The 3 pillars of a great website

From DIY websites to full custom coded complex e-commerce, websites come in all different shapes and sizes both in build, uses and cost.

Before we can understand the 3 pillars of a great website, it begs the question...

What is a website?

Let's ask Google...

Kind of states the obvious right. Typically, a website provides information and communication through a digital channel called the internet or web. As this is quite broad, we are going to specifically look at a website that is for a service-based business, as this is where I believe the audience to this article sit.

Let's take a scenario, a story if you will.

Adam has a building firm and is looking at getting a website to promote his services. His plan is to build a website in the hope it will attract clients or prospects to his business. Adam needs a website that is found by potential prospects, trusted by them enough to choose him and make contact. Then it is down to him to convert that lead into business.

Let's follow the potential customers journey to help us understand what Adam needs from a website.

Anastasia wants to build an extension on her London town house in Chelsea, she turns to the internet in search of a builder to help. Like most people, she turns to a search engine like Google by default, as it will be the default setting for her browser if she is using Chrome.

The simplest form in which the search will be is likely to be "Builders in Chelsea" it is unlikely to be builders in London as this is a vast area, she may use SW3, a lot of searches in London are done by postcodes. It may be that she uses a "near me" search which is increasingly popular. Let's say for this example it was "in Chelsea".

Google produced 9,700,000 results in 0.49 seconds!! That is impressive and excessive at the same time, according to a survey carried out by Search Engine Land, 90% of people rarely make it past the first page of results, so we can narrow that down to about 10 - 20 results to choose from. Whether it is an ad, a directory, a Local pack/Map result or organic result, Anastasia will click through to a website. Based on how that website makes her feel, she will either go back to the results and move on to the next one that captures her attention, she may explore that site for relevant information, she may look for testimonials or reviews, and/or make contact with the business using one of the ways available on that website that suits her .

So, a very high level and whistle stop tour to the customer journey that Adam's potential customer Anastasia would take. Why is this important? To understand the 3 pillars that make a great website, you need to understand the value they have in this journey.

Anastasia had a need for a builder, went in search for someone to fulfil that need, chose someone based on a feeling of trust, Adam received that lead.

The website played a crucial role in this customer journey, first it needs to be found. Then give a feeling of trust and then selected as the chosen one.

The 3 pillars of a website make sure that the website is satisfying all the elements that would make it successful at generating the outcome you want, in this case, a lead.

The 3 pillars consist of:

Design | SEO | Conversion

Design may seem like an obvious one and most websites are mistakenly valued on first appearance of design, it is after all the shop front of your business in the digital world. Whilst this is a crucial element to a website, it is not the only element. When looking for a web designer, by nature we seek out great design skills and it is why some graphic designers offer websites. There is no doubt that their skills are valuable in the world of web design, a great looking site can impress a potential client or customer. Design as a pillar must work in sync with the other 2 pillars and which is why that design alone is not enough. Without the SEO to be found and conversions to be chosen, it is just a pretty digital brochure that no one gets to see.

SEO accounts for everything that would contribute towards the website being found by search engines by relevant users in need of what you offer. This includes everything from site security in the form of an SSL certificate right through to the copy writing and keywords you use based on research in your market. Offering relevant and non-repetitive content and generally satisfying what the users want, which is in line with Google’s algorithms. This is typically Relevance & User Experience. Without the SEO optimised, it is unlikely your website will be found; and if it is, it is likely to be through paid ads. Even then, you could end up paying more due to low quality scores.

It would also be right to mention that SEO will help Google determine the areas in which you cover, thus putting your website in front of people in Chelsea, looking for a builder. It should also be considered in our story, Anastasia could of searched for "house extensions in Chelsea" and so good SEO would mean you would include relevant content that would tell Google or other search engines that his website is relevant to that search.

Conversion is for me the most overlooked pillar by small businesses, but also the most important part. It is the one big thing you want from your website, especially if you are investing thousands into its development like you should, this is the pillar that will get you the return on that investment.

With conversions, different traffic sources will typically have different conversions based on where they are in the buying cycle, your targeting etc.

To give context: Directories can be quite a high conversion as no one goes to a directory for fun and so they are typically quite far along in the buying process and ready to make contact. 

Social media could be at the curious stage, or you could happen to get your message to the right person at the right time for them to act and so the conversion evens out somewhere in the middle. 

Google ads are very targeted. You can choose at what point in the process you would like to target by the search terms you target. For example, "house extension examples" might be the research stage, where as "best rated builders with reviews in Chelsea that offer house extensions" is what we call long tail keywords and likely to be closer to contact and certainly more relevant.

Organic is more on what Google decides to show you for, which comes from how good your SEO is, you may have FAQ's on your site which is excellent for search engines and users alike, but they may not convert on that particular visit. This means you need to consider all the different stages users could be at within the sales funnel when thinking about the traffic sources.

Let's put it into perspective, and this is for example purposes only, let's say Adam has 1000 visitors to his website this month, some organic, some paid through social media, Google ads and directories. A real nice mix of traffic coming in but not all will act, so let's go with a conversion rate of 1%.

This means 10 people out of the 1000 are going to contact Adam. Out of those 10, he might have a close rate of 50% and so wins 5 new jobs worth £5000 profit each. He just netted £25k of profit from those 1000 visitors. Amazing I can hear you say. It is, and potentially achievable if he gets the 1000 people in and converts at 1%.

Now let's imagine that Adam considered all 3 pillars and really worked to make sure his website converted better and achieved just 2% conversion. Same website just made sure that conversion was a key element in the build and ongoing management.

2% of 1000 is 20 leads, 50% conversion on those leads equals 10 new jobs. Each job is £5k profit and so he makes £50k off the same traffic, the same website, but just more time and attention went into the conversion element. It can make a big difference.

So, Adam could comfortably invest the right amount of money into a website build and the ongoing management. The better it works and converts, the more profitable his ongoing marketing spend is going to be. It will drive cost of acquisition down, return on investment up and it becomes and asset to his business. This is achieved through regular review of the analytics behind the website and understanding where people are coming from, what they do once they are on the site and what works well.

This helps provide feedback for future development of the site. A website should mature with age and get better at converting, providing it is being reviewed and managed on an ongoing basis.

So, Anastasia finds his website because the SEO was done well, likes his website and feels an element of trust from the look and feel. This is further backed up by a display of his great reviews from external 3rd party platforms. At the point where she felt this was the right builder for her, she made contact through one of the different ways she felt comfortable with and was easy to her.

Now take websites without the 3 pillars.

• Just design - Never found
• Just SEO - People find it but don't like it
• Just conversion - Made up of the other two so unlikely to exist
• Design and SEO no conversion - find you, like you but just don't make contact and the competition steels them away.

So, in summary, if you are looking to get a new website, refreshing your old one or just want to have a sanity check of your current website. Take into account the 3 pillars of a great website: Design, SEO and Conversions.

With new websites, you need to find a person or company that is proficient in all 3 pillars.

Design is something that is subjective but there are good practices, sites that look like they came from the 90's will not survive, despite retro being cool in other aspects of life.

SEO, can be tested by just searching for a site they have produced, always good to know if it is a competitive market and if the search terms are the ones that generate conversions.

Conversions are unique but look for a company offering an ongoing management contract (preferably a fixed price for unlimited amendments as you will likely make lots) that will work with the website to improve conversions once you get data. This is normally a good indication that you will improve conversions as you go.

If you have any questions about the above or marketing in general. Drop me a follow or connection request and send me a private message. Always happy to talk marketing.

I can also offer a FREE audit of your website and any marketing campaigns you are currently running or looking to run. If you would like to discuss the detail, then please get in touch via private message.