Improve Your Website in 5 Easy Steps

First impressions matter, especially online. When visitors land on your website, you have just a few seconds to grab their attention and show them what you’re all about. Let’s dive into some easy steps you can take to improve your website, *today*.

Step 1: Optimize Your Homepage Hero Section

Your Hero section is prime real estate—it’s the first thing people see when they visit your site. Make it count by incorporating these tips:

• Create a Clear, Benefit-Oriented Headline: Clearly state how your business helps its customers in a single, powerful headline. An example for a bold digital marketing manager might be “Skyrocket Your Digital Fame Game.”
• Make your Subheading Count: Further explain your value with a brief subheadline. For the example of our bold digital marketing manager, we could say, “Dive into a universe of viral content and unstoppable growth strategies that will make your brand unforgettable.”
• Include a Strong CTA: Guide your visitors with a clear call-to-action (CTA) button, such as “Get Started” or “Browse Our Digital Products.”

Step 2: Use Relevant and Impactful Images

A picture is worth a thousand words, especially on your website. Choose images that tell your story at a glance. Here’s what we recommend:

• Make it Make Sense: Choose images directly related to your product or service. If you’re a coach, use images of coaching sessions or happy clients. If your photos aren’t directly related to your product or service, make sure they evoke emotions and create a connection. No one wants to see the outside of a building or the inside of an office.
• Use High-Quality Images: Use high-quality, professional visuals that reflect the results your customers can expect. Don’t have a professional photoshoot in the budget? You can use brand-aligned stock photography from free sites like Pexels or Unsplash or even create your own custom website photos using AI (we love Midjourney for this!).
• Optimize for Speed: Large images are notorious for slowing things down. Make sure you optimize your images for the web before uploading them. We aim to keep all of our photos under 400 MB.

Step 3: Use Benefit-Oriented Language

Let’s get honest for a moment: Your potential customers care more about what you can do for them than they do about your favorite hobbies. No shade; it’s just how we’re wired. Writing your website copy with this in mind will make a huge difference in its engagement.

Here’s what we mean:

• Transform Features into Benefits: The difference between a feature and a benefit can feel subtle, but the best way to explain it is that a feature focuses on your product/service while a benefit talks about how it can improve the customer’s life. Example: “Made with eco-friendly materials” is a feature, but stated as a benefit, you’d say, “Keep the planet clean with our eco-friendly products.” The easiest way to twist a feature into a benefit is by asking yourself, “So what?” When you answer it, you get the benefit. For instance, “Our platform has a user-friendly interface” (So What?) “So you can save time and get started quickly.”
• Keep It Clear and Simple: Use straightforward language that anyone can understand. Avoid jargon and technical terms that might confuse your audience.
• Highlight Your Uniqueness: Emphasize what makes your offering special and valuable. For example, instead of saying, “We offer 24/7 customer support,” say, “Our 24/7 customer support ensures you’re never left without help, no matter the time.”

Step 4: Create Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)

Now that you’ve got a captivating Hero section, brand-aligned photos, and emotionally driven copy, don’t leave your visitors guessing what to do next. If you really want to improve your website, you need clear CTAs. Clear calls to action guide visitors through your site and encourage them to take action.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Make Your CTAs Stand Out: Use bold, contrasting colors to make your CTAs and obvious shapes.
• Use Action-Oriented Text: Use text that prompts action, like “Sign Up Now” or “Start Your Free Trial.” There is a time and place to get cute and creative, but clarity trumps it most of the time.
• Place CTAs Strategically: Place CTAs in the Hero section and throughout your site where visitors are most likely to click. Give them lots of opportunities to take action.

Step 5: Want to Improve your Website? Make it Pretty

As much as we believe a book should never be judged by its cover, statistics say that websites are often judged by their design. According to the Standford Web Credibility Project, 94% of first impressions of a website are design-related. And even if they get past that first impression, a study by Adobe says that 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.

Here are our favorite tips for boosting your design:

• Prioritize a Modern Look: Use a clean, modern design that aligns with your brand. Make sure it’s stylistically relevant but not so trendy that it will be outdated by next season.
• Maintain Consistency: Keep your colors, fonts, and styles consistent. Don’t get crafty here. Give yourself a strong visual brand foundation, and stick to it!
• Focus on Readability and Simplicity: Ensure your design prioritizes readability and simplicity. If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times: Clarity is Queen.
• Utilize a Template: If design isn’t your area of genius, don’t feel stuck. There are so many beautiful, functional templates that you can customize (with all of the powerful tools above) to make your own. We’re partial to Sydney Harbor, which is a streamlined and robust template we created specifically for coaches and course creators.

By optimizing your Hero section, using impactful images, shifting to benefit-oriented language, creating clear CTAs, simplifying navigation, and boosting your design, you can improve your website today. Start with these simple steps and watch your website’s effectiveness soar.