Is Your Website Paying for Itself?

July 01 2019

By Steven Reichenberg

It's an honest question. You put in the time to build your website, or you paid someone to make your website for you, you pay your monthly hosting fees, and maybe you run the occasional Google or Facebook Ad to promote your website. So why isn't your website returning leads for your business?

You can try answering this question by Googling "why doesn't my website get leads," and you'll see there are multiple business advertising that they can help you get 100 or 200 or more leads right now. The catch is, you have to pay for them. If you scroll further, past the ads, you'll see similar articles are trying answering this question with:

You don't have a clear "Call to Action."
Your website doesn't funnel visitors.
You aren't blogging.
Not enough Social Media presence.
Your website doesn't use Landing Pages.

All of these are things you need to be doing. They all help and make a real difference, but they are probably not the practical solution to your problem, because the problem starts much earlier on.

What's The Real Answer?

Your website isn't working because it wasn't built to support your marketing plan.

High volume website platforms don't help you build your marketing plan. Moreover, the truth is, they aren't going to turn you away just because you don't have a marketing plan. They are going to help you build your website, whether or not you know how or if it's going to help you in the long run.

In an ideal world, before you even think about building a website, you need to put together a complete and detailed marketing plan. Then, when you do make your website, you build it to support your marketing plan.

How Does Your Website Work With a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan is a detailed document that includes your business goals, identifies your ideal clients, and outlines a marketing strategy to help you reach your ideal clients.

Typically, the "reaching your ideal clients" step includes a combination of Print and Digital Marketing, both of which often lead prospective clients back to your website to convert them into active clients.

If your ideal client is a high earner at Facebook, Google, or Uber and you plan to reach them through LinkedIn, hosting local events, and networking within those companies, you need a website that helps you do that. Marketing on LinkedIn means you need a robust blog on your website. Hosting local events means you need to be able to host event information and registration forms on your website, and networking with those companies means you need a website that screams technologically advanced.

Alternatively, if your ideal client is a couple who are looking to relocate and retire, you need a completely different plan to reach them, and your website needs to show that you can meet their needs.

With those examples in mind, I'm sure you can see why it's a problem to build a generic website and then try to adapt it to your marketing plan after the fact, rather than just building it right the first time around.

What can you do?

If you're not sure how to build a marketing plan or you already have one and are not sure how to implement the online portion of it, talk with a website professional who understands your industry. Have them look over your marketing plan, and ask them how a website could be built to support your plan. Also, never be afraid to get a second opinion.

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