When I presented a workshop to a group of financial advisers in Cairns last October, I talked about the importance of getting your Web site right before getting caught up in the hype of social media. All your social media marketing efforts will be wasted unless you also have a solid Web site that demonstrates your value and positions you as a credible expert.

The Wealth Professional site quoted me on this topic soon after the conference, and talked about how business owners no longer need to spend $10,000 or more on an effective Web site.

Read the full article here.

Even though social media has become more prominent in your marketing, your Web site is still one of your most important online tools, because it’s the place people go before they eventually decide to do business with you. However, many business owners are making some common mistakes with their Web site, possibly because of things that used to be true in the past. Here are five things you don’t have to worry about with your Web site.

1. Don’t worry about re-doing your graphic design.

It seems some Web site owners change their site design more than they change their underwear. A new design alone won’t magically transform your Web site – any more than a fresh coat of paint will magically transform a retail shop.

Sure, if your site looks dated or amateurish, and that’s turning away business, it might be worth considering a new design. But most Web sites aren’t in that situation, so a new design won’t help.

For most Web sites, though, the real problems are in the navigation and content – in other words, how people find their way around your site, and then how useful they find the information they read. So do worry about that, and leave the design to another day.

2. Don’t worry about a fancy home page.

The home page is the first page that most first-time visitors will see. Its purpose is to show them immediately the site is worth investigating further, then convince them you understand their problems, and then lead them to another page within the site. You can’t do this with a big graphic or flashy animation. It’s OK for the home page to look good (in fact, it should), but not at the expense of leading the first-time visitor to the next page.

3. Don’t worry about social media links.

It’s become a common trend to include links to your social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and so on – prominently on your site. Although there’s nothing wrong with that, think about what this is trying to achieve. The real purpose of these social media sites is to lead people to your Web site, not the other way around.

Do worry about making it easy for people to get in touch with you directly. Include contact information, including your e-mail address, phone number and perhaps even a postal address if appropriate, prominently on your site – preferably on every page.

4. Don’t worry about a static Web site.

It wasn’t so long ago that I was recommending that you keep constantly updating your Web site with new articles, videos and other content. That helps to keep the site fresh, and encourages site visitors (and Google!) to keep returning to it.

However, that’s because less important now, as long as you have a blog for this purpose. Your blog should be the place where you keep posting new, relevant, high-quality content – and that will lead visitors back to your Web site.

If your blog happens to be part of your Web site, then the site automatically stays fresh and current. But even if your blog is separate, it will still attract visitors to your site.

5. Don’t worry about getting more traffic.

What??? Am I really saying you shouldn’t care about getting more traffic to your Web site? Yes … sort of!

Of course, in theory the more visitors you get to your Web site, the more successful it will be. But in practice, most Web site owners try too hard to get more visitors and don’t work enough on convincing those visitors to take action.

If you’re already getting some visitors to your Web site, look at ways of making the site more appealing to them, and focus on converting them to take action. That will probably be far easier – and more profitable – than trying to get more visitors.

Look at it this way: If 1 out of every 100 visitors to your site takes action (and that’s not an unrealistic amount), then 99 of them are not taking action. If you can convince just one of those 99 to take action, you’ll double your profits! Contrast that with the effort it takes to double your traffic.

Want to know more about making more sales on your Web site?

This article is an extract from my e-book “The Busy Entrepreneur’s Guide to Making More Sales on Your Web Site”, which gives you even more ideas and practical techniques for improving your Web site results.

If you’re launching a Web site, launching a new product or service, not getting enough sales from your Web site, or planning a new marketing campaign, read this book. It’s also for you if you’re busy running your business, and don’t have time to become an Internet marketer! So you need some simple things you can do to improve your results – without taking a lot of time, and without needing technical skills.

The most important thing about your Web site is targeting the right market. If you don’t get this right, nothing else matters.

But even if you have the right market in mind, you need to know their level of understanding about your topic. If you get this wrong, you’ll confuse and bore them!

I’ll explain …

Broadly, when people make a decision about something, they go through four stages, based on their current knowledge:

For example, if you’re a financial planner, your Web site visitors fall into these four broad groups:

1. (Why) “Do I require financial planning?”
2. (What) “What sort of things does a financial planner do?”
3. (Who) “What makes you different from other planners?”
4. (How) “How do I work with you?”

Your Web site must match their level.

Based on what you know about your market, you design your Web site to match their needs, like this:

For example, let’s look at the financial planner again, and what she does when she knows most of her target market is at a certain level. Let’s work backwards through the four levels, from easiest to hardest:

• How: If most people are already asking how to work with her, she’s in a lucky position, because they already trust her and now simply want information about how to work together. Her job now is to inform them. On her Web site, she could simply list her products and services, and clients will choose from them.
• Who: If they are asking how she is different from other financial planners, that’s more difficult to address, but at least they understand something about financial planning. So her job is to persuade them to choose her. Her Web site needs to focus on her credentials, expertise and authority.
• What: At this level, they don’t know much about financial planning at all, so her job is to educate them. On her Web site, she could explain the benefits of using a financial planner.
• Why: This is the most challenging level, because they haven’t even been convinced financial planning could be useful at all. So her job here is to motivate them. Her Web site needs to work even harder, to convince visitors to start thinking about their financial future.

That’s why Apple markets computers and iPads differently.

When Apple started selling computers, they didn’t have to motivate and educate people about personal computers, because Microsoft had already done that. Instead, they could focus on persuading people to choose the Macintosh rather than the PC.

In contrast, when Apple started selling the iPad, they did have to motivate and educate people about the benefits of tablet computers. Now, other suppliers such as Samsung can piggy-back on that knowledge, and their marketing is persuading consumers to choose their tablet computer instead.

Focus at the right level, or you’ll bore your site visitors.

If you know where your market is, you’ll be able to tailor your Web site to suit them. For example, if most of them are asking “Why” questions (the “Why do I need a financial planner?” type of question), there’s no point letting them download Product Disclosure Statements. Instead, you need to motivate them, so perhaps you could start by giving them a free report to download (without asking for their name or e-mail address first).

The reverse is true as well: If you’re dealing with a market niche that understands and values financial planning (your existing clients, for example), they will be asking “Who” and “How” questions. You will frustrate them with a Web site that constantly talks about the benefits of financial planning. They do want all the facts and details, because they are ready to buy.

I recently conducted a webinar titled “The 15 Essential Components of a Thought Leader’s Web Site”. In it, I covered (surprise!) the 15 basic things I think should be on every thought leader’s Web site. These are not the only things you could have, but it’s the bare minimum.

If you already have a Web site, there’s a good chance you’re doing some – maybe even all – these things. But a Web site is like an untended garden; it tends to get untidy and unkempt after a while. So I’ll give you 15 things you can do to improve your Web site. None of these take much time (half an hour at most, and often just 5 or 15 minutes), but they can make a big difference.

Of course, not all of them will apply to you, so you can skip them (and wonder uneasily whether they should apply!). And some of them are things you might be doing already, so you can skip them as well (and reward yourself with an extra 5 minutes goofing off on Facebook).

1. Home page: Get them off it!

The purpose of your home page is simple: To get them to click to another page!

Pretend you’re your ideal site visitor, go to your site’s home page, and ask yourself whether it clearly tells you exactly what link to click next. If not, fix it so it does!

2. Your services: End with a clear call to action

Make sure each and every service you promote (each keynote topic, workshop, coaching program, etc.) has a page that ends with a clear call to action for the site visitor. Don’t expect them to hunt around for your contact details – tell them to pick up the phone, send you an e-mail, make a booking, add it to their shopping cart, whatever.

3. Client list: Cull the list

Check that every client in your clients list is somebody you want future clients to know about. It’s not that you should be ashamed of any past clients; it’s simply that some of them are no longer relevant for the kind of work you’re seeking now.

4. Testimonials: Scatter them throughout the site

It’s good to have a page of client testimonials; but it’s even better if you also copy some of these testimonials to other pages where they are relevant. For instance, if you have a testimonial for a particular workshop, include it on the page where you promote that workshop (not only on the main Testimonials page).

5. Biography: Remove anything that’s not relevant

Examine every paragraph, sentence, phrase and word on your Biography page, and make sure it’s relevant: In other words, it tells them why they should choose you. If it doesn’t, remove it.

6. Demonstration: Tell them what to do next

If your Web site has a demonstration of you in action (a YouTube video for speakers, an audio recording or webinar recording for trainers, a self-assessment quiz for coaches, etc.), make sure it ends with a specific call to action. This doesn’t mean you need to re-record it (because that might be difficult and costly); but at least add the instructions and link next to it (e.g. “Watch this video, and then find out more about how Jane can help you“).

7. E-mail newsletter: Improve your subscription page

Do you really make a big effort to convince people to join your mailing list? Or do you just have a plain subscription form and hope they will sign up?
There are so many things you could do: Add a link to your privacy policy; reassure them you will keep their e-mail address safe; include a sample newsletter; add testimonials from happy subscribers … or all of the above!

8. Blog: Link it to Twitter

Even if you’re not a big Twitter user, one simple way to start building your presence is to connect your blog to Twitter, so every blog post automatically becomes a tweet as well. Use the free twitterfeed.com service to set this up in just 10 minutes.

9. Special report: Tell people to pass it on

If you have a special report that you give away (e.g. to newsletter subscribers), make sure it explicitly gives permission for readers to pass it on to others. This might seem obvious, but it’s amazing how often I see reports and mini-ebooks that don’t say this explicitly.

10. Articles: Submit them to EzineArticles.com

If you post articles on your Web site, get extra leverage from them by also copying them to EzineArticles.com. This is a site where other people can find your articles and re-use them in their publications, as long as they include a link back to your Web site. It takes just a few minutes to do this, and you’ve already done the hard work by writing the article – so you’ve got nothing to lose.

11. Podcast: List it in iTunes

If you publish a podcast (that is, an audio newsletter, where subscribers get new episodes automatically on their computer or phone), make sure it’s listed in the iTunes Store. This is not the only podcast directory, but it’s one of the biggest and best-known.
If your podcast is already listed there, ask your listeners to go there and write a review for it.

12. Calendar: Make it current!

If you have a calendar on your Web site, it’s one of the things that most often goes out of date (for obvious reasons). So check that your calendar is current and accurate. Even better, use a calendar that automatically syncs with, say, your Outlook calendar, so it’s always current.

13. Surveys

Before you run your next workshop, write your next keynote, or write your next book, ask people to share their biggest problem, concern, question or issue about the topic. OK, strictly speaking, you don’t have to do this via your Web site (you could use something like SurveyMonkey, or even just ask people to hit Reply to an e-mail); but it will help you decide what products and services you offer on your site.

14. Virtual Office: Make more stuff available

Your “virtual office” is the place on your Web site where people who have booked you get logistical information about working with you (It’s often labelled something like “Working With Jane” on your menu).
Check that it has all the usual things – a high-res photo for print; low-res photo for on-line use; copy of your Introduction; A/V requirements; room layout; promo blurb for newsletters and conference brochures; and so on. Then check whether you can add some unusual things as well (things that a few clients ask for, but you get asked often enough to make it worth making available) – a full-length photo for special use; black-and-white photos; promo video for your presentation; map, driving directions and parking hints (if you use a regular venue); and so on.

15. Make a few small improvements

Assuming you can change your Web site yourself (and you really must be able to, if you’re even half-way serious about it), go in there right now and make three simple changes. I’m sure you can find a few small things to improve. Rather than wait until you can dedicate time for a full site review, just make a few simple changes now!

OK, that’s it!

Are you able to do at least a few of these 15 things to improve your Web site now? Remember you don’t have to do them all at once, but even a small change can make a big difference.