Perfect Website Checklist

HOW TO CREATE THE PERFECT WEBSITE

A GUIDE

In our experience, many businesses struggle to market

themselves on the web. Fortune 500s, non-profits,

entrepreneurs, and mom bloggers alike all have areas in which

they struggle. The number one piece of advice we can give to

create the perfect website with any budget is to improve the

clarity of your message.

People buy what they understand. Think about this in your own

life. As a consumer, do you buy the food you understand on a

menu or the food you don’t understand? What about shopping?

What about books, or clothes, or new technology? If you have to

read something over and over or ask a ton of questions to

understand what it is, you likely won’t buy it.

On your website, you have seven seconds to capture your

audience. That’s not much time. To create the perfect website,

you must clearly tell people what you offer, why it’s better, and

how to get it. That seems like a lot to tell someone in seven

seconds, so how can you accomplish that?

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HOMEPAGE MARKETING MESSAGEFirst, you should write your marketing messages at a second-grade

level. No matter how complicated your business is, your marketing

messages need to be understood by the average Joe. Save the nitty

gritty details and technical language for content further down the

pipeline, when you know a visitor is deeper in the sales cycle.

SELECTING IMAGESNext, your visuals and page layout should match your simple, clear

messaging. If you have the proper messaging, that message will be

short and to the point. Visually, the user should not be overwhelmed

from your homepage. To create the perfect website, you should select

photography or graphics that complement what you are saying –

whether that’s a product shot, lifestyle image showing the benefit of

your business, or even a video loop. Just make sure it accurately

represents what you are selling or offering.

PERFECT WEBSITE EXAMPLESLet’s take a look at some examples. Ask yourself, do these three

websites meet the seven-second rule? Can you answer what they

offer? Why it’s better? And see how to buy it?

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The Nest website is a great example of a clear homepage. In just a few

words between a headline and subhead, plus a button asking you to

take action, you know that Nest is selling a thermostat that helps you

save money, energy, and you can easily click “buy” to learn more and

make the purchase. The imagery is simple – product shots showing the

different colors and screens available on the thermostat.

NEST.com

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Evernote knows how to create the perfect website. Evernote is a tool

that many of our team members, and probably yours, use. The

homepage messaging tells you the benefit of Evernote – remembering

everything. Who doesn’t want that? The messaging is customer-

focused. It tells what YOU can do with Evernote rather than bragging

about the product. The action to sign up couldn’t be easier. Simply

enter your email, password and click the “sign up for free” button.

EVERNOTE.com

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And finally, we believe in practicing what we preach, so let’s take a look at

SafeSchools, a website that our team built in partnership with our client,

Scenario Learning. Once again, the hero messaging is simple and focuses on

what the customer can do – make your district even safer with our award-

winning K-12 safety and compliance solutions. The clear call-to-action is a “free

trial,” which is in the hero space and also the top navigation. If someone isn’t

quite ready for the free trial, they are able to watch training videos, review the

course library, read success stories, and opt-in to a safety tips email list. Giving

away helpful information for free is beneficial because it allows the target

audience to learn more about your expertise. Some customers will need time to

decide, so help them do their homework and build confidence in your products.

SAFESCHOOLS.com

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Make your message clear

Define the user’s problem

Pick the right images

Use a visible call-to-action

Offer something for free

Add a compelling video

Include quick testimonials

Invite them to opt-in with their email address

Now that you know how to create the perfect website, the best way to

find out if your message is resonating is user testing! Embrace the “test

and learn” method and conduct A/B tests on your website to continually

optimize and grow your customer base.