047: Using Your Website to Get Clients

Get Back To Design: Design Business | Designer | Creative Business

One of the most asked questions we see is how to get more clients. We totally get it, too. It can be difficult to consistently attract new clients and get yourself booked out. Your marketing could be amazing, but if there’s still something holding your potential clients back from booking, it might be your website.

We discussed website mistakes that could be costing your clients in episode 016, and today we wanted to build on that episode a bit more. This week we’re going to talk about how you can make sure your website is helping you get clients. We’ll break down 5 specific pages you need on your site and share what we think you should have on those pages.

Subscribe on iTunes

Home

The first thing that people see when they visit your website for the first time is often your Home page, and because of that it’s incredibly important to make sure you’re making the right impression. You want to make sure you’re being informative and building trust. The first way to do that is to include a tagline or mission statement right near the top of the page. Answer the questions “what do you do?” and “who do you do it for?” Make it obvious right away so someone knows immediately if they’ve found someone who can help them.

You also want to include strategic calls-to-action. Don’t just hope that potential clients will visit the right pages to get to know you more and learn about your expertise. Instead, include strategic links to your About, Blog, and Portfolio pages. However, remember that it’s a little too early to include a link to your services page, so consider leaving that one to your menu bar.

Last but not least, make sure you show off your headshot. This is a really great way to start building trust with potential clients. When you’re picking out a photo, make sure it’s lit well and that you look friendly and approachable.

About

For first time visitors, the About page is typically the second page they’ll look at regardless of what they saw first. Kory here! On this page, I generally feel a lot differently than most other people about this one. Most people say this page should be about your clients and what they’re coming to you for. To some extent I agree; however, this page should also be about you. You don’t have to share your entire life story, but share enough that will give people a chance to start to feel connected with you. After all, if I don’t feel a connection with someone, I’m a lot less likely to end up hiring them.

If you’re feeling stuck when it comes to writing this page, consider including the following information:

• More details about what you do
• Who you help and how exactly you help them (include details of about strategy if you’re a web designer)
• Who you are
• Calls-to-action to your blog posts and portfolio

Something else I want to mention about this page is that you definitely want to write it in first person. It’s weird to read about someone when they’re writing in third person. It’s also good to keep in mind if you’re a business of 1, it’s okay to use singular pronouns instead of “we” or “us”.

Services

Obviously you need to have a page on your site to share more about what you do. It’s important on this page to not just share a list of services and prices but to also talk about the benefits of working with you. People already generally know what a designer does, but why should they work with you out of all of the designers they could pick from?

When you’re listing your packages, be clear on what’s included. I know some designers like to include cute names for their packages, and if you want to do that, that’s okay, but make sure your potential clients still know what they’re going to be getting. This isn’t the time to dream up a new name for a logo.

In addition to that, be sure to mention if there’s anything unique about your process that you do. We talked to Jamie about her 1 logo option for branding back in episode 35, and if you do something like that, you definitely want to make sure you’re mentioning it as well.

Portfolio

We’ve talked about what to show off in your portfolio in several other episodes, but the key is to actually show off your work and the project details. We’ve seen a lot of designers just share little screenshots in their portfolio and nothing else. Unfortunately, that’s not enough. Just think about it: how would a potential client know what you did for that project?

When adding work to your portfolio, make sure you’re adding work that represents what you want to be doing more of, which we talked about in episode 22. The general idea of that episode is that you want to show off work you enjoyed the most and would want more of. It’s all about quality over quantity. Be sure to include details of what you did, especially if you did anything fancy or tried something new. As long as the design is live somewhere online, definitely include a link so people can go and get a further look at what you’ve done.

Contact

When leading potential clients to inquire with you, obviously your contact page really matters. A lot of people, designers included, leave their contact form to three fields: name, email, and message. There’s no way you’re getting enough information from potential clients with those, and that’s going to lead to a lot of back and forth emails. Instead, include specific questions or a special intake form for potential clients. Both of us have a special contact form for inquiries and we include questions like:

• What they need done
• Budget
• Deadline
• Goal with their brand / website
• Aesthetics they like
• About their business

You can see an example of my form here. It may seem like a lot, but if you ask for as many details as possible up front, you’ll have less back and forth before you can send over a quote to your leads.

Blog

A bonus page for your website is a blog. Not everyone is into blogging, but it’s a great way to use content marketing to book more clients. It’s also a good idea to have a blog because it’s a platform that you’ll always be in control of, unlike social media platforms. However, this page isn’t required, which is why I’m making this a bonus for you.

You don’t just want to blog about anything though. When you’re planning your content, be sure that you’re sharing things that show off your knowledge and expertise. It’s also a great idea to show off your work. This continues to remind your audience of what you do, and it’s a great way to share more in depth about your projects.

Action Steps

• Go through the show notes and your website at the same time and make notes of things that you can improve
• Set aside time in the next couple of months to make any necessary changes based on what we talked about in this episode

Tweet That

[clickToTweet tweet=”People are landing on your site and they already know you’re a designer, so make sure your tagline on your website is more specific – Kory” quote=”People are landing on your site and they already know you’re a designer, so make sure your tagline on your website is more specific – Kory”]

[clickToTweet tweet=”I would never hire someone without feeling some kind of personal connection. – Krista” quote=”I would never hire someone without feeling some kind of personal connection. – Krista”]

The post 047: Using Your Website to Get Clients appeared first on Get Back To Design.