1

Inbound Marketing Website How To Design One

IntroductionWhen it comes to inbound marketing, your website

design is crucial to achieving your lead generation

and conversion goals. Inbound design is simple,

intuitive, and has clear next steps for the visitor. By

designing your website around these inbound

principles and using features that keep your

inbound marketing goals in mind, your company

can create a killer website that is bound to boost

your results.

2

How Your Website Fits into Your Inbound Marketing EffortsThough your website may not always be the first point of contact for your leads and

customers, it is still at the center of all your inbound marketing efforts. Each inbound channel

feeds into your site, making it an important part of the conversion process. Though leads may

first take notice of your brand on social media or through a gated content offer, they will

eventually land on your site where they will need to be guided through the marketing funnel

that turns visitors into leads and leads into customers.

It is vital that your website is designed for this inbound process. Not only should your website

be designed with your target audience in mind, but it should be organized in a way that helps

customers understand which products or services are right for them and what their next steps

should be. Ultimately, great design also inspires visitors to share your site and brand with

others, allowing you to increase your reach within your target market.

3

What Does Strong Inbound Website Design Look Like?Though a site that’s visually appealing can certainly go a long way in attracting new customers

to your brand, you will need to go beyond just developing an attractive website if you want to

ensure that your site supports your inbound efforts. Below are just a few features of website

design that keep the inbound marketing process at the forefront.

4

Built Around Buyer PersonasOne of the most important tools in your inbound marketing toolkit is the buyer persona. These

customer profiles help you better understand your ideal buyers, and help you make more

strategic decisions when developing marketing content. Whether you have one group of target

customers or three, it’s important to ensure that your website content resonates with these

buyer personas.

Start with your homepage. Not only should the content on your homepage speak to your ideal

customers, but it should also have a clear path for each persona to move to the next step. For

instance, let’s say that your company offers services to both individual consumers and small

business owners. Your homepage should make it simple for consumers and business owners to

better understand where they need to go next on your website. In this case, you might have

two different CTA buttons, one which leads to consumer services and one which leads to your

business service page. Clearly defining the next step for the visitor helps you ensure that they

are getting the information they need and taking the best next step based on where they are in

the buyer’s journey.

5

6

After you’ve designed a homepage that provides a clear path for your target consumers, you

will need to focus on creating compelling and informative content that speaks to your target

customers’ greatest needs and challenges. With the buyer personas in mind, develop content

that resonates with this audience. If your audience prefers shorter content full of real-life

examples, then that’s what you’ll want to focus on. If they prefer video content then you’ll want

to keep that in mind while developing and implementing your content strategy.

Developed with the Conversion Funnel in MindPart of what makes inbound marketing so successful is that it focuses on attracting and

nurturing potential customers at the top, middle, and bottom of the conversion funnel. The

ultimate goal of your website design is to drive conversions. With that in mind, you should

develop your website content with a focus on Top of the Funnel (TOFU), Middle of the Funnel

(MOFU), and Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) content.

Let’s start with TOFU. At the top of the funnel, consumers want to solve a problem or meet a

need, so they look for information that can help them find the best solution. Most people start

their buying journey online, so creating keyword-rich blog content can help you reach these

consumers who are just starting to search for topics related to your products or services. This

TOFU blog content should address the questions that top of funnel consumers tend to ask.

7

Once you’ve gotten the attention of potential consumers, you now need to create content that

will help you qualify these prospects and eventually influence a conversion. This is where

MOFU content comes in. Middle of the funnel prospects have already started to research

solutions to their problem or need, and now they are looking to determine which solution is

the best. While TOFU content is aimed at educating buyers about potential solutions to their

problems, MOFU content shows why your brand specifically is the best choice. Use more

detailed and in depth content like e-books and case studies to appeal to consumers at this

stage, and make sure to capture lead information by asking visitors to fill out a lead form

before they can access the content.

Finally, bottom of the funnel prospects are ready to buy. Include offers like free trials and

assessments on your website in order to attract BOFU consumers. Remember, though your

ultimate goal is conversion, most of your site visitors will not be ready to purchase yet, so you

will need to include TOFU and MOFU content in addition to these BOFU offers

8

9

Offering content at every stage of the buying cycle ensures that your site’s visitors always have something compelling them forward.

Designed with Personalized FeaturesPersonalization goes a long way when it comes to conversion. By delivering the right message

to the right visitor at the right time, you can better influence their purchasing decision. There

are many advanced features and tools at your disposal to help ensure that your site serves

visitors more customized content. One of these features is Hubspot’s Smart CTAs. This tool

helps you serve dynamic content to website visitors by allowing you to display a different CTA

to each visitor based on criteria that you decide on ahead of time. Not only does this help you

improve the visitor’s website experience, but it can also help you improve conversion rates by

delivering the type of content that will resonate most with each visitor. For instance, a person

visiting your site for the first time is more likely to be interested in an e-book than a free trial.

With Smart CTAs, you can make sure that first-time visitors are getting the content they need,

while those ready to buy are being guided in the right direction.

Another helpful personalization web design tool is the smart overlay, like Unbounce’s

Convertables or Hupspot’s Leadflows. Though the basic premise is the same as a pop-up, these

features allow you to create a more tailored experience for your visitor which is in line with

your inbound marketing goals. With these targeted overlays, you can serve the most relevant

offers to your audience based on a number of different criteria.

10

11

Pop-up CTAs can now appear after a certain length of time or other conditions, meaning they only appear to engaged visitors.

Includes Clear Calls-to-Action on Every PageIf you want to drive conversions then you need to tell your website visitors what to do next.

Rather than leaving them up to their own devices, you should guide them to the next step with

a compelling call-to-action (CTA). Whether this is a button or link, the CTA should be clear and

specific so that there is no question what you want consumers to do next. In addition, you

should make sure that the CTA aligns with the content in terms of which persona the content is

written for and where they are in the funnel.

The exact CTA will depend on what type of content you are creating. For BOFU content, you

might say, “click here to learn more” and guide readers to a page that provides a more detailed

exploration of potential solutions to their challenge or need. While MOFU CTAs may

encourage them to explore more information about your company. For those who are ready to

buy, you may use a CTA like, “Sign up for your free trial now".

12

Uses Social Proof Where ApplicableYet another way that you can ensure that your site is designed with the inbound experience in

mind is providing social proof where you can. Many consumers respond best to actual data,

and one way that you can use data to show your brand value is through case studies. With case

studies, you are able to tell the story of how a consumer came to your brand, how your brand

solved their challenges, and how they prospered as a result of this partnership. When you use

data to back up these customer successes, you have a recipe for success.

Testimonies are also a powerful tool for influencing purchasing decisions. Ask some of your

best customers for a testimonial that you can share on your site. Whether this is a simple

quote or a video, the words of your actual customers can go a long way in showing prospects

what your brand has to offer. If your testimonials are in text format, try to include an image of

the customer as putting a face to the name helps build the credibility and impact of the

statement.

13

14

Social proof such as testemonials are great way of showing potential customers that you mean business.

15

ConclusionA website designed with your inbound marketing in mind is never really finished. You need to

constantly A/B test, analyze, and refine your content and site design on a regular basis.

Managing this ongoing process can be difficult, especially for companies that have a lot of

other things on their plate. That’s why it is often a good idea to partner with an agency who can

manage this for you. An inbound marketing agency knows what it takes to build and manage a

site that is aimed at achieving your inbound goals, and they can dedicate the time necessary to

doing it right.

SevenAtoms is a San Francisco based inbound marketing company that helps businesses market their products and services online to achieve tangible,

bottom-line results. We have a passion for inbound marketing and love helping our clients grow their brand and create sustainable lead generation sources.

Our expertise extends to SEO, PPC, social media, and content marketing, and we are especially adept at integrating these channels so that they work

together to drive maximum performance.

Request a Free Consultation

Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn