Category: Customer Experience

Ever thought about switching up your style and adding a little “je ne sais quoi” to freshen up your site?

Maybe you’re promoting the hell out of your content but you’re still not getting any love.

You could be just starting out and have no clue what to add to your pages and posts to attract the right folks.

Instead of having you in these biz streets wondering what to do or where’s the love, keep reading to find out how you can improve your customer experience on your WordPress website. Then you can start swimming in Scrooge McDuck money. (Maybe not that much but anything is possible, yeah?)

Make sure to download your freebie and Treelo board below to get started tout de suite.

Thinking of a Master Plan: Your goals for your blog and business

Better Copy + Content: What to write on your essential pages

Beauty and The Brains: Your website – design and recommended plugins to use

What’s Next: What to do after your relaunch

Recap: TL;DR version

This post contains affiliate links. That means I receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase or sign up using one of my links. Thanks so much for your support!

Photo Credit: CreateHER Stock

Thinking of a Master Plan

Ask yourself a few questions before you get started:

What are the top 3 main goals for your website?
Do you want visitors to view your sales page and schedule a call? Show off your portfolio so visitors can see what kind of work you’ve done? Want your audience to sign up and download a lead magnet that gives them a taste test of what you have to offer? Donate to your non-profit organization? Or maybe you want to sell info products or courses that teach folks how to DIY what you do?

What problems are you solving and who should stick around?
Who are you helping? And how can you help them go from point A to Z? What’s in it for them when they call/buy/sign up? Is it related to your products and services? Will your blog, brand, and business help them do/make/achieve better things for their biz?

After you answer those questions, you’ll pick one goal and add it to each page on your website. Let’s get started!

Better Copy + Content

Know what to write on your essential page and all you’ll have to do is add your voice to it. Whether it’s class clown, corporate-y, or cussing, be yourself!

Home
What do you love to do? Who do you want to work with? Why should they work with you? How can you help them achieve their goals? What’s the next step they should take?

“I’m [name] and I help [audience] with [their goals or struggles] by [your solutions]. Read more about how I can help you achieve your goals [linking them to your about page, services page, or portfolio].”

About
Same as the Home page but also tell them about the person behind the brand.

Who are you? Where you’re from? What’s your struggle story? How you got started in your field? What are your skills and experience? What do you love about what you do? Who do you want to help? What are your beliefs/values/passions?

Add a picture of your gorgeous face and workspace. Add some fun facts about you and then tell them what to do next (aka your CTA – call-to-action).

Related Posts: Here’s 11 resources to help you write your about page. Read 30 Tips on How to Build Your Personal Brand and How to Stand Out When Everybody is Doing the Same Damn Thing

Blog
Make sure your posts are useful + relevant to your audience.

Did you answer the most frequently asked questions on that topic you’re writing about? Are you using graphics (screenshots, GIFs, stock photos) to break up your content? How about adding bold or emphasis tags to highlight the important deets? Can you make it Google-ready and SEO-friendly by adding important keywords in your post, URL, and alt text for your graphics? What content upgrade can you add to make it an even better blog post? Can you add click to tweet quotes to make it shareable? Did you add opt-in forms throughout the post? (Don’t forget to test the forms!)

Tip: Become an opt-in beast: add one to your home page, about page, footer, end of every blog post, and sidebar. Add a link to the Subscribe page on your menu or use Hellobar to add one to your header. You can even add a checkbox on your contact form like I did on my 17 Hats contact form:

Related Posts: Find out how to get more people to read your content with these 17 simple edits and tweaks. Here are 50 Blog Topics for Creatives

Services
What do you enjoy doing? What problems do you solve? Who do you want to work with? What’s your process like? How do you take them from point A to B then C? How long does it take? What are the benefits of working with you? What do they get after working with you? Did you add “starting at..” prices? How can they get started? Did you answer the FAQ? Any myths/assumptions people have about your industry?

Sprinkle some results-focused testimonials. Add a link to your portfolio. Make it easy to contact you by adding a link to your “Hire Me” form or add it to the bottom of the page.

On your hire me form, ask for their name, email, link to your website, budget. Leave a text area so they can ask questions or give you details about their project.

Related Posts: Read 26 Questions to Answer on Your Services Page. Get to booking, good-looking, with these daily to-dos. Create dope work and then get some Powerful Client Testimonials after the project is done. Recommended: As of 2019, I’ve switched to Productized Services and you should too. Use this Productized Guide to level up.

Contact
Tell folks who you are, what you do, and who you want to work with. How long does it take to respond to their message? What are your business hours?

Add a link to the FAQ page (or add FAQ on the same page). Add a link to “Hire Me” form. Add your business email and links to active social media accounts. Add a quick form to fill out (first name, email address, message). Make sure your form works by sending a test email.

Portfolio
Add the work you love and want to do more of. You can keep it simple by adding a screenshot or mockup with a link to the project. Or you can keep it fancy and use a method mostly used for job interviews: STAR method. You can also use it for your next blog post, proposal, or your portfolio:

Situation: details about the project – who’s the client, what they do, what goals and struggles they had before working with you
Task: what was your job, what’s the solution/service you provided
Action: how you handled it – your process to solve their problem (no tech talk, speak their language)
Result: what was the result – link to demo site or project, show the finished product (before and after screenshots or mockups – Smartmockups or take a screenshot on Am I Responsive)

Don’t forget to add their testimonial. And then end with a call to action – “Now accepting clients for March 2019. Get Started on Your Project” or “Let’s Work Together” linking to your services page or Hire Me form.

Tip: If you’re just starting out and don’t have anything to add to your portfolio, get started with these projects:

your very first client is you, so any work you did for yourself, add it!
rebrand/refresh/redesign your favorite shop’s logo/website/design
create a sample project for your dream client (and turn that into a blog post – “Behind the Scenes: My Web Design Workflow” or “Beginner’s Guide: What I Need From You Before We Work Together”)

Related Links: Find out How to Get Clients When You’re Just Starting Out. Get inspiration from Briefbox (for designers) or Uplabs (for developers). Work with non-profit organizations from Taproot to grow your portfolio.

Subscribe
Who should sign up for your email list and why? What will they get for signing up? How many times will you be in their inbox? (Monthly or weekly.)

Add an opt-in form and give them a preview of what you’ll send – maybe a link or screenshot of the last email you sent to your subscribers.

Related Link: Learn 3 proven ways to use email marketing for services businesses and the 5 Steps for a Winning Email Marketing Strategy

FAQ
Answer the who, what, when, where, and whys. How can they get in touch for more questions? Add the same questions from sales page and a contact form on the bottom. Make sure you answer these 4 questions on your FAQ page.

404
Add links to popular posts, a search bar, and an opt-in form. You can also add a general freebie where no signup is required. (Like a list of your favorite tools.)

Start Here
If you’ve done this for a while, round-up your popular posts. You can find out from Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/source/yoursite.com, Google Analytics, or your WordPress dashboard. Share your latest posts and what topics you’ll talk about. Add a mini-bio with a link to your about page and how to get in touch with you.

Privacy Policy and Terms + Conditions pages
Make sure you add those 2 pages to your site. Use free generators like Terms Feed and Iubenda.

Your Website: Beauty and The Brains

Freshen up your website and keep it updated and secure with a few recommended plugins.

Design
Make sure your site is distraction-free by adding more whitespace and fewer ads/badges. If you want to keep the ads, create some graphics to match your brand. Choose between 1-2 font styles and make sure they’re easy to read. Stick to 2-3 colors that aren’t too bright. Add some images or icons to stand out. Make sure your navbar is easy to find and has a path leading them to your main goal (Home -> About -> Blog -> Services -> Contact/Hire Me Form)

Use a mobile-friendly theme. Most themes are viewed on mobile devices, but if your site is a bit outdated, it’s about that time to upgrade since most of your visitors are will be using their phone or tablet to view your site.

Related Posts: Use MailChimp’s Content Style Guide for tips and writing great content. Learn how to Design For People With Accessibility Needs. Graphics looking tired? Try Canva to freshen up your brand or grab some free stock photos from The Stocks

Tech
Now you don’t want all that hard work to go to waste so make sure you do the following to speed it up and keep it up to date:

First, backup your site. If your username is “admin”, “test”, or the name of your site, it’s time to change it. Update your theme and plugins. Delete any unused + outdated plugins. Delete any graphics, drafts, or files you’re not using. Use tools like LastPass to create stronger passwords or use a password-free login like Google Authenticator – Two Factor Authentication.

Update WordPress core as soon as possible or find a great web host to keep your site up and running with the latest version of WordPress. Or skip the boring tech stuff and get a developer to handle it for you.

Related Posts: Learn How to Make Your Site Mobile-friendly. Site always down? Time to choose a better host. Find out How to Speed Up Your WordPress Site and Why it Matters.

Tips: Check grammar and spelling, fix broken links, disable pop ups for mobile devices to avoid penalties that can lower your ranking (+ annoy your readers).

Recommended Plugins
Download Jetpack – “The one plugin you need for stats, related posts, search engine optimization, social sharing, protection, backups, speed, and email list management.” And then try one of these plugins to make your site better:

What’s Next

Social Media
Time to update your social media accounts. Add info about what you do and who you work with, plus a link to your freebie, subscribe or sales page on all of your profiles.

Pinterest – edit your showcase and highlight your boards (latest blog posts, your portfolio, group board)
Twitter – pin your latest post or subscribe page, share your posts and follow-up by posting it the next day, next week, and month
Facebook – add your business page to your personal profile (when you’re connecting and engaging in Facebook groups, folks can check out your page), pin your latest post to your business page, and use the button to link to your subscribe or services page

Linkedin – You have a lot more space on Linkedin so you can add that same formula on your home page here. Don’t forget to add a call to action.

Related Posts: 8 Ways You Can Grow Your Blog and Business, How to Use Instagram for Business, How to Crush Social Media Campaign Planning

Workflow
After your website and social media revamp, it’s now time to organize your process. You’ve made changes to your website (and maybe your offerings), so it may be time to refresh your process also.

Before your clients start rolling in, think about ways to make your workflow easier for you and your clients. It doesn’t have to be a perfect system since you’ll make some changes as you grow, but planning your process will save you time and headaches so you don’t have to do all the things at the last-minute. The first step is to learn how to onboard new clients faster with 6 free tools.

Related Posts: keep them coming back for more. Learn how to manage client expectations and how to get referrals from your clients. Check out Shopify for tips on working with clients.

Let’s Recap

For my TL;DR peeps, following these tips can help you grow your audience and your business:

Download your checklist, copy the Trello board that comes with it, and use them as your launch guide to revamp your WordPress site.

Figure out your main goal for your site and point your visitors in that direction.
Opt-in here. Opt-in there. Opt-in everywhere!
All social media roads lead to your website.
Create dope and valuable/helpful/relevant content and share with your followers on social media
Do the same for your email list and remember to educate and share what you have to offer
Keep up the good work and then bada bing.. bada boom – notifications from PayPal singing “Just Got Paid“.

Have some tips you want to add? Tell me in the comments below. And don’t forget to share this post with your folks.

Photo credit: WOC in Tech