Bricks and mortar businesses are closing by the dozen every day and it’s only going to get worse. Even if you are a brick and mortar business, you still need an online presence to survive.
Today more than ever, an on-brand, well structured, easy-to-navigate website is a must to increase your online presence and secure customers & clients.
Service-based industries like Virtual Assistants, Business Coaches, Lifestyle Coaches and Consultants need a website as that’s the only place you’ll find them now.
Your website is your online home
When you build a new home you want everyone to see it, family, friends, door-to-door salesmen…well maybe not everyone, but when it comes to your website, the more the merrier!
Your website is where you send your potential clients to either learn something new, find out more about you or buy your products or services.
A well-designed website enables you to:
- Showcase your services and skills
- Exhibit you as an expert in your field
- Sell your products or services
- Build your email list
- Increase your target audience reach globally
Being on-brand is really important to connect with your potential customers, making sure that your online presence is easily recognisable whenever anyone sees your branding, particularly the font, colours and images.
As you can see, my gorgeous website has defined branding using the same font on all the pages, headings and images and the colour scheme are very particular and bright. This makes people recognise and remember your business easily and shows whether you’re friendly and warm or professional and serious by the particular fonts and colours you use.
1. Show that you really value your business
Have you been at a networking event, or even at the kid’s soccer or netball game and got chatting with someone who talks about their business and getting you really interested to know more? You ask them what their website name is and you’re stumped when they say they don’t have one.
It’s still a shock today when you ask someone for their email address and you’re expecting one that relates to their domain name and they only have a Gmail address or shudder…a Hotmail or Yahoo one!
The other thing about not having a domain name email address is that people are wary that you are a scammer. Having a professional email like hello@cloudxs.com.au shows that you’re serious about your business and theirs.
PRO TIP: Look more professional – get your own domain name email address.
2. Your social media presence is built on rented land
Your social media profiles on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Pinterest are all built on rented online space.
At any stage of the game, if one of these platforms decides to shut your account down, you’ve lost your entire online presence forever, especially if you don’t have a website. It can be very difficult to get them reinstated.
“Don’t leave your online presence to social media platforms alone, build an amazing website”
3. Your ONLY piece of online real estate – your email list
Did you realise that your email list is the only thing you actually own in the online space, everything else is ‘rented’?
Building an email list means that you have access directly to your target audience in the unlikely event your social media accounts or website goes down.
Once you’ve got your email list you can keep building it and giving value to your existing followers. I talk about ways to build your audience in this post “3 Steps to Introducing a Group Coaching Program”.
Need some help to look more professional?
We’ve made it easy for you to create a gorgeous new website that your ideal clients will love, with our FREE Website Planner below or we can do it for you. Take a look at our Custom Website Design portfolio to see how we’ve helped other businesses just like yours.
CloudXS can manage the whole process for you. Ready to get your online home working for you? Check out our Website in a Box and book in a call today, we can’t wait to speak with you!
Alethea xo
Alethea Tuitahi
Communication Designer & Founder
Alethea takes your unique content and gives it a makeover so it’s as gorgeous as Blake Lively walking the red carpet and as powerful as The Rock in his last movie! She specialises in allowing course creators to deliver their course or program to the world… sans tech frustrations and problems. Need help building your online course? As a Thinkific specialist, Alethea is here to help! Book in a free call here.