All businesses with a successful website need a successful website strategy. Unsure where to start in your web development roadmap? Take a look at the five steps to take while curating your company’s website strategy.
Updated November 21, 2022
Every business should cultivate a strong website strategy to compete in their target market and increase sales.
A website strategy is a long-term strategic plan for creating and developing the online presence of a company.
Having a successful website strategy leads to a website that generates leads, enhances credibility, and promotes your business.
This plan includes all aspects of web presence management and web development efforts.
To build a website strategy that will grow your company’s online presence and brand, businesses must follow five key steps:
Steps to Build Your Company’s Website Strategy
Hire a web design agency to support your business goals
1. Set Goals
What do you want your website to accomplish? This is just one of the questions you should be asking yourself before starting to create your website.
It is key for your website strategy to be based on set goals that are directly tied to your business’s success for your marketing strategy, website traffic, or other metrics like website visitors.
Ask the following questions when setting goals:
- Do you want to generate more leads and sales?
- How many web pages or templates would you like to have a specific functionality?
- Do you want to establish a strong presence on social media?
- Are you looking to improve your digital content strategy?
- Are you looking to focus on content creation or e-commerce strategies with your website goals?
- Do you want to become a thought leader in your field?
All of these are great business goals that will help determine how your website build will go. Having a set goal will help determine what content you’re using, what web platform or content management system (CMS) you might use, and how your site might perform over time.
Once goals for your website have been set, it is time for the biggest step of a website strategy – building the actual web platform.
2. Develop a Website
Once a clear set of goals have been established, it is time to build a website that reflects those.
For example, if you’re looking to increase sales, create creative content or CTAs (call to actions) that will attract visitors to your products.
Another aspect of this phase is researching the latest trends in the web development and design industry.
As digital trends evolve, your development team must take into account what looks good on your website and within your website design.
Consider hiring a trusted SEO agency to assist with your website’s optimization.
Do you need the website to be friendly for mobile devices? Are you planning on using imagery and videos to market your product?
Buzzfeed’s website is a great example of a mobile responsive website that would work well on smart phones.
For example, their sections are neatly organized across the top of the homepage and other landing pages.
Their video section includes brand-new videos daily. They’re also organized by different web shows, certain subjects like food and nostalgia, or by its release date.
That attracts users to whatever they’re looking for – in a visually appealing way.
Thinking about those aspects will supplement your entire website strategy.
3. Learn About Your Audience
As your website starts gaining traction in the space, it is a great time to get to know your target audience and their demographics.
What do you want your audience to find or learn while visiting your website? What information is the most valuable to them?
You can learn this through Google analytics reports, social media posts, and interviewing your target audience directly to craft case studies. You can also send out surveys that will help your team craft the correct type of content for these personas.
Take the time to truly understand your audience with the right messaging. In the end, it will benefit your business goals.
4. Showcase Value
Some might argue that showcasing your value is easier said than done. Whatever you might think – it is an important part of a successful website strategy.
To stand out from competitors, it is important to show how your service or product is different. Creating an engaging website with a seamless user experience is the perfect way to start.
Your company can do this online through your website’s about page. This is a great way to highlight your company’s accomplishments and background.
Keep in brief, but divulge into information that users can connect with.
Your business can also showcase its value by highlighting past recognitions like awards and publications. These testimonials show off your business expertise and acumen.
Promoting what your company does best will ensure that your website garners the attention of the right people.
5. Measure Progress
A website isn’t a one-and-done project – to meet your goals, your website strategy should involve measuring progress.
Your business should think critically about your success indicators. Is it sales or conversion rates? Is it site visitors? Is it time-spent on the site or page views?
Whatever it is – it is important to assess and gather data for your website every few months. This allows you to make changes or improvements to redesign if necessary.
Keep in mind that a successful website strategy should be adaptable and flexible while following web development best practices.
Create a Successful Website Strategy for Your Platform
Every company needs an effective website strategy. As business needs change, your goals and objectives will likely change along with it. Build a website strategy that maps out everything you want your business website to accomplish and measure its effectiveness frequently.
Additional Reading: