Building a website is part of establishing your personal brand. It gives your brand an online anchor where you can direct potential clients to learn more about your offers, sign up for your newsletter, or contact you. More importantly, it is the spot where you can establish yourself as a thought leader, build your know, like, and trust factor, and turn potential clients into paying clients. In this article, we’ll explore some of the essential parts of a website.
The essential parts of a website include a header and menu, images, content, a footer, your logo, a blog, one or more call-to-action (CTA) buttons, and key forms. The placement of some of these elements is obvious — the header and menu go at the top, and the footer goes at the bottom. Your logo is placed where it is visible and may appear in multiple places throughout the website. But where and how you use images and content makes a difference.
A website is divided into two basic sections: above the fold and below the fold.
Essential Website Elements Above the Fold
Above the fold refers to everything you can see when the website loads. The term is from the newspaper industry, where the big headlines are on the top half of the paper above the fold.
At a glance, browsers should instantly identify who you are and what you do. The CTA above the fold should match where visitors are in the buyer’s journey — the awareness and information stage. This is not the place to include a link to book an appointment with you! This is where you invite them to learn more, either by directing them to another part of your website or offering a high-value freebie in exchange for their email.
On the Wise Whisper Agency homepage, casual visitors learn immediately that we offer an “all-inclusive method to help you craft your signature talk….” We include a button that directs visitors to information about working with us.
On my previous Ashley Stahl website, I offered a link to a quiz — a high-value freebie — in exchange for an email address, which was then added to my lead nurturing system.
Every page on your website has above- and below-the-fold sections, but the homepage is most critical. Take a minute to scroll through the pages of my website. Notice that the area above the fold on most pages has a hero image with title and subtitle text that speaks to what Wise Whisper Agency does and how we help our clients.
Essential parts to include on your website above the fold include a header with your logo and menu, an image with title and subtitle text that clearly identifies what you do and who you help, and a simple CTA.
Essential Website Elements Below the Fold
Below the fold is the nurturing component of your site. This is where you dive into the details of who you are and who you help … it’s where you build your know, like, and trust factor. Use images, text, and video. Add CTAs. How you choose to design this is entirely up to you, but it should be consistent with your brand in style, colors, and font.
Let’s take a look at the different components that fill the space below the fold.
Images. All images should be relevant and reflect your ideal customer. If you work with young professionals, stock images should be of young professionals and things that appeal to that demographic. If your brand is punchy or cheeky, use images that reflect playfulness.
Text. At Wise Whisper, we recommend varying the size of your text. Very few people want to read a wall of text. Use bullets, lists, titles, and subtitles to break up content. Indent quotes. Imagine that you’re delivering the information on cue cards; include just enough text to fit on a 3×5 index card before adding a design element, such as a title, quote, or image.
Text can also include a blog. Blogs are excellent for SEO for many reasons. You can target keywords and key phrases and add new content regularly. The key to a successful blog is consistency.
Video. According to Sprout Social, 42% of your social media content should be short-form videos (< 15 seconds). Videos under one minute have the highest engagement rate. Explainer videos are used by 72% of markets to explain a product or service.
Video Sales Letters (VSLs) can significantly build brand awareness, enhance customer engagement, and boost conversion. Here’s an example of how I use a VSL to explain how Wise Whisper Agency helps its clients.
CTAs. Above the fold is where you ease visitors into the sales funnel with information-packed or high-value freebie CTAs. Once visitors get to know and click through other pages of your site, you can begin to use CTA to sell your products and services.
The best analogy I have is to imagine meeting someone for the first time. They’re attractive, you share lively conversation, and you want to see them again, so you pass along your number or plan to meet a few days later. After a few dates, you invite them to pick you up at your house. A few more dates, and you make dinner. A few more and it’s meet the parents.
Your CTAs need to follow the same nurture sequence. Someone you meet for the first time is likely to “Uhh, no, I’m not ready to meet your parents!” The same is true for visitors to your site for the first time (except for those outliers we love). When clicking through the Wise Whisper site, notice that the CTAs on the home page are all information-based. It’s not until visitors get to know us better that we direct them to contact us.
Putting the Essential Parts of a Website Together
Put the essential information above the fold to incentivize visitors to stick around by telling them what you do and who you help and directing them to more information. Reel them in with brand-specific images and content targeted toward your ideal customer avatar. Use video and increasingly stronger and stronger CTAs to convert lookers to buyers.
Nurturing visitors is a process. Your website is just a small part of the process. You will also use newsletters, emails, blogs, and social media to build awareness and build your know, like, and trust factor.
If you’re ready to build your website, our expert team at Wise Whisper Agency can help. Here’s a link to our contact page. Simply check the box “A New Website,” and we will reach out to you.
