How to make a Beautiful Website Template Convert
I love to shop! You all probably know by now that I love pretty things. Like, ALL the pretty things. And when I go shopping there are tons of beautiful tops that catch my eye. I snatch them off of the racks or ( let’s be honest) add them to my digital shopping cart thinking I’m going to look so fabulous in 3, 2, 1…..
But, you know what often happens? Those beautiful tops don’t convert me into a customer sold on having them. For whatever reason they don’t feel quite right or sit quite right or look quite right.
The same sort of thing happens with many creatives’ websites when potential clients visit them.
Their website template looks beautiful, it’s eye catching…but it doesn’t convince them to click the contact button. It also might look pretty similar to another website they’ve visited and so they’re not sure how one entrepreneur is different from the other and why “everyone’s” websites are looking so, well…..
similar.
Templates are built to be beautiful and user-friendly, but they’re not designed to convert your customers.
They’re not built to lead your potential clients down the path to booking you or buying from you.
Making sure you have a beautiful brand is important, but what’s equally important is making sure that beautiful brand leads to clients booking or buying or your beautiful brand isn’t going to be around.
So, how do you know if a beautiful website template will convert for you?
Well, if you’ve maximized it and done more than simply swapped out your logo, pictures, and color theme there’s a good chance it’s going to convert a lot better for you. To maximize your website templates, the first thing you should do is draw out the path you want your clients to take once they land on your site. Some templates come with a home page that sends people to all of the pages in whatever order the visitor chooses.
Lead your visitor on the journey to the final result YOU want, which is a booking a session or service.
This journey could look like this:
Home Page > About Page > Services Page > Portfolio Page > Contact Page
The journey can look however you want it to look, but on each page you should give the visitor clear direction as to where they should go next.
Take them on an adventure, tell them your story, but always have a clear call to action on every page to lead them.
They don’t necessarily know where to go next unless you tell them. Otherwise, they’ll click buttons and tabs in whatever order they feel. When I say “call to action” it can sound like you need a bunch of salesy buttons on your page, but that’s not the case. You can use words like “explore my portfolio” or “discover my services” or “read our story.”
Another important thing to remember when maximizing your template is to consider the names of your menu tabs. If SEO and clarity for your visitors is important to you, it’s not a good idea to name your blog “journal” or “notes”, because it can make it harder for Google to find your recent posts and harder for visitors to find them. Creativity is great, but when it comes to your potential clients clarity often trumps creativity.
If maximizing your website template and creating a clear journey for your visitors that leads to more bookings is your goal, grab my free checklist: “Branded Client Experience Checklist.” It reveals all of the most important elements of your website that entrepreneurs commonly miss. It covers your entire client experience and will help you set your website up for success.
Hearts and Hoorays!
