If you’re a business owner that doesn’t have a website, your business is in serious trouble. Why? Everyone expects a successful business to have a website. In fact, many prospective customers will refuse to do business with you if you don’t have a website because they worry that you may not be a legitimate business — believe it or not. Even if you have a website for your business, you could potentially have a problem attracting prospects and customers if it’s poorly designed or doesn’t function well. Designing The Perfect Website The hard part about designing your own website is getting caught up in the actual artwork and visuals. While they are definitely important, the real goal of your website is not to look pretty — it’s to convert prospects into customers. HSM takes four different steps into consideration when creating websites for our clients. Goal: What is the goal of the website? Are you looking for quick sales? Do you want to attract leads? Whatever the goal, it should be clear immediately upon visiting your website. For example, if your goal is capturing leads, you need to have your free offer and opt in form front and center as soon as people visit your website. Design: Focus your design on your target audience. For example, if you’re marketing to college students, you’re going to need a totally different design and content than if you’re marketing to senior citizens. Always match the design to your target audience. Contact: If you seem unopen to contact, you’ll have a hard time making sales. Put an offer on every page of your website. Include your contact information on every page even if you only include it at the very bottom. Add your social media links, include a link to your podcast or YouTube videos and add a contact form so prospects and customers can contact you right from your website. The more open you seem to interaction with prospects and customers, the more prospects and customers you’ll obtain. Tracking: You must build tracking and analytics into your website code or you’ll end up leaving a whole lot of money on the table at the end of the day. With tracking you can learn important things: 1) The exact time during the checkout process people changed their minds about making a purchase; 2) How long people stay on your website and 3) The most popular website pages people visit. These are all important to the success of your website.