been an international business advisor providing bespoke solutions for privately-owned businesses with 12-96 employees.

At this stage you have proven your business model, but you’re struggling to turn aspirations into day-to-day reality. You are still responsible for all 28 areas of your business, but you don’t have the time or budget to hire 28 different experts.

You need 1 person you can trust who can show you how everything in your business is connected, and which areas to prioritise first.

That’s me.

Learn more here. Or Let’s chat.

Transcript

Hi Blackboarders! Talking today about having a website. You see I’m old. I’ve been in business long enough to remember when having a website was optional. Those days have long passed.

But even though almost every business today does have some form of website, for many they’re really still unclear about why they have the website, what’s the purpose of that, the context, the reason, that the actual outcome that you want?

If your website is so-called brochureware, it’s just a placeholder, a HTML business card, then you really are missing the opportunity to help grow your business. If you don’t want to grow your business, well, there’s not going to be a lot of value in this Blackboard Fridays episode. But for the rest of us, let’s get clear about why we have a website because today the website is not the end of the journey.

Why Do YOU Have a Website?

When most of us think about our website, we think about how we get people to come to our website. Now that might be because they’ve heard about us, the word-of-mouth referral. You probably know from personal experience that when you get referred to somebody, or you meet somebody at an event, checking out their website is one of the first things you do.

It gives you an idea of who they are, what they do, their brand promise.

Similarly, we often create lead generation activities which are designed to drive people to our website. Google AdWords, search engine optimization, Facebook Ads, giant billboards, whatever marketing strategy you might initiate, sending people to your website is the most common call to action.

But What Next?

How often have you actually thought about what that potential customer does once they get to your website? What is the next step that you would like to see them do?

This is the next aspect that I see many business owners failing to consider. You build a nice looking website that positions yourself really well … and then nothing else.

How can you avoid that mistake, take those people that are coming to your website and transition them into a known relationship?

Continue the Relationship

The exact answer to that question will vary depending on the nature of your business and your growth plans.

But the default starting point I suggest is “How do I get this visitor onto my database?”

At this point in their relationship with you / your business, they know you a little but you’re not in a position to really engage with them fully. You need to push a little to create opportunities that reinforce your brand promise and to actually start engaging them in the nurture sequence to generate them as a client.

If you think back to the Sales Hourglass framework where we look at the customer journey onboarding themselves as a client in your business, that’s where it starts right at the top.

This person who has found your website for a specific reason may be a lead, and if so they want to know your brand promise, they want to understand what makes you special, why someone would use you, and then they want to engage. They want to understand why they would work with you.

Now some people might come to your website with an immediate need, pick up the phone, make a call, and buy your product on the spot. Happy days my friend!

But for most of us in most business models, that sale takes time and takes trust.

You can only ensure that you have that relationship over time if you get them onto your database. From the database, as simple or as complicated and specific as you need to make it, communicate to your database to move them through, engage, get a proposal out to them, maybe sell a commitment product to get them on as a client.

The critical step that I see too many business owners forgetting, and too many website builders forgetting to tell you, is how you take somebody who’s gone to all that effort to find your website and turn them into a relationship that you can develop.

Next Steps

Want to learn more about how this can apply to your business? It costs nothing to chat:

• Email me jacob@jacobaldridge.com (I read them all)
• Call, Text, or WhatsApp me +61 427 151 181
• Or just Subscribe https://jacobaldridge.com/about/subscribe-to-jacob-aldridge-com/ to stay in touch