Business Featured

Create a Website That Tells a Story

Biscuit & Chai

Jul 25, 2022 • 5 min read

It is important to have good content on your website but the purpose of an elevator pitch is to first hook the listener in before you get to tell them your whole story.

**Helpful Hint:** The origin of the elevator pitch comes from the idea of having to impress a senior executive during a brief ride in an elevator. Most people say elevator pitches should be ~30 seconds; But…..if you press all the buttons you could probably buy yourself more time….. but your listener might get mad .

The same goes for your website. When a user lands on your site you need to hook them in before you get to tell them more. So make sure your landing page immediately and easily communicates these 3 things:

What you do? — whether you sell products, have a personal blog, run an online community or publication, it has to be clear to anyone that lands on your website what it is that you do. Why are you online? Why does this website exist. Make sure that you communicate that well.

What do you provide? — think of why a user has navigated to your website. What do you think they are looking for? Are you providing that? Are you making it easy to find and understand what it is?

What is your “call to action” — your “call to action” is very important. You can almost say its your measurement of success for your website. What is it that you want the user to do on your website? Do you want them to buy? Do you want them to donate? Subscribe? Sign up for a newsletter? What is the call to action and is it clearly labeled and visible on your website?

Example of common mistakes: A non-profit will have an entire site built around their work, their mission, their team and their story but the Donate button , which is their call to action , will be listed at the bottom of a secondary page or too small and hard to find. This makes it difficult to accomplish the conversion the non-profit wants to happen on their website.

You have to make sure your call to actions are placed strategically and are clear and visible.

You might already have a website — but want to redesign it.

Will your website ever be DONE, DONE? No. You will constantly be updating content and changing up design as your business and the market evolves.

**Helpful Hint:** When we say to update your website consistently it doesn’t mean you need a completely new site every time. Think of your website as the F&F franchise. They keep making sequels but the core brand remains the same (fast cars, things blowing up, illegal u-turns and not minding the speed limit). The the story (your content) just gets refreshed a little, they introduce new characters (you share new products, events, updates), and they make more and more money (like tons and tons of money) each time with the new sequels (which is what you want your site to do and really why you’re reading this article).

It is important, whether you are building a site from scratch or redesigning your existing site, to evaluate whether your website is serving its purpose for existing.

What do you want? — set clear goals and objectives — The purpose of my website is to…. Sell clothes / create a loyal audience for my blog / display my portfolio and get clients / etc.

What do you need right now? — if your budget is becoming a restriction it helps to have your wants vs. needs mapped out. Think about what is absolutely necessary for you to communicate and achieve through your website and what you would like to have as additional value but don’t necessarily need right now. That way when you grow and have more funds you will be able to implement what you wanted. Your site will NEVER be done and as you grow you should be prepared for your site to reflect that growth.

What’s working / not working? — If you are making the site yourself or working with a developer (like us!), knowing what you think has been working for you and what you think hasn’t been working for you will help with structuring your site. Whether it’s building something new or redesigning, you will be able to develop your site and your story in a way you think will achieve your end goal. You will know what content to keep, what language works best, and what tone to set.

Check out your competition — it helps to see what others are working on for reference on things you like, don’t like, and how to differentiate. You can see what is working for them and what isn’t working for them. They are your competition but you can also learn a lot from observing what they do.

So, who are you talking to? What is your message and who is your audience for your website?

Going back to the elevator pitch — what is the key message you want to communicate about yourself/ your business? This should be clear when a user lands on your website regardless of whether they are your target market or not — it should be clear what you do and who you are to everyone.

“If you cant explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough” — Albert Einstein

Who is your target market/audience? Who is your message intended for?

Ex: You own a makeup company. Your target market/audience might be makeup influencers, celebrities, people interested in health and beauty.

Make sure your site is set up in a way that effectively communicates to them. What do you think they are looking for when they land on your site? Have you provided that solution to them? Can it be found easily on your website? Do you have engaging content? Why should they spend time on your site versus your competitors?

Make sure your website tells a story — but that story needs to be interesting, engaging and not too long. Too much content can overwhelm a visitor — attention spans are short as is. Uninteresting content can lose a visitor — there are so many options out there so you have to stand out and be memorable (especially if you want repeat visitors/customers).

**Helpful Hint:** Imagine Dory is visiting your website. How do you get her to pay attention and remember you? Yes, we know she has short-term memory but Marlin’s story was interesting enough that she remembered 1.Him 2.Nemo 3. P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney

Too much content also makes it difficult for the user to find things. The website should make their life easy not add more work. If the user has to work they are more likely to abandon your website.

Finally, if you’ve decided that building the website yourself is just not your cup of tea, then find a developer (like us!). Have a solid mission statement and tone prepared for your brand. It helps to know who you are when a developer is building out the visual and experiential aspects of your website. Also, you will be more inclined and connected to your venture if it truly reflects YOU.