Did you know that your website should have a defined purpose? It’s true. Just like any other marketing tactic, we want to know why your website exists.

What is its primary objective?

For a retailer, its objective will be to get sales. For a coach, it might be to nurture leads (into eventual sales!). For others, it might serve credibility or informational purposes.

Getting clear on your website’s number one objective is important and will help you …

1. Write + design for success. While there are general best practices, a website should employ the writing and design methods known to meet the goal. A lead generation website will look different than one driven by advertising dollars. Do you want to get someone to click on a button as fast as possible? Or do you want someone to spend some time reading through various articles, so they’ll see more banner ads.
2. Prioritize search engine optimization. SEO is a long-term investment, and it can be an expensive one. The initial optimization is just the first step. There are some basic SEO techniques you’ll want to make sure exist on your site, but if you don’t plan on driving people to your website via search engines, spending the money to monitor, test, and tweak might not be wise.
3. Know if it’s working. How will you know if it’s working if you don’t define working? For example, if your goal is lead generation, but leads aren’t coming through your website, something has to change. But let’s say you didn’t tell your designer or writer that you wanted leads coming through. They then didn’t employ those methods. You’re frustrated, they’re frustrated, and no one is making any money.

Keep in mind that a website can serve more than one purpose. In addition to an overall purpose, each individual page will also have a defined purpose. Success almost always comes down to strategy, a plan.

Having one for your website will save you time, money, and frustration — and who doesn’t want that?