Your Website Curb Appeal
I want you to take a minute and think about how you feel when you pull up to a home you’ve never been to. Maybe you’re house hunting, or it’s the first time you’re visiting a new friend at their home.
You’ll probably notice things like if there’s a clear path to the door. Are you overwhelmed by too many steps or can you get there easily? Is it well lit, and can you glance in the window to get an idea what it might be like inside? Do you like the color palette of the foliage and the front door, or is it over-stimulating? Do you have to wait a while after you ring the bell, wondering if you came to the right place?
The answers to these questions will determine whether you feel welcome, relaxed, and curious to go further inside, or uncomfortable and turned off by a lack of consistent energy and connection.
Your website Home page is no different.
Your Home Page
This page should represent who you are, what you do, and how you work that magic. You want the statement in the top section to be inspiring, and then a little bit more information about that statement that makes the reader curious enough to step inside.
It’s like walking through the door of that house, and considering whether you want to take your coat off and stay a while. If the host is welcoming, the house is warm and there’s a clear open seat for you to to get comfortable while the host gets you a cup of tea, you’re going to be more open to investing time in getting to know them.
If not you’ll be polite and brief, and move on.
When it comes to your website if your visitor decides to keep scrolling, here are some things your Home page should offer.
Calls To Action/CTAs – two or three along the way as the reader scrolls through. There should be an immediate CTA at the top in case your guest trusts their intuition or has been to the site before and is ready to dive right in.
An About You introduction – brief and engaging, enough so that the reader will click through to read more on…
Your About Page
This is where they learn more about you and how that helps you to help them. It’s an opportunity to connect by showcasing relatable experiences and your perspective about your work and how that can help your ideal clients.
It’s tempting to go formal here with a resume style description, but come on – is that really what you’re looking for on someone else’s website? I understand that in some cases the details of your education, degrees and certificates are some of the first things your visitor might be interested in. Then I suggest they come after you say something personal, in a brief paragraph closer to the bottom. When you’re an entrepreneur, people want to hear about you as an individual human and the experience you’ve gathered on your journey. They want to in some way see themselves in you.
Now you have the opportunity to invite them to the table with an offering, like a free handout or webinar in exchange for their address, the option to join your value-packed Facebook group, or maybe even an enticing lower cost offer. In our curb appeal scenario, this is similar to your visitor accepting your invitation to sit down, stay a while, and maybe “break bread” with you at your table.
The Home page should also have a summary of your services, and a sentence or two about the problems you solve with those services. And of course, a CTA button that leads them to…
Your Services Page
Aka “the place clients go to convert”. The Services to me are like the dessert back at that house we were talking about. You might sit and chat over tea, and get comfortable enough to stay for dinner, but dessert-like investing in an expert’s Services or Offers – is the optional part.
This is where your visitors decide if they will complete their visit by taking the next step to work with you. Based on a number of things, including:
Their impression so far
What their investment will be
Clear descriptions of your offers and what they will get
I personally love dessert, but I expect it to be fresh, homemade, and compatible with my taste. Otherwise, I’m a little like Goldilocks – willing to hold off and wait until I find the dessert that’s just right.
Although I highly encourage you to use your unique voice on the Home and About pages, the Services page requires more of a balance, so a little less of the “feelings” stuff and more straightforward, detailed copywriting. If you confuse or overwhelm your guest here, they won’t stay. You need to simply explain your services, how they work, what the client gets, and how they can pay and get started.
Potential clients choose where to spend their time on websites, and that time is limited. If you want some guidance on making your site visitors comfortable and willing to invest in a business relationship with you, let’s chat.
Shout out to JayMantri from Pixabay for the awesome image above.