The Importance of Business Goals in Website Development

Is your website an asset, or an afterthought? It should be your most important business development asset. But if your website goals were something like, “bring in more business” – chances are, that didn’t translate into specific, strategic website tactics that get results. So let’s talk about your business goals, and how they should inform your website development.

Setting business goals for website success

You can’t achieve a goal that hasn’t been defined. So before you decide how you want your website to look and feel, start by deciding what you want it to do. And be specific! For example, do you need it to attract a lot of organic search traffic? Or do you need it to convert a smaller, more targeted volume of warm leads?
In order to maximize your digital marketing ROI, you’ll need to build a website strategy around these kinds of choices, and decide what success will look like. For best results:

But technically, a landing page is separate from your website, hosted on a dedicated landing page service. The benefits of this approach are twofold:

1. Brainstorm some key goals (What’s the point of the thing? Why do you need it?)
Example: bring in more qualified leads (our sales team has plenty of capacity to engage them).

2. Turn each one into a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-BoundAnalytics and growth strategies
Example: Increase rolling 3-month average of inquiry form submissions by 25% within 6 months of launch date.

Then talk to a website development expert about what they recommend, and what needs adjusting based on their experience.
Future You will thank you later, when you’re assessing whether your website (or any other marketing!) was worth the time and money you invested in it.

A strategic website is a profitable asset

Now that you’ve thought about specific website goals, how do you build a sales-aligned, revenue-generating website to achieve them? You work backwards, and design a strategic website experience that serves those goals. Which is easier said than done!
Starting with the right messaging and experience architecture (instead of starting with design, flashy features, etc.) means your website will:

Do its job (however you’ve defined that in your SMART goals)
Become a force multiplier for all your other marketing and sales efforts. Social media, ads, email, networking?… A strategic website immediately makes them ALL more effective and profitable!

Strategic considerations for your website development

With your SMART website goals in hand, the next step is identifying the tactics that will get you there. At The Right Path Marketing, we start each engagement by asking about your goals in depth, and creating a detailed strategic plan to achieve them.
Here are just a few things to keep in mind:

Do you need a website, or a landing page?

We get a lot of questions about landing pages vs. websites, and which is right for a particular goal. Once you understand the desired outcome, the answer will become clearer. In general, you’ll want to make sure your brand foundations are rock solid before building on them. That means website first, then landing pages as needed to meet your more targeted goals.

Do you have a clear messaging and design foundation?

Websites can be complex, time-consuming projects. While we streamline the client experience as much as possible, it can be a few months from initial meeting to published site. So the last thing you want is a series of delays due to changes in brand direction mid-project. We can help iron out all those details at the beginning of our engagement, aligning your core brand messaging, brand identity design, and website design, for a compelling website that converts.

First impressions are everything

Does your website follow the 2-second rule? That’s how long you have to convince a visitor to read anything other than your headline. That makes the hero section of each page – what you see “above the fold,” without scrolling – the most valuable real estate on your site. So make sure each hero is pulling its weight! It might be the only part of your site a user bothers to read.

Building engagement with AIDA

What do your site visitors experience once they get past the headline? Messaging and design tactics should meet them where they are, and walk them through the Awareness, Interest, Decision, Action (AIDA) process. Give them what they need at each step, and they’re more likely to do what you need in return. This is why at The Right Path Marketing, we start with clear, strategy-heavy copywriting and experience design, followed by visuals and layout to support that process.

Meet your goals with custom website development

As you can imagine, that’s just the tip of the website-planning iceberg. Because there are so many factors to consider in building a website to meet your business goals, we take a very hands-on approach at The Right Path Marketing. So you can rest assured, we’ll provide the experienced strategic guidance you need to get results. Schedule a free consult to tell us about your project, and we’ll get you started in the right direction!