How often should you update your website?

This depends on your platform and marketing goals. If you’re speaking about content, you might want to refresh it once a quarter (if you’re not a blogger or content creator). If you’ve got a platform like that of WordPress, you’ll need to update the plugins and other add-ons about once a month. Quarterly is okay but pushing it a little.

Here are 3 tasks you could be overlooking on your website.

Keep the code on your website updated.

Let’s get one of the most boring items out of the way. In order to keep your website running smoothly, you’ll want to ensure that you’re updating the code. This depends a lot on the platform you’re on.

If using WordPress, make sure you’re regularly checking that your site is being backed up. Then, go in and update each plugin, the theme, the WordPress core, and PHP as needed. You’ll also want to double-check that your third-party scripts are working properly.

Some of my clients are on the Squarespace platform (same as those in my website course) and they don’t need to worry about things like themes or PHP. They do, however, need to think about the third-party connections. 

For example, Squarespace and Mailchimp, although easy to connect, can sometimes “un-sync” and you’ll get an email saying that a new subscriber wasn’t able to be added. When this happens, you’ll need to simply log into the platform, resync, and save. 

A few items that either platform might need to be checked on are email marketing forms, contact forms, analytics trackers, Instagram feeds, and anything else that might require a connection to another system.

Double-check your website’s meta descriptions.

This is best done while creating the page or post, even if duplicating but can be done afterward as well. Make sure that all meta descriptions on your website are unique.

You don’t want to get dinged by Google with duplicates. Another reason to make them unique and user-friendly is that they will show up in the search results. This is a great opportunity to have an elevator pitch that entices the user to click.

Optimize all the images before uploading them to your website.

When uploading images to your website, ensure that they’re as lite weight as they can be. What I mean by this is that they need to be reduced to the size needed and saved for web optimization. Let’s take stock photos for example.

Usually, images you download from a stock photo site will be 4000 px or more in width. The ideal size for a background image is around 1800 px wide. I typically reduce the dimensions then run the image through ImageOptim which reduces more of the bulk. All this before uploading to the website.

You can often run into this as well with photographers. They give you large files which are great to have but not so great for your site.

So why optimize images before uploading them to your website?

Large images take time to load and can severely slow down your website. You might also think you’re safe because you’re uploading a 4000 px wide image, as an example, but are telling the website to show it as a small thumbnail. Wrong. You’re basically telling the site, “Go ahead and load this huge image then do some more work to make it small.” That’s just unnecessary.

Need some help with building out your website? Check out our courses here or contact us to see how we can work together.

You can do a search online and get bombarded with tons of differing opinions from Squarespace to Wordpress and everything in between. Although it’s true that many of these platforms have certain limitations that others don’t, most can function beautifully with your needs.

So how do you decide which website platform you should use for your small business startup?

Here’s a list of questions that can start you off in the right direction. By the way, if you’re looking to start building your site, make sure to snag the website starter checklist. Go through it while building out your website and ensure that you’ve got everything you need set up to build your empire.

1. What type of website does your small business need?

I know this can be an odd question but stay with me here: your website should be only 1 type of site at its core. This makes it easy to choose a platform that is best suited for your business needs. How do you know what type of website you need?

Ask yourself: “How will this website make me money?”

If you answered that the website will help you sell your mugs with funny quotes on them, you have an e-commerce website. If you said that it would showcase your services, it’s a service-based website.

Now comes your next question: “But how do I also add my [insert your other business offerings here]?”

Your other services or offerings are like the side dish during dinner. They’re there and available but not the main course.

For example, you might have a blog to go along with your e-commerce website selling mugs, but it’s not the main portion of the website. This means that your blog will be a small percentage of the site.

On the other hand, if you’re main business is blogging and you are now adding some products, you’re core website is still a blogging site, not e-commerce and the strategy shifts (as well as the platform).

Here’s another small business example:

Let’s say you’re a health coach building your own website. You’re starting by offering one-on-one services and hope to add in a book for sale in the near future. This means you can likely choose a website like Squarespace. 

The platform is user-friendly and you have the option of selling on it when you’re ready. It’s a great platform for service-based businesses and blogging as well. 

If you’re a bit more tech-savvy (or are willing to spend a bit on a maintenance package), perhaps a WordPress website would be great. It can also be a service-based site with an added e-commerce portion for your book. 

If you look at this model of business, you’ll likely be making more money on your one-on-one services and you book will be a side income that possibly funnels people to you.

2. What goals do you have for your website?

This touches a little bit on the above health coach example. You need to understand where you want your small business to be in 6 months, 1 year, and maybe even 3 years.

If you know that, for example, although you’re starting out with one-on-one services but want to move fully into courses within the year, you’ll want to ensure the platform can shift with you. Further out and you can likely just rebrand and shift to a new platform as needed - no biggie.

Then, think about what your goals are for the person visiting your website. What is the #1 thing you want them to achieve? Is it booking you for a call to chat about your services? Will the platform support with that? How will it support? Does it integrate with a booking system?

If the user doesn’t want to book just yet, what’s your second goal for them? Is it for them to get on your email marketing list? Can you easily add a pop up or on-page email sign up form to the website? If you’ve chosen an email marketing system (such as FloDesk) already, does it easily integrate with the website platform?

3. What goals does your user have on your website?

Yes, your website visitor also has their own goals when they land on your site. Think about how they’re getting to your website.

Did they find you organically on Google via one of your blog posts?

Did they find you on social media and decide to click on the link?

Did they already meet you at a small business networking event?

Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what the next step would be. Are they ready to purchase or do they want to browse?

For example, if you’re a blogger and most of your traffic will be coming from posts, the user might not know enough about you to purchase your funny merchandise but they may be more likely to sign up for an email newsletter in exchange for your free PDF with tips on the subject you blog about.

4. What type of team does your small business have?

This might seem like an odd question to ask yourself when deciding on what website platform to choose but follow me for a second.

If you’re a solopreneur without any support (be it contractors or employees), you want to take the time it’ll take to build AND maintain the website.

Ensuring that the site is backed up, updating plugins, themes, PHP, core code, etc can start feeling like a drag and you’ll start to procrastinate on those. Trust me, you DON’T want to put these off if your website requires them.

Not keeping the site updated means you’re user’s experience will slowly deteriorate or worse, you’re leaving holes for hackers. If this goes on long enough, the cost to fix all of these will likely be more than a simple maintenance plan would have cost.

Let’s say your small business has a team - whether it’s just a VA or more robust. Does that team know how to keep the website up to date? Is it in their job description? Are they willing to learn?

If you don’t foresee having a person that will keep the tech part of the website updated, you might want to consider a platform like Squarespace so that you (and your team) can focus on things like content and business growth without wondering, “What the heck is PHP again?”

5. What functions or features do you want your small business website to have?

Finally, ask yourself what cool things you want your website to do or have when you launch. For example, if a quiz is something that’s important to you, can a platform help with that or can you simply use something like Typeform (the latter is honestly more common for my clients). What about a chatbox? Is it easy to add a snippet of code to the platform to add it in?

Back to what your goals are for the website, ask yourself if your list of features are must-haves for right now or are they nice to have items but ultimately won’t make or break your business. I have had tons of clients get stuck on tiny features that don’t actually move the business forward, such as a booking system that can charge for a strategy session versus whether the website can have images that slide. One is important to make money, the other is just a nice feature.

Finally, what platform is our website built on?

Our website is currently on Squarespace. In the before times, we used WordPress hosted by GoDaddy (there are better hosting companies out there than them FYI) and I absolutely loved it. I could “check under the hood” and customize the heck out of the website. I had a quiz, all sorts of features, and simply loved it. 

Until I got too busy.

I found myself going months without updating my own website because I was working on client work. I got hacked. I redid my website (again on WordPress) and vowed to keep it updated. I got a VA to help me out but her jam was more along the lines of keeping projects organized and scheduling social media - not website upkeep.

There came a point when I again realized that I hadn’t been keeping the website updated and decided to move to Squarespace.

I was wary at first because everyone said it was such a horrible platform but the people who said that were exclusive WordPress developers and designers (um, biased much?).

For me, Squarespace has been great because not only can I customize it, I can have my team make updates to content, haven’t had to update tons of plugins/themes/core, and can grow my business.

Clients who have switched find the admin area less scary and simple to use - a plus when they’re solopreneurs trying to add blog posts, products, and pages.

Choosing a website platform can feel like a daunting task but when you know the goals, functions, team bandwidth, and your overall comfort level with tech, the decision can be a lot clearer.

Want more support? Download the website checklist and get started on your small business website today!

First, let’s tackle what these mean, in non-designer language.

Hard Launching A Website

When you launch your site as a “hard launch” it means it’s completed. You’ve got everything you need and it’s done. There are no pages still being worked on and you’re not waiting on official photos to replace the stock images.

Soft Launching A Website

A website soft launch is totally the opposite. You put the site out in bits and pieces as they get done. For example, it might start with a coming soon page that turns into a home and about page. You might then make the contact page and blog live. It’s all about phases and what your team (or you) can handle.

So is it better to do a hard launch or a soft launch when it comes to your website?

The short answer: it depends. 

The Pros and Cons of a Soft Launch

Soft launching a website means that you are coming out “incomplete” and, depending on the target audience or your services/products, it might not help at all. But if you’re all about the MVP method (minimum viable product), testing the market, seeing if what you envision for your site is actually what people want, then a soft launch is your go-to.

With a soft launch, your investment is also smaller. Let’s say you’re an e-commerce company looking for a custom website. Starting with a soft launch can get you there with a lower budget because, while you work on the bells and whistles, nothing is stopping you from selling. You might even realize that what you thought was important actually isn’t and can allocate those funds elsewhere.

It’s all about deciding what part of the site you’ll launch first.

Let’s say you’re a handbag company with no products to sell yet. Launching a product page won’t help you at all but if you launch your other main pages, such as the home, about, and contact, you can still get your message and brand across. This will draw people in and get them to start jiving with your marketing.

What about a blog? If you know that you won’t have time to blog until 6 months after launch, would it be better to phase that in during the soft launch vs needing to be on top of it for a hard launch?

Is money a bit tight with your business? A soft launch might support in starting to sell services - even if it’s not a fully robust package. This will get you some income while you continue to work on the other aspect of your website.

The Pros and Cons of a Hard Launch

Want to come out of the gate looking like a rock star? A hard launch can do that. Especially if you build up the hype ahead of time. 

A hard launch means that your website is complete. There’s going to be none to very little tweaks in the design, copy, anything. It doesn’t mean it’s set in stone - just that you’re launching it the way it’s supposed to be.

A few of my clients that opted for a hard launch of a large custom site found that there was A LOT to decide and work on at once. Not only were they juggling building up their marketing, but also creating the content and making approval decisions on the site (plus, you know, 20 other fires that happen when you start a small business). 

Other clients loved it. We completed their website and made it live while they sipped some champagne - at least I typically do ;)

Hard launches can feel like you’re just bleeding money (trust me, I’m the one invoicing for them) without much of a return. Not only are you getting a lot of the fancy functionality you want as the end result but you’re also likely paying for a big marketing campaign.

So is a soft or hard launch better for your small business website?

Overall, a soft launch is less costly up front and allows you to test or pivot while a hard launch typically comes with a bigger publicity hype. It all depends on how well you think your product or service will do when it comes out or if you’d prefer to refine a bit more. 

Keep in mind that a soft launch often leads to a hard launch. Ever see a restaurant open its doors and do a ribbon-cutting a couple of months later? The same can go for your website.

Things to ask yourself when choosing a hard or soft website launch:

• Do I have the immediate budget for all the bells and whistles I want on the site?

• Will I be able to push marketing at the same time in order to gain a big following for launch day?

• Do I still need to refine my product or service?

• Do I need to test what my target market wants from my website?

• Am I still working on my branding?

• Will all other aspects of the business be ready when the website does a hard launch (i.e. distribution, etc)?

Do you still have questions on whether you should do a hard or soft website launch?

Deciding the best strategy can be tough. Contact us today and we can sift through all the ins and outs.

DIYing your small business website?

Awesome! Click here to check out the Website Empire Method to check off the website from your list!

One of the most exhilarating first steps to starting your business has got to be purchasing the domain and setting up that coming soon page. 

It basically says, “Here I am world! I’m a legit business!”

But did you know that it can also leave your site visitor (and potential first fan) wondering what to do next?

Even before your full website has been started, your coming soon page could be a make or break for that first client or customer. It could leave them confused about whether they’re in the right place, what to do now that they got to your domain, and if they should come back.

Here are the top 5 things your NEED to have on your small business website’s coming soon page.

1. A call to action.

Ever go on a site and wonder, “What do I do now?” This happens to me a lot. Whether it’s just bad luck or since I’m a website designer, I just check out more sites than others, not knowing what to do is annoying.

Just like with every page on your website, the coming soon page needs to have a purpose. Do you want people to follow you on Instagram? What about filling out a contact form? It all depends on that number one goal.

After you’ve decided on that goal, make sure that the first thing the user sees when the site loads is a button, form, etc that takes them on that journey.

2. A logo that’s just the right size.

Did you notice that in number 1, I didn’t say that the first thing the user has to see is your logo? Interesting, right?

The user got to your website somehow. They either met you at a networking event, got your information from someone, or saw the link on your social media page - either way, they know where they are. The purpose for clicking was to learn more, not to see your logo.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Your logo might be the bomb-diggity but it’s not going to drive sales. So, instead of centering the logo and making it huge, reduce the size and ensure that the headline and call to action are what the user sees first.

Note: if you’re saying, “My logo gets hard to read if I make it less then 200px tall…” It’s time we chat because that logo needs to be reworked. You need a web-friendly version of it.

3. Copy that tells the user about you.

Somewhere on your website’s coming soon page, you’ll have to talk about yourself, your business, and what differentiates you. In my opinion, this is the perfect chance to talk about your WHY and passion. Remember, you’re likely a small startup with a team of just YOU so make it a bit personal. Put a short bio and headshot of yourself. 

People love to snoop. Son chismosos and you want to feed that hunger while selling your experience. 

4. Copy that balances you and the benefits of your business.

Ok, so I just told you to talk about yourself and am now telling you to stop. Yeah, let me explain. Have you ever been on a first date where the person just talks about all of their accomplishments for hours? Where they don’t ask you a question or let you get a word in. #thankgoodnessforthewine right?

Don’t let your website be like that. The copy on your coming soon page should balance between you and what you do best to why the user should even care. 

I.E. if you’re a hairstylist, you’ll want to balance the experience section with the benefits of going to you - such as me feeling confident that my new hair-do is going to make me feel like Beyonce when I strut up to my boss to ask for a raise.

That’s much more impressive than a whole coming soon page filled with: I’m super experienced and awesome and have awards and studied at prestigious places and...

5. A lead capture.

Get your site visitor’s email! The goal is to get them to sign up so that, even if you’re not officially open for business, you can market to them and let them know when you are. Email marketing can also help build excitement with behind the scene photos and team introductions.

The best way to get people to sign up is to offer something of value. People don’t want to sign up for another email list unless there’s something in it for them. Whether it’s a discount for when you open, a free gift, a consult, or a checklist - make it something that they feel is worth it in exchange for their getting promotional emails from you.

The biggest mistake you’re making on your small business website’s coming soon page?

You’re taking too long to put it up.

Yes, I know you might still be working on the logo and colors. I also know you could be trying to write copy while trying to build the website while running a business (psst, see our courses or contact us one-on-one help) but it’s time to just put up that digital opening soon sign.

“But the brand and copy aren’t perfect yet!”

I hear you, but if you are smart, you’re already working on gaining a following and need that landing page to tell people you’re starting some awesome sh*t.

Need help setting up your website’s coming soon page?

We offer VIP sessions (aka mini sessions) that will get it all up and running in a day. Contact us today to see where we can fit you in.

No idea where to even get started with your website - but you’re a go-getter that wants to DIY it?

Awesome! Check out our Website Empire Course. This is full of videos and tutorials that will take your website from blank slate to fully built!

Don’t fret though. 

Your SEO is simply a part of the website’s foundation.

Although I could dive all in on the techy research, here are 3 easy things you can do to get started, whether you have a website or are building it out right now.

On-Site VS Off-Site SEO

First thing though, there’s a difference between on-site SEO and off-site. The former consists of things you want to do on your website. It could be the tech changes, speed, and user experience on your site. Compared to off-site which is getting featured (or guest blogging) for backlinks, etc. Both are great but if you’ve been featured in a ton of places and your website’s user experience sucks, well, you’re missing out.

1. User Experience Is Key For SEO

User experience is what happens when a person lands on your website and does something. Do they leave immediately, do they feel lost, is it easy for them to check out? 

How is this part of SEO?

Let’s say you’re ranking #1 for your desired keyword. Great! I then search that keyword and click on your site. I’m then immediately bombarded with a pop-up when I haven’t even gotten to the content of the site. When I figure out how to get rid of it, I realize your site is hard to read because the text is gray on white. Worse yet, your site isn’t even mobile friendly so I have to keep zooming in and out to make out the information I was looking for.

Will I buy from you or contact you about your services? Probably not. I’ll likely only spend a few seconds trying to get around before hitting the back button and going to the next site in the search results.

Google notices this.

Oh, yeah, Google sees all.

Google starts to wonder if you should be ranked #1 for that keyword at all since people keep bouncing off your site immediately after entering.

You not only lost a potential client, but you also lost a bit of confidence from Google and it’ll likely hurt your ranking.

Things to consider when looking at the user experience on your website:

1. Your site is easy to read font that is big enough (but not crazy big) and has enough contrast between it and the background.

2. There’s no text embedded into images.

3. As a user, I can easily get to where I need to go. I.E if I searched for “personal trainer in columbus ohio” then got to your site, you better make it easy for me to find your personal training page and program information.

4. There are no annoying pop-ups that fly in my face immediately. Pop-ups do convert but you need to use them with rules, like timing or the percentage of the page scroll.

5. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly. It’s not the late 90’s anymore. Any site that was built in the early 2000s should have had a mobile-friendly version. If your website was built last year without even a fluid design, ask for your money back or stop hiring your cousin’s best friend’s uncle’s half-brother who is trying to “get back into tech” after 20 years. #sorrynotsorry

2. Choose the correct platform to build your website on.

There are 3 platforms I mainly work with because they’ve come to almost the same level of SEO capabilities: WordPress.com, Squarespace, and Shopify.

I used to hate the latter 2. They sucked when it came to SEO but the good thing, they realized it and these companies have made moves to improve.

Although I still think WordPress is one of the better ones, here’s why I might recommend the others and what you should consider:

Ease of Use

I’ve had clients that had the best WordPress site with all the bells and whistles but they never updated it or blogged or even logged in. Why? They were worried they’d break something and felt overwhelmed each time they went in.

I’ve had clients who start with a Squarespace site and find it so easy to blog that they’re doing it daily. They follow their keyword plan and have grown their traffic.

Both desired to blog and increase traffic but some platforms can feel intimidating when you have no idea what the alerts are. It’s like when I, an iPhone user, tries to check voicemail on an Android. It takes me so long that I give up. The same thing has happened between WordPress and other platforms.

Your Own Tech Skills

Are you the kind of person that loves to check under the hood of your car? You might not be able to change out the motor but can tell when it’s just a spark plug that needs changing?

When it comes to your website’s platform, you need to ask yourself: How techy am I, and am I willing to learn?

Your Time

Along the lines of tech skills, do you have the time to learn a platform that already overwhelms you? Will you just keep procrastinating because you’ve got better things to do than learn how to use a particular plugin?

Your Budget

Do you have the money to have someone deal with the tech stuff? If you can’t do it yourself, because you either don’t have the tech know-how or time, then certain platforms might require you to get a specialist versus a VA which could be more costly.

Ultimately, I don’t believe that one of the 3 platforms I work with is bad. It comes down to how they’re serving my web design clients and their business and SEO goals.

3. Do your research and track your progress. 

First, spy on your competition to get an idea of what they’re ranking for. Yup, spy on them. I use SpyFu’s free reports to see what others are up to. If your main competition is ranking high for “yoga studio columbus ohio” then maybe that’s a keyword you could consider.

Brainstorm a list of keywords and whittle them down to 1 or 2 per page on your website. Make sure you know the average searches per month and the competitive level - which can be found via the Google Adwords tool for keywords. Note: you might need to start and quickly stop an ad in order to get to the Adwords tools.

After you’ve recreated your copy, been blogging, and gotten some links to your site from reputable sources, check in with your Google Analytics account and Google Search Console. The latter tells you the keywords you’re coming up for and the former will show traffic. 

Knowing your numbers will help you pivot your SEO and marketing strategy.

Although there’s a lot more that goes into SEO (and that’s just on-site SEO), starting off on this foundation will make tackling other tasks, such as an image’s alternative text a bit easier to handle.

What’s the #1 most confusing thing about your website and SEO? Let me know in the comments!

Whether you’ve noticed that’s it’s lagging or realized it’s stuck in the early 2000’s it’s time for a site refresh. But getting started isn’t always easy, or at least, you shouldn’t dive all in on updating the tech until you prepare.

Why should you even bother with these steps?

Save time by not redoing the same items over and over. You know those people who never read directions when assembling furniture? Then they waste an hour undoing the wrong things they did when they could have been sipping a margarita and chillaxing? That doesn’t sound like fun to me.

You’ll save money. If you’ve got money to burn, well, call me up! If not, being prepared will save you money when it comes to paying a designer by the hour. Even my day rate can easily be lost money when a client still doesn’t have everything ready.

What if you’re DIYing your site? You’ll still save money. Imagine going out and connecting with a potential client versus being stuck redoing your service page because you didn’t know you’d be adding XYZ in?

Here are the 6 things you should do before starting your website refresh. 

Know your website analytics!

Here’s the thing, you shouldn’t make any drastic changes to your website without knowing what your numbers are. You want to understand how your user is getting to the site and the most popular content.

For example, if you see that your most popular page is one of the services you’re planning on removing, you can then make a decision about redirecting that traffic to another page or updating the current one to talk about your other services.

Understand the ideal user journey.

The user journey is basically the path that your site visitor goes through to get to the end result, whether it’s buying your newest product or signing up for a call to discuss your services. You want this path to be clear and swift.

Don’t be coy. Your headlines and buttons should be direct. Don’t let the user guess where they should go next - they usually make the choice you didn’t want. 

Here’s how you can outline a basic journey:

User lands on home page > Main Call to Action: Lead Magnet > User signs up for lead magnet

List out the changes you’ll make to the website.

Now that you understand the ideal user journey and analytics on your website, you can start adding or subtracting content. This can include pages, blog posts, products, services, etc. Make a list of what you’ll keep and delete, then, make a note of the items being deleted that need a webpage redirect or explanation for users.

Look over all of your brand assets.

Gather all your brand visuals, including your website, postcards sent to clients, business cards, menus, and social media channels. Ask yourself:

1. Am I using typography consistently?

2. Are my colors and their dominance the same across the board?

3. Is the use of images/graphics consistent and providing the right mood?

Start creating new copy for your website.

Now that you know what you’ll be adding or changing, you can start updating your copy. Start with the pages that will gain the most traffic, such as the home and about pages, then move on to sales pages, such as services.

Make sure that your mood and tone are consistent. If you’re brand is sassy, it should be sassy everywhere - not shift into a corporate tone randomly.

Get new photos shot or purchase stock images.

Finally, my favorite part, other than diving into the website redesign: choosing new photos. If you have the budget, schedule a brand photoshoot. These can be general images to replace the ones on the site plus some great team or headshots.

Don’t have a budget for a session? No worries. Gather about 5 stock images from either Unsplash (free) or Creative Market (paid). Note that I never recommend buying a package of images unless necessary. You also don’t need to sign up for a photo subscription service. Why? Clients don’t ever make good use of all the images they are getting or some images don’t make sense for their brand. Instead, save that monthly amount for your next brand photoshoot.

Once the above is done, you’re in a much better position to start your website redesign project.

Save time, save money and finally redesign your website! Have questions? Place them in the comments below.

Or, let’s be real, you just realized it looks like your myspace page from when you were 16. Complete with pink text on a black background and emo music auto-playing. Yeah, it’s time to take a deep dive on a website update.

Here are the top signs your website is out-of-date.

Sign #1: Your website copy is old.

If the text on your site has an old location, old contact information, or the bios haven’t been updated in a couple of years, it’s time to refresh it. Updating the copy on your website is one of the easiest things you can do on your own. A few places to check the copy are:

1. About Page - bios, mission statement, values, etc.

2. Services - check to see if they are still being offered and if the hierarchy is accurate.

3. Contact - check that the information is accurate and that the form is working.

4. Home - is the hierarchy of what’s presented still correct?

Sign #2: You’re still using sidebars all over your website.

A website sidebar is a column that’s located either left or right (or both) of the main content on a website. These contain additional information, such as contact, blog categories, and services. A sidebar is like a check-out at a store. While your goal is to pay for your items, there are magazines, candy, and random items that distract you. 

Unfortunately, I STILL see websites that use these on every page. 

Sidebars should only be used on blog post pages and, maybe, the blog archive. Why not use sidebars on other pages? It’s a distraction.

Pages that have a specific call to action, such as a service page, shouldn’t have a sidebar that takes the visitor’s attention away from booking you and into another route. The home page should also be clear and focused on what your goals are - without the distraction of a sidebar.

Sign #3: You’re not using the full width of your website.

With large monitors becoming easier to come by, you’re losing out on valuable website real estate when you don’t use the full-width area of your site. I still see websites that have all their content centered with nothing touching the edge of the browser. 

Sometimes it’s an obvious aesthetic choice and other times it’s obvious that the site is at least 6 years old.

The full-width design will allow you to show off your branded images, help the user feel less constrained, and help fill the page with more information without feeling crowded.

Sign #4: Your photos are obviously old.

Have you ever gone onto a website and realized the people in the photo are at least 5 years older now? What about any desktop photography showing the latest iPhone (from 8 years ago)? These are distractions that can be done away with by simply swapping out images with fresh ones.

If you have the budget, a yearly (or every 2 years) photoshoot should keep your site looking fresh and help your social media. Make sure to show only a few tech pieces and not make them an integral part of the images unless you’re planning on switching them frequently.

Sign #5: You’re using flash.

Thankfully, I’ve started seeing fewer of these types of websites but they still pop up occasionally. Not only does it require users to install or allow Flash to work, but it also has security issues, doesn’t work on Apple devices, and it slows down the browser.

Sign #6: Your website isn’t mobile-friendly or responsive.

Bring up your website on mobile. Does it literally look like it’s a shrunken version of desktop? That’s a big no-no. Not only is it a really bad user experience but Google will ding your status for it. 

Your website should easily adjust itself to mobile so that the site visitor doesn’t have to zoom in and out to view content. Additionally, if a user is really frustrated, they might not even come back to your website. That’s a lost customer or client, meaning lost money.

Sign #7: You have text embedded into images.

Website best practices dictate that you shouldn’t have text over an image (as in embedded). If you can sign in to your website and edit the text without uploading a new image, you’re doing just fine. If you need to recreate the image and upload it in order for the text to change, you need to update your website.

If the image fails to load, the user won’t have a clue as to what information should really be there. Those going through your website on a screenreader will also miss the info and not only is that a bad user experience, but Google could ding your website for this bad practice.

Is your website out of date?

Tell me in the comments the one thing you’re going to do to get your site updated or the one thing you hate seeing on a website.

Add to that jargon, different package options, stacked on general indecisiveness (at least for me), and making a choice feels like a heavy burden that won’t go away.

In this podcast episode, I go over the top 3 things you should be asking your website and brand designer before hiring them. 

Side note: there are a ton more questions you can ask but these are the ones that are commonly forgotten about in my experience.

How many variations of the logo will I be getting?

The problem: You got a beautiful logo created but it’s too wide to fit on your IG profile or your new logo is stacked and it’s taking up too much vertical space on the website.

To solve this issue, make sure you’re asking how many and which variations you’ll get. Your final logo typically determines the number but generally, you’ll want your primary logo and 1 or 2 more.

The first variation set (and most important) is stacked versus horizontal. If your main logo is two words stacked on top, see if it’ll take up too much vertical space on a website. Check if it’s what you’d like on your social media (and if it fits). 

Oftentimes, a beautiful stacked logo will be handed to me for a new website. Unfortunately, it’s too tall with the icon, followed by 2 lines of text. Instead, I end up breaking it apart into a web-friendly version. On the flip side, when I’m designing a logo, I tend to provide a horizontal and stacked version for the client to choose from depending on the situation.

Next, you’ll want to see if you can get the primary logo broken apart, if it applies. For example, clients often get their logo with an icon next to it. It’s lovely until you place it as the profile on social media where it gets small. Instead, I export out certain components. 

For example, if you have a sprout icon on the logo, I’ll hand that off as a separate file for you to use. Rarely, there’s a need for the text-only to be shown. Having that already exported our makes your life so much easier.

Finally, see about getting the items in versions of your color scheme. For example, if you have solid green and blue in your logo, you might get the primary 2 color logo, but you’ll also get files in only green and only blue. You can also get black and white versions. 

Why? There are often times when you’re being featured somewhere and the host or organizer asks for a logo. If the contrast or color is too close to the background, it’ll blend in. Instead, you can send them the logo in another color within your palette and they can adjust.

How many pages of a website am I getting?

Problem: You’ve signed up with a website designer and as you’re going through the site map you’ve realized you now need double the pages you originally thought! You’re not sure if that’s even included in your package?

To be honest, this happened to me a lot when I was first starting out as a website designer. Now, I try to go through all the pages needed during the initial discovery call in order to get that out of the way.

If your designer hasn’t asked you how many pages you need, start to make a list on your own. Think about the typical pages:

1. Home

2. About

3. Contact

4. Services (general)

5. Specific Service Pages

6. Legal Pages

7. Blog

8. Shop

9. Category Pages for Blog and Shop

Now think of your marketing plan and how your site will support it:

1. Social media link page

2. Freebie/Lead Magnet page

3. Sales Pages

4. Questionnaire/Intake Pages

5. Locked Content Pages

6. FAQ

7. Shipping Policies

With the list of pages you need, go back to your designer and ask which package best fits you. For example, I don’t count legal pages as a page because they’re literally copy/paste with almost no formatting or design while other designers do count it.

This way, you avoid annoying your designer by surprising them with work that’s out of scope and you’ll also get exactly what you need to launch the website.

Do you offer training after the website has launched?

Problem: Your site launched 2 months ago and you need to do 1 little change. You’re already out of the support timeframe from your designer and have no clue how to even log into your site.

The solution is getting some kind of training. Depending on the package and website designer, you might get support but I fully believe that training is the best.

When you’ve been trained, you’re empowered to either DIY the edit or hire the designer again. The main thing is that it’s your CHOICE. Especially when it comes to a change that is short and sweet but also needs to happen quickly, you’ll need to know that you can handle it. 

My training sessions are always recorded so that you can keep that video with you, share it with staff members, and watch it again as needed.

Those are my top questions you should ask a designer before hiring them for your website or branding project. 

Make sure to comment on what kind of site you’re building and the one thing you love about it!

Here’s a list of 5 things you could be doing wrong with your website.

Overthinking every little thing on your website.

Here’s the thing, the details are often what makes your site stand out. The problem comes when you’re overthinking it to the point of not launching (aka, making money in your business).

Here are a few places you could be thinking too deeply about this:

1. Colors

2. Fonts

3. Images

4. Text/Copy

I can already hear you saying it: “...but Yasmine you said these are important in your other videos…”

They are. To a certain point.

If you find that you’re 3 months behind your launch and that you’re struggling between the shade of green in your color scheme, it’s time to make a decision and go with it. From my experience, clients struggle with making a decision because they actually don’t know themselves or their target market. They don’t know if their text should be excited and casual or buttoned up. They just feel lost and the project takes 3 times as long.

As a DIY small business owner, your website can become a nightmare when it comes to launching on time because you don’t have the guidance of a designer. 

Here’s what you do:

Go back to your target market, do some research, and make a choice. Live with that choice for about 6 months and only then evaluate how your visuals are going.

Because here’s the secret: Even an ugly site can make you money when there’s an emotional connection to your client.

About page copy on your website isn’t about YOU.

Wait. What?

You read that right. The about page has absolutely nothing to do with you. In reality it’s a way to give your audience a peak at who you are while still explaining why your experience and passion are going to help them solve their problems.

Here are a few signs that your about page needs to be reworked:

1. You have your resume on there. Either legit uploaded or copied.

2. You’ve got your resume “reworded” on your about page. Even if the client needs to see credentials, don’t make it look like it’s a resume.

3. The words used on the about page are all about you. Nowhere do you talk about how your passion will help your target market. For example, if you’ve been passionate about jewelry design since childhood, how does that help you create custom pieces for your clients.

How do you fix it?

Read through each section on your about page and ask yourself, why is this important to my website visitor, and what value did they get out of this?

Are you mixing up features and benefits on your website?

I see this A LOT and even fall prey to it myself. When it comes to showcasing what you do for clients, make sure that you’re not mixing up the features and benefits of your service. You also want to be aware of which should be more important to your user (psst: often, it’s the benefits).

Features are the things we can almost cross off a check-list. For example, a workbook or weekly calls with your life coach. 

Benefits are the emotional things we get. For example, confidence to stand up in a crowd and give a talk without being a deer in the headlights.

One example is lash extensions. They don’t just make your eyelashes look longer and fuller (a feature), they also give you the confidence to walk out the door without worrying so much about how you look (benefit).

Not using your testimonials to their full potential on your website.

I get really excited when clients have been gathering testimonials because not only do they add content but they also provide social proof on the site.

Most people will not use testimonials appropriately, though.

For example, they believe that only having a testimonial page is sufficient. It’s not. Although it’s a great first step, there are a lot more that testimonials can support with.

Here are some places you can reuse those same testimonials:

1. Sales or landing pages on your website.

2. Home page

3. About page

4. Contact page

5. Pages where you mention how awesome you are

6. Footer

Pretty much anywhere that you have been talking about how amazing you are.

Here are a few ways to take the testimonials on your website up a notch:

1. Video recording of the testimonial.

2. A headshot of the person.

3. A name (versus “Happy Client”)

Think of testimonials like sprinkles. You want those to be all over the cake, not just in one area.

Misusing the navigation on your website.

One sign of a DIY website is when you mess up the navigation. Other than your call to action buttons, this is how your user will navigate the site and you want to make sure it’s clear and gets them to their ultimate goal.

Here are the common navigation mistakes on a website.

1. Using SHOP as one of the options. If you’re an e-commerce business, you should never use the SHOP tab. Instead, you need to pull out the top categories and place those front and center.

2. Putting pages of little importance on the top navigation. It depends on your type of business but for e-commerce, these include, About, Contact, FAQs, etc. A service-based business doesn’t need Testimonials, FAQs, etc up on the top. Think of your user’s goal and the pages that don’t support will go in the footer.

3. Not using a mega menu. This one depends on your tech skills but a mega menu is great for displaying lots of categories or pages. This is especially great for e-commerce websites.

4. Using more than one word on the page navigation link when unnecessary. This is ABOUT versus ABOUT ME. 

5. Using words that are too cute that I have no idea what I’m going to click on.

That’s it for today. Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever made any of these mistakes and how you fixed them. Until next time!

Being a DIY entrepreneur is hard enough but then add “website designer” to the mix and you’ve got some road bumps to go through. So I get that you might have missed a few items but if you’ve been following me for some time, you’ve likely heard me say these multiple times and others perhaps are new things you could look into having on your website.

All websites should have a contact page.

I can’t believe I’m still telling people they need a contact page. I also can’t believe that I need to tell folks they need to have a form on that page.

No matter what type of business you have, your site needs to have a contact page. E-commerce? How are people going to get a hold of you with questions (or complaints)? Service-based business? How will potential leads get in touch? A contact form gives reassurance to your lead that they can get a hold of you. 

So where should you put the contact form and page?

The page can be linked to at the top navigation and/or the footer of the site. It really depends on your business. If you have an e-commerce site, you’re likely going to place it in the footer. Offer a service? Link it in the header.

All websites must have legal pages.

I get that this isn’t the most sexy part of a website but let me tell you one thing: It’s going to be hella’ sexy when it covers you from getting sued.

Although I still haven’t met anyone personally that’s gotten sued because of their site, it does happen so you want to make sure you’re legally legit.

Note: I’m not a lawyer but if you’re looking to play one on your next television episode, hit me up.

You should have a privacy policy at the very least. This is basically what tells visitors that you’ll be tracking them on your website and how you’ll use that information. 

Other pages include Terms of Use, Terms and Conditions, and Accessibility Statements. Some that I don’t know if their legal but are still pretty handy for users are Shipping Policies and Return Policies.

Check out the episode with Melissa Wick and Demetrius Robinson for more legal information.

Next up…

Start capturing visitors’ information for email marketing purposes.

Really, you should be collecting emails as soon as you can. Build up that audience! I don’t mean just sending mass emails from your regular email such as Outlook or Gmail - I mean really having a system like Mailchimp that will help you schedule, track, and send emails. A great person to look up is Tonnisha English in Columbus, Ohio. She works with clients locally and nationwide to get a handle of their email marketing.

Listen to Tonnisha’s podcast episode and watch her recorded presentation.

Honestly, I know it’s hard to get someone to help you with all the stuff you have to do as an entrepreneur and then you layer on email - it feels overwhelming!

Here’s my breakdown for you:

1. Create a lead magnet.

2. Layout a simple workflow for people signing up, getting said lead magnet, and how you’ll welcome them via email.

3. Set that up in an email system of your choice. 

4. Embed on your site.

5. Send out content your audience finds valuable.

Obviously, a lot more goes into that but just get started!

Have Call To Action on your site, especially if, well, you want to actually make a sale.

A client once told me, “I don’t know why this page hasn’t converted. I’m getting traffic but they’re just not doing anything.”

Even though the page wasn’t all that pretty, it was decent, not slow to load, and had some good copy. Then I saw it, actually, didn’t see it. There was nowhere to click. The copy didn’t drive you to contact her right now. It didn’t lead to a button that said, “BOOK YOUR SESSION.”

She wasn’t telling her users what to do next and she definitely wasn’t even going to let them click anything.

The first place a call to action should go is the top section of the page. This is called the Hero Section. You want to have something visually pleasing, a headline, and a button telling me to do something.

On the home page, your call to action buttons might be an array, since the page is essentially a collection of all your awesomeness. 

Beyond that, think of it this way: when you’re on a run (or fast jog if you’re me) on a path, you’ll want a few outs. The longer the path, the more exits you’d like to have. Why? Well if you’re also like me, you’ll need to go to the restroom halfway through and need a way off the path. Same thing with your web pages.

You’ll want multiple buttons the longer the page. Where do you send people? Depending on the goal of the page, they could all go to one thing, such as the checkout to your program, or to multiple locations, like the home page and all your awesomeness.

REMEMBER THIS: You never want to leave the website visitor’s journey up to the fates.

Use amazing images on your website and bonus points if they’re of you.

Whether you’re a startup with a low budget or a seasoned entrepreneur, your website needs to have great images. Here’s how to do it:

Startup

Use quality stock images from places like Pexels and Unsplash. Anywhere you get your stock images, make sure they’re free to use for business. Purchasing stock images? Make sure they’re large enough to cover an edge-to-edge browser, just in case. A great place is Creative Market.

Do you have a bigger budget?

Awesome! Get some branded photos shot, especially of yourself. People connect with people not with a shot of a coffee mug on a desk - that reminds me that my coffee is still in the microwave. #workingmomlife

How many images do you need on your website?

Depends on the size and what your goal is but I generally tell people around 5. You can get away with 3 on a small site. You definitely don’t need those packs of 30 each day unless you’re really trying to do a lot of social posts.

Story time:

I once won a client because she said, “I know who you are. I know where you're located. I know what you look like. You're on social media. Your face is everywhere…” Compared to my competition who had no photo or bio on his website and the whole site had generic “website agency talk.” Literally, you could have pasted someone else’s logo on it and it would have fit. 🤷🏽‍♀️

BONUS: Use video on your website.

I get you’re awkward and hate the sound of your voice but guess what, you get to do video. Video is like taking images on your site up a notch. People hear and see you. They can connect more easily.

Have testimonials on video, even better! Have your course walk-through on video? #yasssqueen

That’s it! Make sure to follow the podcast, review it, and let me know in the comments what website and branding questions you have!

And even the clients that once told me that they had no need to sell online are having me rush their e-commerce websites so they aren’t left behind.

Today, I’m reviewing a new e-commerce website called Koi Botanicals. I’m going to go over the main pages as well as give tips on color and images. A special thanks for the submission!

Things to watch out for when DIYing your e-commerce website (and what I found on this site).

The header is taking up way too much space on the website.

The goal of a website is to get people to either read a post, buy a product, or sign up for a service - it’s never to look at the logo.

When landing on this site, depending on the screen size, all you see is the logo. The product is being pushed down. When deciding on how big your header area should be, ask yourself:

1. Is my header area taking up more than ¼ of the screen?

2. Am I forcing a stacked logo on the site?

3. Can I upload a horizontal version of the logo on the site to avoid the space?

4. Will it help if the logo goes on the left side of the screen instead of the center?

Color is making this website hard to read.

Honestly, this site is bordering on the Myspace pages that were created by emotional teens using dark pink text on black. They were so hard to read (and not just because the content sucked).

Just because you have a color scheme, it doesn’t mean you need to spray it everywhere. Decide what color will pertain to which part of the site. For example, which color will help emphasize buttons and links while another will only be used for details such as line separators.

Use these colors sparingly. In this site, the background color makes the text harder to read since there’s little contrast between them. It also distracts from our main focus: the product images.

The fix? Go for a more simple use of color. A white background throughout the page will help with readability. The header can be another color while buttons and links yet another.

Text on this e-commerce website is too hard to read.

The readability issue on the text is partially due to color but also to the text size and the way it’s being used. Here’s a few things to keep in mind when it comes to text on your website:

1. If everything is bold, then nothing is important. Use bold only when you want to emphasize a portion of the text. If you’re bolding to make it easier to read, that’s a sizing issue.

2. Same as above for italics. If you’re adding italics to a whole section, it’s only going to make it harder to read.

3. Make sure you’re using ADA compliant font sizes. You can simply google contrast checker for a free one to see what it comes up with. You could also squint your eyes or turn down the brightness on your computer a bit. If the text is starting to get hard to read, you need to up the contrast. This can be done by changing:

   1. Font Size

   2. Font Type

   3. Font Color

   4. Background Color

Image cropping needs to be consistent on an e-commerce website.

One mark of a DIY or rushed e-commerce website? Images aren’t cropped the same size.

Make sure to create images that are exactly the same dimensions to avoid the off-putting differences on the product page. You want the products to be the focus, not the image sizes. One tip: use something like Canva to crop images. Simply create your desired image size, upload the images, add them, export, and done. 

You can then utilize that same Canva file for the next time.

Hero sections are bland.

A “Hero Section” is the top-most area of a webpage. It’s what loads first. If this area has no eye-candy, headline, or call to action, you’re in trouble. 

What you should do when creating your own e-commerce website is to open all the pages and DON’T SCROLL. Ask yourself:

1. Are the pages enticing? 

2. Is the focus on the product you’re selling?

3. Am I telling the user my main goal (i.e. sale)?

4. Or Am I telling the user what I’m about?

5. Am I giving the user their next step (i.e. shop all lotions)?

If you find that you’re site is giving “homework” in the hero section or pushing the product focus down, you need to pivot the emphasis.

This e-commerce website has no contact form.

Other than a hero section, this is one of my biggest pet peeves. How are people supposed to contact you? Although some sites do offer an email and mailing address, you need to know that your site visitor is lazy.

You’re creating a website that’s drunk/lazy/tired friendly.

That said, filling out a contact form is 10x easier than copying and pasting an email address onto the desired email provider.

Things that this e-commerce website is doing well?

Photography on the website.

Although the photos are a bit busy and could do with removing some of the books (or at least covering the text) the images are all consistent and well branded. As a side note: make sure to always have styled images and solo images with just the product.

Having testimonials on the product page.

Utilizing your testimonials on the product page helps give the user some social proof. I would recommend sprinkling these testimonials throughout the rest of the e-commerce website, such as the home page.

Navigation on an e-commerce website.

This site keeps their navigation focused on the product - which is perfect! Another sign of a DIY e-commerce site is the “Shop” dropdown or pages that aren’t really helping the user get to their desired product faster, such as the About or Contact Us pages.

That’s it for this e-commerce website review! 

Make sure to comment on the one thing you’re going to change on your site, the one thing you’re doing wrong, or whether you’d like me to go review your website as well!

So, what exactly is happening between Apple and companies like Facebook who serve ads?

In this podcast episode, we spoke with Carissa Richardson, owner of Kindred Strategy which is a paid media agency based in Columbus, Ohio, and helping clients nationally. She broke down what’s happening in as little jargon as possible.

Overall, what’s happening between Facebook and iOS (aka Apple)?

Apple announced that they're changing. If you’ve downloaded iOS 14 on your phone, you might have experienced that when you download a new app, a pop-up will appear that says something like, “Do you want to share your data with this app?”

The pop-up, from Apple, asks you to choose either Yes or No - which has Facebook kind of freaking out because that’s a core of what they do. That’s how they make money.

Although it’s only really applicable to those people who are seeing your ads on their mobile app, that’s still around 80% of traffic that you’re getting on campaigns.

When a user clicks on the “No” in the pop-up, they are telling Facebook that they can’t use their data on any site that has a pixel. For example, if you click on an ad, go to the site, then leave, the campaign can start sending you retargeting ads since they know you clicked. With this change, it’ll be harder to track what people did and who did it.

What Apple is saying is that it’s protecting your information, while Facebook is saying that it’ll hurt small businesses because they’re the ones with the small ad budget and will now have to cast a wider net without being able to track a return.

Note: when we say Facebook, we mean Instagram as well since they’re together.

In some cases, you could even argue that the data is important to the user as well because it’ll keep them from seeing random ads that have nothing to do with what they’re interested in.

Does this change between Facebook and Apple affect conversion rates?

Typical conversion rates on Facebook are tracked with a button click and that’s pixel information. If the user said “No” to tracking, you wouldn’t see the conversion on the Facebook side of things. In your Analytics though, you might be able to see it as long as it was tagged properly (aka UTM code). This could also mean setting up an event or goal in Google Analytics to track the completion of the conversion. This could work but it ends up being set up in GA versus Facebook.

Does this change to Apple affect ads on other platforms like Google Ads?

“It will affect anything that you're running ads on that has a heavy app user,” says Carissa. For example, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter could be affected but they have a better chunk of traffic that comes from desktop versus the app.

Has the change to Apple affected any of Carissa’s Ads?

So far, Carissa hasn’t seen it impact a lot of her ads but she’s definitely keeping a close eye on it. She does suggest having workarounds such as lead ads on Facebook. This is for those small businesses running data collection (aka email collection) in exchange for a piece of content. It works because the user is giving Facebook the information. Although they could have opted out, by them submitting via the app, you’ll still get the information.

“The other option would be you could run a traditional campaign targeting everybody but exclude iOS users. Because you can do that in your targeting, and then set up a separate campaign for thats lead ads that runs just to iOS users,” says Carissa. 

Just keep in mind that because it’s early on, it’ll take some testing to see if it’s making a difference. 

What to keep an eye on when it comes to your Facebook ads and the Apple change?

“I'm always adamant about telling people to monitor their metrics,” says Carissa. If you notice that something like your click-through or conversion rate is dropping for no apparent reason, you might be affected. 

Basically, keep an eye on any key metrics and take note of dips in the average. If you notice something, “I would look at the way you're targeting your Facebook ads, and are you relying heavily on website metrics and pixel data,” says Carissa. She suggests that, if you are, to start working on non-pixel ways of targeting, such as using Facebook or Instagram followers. Even uploading your email list will work great.

About Carissa Richardson:

Carissa has 13 years of agency experience developing paid marketing strategies that create meaningful connections between brands and their customers. She is an expert in paid advertising planning and buying but understands that most people aren’t. She loves collaborating with clients and breaking down these sometimes complex or foreign subjects in a way that is educational, relatable, and understandable.

Find Carissa on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

Today, you’ll learn the 3 unsexy yet important items your website must-have. Let’s get started.

1. SSL certificate

I actually can’t believe I’m still harping on this one because I’ve been touting the importance of a website’s SSL certificate since I found out about it. The positive? I’m seeing fewer and fewer people forgetting about it.

What is an SSL certificate?

To you, it’s basically the little lock sign on the address bar before your domain name. It’s also shown on your domain right after the HTTP. Instead of just “HTTP://…” your site will be “HTTP://…”

What you don’t see is that it’s a feature that tells all browsers that your site is secure and encrypted. It stands for “Secure Sockets Layer” and is saying, “Hey, any info you put into this website is safely shared.”

Why should you care? Depending on the browser and the user settings, your site visitor might end up blocked. Sometimes, they can still bypass but who the hell wants to say “Yeah, bypass my security setting to go into this un-secure site?” It’s also a pro for your SEO. Google has mentioned that it uses it as part of its magical ranking system. 

2. Privacy Policy

Whenever I mention the Privacy Policy to clients, I feel like a mom telling her kids to buckle their seat belts (which I also do). This page is basically text-only, although you can jazz it up if you’d like, that’s linked to from the footer. It holds the legalese that tells users what information you’re gathering, how you’re gathering it, and what you’ll do with it later.

Where can you get it? If you have the budget, get a lawyer to create one for you. I recommend Demetrius Robinson in Columbus, Ohio, my lawyer and Digital Hustle Tribe guest. Don’t have the budget? You could get a template. See another podcast guest, Melissa Wick, another lawyer in Columbus Ohio.

One note of warning, although you could copy and paste a privacy policy, I suggest adding it to your to-do list after a while in your business. The worse thing that could happen is that you put it off and it doesn’t support you when you need it. That said, even though I’ve always wanted to play a lawyer on tv, I’m not an attorney. My advice on anything legal should be taken with a grain of salt.

Other pages you might need on your website include Terms and Conditions, Accessibility Policy, Shipping Policies, and Website Terms and Conditions.

3. Google Analytics and Google Search Console

Even if you plan on never looking at either of these portals, you should still install them so that you can look back at the previously tracked information when you do. For example, it’s helpful to have it already installed when you start a backlink campaign. This way, you can gauge whether the traffic on your website actually increased - even if that is months to years out.

Is it too late to install these now? It’s never too late so whether you’ve built out the website last weekend or 2 years ago, just create the account and follow the installation instructions for your site.

Although these 3 are some of the not-so-sexy parts of having a website, they’re equally as important as the cute graphics and color schemes. Have questions about installing these on your site? Tell me in the comments: are all of these installed on your site?

What is email marketing?

Basically, sending one message to a bunch of people at the same time. These people should have given you permission. If you’ve heard of the GDPR, that’s another layer of permission from Europe, although those in the US don’t have to worry about it. Basically, the rules and regulations are there so that you’re not being shady and trying to steal people’s personal information.

With email marketing, you can more closely follow what your people are up to. From whether they clicked to your site, forwarded the email, or just marked it as spam.

What’s not email marketing? 

1. Blind copying a ton of people in an email. That’s just annoying and will give you no stats.

2. Emailing people who didn’t ask to be on your email list. 

What email marketing platform should you use?

Although Tonnisha has used a multitude of platforms, she’s personally using Active Campaign. There are pros and cons to all platforms.

For example, Mailchimp is user-friendly, and perfect for anyone sending out emails. It can even integrate with others such as Eventbrite. Mailchimp has a low cost entry point but it can get pricier the more you want to grow your list.

Other platforms, like Active Campaign, have more of a CMS capacity. With this platform, there are tons of options for drip send automations. They also have a point that helps you track how often a person has interacted with your emails. Active Campaign though is pricier and not as easy to build out. 

What are lead magnets and how do they help grow your email list?

Basically, this is a free item or service that the user gets when they sign up for your email list.  Whether it’s 10 or 20% off our first order or a free guide, there's some sort of incentive.

Beware: Just offering a newsletter isn’t going to help grow your email list. Not a lot of people want to be getting another email that could just be spam. Give something of value.

When creating your lead magnet, keep the user in mind. Understand what would be helpful for them and tie back to your business.

How do you start planning an email calendar?

First, know what your goals are with email. I.E. Is it to build brand awareness that funnels into clients? Planning allows you to be strategic and helps you see that creating email isn’t a burden. Just like social media, you get to think about what your email list is all about.

When you know what your goal is, you’ll be able to create content that will support your subscribers and give them what they want.

“Content planning is truly the key. So think about those goals, and have a plan for overall themes and content. You don't have to plan out every single email word for word, but at least have an understanding of what you want your emails to consist of.”

How do you structure subject lines for your emails?

Put some thought into your email’s subject line. Avoid using too many emojis, all caps, and exclamation marks since this could get you marked as spam by email service providers like GMail. 

Make sure that the subject line matches the content in the email. You wouldn’t want to send a subject line about chocolate cake when your email content talks about training your dog, right?

Don’t forget about the preheader text!

“This is your second chance to convince that person to open the email... If you don't decide what the preheader text is, the inbox will,” explains Tonnisha. Know the word count allowed and make sure that, just like the subject lines, it matches your content.

What kind of images should you use when email marketing?

The cleaner the image in your email sends, the better. “Avoid pixelated images or things that look distorted,” says Tonnisha. They need to match the content and have something that resonates. For example, if you’re writing about a recipe, you wouldn’t add an image of a dog.

Make sure your fonts are easy to read in your emails.

“Avoid eyesore fonts,” says Tonnisha. You want to make sure that the fonts you’re using in your emails are easy to read. Keep it to the typical Helvetica or Arial since those will be easier for people with glasses. 

Another reason to keep it simple with fonts in your emails? Mobile. You want to avoid having a hard to read font when it’s small and on a phone. 

How do you know when to schedule your email sends?

It might just be trial and error. It depends on who is on your email list because if you're during the time that your target market is the busiest, they’re more likely to miss it. 

Try A/B testing your emails with send times. Other platforms tell you what they think the optimal time is.

When it comes to email marketing, what’s the difference between a hard bounce and a soft bounce?

A hard bounce is an email campaign that doesn’t deliver because the email address was wrong or fake whereas a soft bounce is when it fails to deliver because of a tech glitch such as busy servers or the size of your image slices. 

“Most platforms, including MailChimp, will attempt to deliver that soft bounce email a few times before they deem it as a hard bounce,” says Tonnisha. 

Tip: you can always go in and check those hard bounced emails. Sometimes, people type in a coma instead of a period and it’ll be incorrect.

Be warned though, too many hard bounces might cause the platform, such as Mailchimp, to lock you out of sending more emails until you jump through a few hoops.

What click rate should business owners expect from their email marketing efforts?

“Click rates are typically very low,” says Tonnisha. She also wants you to understand that if you have nothing for your user to click on, your rate will obviously be lower.  

“...If you can have a click rate of like, you know, 2 to 5%, that's actually really good, especially for e commerce.”

Keep in mind that a bigger list will give you a lower percentage because it’s based off the overall list.

The best thing small business owners can do is look into the metrics or benchmarks for your industry. Tonnisha mentioned that many platforms make that data available. Personally, though, Tonnisha always aims for a “...20 to 30% open rate with like a 2% click rate...” as a starting point. Just make sure you’re giving the user various opportunities to click.

Final email marketing tips for entrepreneurs:

1. Personalize your email sends whenever possible. It instills trust and is more likely to help push the user to click.

2. Make sure that images link to something that connects with your email message and that you’re using alt text.

3. Give the user a choice of frequency and/or the type of content they’d love to get.

4. Purge your email lists regularly of people not interacting.

5. Use a welcome series.

Meet Tonnisha:

Tonnisha is a full-time entrepreneur and Founder of TJE Communications. She offers digital marketing solutions to small business owners to help them level the playing field between themselves, and large corporations. Tonnisha has worked with non-profits, e-commerce and retail brands, health brands, haircare, food and restaurant, construction, and more.

Find Tonnisha’s Biz, or on Instagram, Twitter.

Tonnisha was also a guest on a previous podcast, also about email marketing.

Whether you’re launching a new program or just want to get that lead capture off the ground, here’s what you can do to help your site visitor say, “Hell Yeah!”

1. Focus on the hero section.

The hero section is the topmost section of a page. It’s basically what sets the tone for the entire journey. If it’s confusing, jarring, or has no clear direction - well, it’ll reduce your sales page conversion rate.

A rule of thumb is that the hero section needs to have a headline that answers what you’re offering and who it’s for. Without that, your user has no idea if they’re in the right place.

Next, see if there’s a call to action. This would be a big beautiful button on the hero section that will lead me to the next step. Don’t have one? Now your user knows who you are and what you do BUT has no idea what to do next?

2. Remove the header and footer on your website’s sales page.

Want to make an even bigger impact on conversion? Remove any chance of your user escaping. The header is the top part of the site that has your navigation menu, logo, and maybe some social media links,

The footer is the bottom portion of the site which holds things like a quick mission statement, contact information, and links to other pages.

Although these are helpful, you don’t want them on a sales page. Imagine this: I’m about click your “Hell Yeah I Want This!” call to action button when I see the link to the About page. I then wonder, “Do I really know all there is to know?” I click it and then wind down a rabbit hole where I end up not purchasing.

3. Add testimonials to your sales page and website.

Each time you’re mentioning how kick-ass you are, you need to have something to back that shit up. The higher the price point, the more testimonials you need.

Great places to put testimonials are right after the hero section, after the part where you explain the benefits, and towards the end before the final call to action.

Video testimonials are the best, photos are cool, the text version is the least you can do.

4. Reduce the call to action to one.

Other than the hero section, the second biggest mistake is having too many calls to action on your sales page. Think about it, you have a sales page for a particular reason: to sell the ONE thing. Then you go and add call-to-action buttons to your other programs, books, and even freebies.

Seriously, why?

You want to keep the website visitor’s journey set on one path and that’s to complete your goal. Don’t distract them with all the other cool things you do. Instead, give them their own page. 

5. Use videos whenever possible.

Videos are the BEST way to gain trust, even when you’re awkward as hell. So if possible, use videos in addition to the text. A video intro to your product, intro to yourself, sneak peek into a course, testimonials, etc.

There’s so much more that goes into your sales page analytics so if you’re feeling a bit lost, hit me up.

In the comments, tell me what one thing has helped you get higher conversions OR what you think is holding you back.

Jackie, the owner of Burtch Designs, started her company about a year ago in order to gain balance in her life and diversify the work she does. She works with entrepreneurs and small businesses to create a gorgeous and cohesive brand that attracts the right customer. She also works with brides to create their invitations and other items for the big day.

“[Both worlds] definitely feed my creative side. I see it kind of as they're both branding projects, right? For the bride, we're taking her vision for her big day and putting it onto paper on stationery elements and then executing that on the day of as well for seating and menu and place cards all that fun stuff.”

Jackie goes on, “There's definitely challenges to both. And I think figuring out the best way to approach it is the main part of the design that I like the problem-solving issue.”

What is the best thing that a business owner can do before going to meet with a designer?

“Getting clear on their ideal customer and getting to know them,” says Jackie. She explains that you should really know the details before starting the project, including, where they live, their values what their family situation is like versus their business situation, are they working full time or freelancing?

Knowing them inside and out will get them to trust and admire your brand enough to buy from you. “It's obviously important that my client business owner likes what they're seeing. But even more important that their client is liking what they see, that's what's gonna attract them.”

What business owners can do before hiring a business owner.

Start going in the direction of a mood board. 

This is how you’ll find out what you’re interested in and gravitate towards. Add things you’d love to see within the visuals of your business.

Instead, gather your inspiration and know what you love about the things you’ve collected - whether it’s on Pinterest or your paper vision board. Want to take it one step further? Create a collection of items that you absolutely know wouldn’t fit within your brand.

Once you have your inspiration ready, it’s easier to show a designer your visual brand style.

Side note: The one thing you shouldn’t do is say “Here, I like this logo, let's make this.” That’s definitely the direction you never want to take with a designer.

Get to know your competition.

Understand exactly who you’re up against in your niche and beyond. Look for competitors that are solving the same problem but in a different way, such as personal training versus a group program versus an app.

Look at your competitor’s website by taking note on how it functions and what it looks like. Then take a look at their social feed and see who they’re talking to. “What what type of brand voice are they conveying? And are they consistent? I think sometimes we like to model ourselves after another one of our competitors, right. But the difference between them and you is you your unique kind of character and the viewpoint that you bring… I seriously enjoy learning about my clients when we talk about it.”

How do you work with a visual brand designer?

Voice is something that you’ll talk about with your designer as well. “We outline a couple different phrases or greetings to use that help mold your voice,” says Jackie. Then you go back to the mood board that either you or both of you created. Then you get into visuals.

With your designer, you’ll be looking at visuals as far as colors, textures, and fonts that will really help bring a brand together. Using the competitor information, you’ll be able to create a design that stands out.

Typically, you have an idea of what you need from your designer before beginning the process. “Are you looking for just a logo or are you hoping to create a brand,” asks Jackie. “I think creating a brand is important for you to kind of get everything lined up and create that consistency and that trustworthy element.” If you just get a logo, you might only be getting a couple of colors, the actual logo, and maybe the font.

“As far as getting a full brand package, you're going to get all of your colors and different versions of your logo in all of those different colors, and then font system to use,” says Jackie. You can even get examples of the body copy, headlines, and other elements you can utilize in print and web.

How to refresh a brand’s visuals or website?

The first thing you and your designer need to do is understand what’s actually not working. “When it comes to a refresh, there's usually something that feels outdated,” says Jackie. Or, the business could have pivoted. “Maybe they're selling more online and they want to establish a presence in that respect. Maybe they've closed down their shop. So maybe their logo was big, circular kind of elements. And now it needs to work better in a digital format.” Understanding pivots helps your designer elevate your visual brand.

How can business owners stay consistent with their visual brands?

Continually check back on your mood board to maintain consistency between your website and other graphics. Ask yourself, would this website page fit within the mood board or does it clash? 

When it comes to social media, Jackie suggests apps that allow you to see your mock posts for Instagram. This means you can do a quick check for consistency among your posts.

Ask yourself, “Does this kind of color wash image work within my brand? Have I used something like this before?” 

How to know which package to get from a designer?

That's a good question. And I think I think I even struggle with like, when to really push for a full branded package, and when to just provide a logo, I think, more often than not going for the full brand package. Regardless of kind of where you're at in your business, whether you're a few months in or six years in, I think starting with a full brand package can kind of help you feel. Okay, this is it, we're doing this, and this is my best foot forward. And here I am, this is birch designs, that's kind of how I had to approach my business and creating a logo and brand system for myself, because I was like, well, I like this option. But I also like that option. And just picking one and rounding out what that whole system looks like helped me get clear on who to market to and how

What type of logos should a business owner ask for from their designer?

Typically, you’ll have a primary logo. It’s the number one to use when it comes to your company. “Then you could have a secondary logo that works better for web or maybe it includes your tagline, and then getting a mark or two, that is kind of like a sign off almost for your brand, it's a little bit more visual,” says Jackie. 

She also suggests having an icon. “You can use that as like a little mark on social posts, or use it as that circular profile photo, since it's such a unique shape. Sometimes it's hard to get the longer more horizontal logos in a form that like that.” 

All of these are great but make sure you get them in different formats. “When you get all of those deliverables, you want to make sure you're getting versions for web JPEGs and smaller PNGs, as well as some print versions that are much larger, that can be scaled. So you're getting vector files, and PNGs. Those are those ones with a transparent background so they can go on any color. And getting black and white versions of your logo to are important in case you ever need them for certain print instances as well as web and then getting them all in your different colors. So you've got lots of versions.”

How to decide on a final graphic or brand design?

Go back to your mood board, competition analysis, and target market. At the end of the day, it’s really about what will help drive your customer or client to love your brand and buy from you.

What should bride’s keep in mind when getting their items designed?

Although not as intense of a branding process, you and your designer do have to work together to get the details just right for the design.

Things that help your designer are the venue, color scheme, and even how you met your significant other. If you’ve decided on a theme, such as rustic or modern can shift the design.

Want to know you’re in good hands? Jackie even did her own wedding designs!

Comment below with any questions for Jackie or connect with her!

About Jackie

I've always had a passion for color and design, but after my first typography class, I fell in love with letterforms and layout. With a natural eye for detail, it’s the little things that inspire me—hence the love of typography. After almost a decade in the corporate world, I started Burtch Designs to pursue joy, balance, and creativity.

Find Jackie on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

In this podcast, I spoke with Demetrius about how business owners can navigate their businesses through a legal lens. Demetrius has been my lawyer since I got serious about Robles Designs. From answering crazy questions to creating contracts, he’s patiently been helping me get legit while explaining jargon again and again.

Listen to the full episode or catch our notes below!

How is getting your business legally covered similar to relationship management?

“I think one of the first things we learn rather quickly is, it doesn't matter if you're selling goods or services, someone has to has to buy that right. That's your customer. Well, that customer sort of builds a relationship with you in one way, shape or form.” Demetrius explains that in order to have that relationship, there needs to be trust, and that’s where a continual contract comes in. “...so that you end up building what hopefully becomes a long term relationship.”

Although it might seem like a contract is just a document with a lot of words, to an attorney, every word has meaning. “...and you have to make sure that the meaning of those words align with what your interests are.” 

Then you layer on the trust. Trust that the person you’re creating this relationship with has your best interest at heart and can understand how to solve issues.

Here are a few things Demetrius suggests you keep in mind:

Duration

This is basically dealing with the length of the relationship. The longer the duration, the more likely you need an attorney to review it. For example, you buy a burger from a local place. That’s short-term and lower cost than a one-year commitment to something else.

Renewability

Basically, does this renew, and how? For example, that one-year thing auto-renews for another year. In this case, you’ll need to know either how to get out of it or terminate the relationship.

Payment Terms

“So most contracts, we want to get something for something else. Sometimes it's goods [and] sometimes it's services. But we want to understand what that is.” You want to understand what you’re getting and how long you have to pay for it. I.E. If you buy a burger, you likely pay for it and get it the same day versus a house with a mortgage.

How to deal with projects taking a longer or shorter amount of time due to issues out of our control?

When it comes to occurrences like a pandemic (fingers crossed it’s once in a lifetime), these shifts use the term called force majeure, “...which basically means if there is a particular situation that is out of your control, it's usually associated with acts of God.” says Demetrius, “You have those sort of provisions that if those things are triggered, then either performance by one party or the other is suspended for a period of time sometimes that is outlined in the contract, or the contract can be terminated at the option of either party.” 

This means that if I contract someone for a service and a pandemic hits, then I may terminate the contract. Although, this doesn’t ease the pain for performing services already and so on. “So that is also an important piece to understand is, if I'm supposed to do something or another, my performance may be contingent on someone else doing something as well. So if the person who's contracting need to do something, you know, expense, financial consideration to someone else, because they're counting on me to do that job, I may need to compensate them for failing to do so even if my failure is sort of outside my control. But again, that sort of comes down to the terms of the contract.”

What’s the biggest mistake when it comes to business owners and contracts?

“The biggest concern that I see is not knowing their negotiating power,” says Demetrius. Although we might not all be giants like JP Morgan, we should still use our voice in order to know just how much we’re giving up in this new relationship.

What is compliance?

Demetrius sees compliance as a business decision. As the business owner, we can choose not to be compliant or to take steps in order to get it off our list. “...the decision not to remain compliant, while it has potential legal implications, can be also just a purely financial implication to you as the business owner, right.”

You can think of it this way: if it takes you $X thousands to get compliant but you only make that much, the answer to becoming compliant might be no. Business owners need to understand the risk versus reward: aka what’s really going to come back to bite us in the ass?

“One thing that's gonna bite you in the ass, if you're not compliant, is taxes,” says Demetrius. “Especially things where you're a trustee for the government for things like sales tax, or employment taxes. And the reason those are gonna bite you in the ass is because it's not your money, and the government likes to have its money, if you don't give them their money, they usually come after you for that.”

Demetrius also explains that compliance issues can also be created when someone tells on you. “So for example, and this is not an area I practice, but the law requires certain accommodations for individuals with disability, those are areas you want to make sure you're compliant. Because if you're not compliant, the cost of being non-compliant sort of outweighs any cost associated with referring meaning in compliance.” 

Oh, taxes, we all love them [insert your most sarcastic voice].

Unfortunately, taxes aren’t covered well, if at all, in schools. “So as a business owner, you have to focus not only on the personal tax side, usually, but you have to focus on ‘does my business have tax obligations? If I have employees? Do they have tax obligations that I'm responsible for? Am I in a jurisdiction state or local, that also has taxes that I need to be in compliance with? Am I shipping to other states? And now I have tax obligations to those states? Either withholding or pain or? or other nuances? Am I shipping goods overseas, and now I have potential VAT tax or other sort of obligations.’” 

“The reason I say taxes are always going to be more than than you think, is because I think most time business owners focus on just the personal taxes,” says Demetrius. 

Instead of asking yourself “what is my tax obligation at the end of the year,” ask yourself “what are the total obligations that I may have as a business owner?”

For Demetrius, the focus is on educating clients on what taxes should be focused on as a business owner. Then, taking it further to understand that it’s not just the dreaded April 15th. Your business might need to file sooner. Add to that the layer of employees and you might have another thing to think about. If you have a service or goods that are subject to sales tax, that will also go on your list. Have an e-commerce business - well, you’re list just got longer.

“Those are nuances, unfortunately, aren't things that most small business owners are well aware of. But it's something that you want to get pretty familiar with rather quickly. Because of its impact to you.”

Last tips for business owners from Demetrius.

“I think more importantly, than just sort of looking at your business from the legal lens, is looking at yourself from the lens of, of mental health,” he says. 

One of the things that Demetrius says he learned as a business owner was, that if he was under a lot of stress, he would feel his mental health slipping. These can often be behaviors that just aren’t productive. 

“I encourage other business owners to find an activity outside of work that helps, sort of releases the valve in a way that is productive.” For Demetrius, it’s running. That activity helps clear his mind and reset himself. 

Another suggestion he has to to get together with a group of people in similar positions or experiences. 

Finally, just talk about what’s going on. Whether it’s bouncing ideas around or with a mental health professional. 

About Demetrius

Demetrius spent several years working for a Fortune 25 company before transitioning into law, based on his desire to combine his understanding of business with the legal complexities. Demetrius is passionate about helping businesses navigate the nuance of tax law in order to create better outcomes. He has provided tax and business advice to businesses of all sizes from multi-national businesses, including Fortune 100 companies.

Find Demetrius on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Whether you’re getting too many unqualified responses or none at all, this one is for you.

But first, why bother with your contact forms?

Website forms help you get those warm leads into your pipeline. The people have somehow gotten onto your website and snooped around until they decided that it might be a good idea to get a hold of you. If your form is hard to use, or worse, non-existent, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be able to convert them.

Think of it this way: if you have a boutique and a potential customer walks in ready to buy, but there’s nobody to help them, they’ll likely leave.

Let’s take a look at your contact form.

1. The number of fields on your website’s form should have a purpose.

Sometimes, all you need is their basic contact information. If this is the case, keep it simple. Ask for name, email, and their inquiry. You could also ask where they heard of you since it’s helpful to know what marketing is working. 

Need to qualify a user? That’s when you add more in-depth questions, such as the number of employees or the budget. This will help A LOT when you’re getting too many people filling the form that aren’t your ideal customers.

The contact form on my website is kept around the middle ground. I ask for enough information I need before I book with you but not a crazy amount, like employee count. Keep in mind that every field has to have a purpose for you - not just because your competition is also asking it.

Bonus: I like to add a simple question that is light-hearted. Right now, I ask what the user’s favorite drink is. I added this at the end to finish in a light-hearted way and have something to connect with them about when we do hop on a call.

2. Left align your form and its contents.

This one is a simple tip. Even when it’s in the middle of a page, make sure you’re left aligning the form’s content and button. It just flows and reads easier. You can also make all fields the same width so that the right side doesn’t look ragged. 

3. Don’t ask for information that is too personal on the contact form.

I had a client once who asked for the usual contact form fields on her website: name and email. Then she started to ask for more information that felt a bit too personal for a new lead. It included the phone number and birthday. 

Because she was getting steady traffic to that page on her website, we were able to see the dip in the number of times the form was abandoned. As soon as she removed those 2 items, she saw an increase.

Depending on the industry, getting asked for your phone number still feels too personal to people.

4. Use color on your website’s form wisely.

Make sure you’re using color to emphasize the form and button. I’ve run across websites where the contact form is so light that it’s almost blending into the background. When it comes to color, you have a few options:

A. You can make the button and form field borders a bright color within your color scheme. I.e. your website’s background color is white and your form is bright red.

B. Your form fields are left dark gray but your button is red while the website’s background is white.

C. You’ve placed a color behind the form to differentiate it from the rest of the white background on the site.

5. Give the user a boost in knowing you’re the right person for the job.

When the website visitor is ready to fill out the form, such as on your contact page, make sure to have some kind of testimonial or other reassurance nearby. I like placing them either below the contact form or next to it in a smaller column. Some things you can add other than the testimonial are a map of your location (even if it’s just the city), a phone number or email (even if the contact form is right there), a short blurb about yourself, or the company tagline. Think of what can assure the user that them filling out the form will be great for their goals.

6. Where is your user going after they fill out the form on your website?

Think about it. Your dream client has been hunting online for your service, found you, stalked you online, then came to your form to connect with you. They are so excited as they fill it out. Thit the submit button and then… nothing. #letdown

The most basic thing that you can do is thank them and let them know you’ll get back to them. If you’re like me, I have a set up in Dubsado that sends an automatic greeting.

Want to take their journey one step further? Create a thank you page and automatically redirect the user to it after they’ve filled out the form.

What could you have on this thank you page?

How about a video on how you’re excited to be connecting with them and when they can expect you to get a hold of them. You could embed your online calendar to get them to book their call. You could even add a general FAQ area so that they can get some of their questions answered before you get to their form information.

Let’s say they did book with you after the thank you page. I had one client who loved their user’s journey so much that we created another thank you page for the booking phase. It would send the lead to a video where she thanked them again, acted a little goofy about how excited she was, and asked them to follow her on social media.

Contact forms on your website don’t have to be an afterthought.

These lead captures can be well thought out and used to show the user how amazing you are.

Tell me in the comments: Do you place contact forms on all of your pages?

Here’s a rundown of what you can do to avoid wasting time redoing your site, wondering what pages to create, and even what features to use. Let’s get started!

First, understand the type of website you’ll be creating.

I know what you’re thinking, “Yasmine, I already know what kind of website I want…” And I totally believe you! But let’s dive in anyway.

Are you creating an e-commerce website?

This means you’re selling products. You’re all about the abandoned cart sequences, uploading tons of products, upselling, shipping, downloadables, etc.

Is your business website going to be featuring services?

Instead of a tangible product, you’re offering to do something for people. Whether you’re a cleaning company, a life coach, or social media strategist, your website will feature your skillset.

Are you thinking of creating a blogging website?

Did you know: my ultimate dream life is to be a content creator? Just vlogging about my life on a beach? A content site doesn’t need to be just about the beach life though. If you’re all about sharing your knowledge on a blogging platform, this is for you.

Is your website for courses?

Ok, you have a skillset and you want to teach people how to do it. Whether it’s showing them how to plan out their website or cook a turkey dinner, you’re the go-to professor.

Are you creating a membership site?

You’re the person who wants a connection with others interested in the same thing. Whether it’s industry leaders, backpackers, or foodies - you want a site that’s going to have a conversation.

Hold on, I can hear the last people in the back: “I’m creating a little bit of everything, Yasmine!”

Here’s a warning: when starting out, you can’t do #allthethings on your website. I mean, you can, you’ll just either need a team or a lot of time. Instead, choose the number 1 thing you’ll be known for or start with. Is that a course that is then followed by membership? Is it a service site that will sell courses later on? Knowing what your starting point is and what the end goal will be is crucial for choosing a platform and plan of action.

For example, if you’re a business coach who knows your plan is to have a service and in 2 years a course, you could go with one particular platform or choose a simpler one then shift over in 2 years. Make sense? If not, leave a comment or contact me.

Another reason why using your website to showcase everything when starting out in business?

You need to choose the user journey and you can’t do that when there’s too much going on. The user will be overwhelmed, just like when I go into a restaurant with too many options and end up getting the same cheap thing because #thatshowiroll.

Check out your direct and indirect competition.

You know you’re constantly checking in on your competitors late at night. You KNOW you’re a business owner when you order from them to do research on their projects.

Keep a running list of your direct competitors and what they’re doing. It doesn’t matter if they’re doing it right or wrong, keep it recorded. You want to know them so well that you could pass as an employee. Write down what will make you stand apart from them.

While direct competition is scary, business owners often forget to check in on their indirect competition. I.E. you’re a personal trainer and there’s a new app in town. The app isn’t another trainer or gym but it’s still an alternative that could be solving the same problem.

Create a list of desired features.

From the list of competition or just websites you like, make a note of the features you’d like. Then, organize them into 2 categories: must-haves and wants. This could be a chat feature, pop-ups, GIFs, etc. Take screenshots and keep links. You’ll need to know these to choose your platform. 

Keep a list of what you LOVE.

Have you heard of a thing called Pinterest? It’s my worse time-suck. I just like to pretend that I’ll cook all those gorgeous meals or make crafts with my kids when in reality it’s scrambled eggs and yelling at them about legos on the floor. But I digress.

Keep a board of things you believe represent your website’s brand and style. This could be tattoos, graphics, photos, beach scenes, anything. If you’d put it on a wall in your office, it’ll fit your brand. Then go ahead and add website screenshots from Pinterest that you love. 

With each pin, make sure that you’re thinking about what it is that drew you in. Was the only reason you chose the beach scene because of the blue in the water? This will help when creating your brand and website.

Create a navigation hierarchy for your website.

Creating a ladder of what pages are the most important is crucial to planning. Keep in mind though, these are pages that are important to your audience, NOT you. Why? You want to keep their goals in mind and help them become the center. For example, if you know your audience is coming to your water bottle e-commerce website, don’t bombard them with photos of your kids and help them get to their product asap.

Basic navigation hierarchy on an e-commerce website.

On this type of site, the goal is to get the person from point A to checkout. This means that your menu items at the top of the website should direct them to the categories on your website rather than forcing them to a SHOP tab that drops down. Worse if that dropdown has more than 4 options! #overwhelm

Instead, write out your top 5 categories. If you’re a woman’s clothing store, that will be something like: Tops, Bottoms, Dresses, Accessories, Sale with the most important money-making category towards the left (we read left to right, remember). Then, try a mega menu to support in making drop-downs feel less overwhelming. I.E. Under dresses, you could have Maxi-dresses, Prom, Summer Dresses, or The Red Collection.

Have an About, FAQ, or Contact pages? Perfect! Place them towards the bottom. The only exception is the Location or Contact page when you have an in-store pickup. People will want to know where they’re picking up.

Navigation on a service-based site.

Keep it simple. Choose your most important thing - the one thing people need to click on to hire you and place that to the left of the navigation bar. Keep in mind that the most important page depends on your business style. This page could be your about page or a services page. Check your analytics to be sure what people visit more. 

Your service-based site navigation could look something like this: About, Services, Blog, Contact

Why is contact at the end? Because that’s where people are used to seeing it and because you should have forms on your service page anyway.

Have multiple services? Choose your money-makers and give them their own pages.

Website menu ideas for bloggers.

If you’re blogging, combine the two above. Add your top categories then follow with the About and Contact pages. If you’re actively seeking media opportunities, place that page up at the top navigation as well. All other pages can be linked to at the bottom.

Pages needed for all sites.

Before this step is complete, make sure to write all the other pages you’ll need. This can be legal such as Privacy Policies or just an FAQ page. An example of some are Careers, Terms and Conditions, Meet The Team, Media, PR, Manifesto, Client Log-In, Social Media links (like Linktree but on your site), landing page for your freebie, Resources, Testimonials, and Portfolio. Again, not all will go on the top navigation. Rather, these would be placed on dropdowns or the footer.

Now create a page hierarchy for your website.

After you’ve written out your pages, you’ll want to take the most important ones and wire frame them. Don’t. Freak. Out. You can just sketch out the page on a napkin or scrap paper. It’s so that you know where things are located. You also don’t need to worry about it being set in stone. You can shift things around. This is just a quick and dirty way of getting your idea down before it leaves your head.

When doing this, keep in mind the journey you want website visitors to take. If you’re building up an email list (which you should be doing), you’ll insert more CTAs, aka calls-to-actions, aka buttons/links on a page.

A few notes:

The home page is a summary of all your awesome-ness. Sprinkle all the glitter you can.

Your about page is not about you or a resume. It’s about how your skills can make my life better or why your passion should matter to me. Unless you’re literally making a resume site, then place a downloadable resume, and STILL don’t just place a resume on the site.

Your service page(s) should only focus on getting me to contact you. Don’t insert buttons to read your bio or hop on a freebie.

Planning is the most crucial part of building a website because you don’t want to be recreating it over and over again. To get help, check out my free planning course or hit me up with your questions. 

Have you been stalking Squarespace to see if it’s the right website platform for you?

We’ve all been there, in the undecided phase. You know, the one where you watch 20 videos just to see if they help you make a choice for your business?

Well, here’s another one for you.

Here are the pros and cons of a Squarespace website from a site designer.

The Learning Curve

Here’s the feedback that I’ve gotten from training people to use multiple platforms: Squarespace just seems easier to understand how to get the site to do what it needs to do. Don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of ugly Squarespace sites, but they do the job.

The typical clients that veer into Squarespace include coaches, personal trainers, bloggers, co-working spaces, etc. Did you hear any tech-focused people in there? No.

Tech isn’t their jam, and it doesn’t ever have to be. If you’re not at all tech-savvy and you’re not willing or able to pay for a tech-savvy person to check in on your site, Squarespace might be your best option. 

With WordPress, a lot of my clients get flustered with the admin panel because there's a lot of things going on, they also have to make sure that plugins/themes/PHP/WordPress Core are updated. And, that could be a lot for them. Other clients know the tech but don’t have the time to deal with it but additionally can only afford a VA. Perfect. A Squarespace website will be easier for your new assistant to manage.

Great Customer Service

I’ve never had a bad customer experience with Squarespace yet (unlike a hosting company that starts with a “G”). I LOVE being able to just have a chat window open and following instructions or emailing if it’s not something crucial.

The one thing I recently realized though: they don’t have a phone number and I ran across a client who wanted a company with a place to call. It was her website platform deal-breaker so we went with Bluehost.

Otherwise, they’re actually pretty great, polite, and help you get to your answer.

Everything Is Integrated On Their Website (Mostly)

Because Squarespace hosts and creates the bones of your website, that means that all their elements work well together. All the developers that work for Squarespace will create within their guidelines. From forms to video embeds, you won’t get an error message due to one not functioning well with the other.

With WordPress on the other hand, I’ve run across issues. I’ve wanted an email capture, then gotten more spam, requiring a plugin (aka add-on) for that, then if something breaks down I get to figure out what happened. WordPress plugins, such as email capture, sometimes don’t work well together. One could be fine with the WordPress core code update while another might break.

As a developer, I don’t mind this but if you’re not into testing new simple plugins each time, you might want to stick with Squarespace.

Leveled Up Their Website SEO

Ok, here’s something that I knew about Squarespace websites for a while: it used to suck at SEO but I guess they heard people talking.

They’ve been leveling up their SEO to a point where I don’t think it’s about the tech anymore - it’s about your content. WordPress still seems to be a bit better but if your content sucks, no CMS system is going to help you.

Squarespace Provides An E-Commerce Option

Now, I will say this is a gray area on whether it falls under pro or con. Maybe it’s an “eh.”

The nice thing is the Squarespace makes it easier to get set up to sell on their site. It’s a tad bit less complicated than the other platforms and pleasing if you’re planning on also offering services.

The negatives?

The Squarespace e-commerce option is more for those folks selling unique, luxury, or custom pieces (although Shopify can do this too). If you want a full-on e-commerce website, go with either WordPress or Shopify.

Have more than 100 products? I’d say go with another platform.

Want all the cool bells and whistles you can do with an e-commerce website? Change to another platform. 

Just selling your one-of-a-kind macrame products? Squarespace should be sufficient. Selling a downloadable product or event? Squarespace is good for you.

Page Speed On Squarespace Sometimes Lags

The Squarespace website platform seems to be a little bit behind the ball when it comes to page speed. There are a few things you can do to ensure that it’s still working smoothly - and these apply to any platform: reducing the size of images, using something like ImageOptim, and keeping an eye on how many “features” or the movement on your site. Sometimes, cool things can slow down your site.

Member Areas Were Kind Of A Let Down For Me Personally.

I tested out the Member Areas recently launched by Squarespace and didn’t love it. Although it's great for locked content, lightweight courses, and I do have my own free course on it (#shamelessplu) it’s a little bit lightweight for a true course. 

Depending on your goals, you might want to switch because you’ll need a hosting platform for your videos, don’t have a true member forum, and the content needs to be adjusted in certain ways. 

You Can’t Just Transfer Your Website To Another Hosting Company. 

This is the biggest issue. Keep in mind that no matter what platform you build your site on, such as Wordpress, it’s hard or impossible to just “switch it” to something else like Shopify. 

The nice thing about WordPress, is that you can transfer the actual site to many different hosting platforms, such as Bluehost. 

When is it really a problem though?

Let’s say you’ve built out your website on Squarespace and you now want to add a membership forum. Currently, that’s not possible and you’d need to use something like Slack. With WordPress, you’d build it out on your own site. Although it’ll require a bit more maintenance, this latter option gives you control over what everything looks like.

These changes to a website are typically fine because businesses shift and websites need a refresh at least once a year. The problem comes in when you’ve only had your site for about 3 months. Having to redo your website because we didn’t think through what the business goals were, really, really sucks. 

So is this website platform for you?

The Squarespace website platform is for you if you are a service provider, e-commerce, and blogger. Just know that the company is a generalist. So it comes down to your business and marketing goals.

Bonus Tip: Take on as many free trials so that you can see if the admin area is up to the tasks you need to give it. For example, if you pay for hosting of 3 years for a WordPress website then realize 3 months in that you hate it, that’ll be a tough financial pill to take. 

Squarespace is essentially for people who don’t want to take a look under the hood of the car or do any true custom code work while WordPress is for those grease monkeys (code monkeys?) that want to control the site and look under the hood.

Tell me in the comments: What type of website do you hope to build?