It only takes about seven seconds to make a good impression and for the sake of this article, only about five seconds to make a good impression online. ONLY FIVE SECONDS! How many times have you gone to a website and immediately left because you were confused, not impressed or couldn’t find anything? Even if the website you’re visiting has everything you’re looking for, you leave because it didn’t make that initial connection.

Today on the blog i’m sharing the Top 5 Things Your Website Should Have in order to make a good first impression and get you more clients.

Easy Navigation

The number one compliment I get on my website is, “it’s so easy to use”. There’s nothing more frustrating than going on a website and not being able to find what you need, knowing that it’s “got to me here somewhere”. The key to have an easily navigated menu is to have your most important pages up at the top navigation menu.

These include, “About”, “Services”, “Contact” and then maybe one or two more pages you want to direct people to. This is important because it’s arguably the first thing people see when they go to a website. More likely than not, someone is visiting your website because they are interested in what you provide. They want to know a little bit about you (about), the type of work you provide (services) and how they can get in touch (contact).  

It’s also important to have the navigation options listed as exactly what they are. So not having “services” listed as “studio” and other switch-ups like that where someone could get easily confused.

Tag Line

Your tagline is a short sentence that explains exactly what you do. This should be on the homepage of your site, right on top. This way, when people come to your website they see exactly the services you provide and can make the decision of whether or not to move forward.

Examples of taglines:

Heather Crabtree, Business Coach: Teaching you how to create + grow a business with your smarts + your heart

Marie Forleo, Life Coach: The world needs that gift that only you have

Both of these go straight to the point and provide you with enough information and curiosity to decide to keep going through the website.

Email Opt In

Whether or not you’re trying to grow your email list (which you should) it’s still important to have an option for someone to sign up for emails. Creating a file that shares a little something about what you do, creates a connection with you and your visitors. Even if they don’t  contact you right then, you have the opportunity to make an impression with a small portion of your work.

You can create a short pdf of menu options if you’re a health coach, list of popular hashtags if you’re a social media strategist or 10 filters for a photographer. Hilary Rushford calls this “champagne” because people are visiting your website for your services and you’re giving them a little taste with a freebie. In return, you’re collecting emails that could potentially turn into future clients.

What you do

Your services are arguably the most important part of your website. It’s so important that these are laid out as clearly as possible and appeal specifically to your target audience. There’s a lot of work that goes into this, but it is definitely worth it. Your services should be listed briefly on your homepage and then go into further detail on your services page.

Photos

After I got photos taken by the amazing, Bronwyn Huddleson Photography, it completely changed the look of my website. Although it’s so great to have access to stock photos from unsplash or pexels, there’s a chance other’s might have them on their site as well. When you have branding photos taken it makes you look more professional and brings your whole “website vibe” together. Because you are in the photos and your personality shines through them, people can make more of a personal connection with you.

These are all of my suggestions on the top 5 things your website should include. Having a beauitful, professional website that shows your unique service, is so important to make an impression on your potential new clients. It’s difficult to make an impression online, so having a website that portrays you as a business partner and person is huge!

I hope this helps you to develop a website that converts into business. Currently booking for March/April if you’d like to get your website designed by me 🙂