How to Plan a Successful Website Strategy in 5 Simple Steps

March 28th 2022 | By Steve Grant

If you’re planning to get your business online, you’ll be looking at getting yourself a website. But before you do that, there are a few steps you’ll need to cover if you want the site to compete, deliver results and help you grow your sales. There’s a lot more to online success than simply designing and launching a website. Read on as we take you through five simple steps to create the ultimate website strategy.

1. Set objectives

If you don’t set objectives and get clear on what you want to achieve from your website, you’ll have no real direction when it comes to designing it.

Typical goals for a website include:

• Generating leads – perhaps via free trial and mailing list sign-ups and enquiry forms
• Generating sales – either directly through an eCommerce website, or by attracting visitors to a physical store
• Boosting brand recognition – using your website as a showcase for your work
• Enhancing reputation – using the site as a portal to produce and share thought leading content and resources

Your objectives should directly influence the type of website you go for, its content and its structure.

For example, if you want to generate leads or sales, you’ll need a website that’s structured for search engine optimisation so that you have the best possible chance of being found online for the keywords that define your offering.

If you are looking to enhance reputation, your website strategy should involve highlighting the likes of testimonials, results and impact statements. And include space for plenty of resource downloads.

2. Define your USPs and proposition

The web is a crowded marketplace, and there are no doubt countless competitors vying for the search engine top spots and targeting your audience. This is precisely why it’s vital that you take time to define your unique selling point and proposition, so that you can build a website that sees you standing out. No website strategy will ever cross the line without completing this step.

You’re going to need to really think about what you can offer that others don’t. How is your offering different to that of your competitors? How can you fill a gap in the market? What problems are out there waiting to be solved that you can target with your products or services?

Once you have differentiated your business, set out your key messages. These are the main points that you want your audience to hear, understand and absorb. They should be bitesize summaries that reflect your company values, and articulate what you do, why you do it, how you are different, and what value you offer.

Be sure to qualify your key messages by explaining how they translate into benefits for your audience, rather than just leaving them as empty statements.

3. Set up your website

There are various approaches here, and the one you choose will be dictated by your budget and your objectives.

Whatever you do, ensure your website is built on the latest technology so that it doesn’t fall out of date quickly and leave you with a site that’s not search engine or user friendly. Also satisfy yourself that its development is following the latest published best practice and standards in terms of accessibility, security and privacy.

If you’re going to be adding new content on a regular basis, you’ll need an intuitive content management system, such as WordPress. Platforms like this will also provide a whole host of tools that you can use to help promote your site, such as SEO plugins.

For sites that will be dependent on a search engine optimisation strategy, it is essential that Google’s webmaster guidelines are followed so that Google can find, index and rank your site. You’ll also need to ensure the site is built around Google’s Core Web Vitals.

Platforms like WordPress will provide a whole host of tools that you can use to help promote your site and keep it up to date.

4. Promote your website

Launching a website and hoping for the best is never going to be an option. Now your site is live, it’s time to invest in getting it found. This is a vital part of your website strategy.

How you approach this challenge will depend on the original objectives you set. If for example you are looking to drive local traffic into your physical store, you’ll need to invest in a local SEO campaign. If you want to drive organic traffic to help boost leads and sales directly from your site, an organic SEO campaign should be on your agenda.

If you are looking to promote seasonal products and need to get out to the masses quickly, a Google Ads or other pay per click (PPC) campaign could be beneficial. SEO and PPC work together well in many circumstances, so do look into combining the two for added impact and a powerful combination of short term and long term visibility.

For those who are seeking to enhance reputation, a content marketing campaign is a must.

You can also promote your website through email marketing, social media, and by physical means too. Be sure to add your web address to your products, your business cards, your sales literature, your billboard posters and your printed media adverts. Anywhere you can promote your site, do so!

5. Measure progress

Remember those objectives you set right at the beginning of your website strategy? How are you doing on achieving them? Not sure? It’s time to start measuring your progress!

For this step, you’re going to need to set key performance indicators (KPIs). These could be sales, free trial sign-ups, leads, time spent on site, page views, search engine positions and organic traffic volume, for example.

There are various ways to monitor website traffic, and measuring return on SEO investment is vital so you can see what’s working best and up stakes in response for even better returns.

Measuring website strategy progress against objectives is vital.

Need help promoting your website? Talk to Figment!

No website strategy would be complete without a tailored SEO campaign to help your new site get found online.

At Figment, we’ve been helping local businesses in London and Surrey increase their web traffic and boost sales since 2006. Using proven tactics, we’ve achieved countless Page One rankings for our clients, and have been rewarded with over 50 five-star Google ratings as a result.

If you could use some help with this vital step in your website strategy, please get in touch.