3 tips to transform your website into your most powerful marketing tool (so you can stop relying on social media)

In a previous blog post I spoke about why having a content-rich website is so important to the clients I work with- most of who are also seeking out a gentler approach to growing and marketing their business.

I also spoke about how having a website is especially valuable if you are some-one who does not want to be overly reliant on intense marketing techniques, or hustle-based social media algorithms to build an audience and client/customer base for your business.

A website has the potential to be one of your most powerful marketing tools- but only if you spend some time nurturing and building it in a way that actually makes it work for you and your business.

As part of my feminine business approach, I support women to create rich content on their websites to ease the pressure of them needing to show up online (and particularly on social media) all the time. In my own business, my website does most of my marketing for me- so I’ve seen firsthand how valuable a website can be to a business.

For me, a well written, content-rich website that truly connects with the right potential clients and customers, is a deeply powerful (and practical) way that the feminine-essenced women I work with can feel safe to soften into their nature and not become overwhelmed and burnt out by trying to market and share their business.

If you’re a woman craving a softer approach to business and you’re currently in the process of creating or refining your website, here are three tips to help you transform your website into a powerful marketing and client attraction tool.

1. Make sure your website is calm and easy to read and navigate.

People are already so overwhelmed with the hectic nature of online platforms. If your website is a space that gives them a refuge from this, you’ll immediately elicit a sense of trust, safety and support.

Your website will not work as well for you if your content or navigation is confusing or hard to sift through. Simplicity and ease is key for people when they visit your website, and if it’s hard for them to navigate, they will usually leave before discovering the value you offer. A couple of quick tips to think about:

• White space is your friend! Don’t try to fill every part of your page- less is usually more. Think about adding additional page borders to create a feeling of spaciousness, as well as adding extra spacing between sections to ensure your website visitors aren’t overwhelmed.

• It’s up to you to lead your visitor. And the way you can do this is through your content and design. Think carefully about the user experience on your website in an objective way. Try to imagine that you are visiting your website for the first time. Remember, people aren’t familiar with your website the way you are, so it’s up to you to ensure they are being effectively guided, in a way that makes sense and ensures they are visiting the pages that will help them, or draw them deeper into your business. Ensure there is a clear path that your website visitor can take from whichever page they land on when they arrive. This can look like having clear calls to action, giving them clear options to click on after reading certain segments of text, and ensuring that your navigation menu is logical and clear.

  It’s also useful to use internal links across your website- this is where you link to different offerings and posts from different pages, so your visitor has multiple opportunities to be led to the different content and pages that you want them to see. For example, at the start of this blog post, I linked a related blog post about the importance of a website for gentle marketing, as well as my feminine business services page (and I’ve just done it again here!)

2. Create a blog for your website.

Having a blog is something that I will continue shouting from the rooftops, because it’s the best way to ensure that your website is truly working for you as a valuable marketing tool.

Through a blog you can answer common questions, educate and build deeper awareness around your business, as well as deeply connecting to your visitors through more personal stories that are relevant to your business.

A blog is where people go to figure out if they are in the right place, without feeling the pressure of being sold to. A blog can speak to your audience a lot more deeply than your main and sales pages do. You can expand on the various elements of your business, and speak to the different beliefs, desires and challenges of your ideal clients and customers.

A blog allows your customer to deepen into your business directly on your website, without having to find more of your content on an external platform like youtube, instagram or spotify (where it is highly likely that they will be distracted by something else!)

Another valuable role that a blog plays, is to ease the pressure of selling. With a blog, you can build trust, connection and resonance with your audience, helping them to understand your service/offering in a way that feels gentle, helpful, personal and engaging, rather than ‘salesy’. This makes selling a much more natural process which helps if you are some-one who feels uncomfortable about the idea of selling your work (something that many sensitive, feminine-essenced souls tend to grapple with in their business).

But most importantly, the content that you create on your blog is incredibly sustainable. Which means that it doesn’t disappear into the social media void, but instead serves as content that people can organically discover via search engines, for weeks, months and years to come.

I love blogging because it allows me to build up a body of work that I know is always working for me, long after I’ve posted. People are constantly and organically finding my blogs through search engines and I know that this will only continue to grow over time.

Which leads me to the last tip!

3. Optimise your content for search engines (SEO) to help your website become naturally discoverable to the right people.

A website can be an amazing asset for your business- but only if people are actually visiting it! And not just anyone- but the right people for your business who will truly appreciate and value what you offer.

This is where SEO (search engine optimisation) comes in.

By optimising your website for search engines, you can ensure that your business is being found by the right people.

Having a basic understanding of SEO is so valuable because it helps your business get found online by people who are actively seeking out a business like yours (rather than scrolling aimlessly). This means that the people who do find you are often more engaged and interested, as their search was very active and intentional (many of my favourite clients have found me through a Google search!)

SEO is such a valuable skill to have as a gentle business owner- and while SEO can sometimes sound complicated, there are some key SEO principles and tools that are both simple and intuitive (I teach these as part of my self-led marketing and visibility course for gentle, feminine creatives and sensitive solopreneurs who don’t want to rely on social media to build their business- learn more here)~

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Hopefully these three tips give you some food for thought as you create/refine your website, so you can soften into a gentler way of marketing your business online and ensure your website is working for you, even when you’re not.

Any questions, don’t hesitate to pop them in the comments, or reach out via email here.

Belinda x

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If you’d like to delve deeper or you’re looking for help writing and creating content for your website, head here.

Learn more about Growing a Business Without Social Media- a self-led course to help you get found online, naturally, softly and without needing social media.

You might also enjoy this post: Creating content that doesn’t make you cringe.