Establish Your Website's Goals

In this first module, you'll clarify your business goals for your website and determine the type of site you need.

The Need for a Website

With so many other online platforms out there, do you really need your own website any longer? For example, a small start-up business could get away with just a sales page or a social media group initially.

But having a Facebook Page or Instagram account doesn't replace a website if you're a serious business.

Professional-looking websites are now totally within reach of small business owners.

The Pros and Cons of Websites

While anyone can build their own website with all the tools available today, it doesn’t mean having a website comes without any headaches. There are still some pros and cons to consider. Here are a few examples:

PROS

Websites are cost-effective compared to traditional forms of marketing and advertising.
They are your 'home on the web,' giving you a solid online presence.
You keep control of your brand with your domain name. No one can take down your site except you.
They allow you to reach a larger audience.
They can be updated with new content and changed as needed, allowing you to evolve and grow your online presence.

CONS

Building and maintaining a website can be costly, especially if you hire a professional web developer or designer.
Creating and updating a website requires a significant time commitment.
Websites can experience technical issues such as downtime, slow loading times, and broken links that lead to poor user experience.
It can be challenging to stand out from the competition and attract visitors to your site among all the other websites. Despite these potential drawbacks, a website is possibly the most valuable asset for your business.

Your Website's Purpose

There are many reasons for wanting a website, for example:

Develop an established presence online to make it easy for people to find information about you and your business.
Boost your brand's credibility and demonstrate your professionalism and trustworthiness.
Promote your products or services to your target audience.
Generate revenue by selling your products and services to customers worldwide.
Build relationships with leads and customers by providing helpful information and engaging with them directly (e.g., through live messenger and chatbots). Before going into detail, decide what your primary reason is for having a website. It could be one of the examples above, or it may be something else, but you should have one overarching purpose in mind. Be clear on that before you go any further with drilling down on specific goals.

Turn Your Purpose into a Measurable Goal

While your essential purpose is an excellent reason to have a website, the purpose won't drive your visitors to do anything specific. This is why you need to turn the purpose into a concrete goal.

Your goal is what you want your visitors to do when they visit your site. For example, make a purchase, sign up for a lead magnet, or contact you for more information.

More Than One Goal

You might have several goals for your website because you know that not every visitor will be at the same stage of their purchasing journey.

For example, you are a bookkeeper whose website aims to attract business from your local community. But you know that some people will visit your site because they're curious, while others want to see your services or book a call. Some people may be ready to hire a bookkeeper and are ready to sign up for the right person immediately.

Your goals could be to:

Showcase your different bookkeeping service packages
Have people sign up for a free consultation
Generate leads for future follow-up Don't try to have too many goals or you won't be able to achieve any of them effectively. If you have more than one, stick to two or three as the maximum.

How to Write a Website Goal

Your goal should be clear, specific, and measurable so you can track your progress.

For example, instead of saying, "I want to increase website traffic," a more specific goal would be, "I want to increase website traffic by 50% over the next six months."

Here are some examples of specific, measurable goals for a new website that stem from an overall purpose:

Purpose = Make sales
Goal = Recruit 100 clients to the XX Mastermind Program within the first 6 months of the site's launch
Purpose = Become known on social media Goal = Attract 500 followers per month on each of the Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter platforms within the first 6 months
Purpose = Generate leads Goal = Have 100 people complete the online quiz every month

Remember, your website's goal should align with your overall business objectives and help you achieve your desired outcomes.

The Type of Website You Need

We've established that every business needs its own 'home on the web,' which includes a website and unique domain name.

Now that you've identified the specific goals, you can decide what type of website will give you the desired outcome.

Think about the type of site you want to have, for example:

Blogging website where you provide regular content on a particular topic or niche.
Mini-site for a side project to generate extra revenue, like an affiliate or membership site. Or it can focus on part of your offerings, such as your design portfolio or service as a speaker.
Single-function websites like an eCommerce site that operates as an online shop like Shopify, Squarespace, or WooCommerce. This will work well for you if you have an online retail business.
There are other types of single-purpose sites. For example, a training platform like Teachable, Thinkific, or Kajabi from which you offer courses.
These platforms give you space to set up your profile, customize your branding, and could be your 'home on the web.' But only if you want to restrict your business to one activity or if you're happy to set up another site later when you diversify.
Multi-function site, which is a website that combines information on products and services, shopping carts, resource centers, and blogs. This site is the most common type and the focus of your work in this course. It allows you to showcase the broadest extent of your offers while engaging visitors and attracting revenue.

Remember:

With your new website, you're creating your 'home on the web'.
Your website goal should be clear, specific, and measurable.

Action Steps:

Identify the overall purpose of your website.
Write down your website goal(s).
Circle the most important ones (maximum three).
Turn those into specific, measurable website goals.
Decide on the type of site that will best fit your business goals.