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Field of Dreams was wrong. If you build it, they won't necessarily come. You have to figure out how to attract students to your course if you're going to make any sales.

Listen, if you don't get that movie reference, all is well. I'm still going to tell you how to attract students to your course.

What qualifies me to do so? Well, I'm a course creator. I've had thousands of folks take my courses over the last few years.

But, it didn't start out that way. In the beginning, I was fumbling my way through it trying to figure out how to get more people to sign up.

Along the way I've learned things that work and things that don't really help to move the needle. But, before we dive in to deep, let's have a bit of a reality check.

The Real Truth Behind How to Attract Students to Your Course

You've got to know what you're in for if you're going to try and be successful at selling courses online. No matter what you've heard, it's not easy.

Passive income sounds awesome, right? And, there are certain parts of it that are great. But, you've got to know that it takes a lot of effort over a long period of time. It takes consistently showing up and being helpful for free in hopes that some day the people that you've helped will reciprocate that goodwill.

I'm not here to try and convince you to not build an online course or learn how to attract students to your course. I just want you to know what you're in for.

In my experience, you've got more of a chance to actually stick with it if you have a good idea of what it is you're signing up for.

There are folks out there that make their first online course and within a few months are making 6 figures off of it. But, that's few and far between. Don't go in with that expectation.

Instead, plan to grow and learn over a long period of time. Learn to love the process of educating people. Learn to enjoy different ways to market and sell your online course.

Do that long enough and you yourself might have a successful 6 figure course that serves you well for years to come.

An Overview of How to Attract Students to Your Course

There are two parts to selling your online course. There's the course itself and then the marketing of that course. Both components need to be thought through and well executed.

First, we'll talk about how to market your course and then we'll get into how to make a course that people love and can't help but tell other people about.

There's going to be a lot of information in here about how to attract students to your course. Don't let it overwhelm you.

Just take it step by step. Bookmark this article and come back to it over time. As you master one element move on to the next.

My encouragement would be to pick ONE THING that you're going to focus on in this next little bit of time and grow in that area. Don't try to be awesome at everything all at once.

Stack those skills and over time you'll be an online course marketing guru. Alright? Here we go.

How to Attract Students to Your Course Tip 1: Define Your Target Audience

The first step to learn how to attract students to your course is to know who exactly those students are. This is sometimes called your target audience, your user persona, or your ideal customer avatar.

Whatever you call it, you've got to have a really good idea about who would be interested in what you're making or trying to sell.

How do you figure that out? A little bit of user research.

User Research for Your Online Course

You probably have a general idea of who would be interested in your course. Some courses are going to tend to be a little more obvious than others.

It's much easier to know the target audience for a course on curriculum building for pre-school classes than say a course on how to properly budget.

But, even if you've got a strong inkling on who your ideal customer avatar is, you should probably still dig a little deeper. We need to know as much as we can about them. Everything from

• Where they shop for clothes
• What music they listen to
• What kind of Netflix shows they binge

All of that will help us to know how to market to them super effectively AND how to make a course they love.

If you're just getting started and you don't really have an audience yet, start by reaching out to a few folks that you feel like fit the bill. Or if you've already established a following, send out a survey and do some one on one phone calls.

My First User Interviews

I started building my first paid course when I had an email list of a few hundred. Not a huge audience at all. But, I didn't let that hold me back.

I reached out to everyone and offered a $20 gift card for 10 minutes of their time. I got like 10 people to have a conversation with me. It was great.

So, don't feel like you've got to have some huge audience in order to really get an idea of who your user personas might be.

What Questions to Ask

Okay, so what questions do you ask people to learn how to attract students to your course?

The main thing you want to avoid are leading questions. Leading questions are those that kind of let the person know what you hope they'll say.

For instance, don't ask, “Would you buy a course like…” OR “What would make you buy this course?”

We want to get idea of what the answers to those questions without being so forthright. Why? Because as social creatures we tend to want to please folks that we're interacting with especially if the conversation was coerced by some type of gift card

So, try asking some questions like:

• What are the biggest problems you're facing in…
• What do you feel like are your biggest motivations to accomplishing…
• If I could wave a magic wand and solve any problem with (name general problem your solving) what would it be?
• Who else do they follow in the space you're in?

Pretty soon you'll start to notice some patterns in what people are saying. From there you'll start to form a really good idea for how to attract students to your course.

How to Attract Students to Your Course Tip 2: Build an Audience

The best and most effective ways to sell an online course is to build an audience. How do you do that? It's all about content.

You've got to make helpful resources that answers all of the questions they have around the topic of your course.

The good news is there are so many ways to create content these days. Everything from 280 character snippets on X to long form videos on YouTube. So, you get to pick which form of content works best for you.

The main thing you've got to do is show up consistently over a long period of time. And, that's no easy task.

Audience building is no joke. Prepare to to be in the throws of creating and editing, day in and day out. BUT, it's worth it.

Think of audience building as a long game. It takes a lot of effort up front. But, as time goes on, it gets easier and easier. And, you'll start to gain more and more followers.

Let's chat a little bit about the different forms of content and some best practices about each.

Blogging to Build an Audience

The first one a lot of folks go to is blogging. It's the easiest to start from scratch. You don't need any special equipment and you don't have make sure your hair looks good for the camera. But, there's a lot of competition out there.

You need to get good at writing AND SEO otherwise known as search engine optimization. Now, you don't need to be the next literary phenom OR an expert in SEO. But, you need to know your way around both topics.

I encourage people who are just getting started to make a goal to write a little bit every day. Pick a topic and just go for it.

As you develop the habit of writing consistently start to try and improve a little bit. Learn a bit about keyword research. Instead of writing 500 word articles, write 1,000 word articles.

Do that consistently overtime and you'll start to get more and more traffic to your website.

Running a Podcast to Build an Audience

Next on the list of audience building tools is running a podcast. Now, podcasting isn't as easy as writing a blog BUT it's not as difficult as creating videos.

There are some pretty great mics out there that aren't super expensive. And, you don't have to worry about washing your face before you start recording.

The cool thing about podcasting is that you can take the transcript from your audio and turn it into a blog! So, you get two forms of content for the price of one.

You can go pretty deep down the rabbit hole between what kind of audio editing software you use to getting that perfect NPR sound with the right kinds of plugins. But, the main thing I'd encourage you to focus on is making sure you've got a new episode every week.

I've been running a podcast since 2020. Some of the episodes were great and many of them were bad. But, the main thing I learned is it's all about consistency.

Keep publishing even if it's not perfect and you'll learn how to attract students to your course.

Creating Videos to Build an Audience

Another option for building an audience is growing a YouTube account. And, we just keep scaling up the complexity on our forms of content. Don't we?

Unlike a podcast, you've got to be on camera for this one. Now, you could just do voice overs BUT people like seeing other people on videos. It helps folks stay interested AND after all you are trying to get people to follow you.

You could buy a nice DSLR camera and have a sick lighting set up. But, you don't necessarily need that. I've seen some great videos shot on an iPhone alone.

The point is much more about showing up than it is about showing up super fancy. Make sure to publish every week AND over time think about things like lighting, title and thumbnail.

As you get the hang of it and dial in a system, it won't be as overwhelming and it'll be a super effective tool to build an audience for your course.

OH…you also get the benefit of being able to turn the video into a podcast and ALSO a blog. So, this is a 3 for 1 kind of deal. So, yeah, it takes more effort. BUT, you get much more out of it.

Building Your Social Media Presence to Grow an Audience

The last thing I'd encourage you to do to build an audience is to think about social media. I know plenty of folks who blew up on social and turned their followers on to a course they created.

There's a lot of competition here AND what you do and how you do it is really all about your ideal customer avatar. But, the main thing to know is you have to show up every single day.

You need to be posting 365 days a year without fail. That may sound intimidating BUT remember the content is short form. It can be a 60 second video or a few images.

I know a lot of people that will just knock out a weeks worth of content every Friday and have it ready to go for the following week.

Some Advice on Audience Building

Here's a bit of advice on how to do all of this because as you're reading you're likely picturing yourself spinning multiple plates at the same time trying to keep them all from crashing down.

Pick ONE FORM OF CONTENT and focus on that at first. Don't worry about creating a video and then writing a blog and then making a few reels. That's impossible to stay consistent and a quick way to get burnt out.

Instead, do just one. Get really good at it. Eventually, think about adding a second. But, only after you get really good at knocking that first one out quickly OR you can hire someone to help you.

The folks that are uploading multiple YouTube videos a day with dozens of reels a week probably have a team of folks helping them. You don't have to be them. You just have to be you. So, pick one and get good at it.

How to Attract Students to Your Course Tip 3: Market the Heck Out of It

Okay, we've defined our target audience and we've started to try and build an audience. NOW, we market the heck out of it.

There's a lot of different things you COULD be doing. So, again, this is one of those start small and add on over time.

Here are a few strategies that I've seen work really well.

Email Marketing for Your Online Course

There's nothing quite like email marketing when it comes to trying to sell something online. You don't own the other channels quite as much you own your own email list.

Social media and organic traffic is subject to constant algorithm changes. You'll have to keep feeding the paid ads monster to get any kind of traction. BUT, once someone gives you there email, you've got a much better chance of being seen.

So, step one is getting those emails. A lot of that will come from your audience building. But, you want to make sure you've got something to offer in return for someone's precious inbox.

The thing you give away for free in exchange for an email address is called a lead magnet. It doesn't have to be anything crazy. Just make sure it's something that another person would find valuable enough to part with their email address for.

Think of something that relates to what you're selling and give them a small taste of what you offer. You don't have to give it all away. But, think about it from your own perspective.

What kinds of things would you be willing to trade for email? Start going down that path and you'll come up with some good ideas.

What to Do With Your Email List

Once you've got those emails, you need to try and reach out consistently. Every week is good. But, if that's too much, try every other week.

But, here's the thing. You can't just email about the stuff you're trying to sell. Give away value much more than you ask for a value exchange.

Now, when the times right, yes email them about your course. In fact, email them a lot. I typically send out 12 emails over a 2 week period whenever I'm opening up enrollment for a course.

Sure a lot of people will unsubscribe. But, the whole point of the email list is to try to figure out how to attract students to your course! So, when it's time, don't apologize.

Go back to your regular “free advice” emails after the marketing period is done. But, by all means let market the heck out of your course.

Using Webinars to Sell Your Course

Another option to market your online course is through webinars. This is a bit more technically demanding. BUT, it's still doable even if you use your laptops camera and microphone.

You can obviously do whatever kind of webinar you want. But, it's probably a good idea to try and stick close to the topic of your course.

You don't have to give away the content of your course in the webinar. In fact, you more want to show people what's possible for them if THEY DO SIGN UP for the course.

But, it does need to have some intrinsic value as well. The idea is that hopefully people walk away feeling like they got something good out of the webinar even if they didn't sign up for your course. But, at some point in the webinar you've got to start talking about what they can do to sign up.

I like to save it toward the end or until about half way into my presentation. That way, I've given a lot of value but I haven't exhausted people with too much information.

Creating a Landing Page for Your Course

Another essential aspect of figuring out how to attract students to your course is to create a landing page. Now a landing page isn't just another page on your website with a link to buy.

It needs to be a pretty big page that goes in-depth on WHY people should buy, WHAT they're buying and all of the fine print with things like money-back guarantees.

Your landing page doesn't have to be a completely different website. But, it doesn't need to have the external links that a normal page on your website would have.

It's called a landing page. Not a landing and take off page. The only thing we want people to do when they hit the landing page is sign up for the course. So, don't make it easy for folks to do something else.

Using Paid Ads to Market Your Course

Another option for marketing your online course is through paid ads. Thankfully, there is no shortage of companies that will take your money in exchange for a little visibility on their platform.

You could do paid ads on social media like Instagram or Reddit. You could do PPC ads on Google. The main thing to think about it is finding a platform that your target audience is already engaged with.

Don't advertise on Instagram if your audience is more of a Reddit vibe. It's tough enough to stand out on the paid ads gamut. So, once you do, you want to make sure you're reaching the right people.

Pricing Your Online Course to Sell

Another form of marketing your online course is through your pricing. It's a bit weird to think about pricing as a form of marketing BUT getting your pricing right can be a game changer for your course.

Typically there are a few ranges of prices:

• $50 to $200
• $200 to $500
• $500 to $1,000
• $1,000+

The range you pick should be dependent upon your target audience and your marketing strategy. So, think about what your ideal customer avatar is at. Now, don't sell yourself short. But, be practical about your pricing.

The best way to figure out the right price for your course is to test out some prices. But, if I can offer some advice, if you're going to test start lower and then move up.

It's tougher to price high and then come down if you get people to sign up at that higher price point. It sucks to lower a price after a student paid more just a short time ago.

So, be cautious BUT test out the waters.

You also need to think about whether or not you should allow people to make multiple payments over a given amount of time. This can open up the pool of folks who are actually able to sign up especially if it's a more expensive course.

Using Deals, Promos and Special Offers to Sell Your Online Course

And, of course, an article about how to attract students to your course wouldn't be complete without a section devoted to deals, promos, special offers and bonuses.

You're trying to really lay on the FOMO here. Some people might struggle with this because if you're not careful it can start to get really manipulative.

But, I like to think about it this way. It's just human nature to need multiple forms of motivation to do a thing. Helping someone make a decision with some of those different forms can actually serve them.

Otherwise, some folks might sit on their hands for forever never making a decision.

AND, when it comes to getting people to sign up for your online course, you want either a yes or a no. You don't want to forever be caught in the limbo realm of “maybe.”

Okay, so what kind of things can you do?

Deals and Discounts

Use deals to offer discounts within a certain time frame. I know some course creators that make 75% of their sales for the entire year on Black Friday.

Bonuses

Add some different bonuses that are exclusive for a specific type of action. Say for instance if someone pays in full verses pays in installments.

Throw in another min-course every once in a while. Just figure out a way to sweeten the deal.

Countdown Timers

There's not much else that has the impact of seeing a large countdown timer in an email or on a landing page. It sparks anxiety in the hearts of every type A personality and everyone else.

There are great free resources to add your own countdown timer. Or you could just ask Chat GPT to spin one up for you.

Choosing a Cart Model to Sell Your Course

Lastly, if you want to learn how to attract students to your course you've got to think about HOW the course will be sold. Will it be available all the time? Or will it only be available at certain times a year? There are benefits and draw backs to both.

With an open and close cart model you can create what's known as scarcity to your course. People will begin to understand that you won't always have it available to purchase.

So, when you do open up the cart you'll have students waiting in line.

BUT, at the same time, you'll need to constantly be thinking about when you're going to open up the cart and how you're going to promote it. That's not a super passive way to make money.

Evergreen, on the other hand, is always available for purchase. You don't have to put nearly as much work around getting sales BUT your sales, on average might be lower than if you were to open and close enrollment.

I've seen both options work well in different environments. I would say, the higher the price of the course the more you'll want to have an open and closed cart model. But, it really all depends on the course, how big your audience is and a number of different factors.

How to Attract Students to Your Course Tip 4: Keep Improving Your Course Over Time

The biggest way you're going to learn how to attract students to your course is by making more and more improvements over time.

Guess who what your biggest marketing asset is. Previous students.

If they love your course, they're going to talk about it to their friends. So, you need to take a hard look at the quality of the content your putting out there.

How do you know if it's any good? You ask your current students.

Using Student Feedback to Improve Your Course

Having feedback forms on your course is the best way to get quick insight on what works and what doesn't. Now, be careful here. You don't just want to ask things like, “Did you like this course.”

That won't get you a lot of information you can use. Instead, ask things like:

• What were the biggest takeaways from this course?
• Was there anything that was confusing?
• Are you walking away with everything you hoped to learn?

That will help you uncover things you missed or maybe didn't communicate clearly.

But, your course in general needs to be a living and breathing thing. Making updates consistently will let students know that you're committed to improving it.

Wrapping Up on How to Attract Students to Your Course

So many people start to create online courses because they want to develop different channels of passive income. And, I get the allure. BUT, as you truly learn how to attract students to your course, you'll quickly realize that courses aren't SUPER passive.

Yes, they can make you money without you having to hand over AS MUCH TIME as say an in-depth project for a single client. BUT, you can't just make it once and then forget about it while you continue to make money from it.

It's going to take time to develop and sometimes re-develop it. And, then you've got to think about how you're going to promote it.

I built a course based on a third-party platform. But, right after I finished the course, the platform changed. So, much of my content had to be redone.

Should you create a course? Yes

Should you learn how to attract students to your course? Absolutely.

But, don't get discouraged if it takes you time to see the kind of results you're hoping to see. Think of it like one big experiment. Try some things out. Make adjustments and keep improving.

Eventually, you'll be the expert on how to attract students to your course.

One of the main things I've seen small business owners try to figure out when they're hoping to grow organic traffic is how to blog consistently.

But, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's not just important to know how to blog consistently. You need to know WHY YOU SHOULD blog consistently as well.

Why You Should Blog Consistently

It turns out that developing good SEO for your website is a lot more about the content you're creating than anything else.

Sure, making sure your on page SEO is important. And, getting good backlinks is a worthy cause. But, if I had to pick just one thing that would help to show up on top of search engine results it would be writing good blogs…a lot.

And, not like just a one off every few months kind of rhythm. We're talking about AT LEAST once a week.

How do you keep up that pace? Turns out I've got a little bit of experience with this very topic.

My Blogging Crednetials

Back in 2019, I started a blog/podcast/youtube channel (all the things) called Self-Made Web Designer.

The goal was to help people learn how to build web design businesses without having any background in the field. So, I started blogging…a lot. At first it was about 3 small articles every week.

Then I learned that longer blog posts tend to rank higher than shorter ones. So, I started writing at least one 2,000 word plus blog every single week.

I did that non-stop up until 2022 when I decided to take a break.

Fast forward to 2024 and I decided it was time to start writing again. Inspired by Anne Lamot's book “Bird by Bird,” I set a goal of writing 1,000 words a day.

Depending on who you are that might sound like a lot or a little. BUT, I learned quite a few things along the way that has helped me to write so much. It got to the point that I've since increased it to about 1,500 words a day.

But, because of the tips and tricks I learned, it doesn't feel like a big deal at all.

So, I decided it was time to take all of the things I've learned on how to blog consistently and share it with you here.

How to Blog Consistently Tip 1: Don't Edit While You Write

One of the biggest hurdles to get over with blogging every single day is learning how to write without editing yourself as you're writing.

Everyone does it. You type a little bit, and then you go back and read what you typed. Decide it doesn't make sense and then delete everything you just wrote and try again.

Here's the biggest tip on how to blog consistently I can give you. Creating and editing take two different types of brain power.

So, you should keep them separate. Give yourself permission to write a rough draft that's ACTUALLY rough.

Give it some time and come back later to start editing. But, don't do it WHILE you're writing.

Just write.

How to Blog Consistently Tip 2: Aim for Mediocre

If you really want to learn how to blog consistently, you've got to understand that not everything you write is going to be great.

In fact, most of it will be bad. And, that's okay.

Most people don't even get started because they're worried that their content won't live up to other super hero bloggers out there that know how to say all the right words that keep people hooked from the first sentence.

First, none of those people started out that way. They did a lot of bad blogging that lead to a lot of mediocre blogging. Eventually, they started occasionally producing some top notch blogs here and there.

But, there still not hitting a home run every time they get up to bat even now that they have years of experience.

So, don't aim to write the VERY BEST ARTICLE THAT HAS EVER BEEN WRITTEN about said topic. Instead, shoot for medioce.

Just something that's slightly above horrible. Publish before it's perfect! Do that enough and eventually you'll start to write better and better blogs.

But, don't let the fear of imperfection keep you from blogging at all.

How to Blog Consistently Tip 3: Find a Rhythm That Works for You

I hear so many people trying to push their preferred method of getting things done:

• Batching tasks
• Doing a little bit every day
• Putting it on your calendar

The list of ways to complete tasks is endless AND I have tried them all ad nauseam. Here's what I've found. What works for me might not work for you and vice versa.

I've personally found that trying to do a little bit every day is better than trying to do a lot all in just a few days. So, of all the things on my todo list, writing is one that shows up every single day.

And, when I get it done I feel like I've accomplished something.

I mean c'mon! We're taking a blank screen and turning it into something. A tangible thing that someone can consume and learn from.

The point is you don't have to do things the way I do things. Maybe you like to reserve a specific block of time on a specific day every week and just get a blog done. That's great.

Try a lot of different ways out and don't get discouraged if one doesn't work for you the way you thought it would. There's all sorts of different things you can do to try to keep a steady rhythm.

Just find a rhythm that works.

How to Blog Consistently Tip 4: Have a Running List of Topics

One of the biggest lessons I've learned on how to blog consistently is that the main enemy of keeping your blog going is that gap between your last blog and your next.

You were in it. Things were flowing AND you got the blog done. High fives all around. But the next week rolls around and it's time to write something new! Now what?

It takes me much more effort just to pick out a topic I'm going to write about than it does to just start writing.

To help with that I keep a running list of blog topics I'm planning to cover.

That also helps me to be thinking about what I'm going to be writing for on those topics. It's kind of like going to bed with a math problem in your head and waking up having solved it.

Your subconscious just kind of works on the topics even when you're not thinking about it.

How to Come Up With Blog Ideas

Okay, but you might be thinking, “How do I even come up with ideas in the first place?”

Great question. I like to do a little bit of research in Google Keyword Planner. It's a free resource that will tell you how often a phrase is searched for on their search engine.

I talk a lot about keyword research on this big blog all about SEO. But, the basic run down is you start with a general phrase connected to your website's topic.

So, if I was a photographer it would be something like “photography.” Then you get back a list of ideas.

The phrases that you're looking for are ones that have a lot of volume but not a lot of competition.

From there you'll get a barrage of different ideas to start culling through.

Another great source is Chat GPT! I love asking it to brainstorm some topics and then building a list from there. Bottom line you've got a ton of options when it comes to coming up with ideas.

How to Blog Consistently Tip 5: Don't Worry About Repeating Yourself

Something I hear consistently from people wanting to learn how to blog consistently is that they're afraid they're going to start repeating themselves.

Like, there's only so much to say about a single topic, right?

Well, there's probably a lot. You just don't realize how much you know in relation to everyone else out there.

So, let's say on a scale of 1 to 10 of everything there is to know about a specific topic and you'd put yourself at like a 6 or 7.

You'd think that you need to bring down how your talking about that topic to like a 3 or 4 so everyone can understand. But, you'd be wrong.

You need to bring it down to like a 1 or 2.

It's okay to go basic, basic. In fact, that's going to reach most people, anyways.

Say It Again, Just Slightly Different

But, let's say you're right and you will run out of things to say. Just say it again. You'd be surprised how much people don't mind hearing something over and over.

Have you ever listened to the Dave Ramsey podcast? He's been doing it for forever. Even before it was a podcast it was a radio show.

But, here's the thing, he's basically saying the same thing over and over. People call in and tell him their financial troubles and he gives them the same advice he's been giving everyone for the last few decades.

Over and over. But, it's one of the most popular podcasts out there.

People don't get bored with it. And, people won't get bored with what you have to say. Plus, it's highly unlikely that everyone will read every single article you write from top to bottom.

How to Blog Consistently Tip 6: Let AI Help

I personally don't use AI to write out my blogs fully. I like writing and see it as a craft I'm trying to develop. BUT, I do use it to help.

If I'm having trouble getting started, I'll ask it how they'd intro a topic. If I need help with a general outline, I'll poke it for some ideas.

Almost always it will give me ideas that then lead to the ideas I actually use. But, that time between when I couldn't think of anything and when I started running with a topic gets cut down SIGNIFFICIANTLY with AI.

And, listen, I'm not opposed to having AI write your blog for you. I know people that do it and there are some great tools out there.

I'm just unfamiliar with the best approach. And, as much as people say that Google has a way of telling what was created by AI and what wasn't, I'm just not buying it.

At the very least, a secret weapon on how to blog consistently is to use AI to get ideas going and help you when you get stuck.

How to Blog Consistently Tip 7: Write How You Talk

The best thing to do when you're writing a blog is just write like you would talk. So, think of it like sitting down with a friend at a coffee shop and they're asking you questions about the topic you're blogging about.

What would you say to them? How would you say it? That's what you need to do in your articles and how to blog consistently.

Often the objection I get from this tip is something like, “But, I don't talk so good.” But, hear me out.

First, I think it's kind of important to differentiate yourself from AI. Even if you're having AI write your articles. You need to go back through and put some of yourself IN THAT ARTICLE.

What better way to differentiate your writing from a robot's with your unique tone and even your mistakes.

AI can do a lot of things. But, it can't steal you or your story. So, don't be afraid to put some of yourself in what you're writing.

The Best Reading Level to Write To

People Like to Read anywhere from a 3rd to 6th grade level. So, if you're worried you won't sound smart enough, then you're actually in a really good place!

There's actually a really great resource called The Hemingway App that helps you write concisely and will tell you when your verbiage is getting too complicated.

By the way, the phrase “your verbiage is getting too complicated” was graded at a 7th grade level.

The point is you don't have to have a masters degree to start blogging about something. People just want to hear your perspective.

How to Blog Consistently Tip 8: Overcoming Writers Block

Ahh, the biggest hurdle for how to blog consistently, the dreaded writers block. There's good news though. There are so many ways to overcome it. Here's a few that have helped me.

FIRST: Just staying consistent. I know that seems like circular logic. How do you blog consistently when you're faced with writers block? Well, you blog consistently.

But, here's the funny thing that happens when you start turning your blogging into a routine, it just becomes a part of you.

It'll start to feel the same as waking up and instantly brushing your teeth. It's just something you do.

It takes a bit of time to get some momentum but that's okay. It'll get easier as time goes on.

SECOND: If you start writing about anything it will prime the pump to help you write about something specific.

Sometimes I'll even just start copying other people's text verbatim when I'm trying to get the juices flowing. It's the “objects in motion tend to stay in motion” idea JUST for writing.

THIRD: Take a nap. When I really can't think of anything it's typically a sign that I'm just really tired. So, pause from it and come back later.

You'll have some other things that work for you as well. Someone I follow said she hates starting with a blank screen so she always starts her blogs by writing “something something something” over and over again until she's ready to start.

Final Thoughts on How to Blog Consistently

There is no perfect advice on how to blog consistently. The truth is it's messy. It takes time. You'll do good for a while and then start to fade.

And, that's all okay. The point is you wake up and you try again. Don't let fear or shame hold you back from just sitting down and writing something.

They don't have to be 3,000 word articles. They don't even have to be 1,000 word articles.

Sure, there is all sorts of advice about how “your blog should be minimum of 2,000 words” and there's some truth to that. BUT, think of it like going to the gym.

You don't do your very first session after being away for years and push yourself to the max. That's a surefire way of getting injured or at the very least being too soar to come back again for a few weeks.

Take it slow. Then gradually ramp up how much you're doing.

Over time you'll get into a rhythm and you'll be telling people how to blog consistently

The world of web design is an ever evolving one. And, with a new year upon us so are the web design trends of 2025.

So, we here at Showit thought it fitting to take a second and share the things that we're seeing that are helping sites really stand out. And, to be honest, a lot of it is pretty surprising.

Some stuff I'm noticing would never have been on my web design trends bingo card. Yet, there here for the world to see and probably also question, “how did this become a thing?”

So, let's get into it. But, first a word about how to use the web design trends of 2025 for your business.

Want to watch the video instead? We got you

Should You or Should You NOT Implement Any Web Design Trends of 2025?

Web design trends are fun to see. They're kind of like a new shiny toy we'd get as a kid.

But, just because they're neat doesn't necessarily mean you need to immediately go out and try to implement them on your website.

Your goal should always be first and foremost based on your specific user type AND what you're hoping they'll do on your website.

If the web design trends of 2025 are relevant to your users and your goals then by all means have fun. But, make sure that you're at least asking the question.

Start With the End

All good website strategy starts at the end. What do I mean by that?

You need to ask yourself, “If I had to pick just one thing for a website visitor to do on my site what would that be?”

That could be sign up for a phone call or purchase a product. The answer all depends on you and your business.

But, whatever it is, start there and then go backwards. Along the way, if the web design trends of 2025 help to get a user to that endpoint, you know you're good.

Okay, that's my soapbox. Now let's get into the trends.

1. Imperfections

As AI becomes a mainstay in our everyday workflows, creatives are trying more and more to make sure that the stuff they're making looks human.

The best way to do that is by adding imperfections. You can almost instantly tell that something was made by AI because it's too perfect.

The skin of the person looks flawless. There's a radiant glow to the objects in an image.

The web design trends of 2025 are rebelling against that somewhat. Now, there is a whole other trend of using AI almost exclusively in web design BUT that's just how trends go There are juxtapositions and responses.

So, you'll see some websites that seem to be okay with a messy layout or hand drawn images that look like a 6 year old did them.

That's not to say that the design decisions weren't intentional or an afterthought. Some times the best artists are those who know exactly how to make things messy.

That's what this trend highlights and I'm here for it.

2. Micro Interactions

For a while we've been seeing web designers make big moves with animations. The bigger the better it seems.

But, one of the web design trends of 2025 seems to be a response to the grand gestures of motions we've seen on websites for a while.

I'm talking about what's called micro interactions.

Micro interactions are subtle little changes or effects that you see when you do something on a website. They might be somewhat imperceptible at first.

A small change to a border on hover. A image that tilts slightly as you scroll. But, they have a way of keeping a user engaged with the website.

Getting and keeping people's attention is proving to be tougher and tougher. This web design trend of 2025 is a solution to that problem.

3. Bright and Bold

It's probably not a shocker that this next one made it on the web design trends of 2025 list. But, a fair amount of folks are sticking to super bright and super big elements.

It seems like this might be a response to the “mobile first” mentality that's been such a big mantra over the last decade. It's not that this trend ignores the need to make responsive websites that work well on any device.

It's just that they don't want the mobile version to dictate ALL the design decisions they're making.

So, you'll see super bright colors…lime definitely being a fan fav. And you'll see super big fonts. Web designers will often opt for black letter weights. It's not uncommon to see a header take up the entire viewport of a browser.

It's almost like this was a brand designers snarky response to a client asking them to make the logo bigger. Only when they did it that paused and said, “Hey, that's kind of cool.”

4. Text Heavy

For the longest time, nearly every project I ever did for a client I would hear some version of, “I just don't want there to be a wall of text.”

“Does this feel like too much text?”

“Should we break up the text here?”

They were so concerned with their users aversion to reading that it dominated a lot of my conversations with them

One of the web design trends of 2025 bucks the convention and says, “Actually, we really like big walls of text.”

One way to keep users interested in your website is to have a steady ebb and flow of pattern interrupt. So, if you've got one section where the text on the left and image on the right, the next section will have the text on the right and image on the left.

Since the majority of websites ascribe to the “I don't want a big wall of text,” mentality, having a big wall of text will actually cause you to stop and engage a bit more.

I'm finding that any time I see this web design trend I'll slow down my scroll a little bit and spend more time reading what the words say.

So, it actually does the opposite of what my clients feared it would do.

But, be careful. You want the font size to be on the bigger side. If the text is tiny then yeah it's kind of intimidating.

5. Cursor Alternatives

Do you remember with MySpace how we used to add some code to make a cursor be something other than the little pointer icon? Like a Hello Kitty face or space alien?

Well, people are doing that again just on a whole new level.

This is a trend I honestly didn't see coming. I thought we put this one to bed for good and yet here we have it showing up in the web design trends of 2025.

To be fair, it's done WAY more tastefully this time around often as a shape or little color orb that floats near by.

Or in some cases it's done in a real obnoxious way on purpose But, that's done more in like a “we know this is silly but that's why we did it,” way rather than a “hey, mom! Check out what I just did!” kind of way.

Take or leave it. This is a web design trend we're seeing more and more of.

6. Sound

No, you did read that, correctly. Websites are once again starting to include sound as the page loads. This is another one of the web design trends of 2025 that I didn't see coming.

It reminds me of that quote I hear, “My brain is like an internet browser. I have 17 tabs open, 3 of them are frozen and I have no idea where the music is coming from.”

Now, in some cases it's not just background music. Sometimes it's little elements that make noise when you click on them. And, I will also say that it's not as invasive as the last iteration of annoying music with a side of website was.

Often times the controls are very clear OR you opt in to the music rather than it just play automatically.

I'm not really here for this one. But, you never know. I've been known to change my mind.

7. Scrollytelling

For a while now, the center of every conversation in marketing has been the idea of storytelling. There have been many a marketing department meeting devoted to making sure the strategy is based around “a story.”

This is something Seth Godin has been saying for a long while. But, it seems that everyone else has finally decided to catch up. Now, web designers want in on the action.

You'll see a lot of pages that feel more like you're opening a pop-up children book that have little levers on the side to make a little mouse jump up and down.

This is one of the web design trends of 2025 known as scrollytelling. You'll see it a lot with really well done articles from the WSJ where they're explaining something that's going on BUT they're doing it with interactive elements that change as you scroll down.

A section might start scrolling horizontally for a while and then go back to scrolling vertically. It's a fun way to keep users engaged AND it can be an effective marketing tool if done right.

8. Back & Forth, Left & Right, Not Just Up & Down

Another one of the web design trends of 2025 I'm seeing is how websites aren't just letting you scroll up and down like you would go from the penthouse floor to the lobby in a hotel.

For the longest time and still very much so today, websites were only thought of as a very portable version of what we already had in print. Even some of the phrases web designers use to describe things like “above the fold,” comes from newspaper verbiage.

But, that's slowly starting to change. As web designers are realizing the capabilities they have with modern code and browsers it's starting to become all about getting COMPLETELY immersed into the website.

So, it's like opening the door to a house and going inside each room and having a look instead of going down an elevator.

It's a cool trend and as the internet, browsers and coding practices get better it will be more feasible to implement on more and more websites.

9. Anti-Usability

A lot of the web design trends of 2025 I'm seeing have a similar thread running through them all. It's almost like web designers are tired of the rigid rules and structure that the increased popularity of UX design has brought.

For background, UX design stands for user experience. And, user experience is all about the experience a website visitor or app user has. The goal is to keep them from getting frustrated with using the website. Or at least, try as hard as you can to avoid it.

And, listen, I'm for good UX. I've talked at length about how you should always keep your user at the forefront of every decision you make with your website.

Users Aren't Just Dumb & Lazy

But, if you take that too far, you start to think that all users are lazy and kind of dumb. One of the most well known books on User Experience is titled, “Don't Make Me Think,” by Steve Krugg.

It's a great book. You should read it.

But, I think that many of the web design trends of 2025 are a backlash against HYPER UX design. The kind of UX that paints designers into a corner and forces them to create at the lowest common denominator.

That can be pretty uninspiring and boring. So, designers are pushing back against that. It's like the punk rock scene in London during the 80's. It's an anti-establishment, do whatever we want kind of feel.

If you're asking me, I don't think this one will last very long. But, I do like how it's forcing marketers, designers, developers to evolve they're thinking for the user.

Maybe some of the assumptions we've had about how people want to engage with websites are wrong. Asking those questions will only lead to progress in the field. And, I'm here for it.

Wrapping Up On Web Design Trends of 2025

So, that's the world of the web design trends of 2025 as I see it. Tell me the truth. Are you a bit surprised at some of them?

I know I am. But, I think it's really cool that every year web designers keep pushing the boundaries of what we're seeing on the internet.

It's fun to think about how websites will like 10 years from now because sheesh it doesn't seem like 2015 was that long ago.

But, no matter what the trend, no matter the direction that web design decides to take I'll leave you with this one thought.

Following the trends doesn't matter nearly as much as building and solidifying a clear and meaningful brand for yourself. So, yes, be aware of the trends. Try to creatively implement them in your website.

But, at the end of the day, stick as close as you can to being authentically yourself. Then let that show through your business and website as much as possible.

With the rise in popularity of easy to use website builders more and more people are wanting to know how to create website templates. And for good reason!

There is a HUGE market of folks that are opting out of custom coded websites and instead turning to more turnkey solutions. Solutions that help you get a website up and running in days not weeks or months.

But, none of that would have been possible just a few years ago.

I started my web design journey back in 2014. That was right on the edge of things like WordPress shortcodes being phased out in exchange for theme based plugins that called themselves “drag and drop.”

But, having used those plugins exclusively for quite a few years, they were actually ANYTHING BUT “drag and drop.” More like “grab and wrestle.”

Some of the bigger names were around like SquareSpace but they were anything but easy to use.

The Drag and Drop Website Builder and the Rise of Website Templates

As tech progressed, browsers got better and modern development evolved website builders became much, much easier to use. So, it became more feasible for folks that didn't have any kind of knowledge or skill in web development to build websites.

But, as many of you designers reading this would know, new tools are great BUT it still takes a decent amount of knowledge, patience and grit to make a website that really stands out and serves it's purpose.

It's like thinking anyone can build a house because we now have really great cordless power tools. Maybe that's MORE true because of those tools, BUT it still might be better to hire someone to make sure the house doesn't fall over from a gust of wind.

Still, with their being 33,185,550 small businesses in the U.S. alone not every business is going to have the budget to hire a designer to build a site for them from scratch. Thus, the rise of the website template.

Pre-Fab Homes and Website Templates

So, instead of building a house from the ground up using power tools you now get a pre-built home that gets delivered to you. All, you've got to do is paint a few walls, connect the power and bada-bing bada-boom, you're in business.

Having been in the webspace for quite some time I do have to say that not all website templates are the same. There are some that are great. People love them. They're diverse enough to be used by a lot of different folks but unique enough to really address the needs of a specific type of user.

Then there are some that aren't well thought through. They're tough to use and don't have the things the user really needs easily available.

So, we're going to talk about it. Here's how to create website templates that stand out and people love to buy.

How to Create Website Templates for a Specific Audience

The problem I see over and over with people wondering how to create website templates is they think they have to make their templates everything to everyone. A “Swiss Army Knife” of templates if you will.

I get the reason behind that.

You want to sell as many templates as you can. So, you try to be as all encompassing as possible.

The problem is people don't want a website template that will do EVERYTHING. They want a website template that will solve their very specific set of problems.

We think that way for just about everything we buy especially as the price point goes up. We want products and services that had us in mind from the beginning.

Let's say you were remodeling your bathroom. Let's say you had two options. One person works exclusively on bathrooms. The other has done a lot of different kinds of construction BUT they've had a string of chicken coup jobs the last few years.

Sure, the guy who builds the chicken coups would probably do a fine job on the beehive tile pattern in your shower, but why not go with the one who has more experience on bathrooms?

Websites have to be even more specific. The types of things that a photography business wants out of their website is going to be pretty different from a clothing store.

Sure, there's some overlap, but, if I'm picking a template it's going to be one that has the solutions I'm looking for not those that could be generally used by everyone.

So, if you want to know how to create website templates that really sell, you've got to get really specific on who your building for. AKA, we need to pick a niche.

Picking an Ideal Customer Avatar

Okay, so, you need to pick a specific type of person that you're building a website template for. I know this can feel really scary. BUT, if you want to know how to create website templates that people actually want to buy YOU CAN'T SKIP THIS.

So, how do you pick a niche? I like to consider 4 basic questions:

1. Where is there good opportunity in the market?
2. What experience do I have in that niche?
3. Do I have specific skills for that type of user?
4. Do I like serving them?

All of those questions are important and will point you in the right direction. But, how do you figure them out?

How to Determine a Niche for Your Website Templates

To figure out where there's good opportunity, I'd turn to organic traffic tools like Google's keyword planner. At first pass, you want to keep your search REALLY general. I'd just search “website templates” and see what kind of results you get.

You can even download the results and save it as a spreadsheet.

The main thing you're looking for here is a phrase like “website templates for real estate” that have higher volume but low competition.

It might take some time BUT don't skip out on this step. If you can find an underserved group of folks that are actively searching for website templates, you'll have a HUGE lead on the right niche to pick.

From there you ask yourself if YOUR best suited to help that kind of market. How do you know? Have you worked on a website in that industry before? OR do you have personal experience in that industry?

A lot of Showit designers started as photographers and then began creating website templates for photographers. Photography is a perfect niche for former photographers.

Picking a niche that you have some experience with gives you insight into what people in that industry need from their website.

But, if you really want to know how to create website templates that people love make sure you choose an industry that you like. Your passion for the thing you're working on will come through one way or another.

And, people will have a hard time loving your website templates if instead of passion all you feel is disdain for that niche. So, at the very least, make sure you like the industry you're creating a template for.

Key Elements When You Create Website Templates

Okay, now that you've got a niche in mind the next step of how to create website templates that people actually want to buy is making a general idea of how the site will look and what it'll have

Specifically, we need to nail down:

• Branding
• Pages
• Features (like eCommerce or a membership portal)

Each of those things are HUGELY important to potential website template purchasers. Try to get into the mind of the person buying the template.

What are their “must haves?” What are the things they absolutely DON'T WANT on their website?

How do we know? Well, we've got an ideal customer avatar, right? So, let's find someone that fits their description and ASK THEM!

Don't just guess. This is like a secret weapon for how to create website templates that get sold.

This person will be your sounding board throughout the entire process. You'll ask them what they think. What do they like? Dislike? Have to have?

All the juicy deets.

Let's go through each decision one by one and chat about them briefly.

Branding Your Website Template

You might think that branding isn't important for a website template since a lot of people are likely to come with a brand already. But, you'd be wrong.

We want to create a website that your target audience can see themselves in. So, the brand needs to speak to them. They need to think things like, “oh my gosh, this is perfect!”

Will we exclude some people who have different taste? Yes. But you've got to remember if we create website templates that are too generic then we become appealing to nobody.

AKA trying create website templates that are everything to everybody makes them nothing to no one.

So, think through a color palette that matches your ideal customer avatar. Think through font pairings that will work with their own business's brand and use those on the website template.

This isn't about what YOU would want. It's about what THEY would want.

Adding Pages to Your Website Template

Now, we've got to think through all the pages your target audience would need on their website. To do that you kind of need to think about what the goal of their website would be.

Are they hoping someone will end up on a contact page and set up a time to chat? Are they hoping someone signs up for a lead magnet?

The answer to those questions will determine what pages you include. But, in general every website template should have at least 4 pages:

1. Home
2. About
3. Contact
4. 404

From there you get to pick. Do you add a services page? Do you add a sales page?

All of that depends on the type of person you creating the website template for.

Oh, and, bonus points for creating multiple versions of the same page. If you're wondering how to create website templates that are no brainers for folks, this is a big one.

Choosing Features for Your Website Template

Finally, we come to the features we choose for our template. This is where things get a little hairy.

Often times, you don't need to create a feature from scratch but rather you need to find a solution that already exists and create a place on your website for that feature to work.

So, instead of custom coding an eCommerce feature you make templates for a WooCommerce product.

But, all of this still goes back to the needs of your ideal customer avatar. Get inside their heads and figure out what types of things they'd love to have on their website.

Using Showit to Create Website Templates

Once you've got your ideal customer avatar down and you know what they'd be looking for in a website template, it's time to build the dang thing.

There are a lot of platforms to choose from and all of them do a lot of great things. But, Showit prides itself on giving you the ability to have the most creative freedom.

And, it integrates with WordPress. So, no matter what functionality your ideal customer avatar needs, it's available through a third-party plugin.

It's also one of the easiest web building platforms to use. So, when someone actually buys your template you won't have to answer endless emails from frustrated customers who can't figure out how to get it to work.

Plus, the Showit support team is some of the best their is. Your customers won't be on their own to search through help docs. They'll have folks that actually care sending them real feedback and very possibly a loom video on how to do what they're trying to do.

Plus, it's easy to import and export templates on the Showit platform.

The goal is to have the entire process from purchase to install done without you having to step in.

Showit allows you to give share keys to people who buy your templates so you don't have to install it for them.

Listen, we're obviously a little bias about the best website builder to create website templates for. But, we're pretty sure Showit is a great option to choose from.

Marketing Your Website Templates

Alright, it's time to start marketing your website template once you've got the thing built.

This more than anything is where I see people stumble. They create these beautiful templates that are perfect for a their user persona. They put it out into the world and just hope people will somehow find and buy it.

Often times, they're disillusioned when they get little to no sales.

Just as important as it is to create great website templates, you've got to do great marketing for those website templates.

Really, you need to ask yourself two questions:

1. How much to charge
2. How people will find out about it

Let's tackle each of those questions:

How Much Should You Charge for a Website Template

How much you charge depends on a few factors:

• The general budget of your ideal customer avatar
• The competition
• The positioning of the template

It all starts with the ideal customer avatar, as always. You need to figure out what kind of budget they might have for a website template.

And, this can vary drastically from one type of target audience to another.

It's probably better to think in terms of earning potential of the person buying the template. You're probably okay to charge more if the business has the potential to make a ton of money.

But, on the other hand, if you're planning to create website templates for an in-home math tutor, they're likely not going to have a ton of extra money to spend on building a website.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't create website templates for in-home math tutors. It just means you need to have a different marketing strategy for them.

You're more going for a low cost, quantity based product than a high-end, luxury product. And you get to create your website template accordingly.

Using Competition to Determine Your Template Price

After you consider the user's budget it's time to think about your competition.

How much are other people charging for similar templates? Do they have more features and more pages than you or less?

All of that will help to determine how much you charge.

You're probably okay to charge more if you have 10 more pages and 15 more feature options on your website template than everyone else.

You'll have a really good idea of how much to charge for a website template once you've got those two things, user budget and competitor pricing, figured out.

How to Market a Website Template

Now that you've got pricing down you've got to figure out how to market your website template. And, this is where things get pretty hairy.

There are so many things you COULD be doing:

• Paid ads
• Email marketing
• Organic traffic
• Social Media

But, here's my encouragement to you. Pick one thing, and get really good at it. Don't try to do everything all at once.

So, if you pick social media, go all in on a single platform. Post every day. Try to build your audience. When engagement is low, try to figure it out. And keep at it.

If you pick organic traffic, blog every week. Get really good at keyword research and making great content.

Whatever it is, commit to becoming the best at it.

If you're starting from scratch, it's going to take some time until you start seeing sales. But, that's okay!

Think of it more like an investment into your future. You might have to work really hard now, but, eventually, it'll get easier and easier.

Don't Just Learn How to Create Website Templates…Learn How to Create a Customer Experience

Finally, it's not just enough to know how to create website templates. You've got to know how to create a really good experience for the people purchasing your templates.

You won't make a lot of sales if you create a really sick looking template but you don't provide any support OR it's tough to actually use your template.

So, you've got to think about the user experience from start to finish.

A lot of people that sell website templates will have a corresponding course they give template purchasers for free that walks them through how to use the template.

You could create loom videos on common things people have trouble with.

Whatever you do just be intentional and think through the whole journey someone makes when they're buying a template.

Sure, you might make a few sales if you don't. BUT, that'll be short lived once word gets around that your website templates are tough to use.

Final Thoughts on How to Create Website Templates that People Love

Listen, this is going to be tough to hear, but, your first few templates aren't going to be great. They just won't be. And, that's okay. Nobody's are!

You still have to make them.

Because if you don't make your first few bad ones, you won't eventually make really good ones. It takes some time to think through all the stuff that's important on how to create website templates that sell.

But, don't let that intimidate you. Don't let that stop you from just getting started.

Sure, you might not make a lot of sales at first. But, eventually, you'll learn how to improve your templates and your marketing if you keep at it.

It's easy to look at other businesses out there who are killing it with website template sales and think they just have a magic touch.

But, in reality, they've just been doing it a really long time. They've made a lot of mistakes and they've learned from it.

You will too. You just have to get started. So, what are you waiting for?

Go build a website template.

At Showit, we know a few things about conference planning.

We've hosted conferences and events for over a decade as a company. They're kind of a big part of what we do, and we make sure to reserve resources every year just to make sure they happen.

It started with United which was a conference built for photographers. But, recently we've pivoted and focused the content of our conferences on brand and web designers. Thus, Spark was born.

Why Conferences and Conference Planning are Important

Why do we love conferences so much?

There's just nothing like being in a room of like minded people who are all trying to grow and develop themselves to bring about a better future.

As the world gets more and more online, it's so important to make sure that you're building and fostering relationships IRL…aka, AFK (away from keyboard for those of you who don't have tweens).

So, we prioritize our conferences every year…even though we are a tech company, AND, even though it's a big push for us every year we put it on.

So, we thought we'd take a minute and let you peek behind the scenes at our own conference planning to see how the sausage is made.

We know first hand that it doesn't matter how awesome the speaker lineup is or how cool the location might be if you don't spend time strategically thinking through all the details of the conference.

So, here are 10 things we do every year to make sure we run a killer conference.

Grab a Free Conference Planning Spreadsheet

P.S. if you want the exact spreadsheet we use to plan our conferences you can grab it here for free!

Step 1: Start at the End

A lot of times people will start their conference planning with the speakers they'd love to have or the location they'd like to be in. And, those things are important.

BUT, before you go making decisions like that, you need to start at the end. In other words, who is this conference for, AND what are the things you want them to walk away with when they leave?

The answers to those questions should be the guiding principles for every other decision you make.

Some of the things we asked ourselves as a team as we were conference planning were:

1. Who's the ideal person for this conference?
2. What do we want them to say when they leave?
3. What are the main takeaways we want them to get?
4. What do we want them to tell their friends and family when they explain where they were the last few days?

When you start with those questions, it will set the pace for every other decision you make in your conference planning.

For Spark, we knew we want to focus on our attention on brand and web designers who were trying to build their business.

A lot of design conferences are super design heavy. So, you'll have people sharing their portfolio and inspiring you with the work they've done.

But, very seldom will you find practical tips on how to develop your skills and business acumen at those conferences.

We wanted Spark to be a mix of all those things PLUS a fair amount of relational connection.

So, we decided that we wanted people to feel like they walked away inspired, equipped and with a room of new best friends.

Ending…done.

Step 2: Determine a Rough Budget

You've got the end in mind. Now it's time to get a rough idea of what you're budget is going to be.

Hear me out on this. Conference planning is a lot like a bathroom remodel. The price you come to when you first sit down to plan IS NEVER what it actually ends up being.

Prepare for A LOT of overage because you just never know how things are going to turn out. Over time you'll start to get a better idea of what it takes to run a conference and you'll get closer and closer to the final amount in your planning phases.

But, for now, do your best and also realize it's likely going to cost more than what you're thinking.

The biggest costs for any conference are

1. Venue
2. Speakers
3. Collateral (signage, swag, etc)

You probably have a general idea of where you'd like the conference to be and who you'd like to come speak. So, reach out and figure out some dollar amounts.

That'll give you a pretty good baseline. Then you can play with all the other costs to fit the budget you were thinking.

Step 3: Choose Your Format

Once you have the end and budget worked out, it's time to pick the basic format for your conference. You might think you're only two options are either online or in person BUT there's more to it than that.

Will there just be main stage talks?
Will there be breakouts?
How many breakouts?
Will there be a few breakouts happening at the same time?
Will there be different “tracks” for people with different interests or skill levels?
Will you be feeding people or will they be feeding themselves?

The further you dive into this step of conference planning the more complicated it gets.

These questions can really only be answered when you nail down Step 1: Start at the End.

For instance, you'll definitely want to have breakouts if the conference is for an audience that really needs practical know-how. But, skipping the breakouts in-lieu of more main stage time totally makes sense if it's a crowd that's looking for a more inspirational, Tony Robbins type feel.

Either way, you've got options AND it's important to think through what the format will look like.

For Spark, we knew that we wanted people to walk away feeling inspired AND with practical knowledge on how to build their brand or web design business. So, we knew breakouts had to be a thing for us.

We chose a pretty simple rhythm to our day.

Our format was

• Morning: Main stage to breakouts
• Lunch
• Afternoon: Main stage to breakouts
• Close: Main stage

That rhythm worked well for us and kept conference attendees engaged and inspired all at the same time.

Step 4: Find Your Speakers

Now it's time to figure out who we're asking to come speak. This is where things get fun. A speaker lineup can be a HUGE draw to any conference.

That being said, you might not have a huge budget that allows you to contract really high-demand speakers. And, that's okay! It's not a deathblow to your attendence.

This is where it's really important to know your audience. In the design world, we create fake identities called User Personas to help us make design decisions. Especially when it comes to branding.

We ask ourselves things like:

• Who does this person follow on social media?
• What kind of books do they read?
• What movies do they watch?
• What inspires them?
• What's their main pain point in life?

The answers to those questions will help to narrow down the seemingly endless amounts of speaker options that exists out there.

I like to use a criterion to help determine the people that might be a good speaker for a conference based on a these factors:

• Expertise (what are they known to be really knowledgable about?)
• Popularity (how well known are they and will they bring people to the conference?)
• Fit (do they align with our values and the values of our audience?)
• Engagement (how much are they or will they be engaged in the community we're trying to build?)

The speaker is likely to be perfect for your conference if they answers to those questions align with what you're looking for.

For Spark, we actually started with the topics we knew we wanted to have covered in our keynotes and breakouts. Then we brainstormed who we knew that might be a good fit for that topic.

We let the takeaways drive the decision to who we invited to come speak.

Once you've got all that dialed in, it's time to send out the invites. This is where it gets a little intimidating ESPECIALLY if the speaker is really well known or super popular.

But, just realize these types of folks get asked to do things all the time. They're used to it. AND, it's more than likely that if you put together a thoughtful email they'll get back to you.

From there it's a matter of availability and cost. Don't wait to long to start asking people to come speak at your event. I've known certain people to book up a year in advance.

Step 5: Pick a Location

One of the biggest expenses you'll have for your conference is the venue. But, like all other decisions in our conference planning we need to start at the end.

Let what you're trying to do and who you're doing it for guide the right venue for you.

Are people going to be traveling in from out of town? You might want to pick a location close to an airport.

Are aesthetics and feel really important? You might want to pick a spot that's easy to dress up or make changes to.

Really, there aren't a ton of options to throw an event like a conference. And, those options thin out the more people you're expecting.

You basically get to choose between an event center or a hotel.

An event center is going to be easier to dial in the aesthetic and probably cheaper. But, this option might be tough if you're looking for a place that people can hang out late and then just walk to their rooms.

A hotel is great if you plan on attendees doing a lot of networking. But, it can be much more expensive and tougher to get the look and feel you might want.

Many times hotels will want you sign a contract for the amount of rooms you plan on filling AND a food and beverage minimum. That might get pricey depending on the hotel.

But, depending on your conference and your people, it might be worth it.

Step 6: Build the Schedule

It's time to build out the conference schedule now that you've got your location and speakers all dialed in.

Again, we go back to our audience. Ask yourself what the perfect schedule would look like for them.

Are they early risers?
Are they night owls?
Will they want a lot of time to hang out and chat OR do they just want to get down to business?

The answers to those questions will determine the pace and details of your schedule.

No matter the type of audience you've got, you have to consider basic human rhythms and limitations.

People can only take in so much information at a time. People need bathroom breaks. People want to flesh out ideas they got from something that inspired them.

All of that comes into play when you're building out your schedule with conference planning.

You want to toe the line somewhere right between getting the max amount of information they can handle with the max amount of down time and the max amount of hangout time.

It sounds like an impossible task, I know. But, here are a few things we've learned about scheduling out your conference.

Information is not the only thing people walk away with from a conference. Sometimes, it's not even the most important thing.

Something we hear over and over again about the conferences we put on at Showit is that the new and strengthened relationships are THE MOST IMPORTANT THING people walk away with.

So, make sure you put some time in your conference to allow people the chance to get to know the folks around them.

People might find their new best friend. Heck, we've even had conference attendees get married. So, don't skip out on hang time and down time.

BUT, it's not a vacation either. So, make sure there's a decent amount of education and inspiration.

Again, I know it's impossible

Step 7: Create Your Swag

Now it's the time in our conference planning when we start thinking about the swag attendees are going to walk away with.

If done right, the swag you give away to people at your conference could be something people cherish for years to come AND free marketing for you!

It's all the freebies that someone is going to get just for signing up and coming to your event. So, think t-shirts, pens, pencils, field notes, stickers, backpacks, water bottles, chapstick literally anything can be swag.

My biggest encouragement to you in this phase of your conference planning is try to think of things that would actually be helpful to your attendees.

It's fairly easy to find inexpensive knick knacks that you can slap a logo on and give away. But, cheap stuff feels cheap.

If your swag is an afterthought in all of your conference planning then most of the stuff you hand out will wind up in the trash.

If you don't have much budget for this aspect of your conference then just think strategically. Maybe give away one nice thing amidst the cheaper stuff you don't mind get thrown away.

Ask yourself “what's something the attendees have the potential to use every day and remember their experience at the conference?”

The answer to that question will put you on the right path for swag.

Step 8: Dial in the Logistics

As plans and schedules start to form you've got to start thinking about the logistics for your conference. Logistics are the inner workings of all the details of the event.

So things like

• How speakers are getting to and from the venue?
• Whether or not vendors have gotten paid and delivered the things you ordered from them?
• Who's doing what from your team on the days of the conference?
• How will the chairs be set up?
• What's a more detailed internal schedule look like?
• How will people check-in?

When you're coordinating an amount of people above like 7 or 8 getting together you've got to start thinking about the smaller details of what's happening and how everything is getting done.

This, admittedly, is not an area of strength for me

Thankfully, at Showit, we've got a lot of amazing and tenacious task driven folks that eat this kind of stuff up for breakfast. Our go to logistics super hero is Shamesha.

She's built a pretty rad google sheet that she keeps all those details organized with. AND, you can grab a template of the very template she created and used for Spark by signing up below.

Step 9: Craft Your Marketing

Any good conference planning would be incomplete without some solid thought on how to get the word out there and sell tickets.

Here's what we've found to be true about how people buy tickets for conferences: it's hardly ever a steady rhythm of sign-ups.

You'd think that when you open up your cart for ticket sales a few people will sign up right when it opens and then purchases will just slowly trickle in over time.

That's just not the case.

Going to a conference is a big decision. You've got to set aside time from your daily grind, potentially figure out what's happening with all your responsibilities with your family, fly to a new place maybe, get a hotel. There's lots involved in that single decision.

That being the case, people need time to think about whether or not they are going to come. So, if you just have tickets available for sale all the time you run the risk of people not having to force themselves to make a decision. Then they end up forgetting about the conference.

It comes and goes and they think, “Shoot, I was actually considering going but now the conference is over!”

How do you avoid that? By having specific times when people can and can't purchase tickets.

That's made the biggest difference in registrations for us at Showit. We open and close our cart at certain times during the year. And, it's typically around a big announcement like who's speaking.

Selling Next Year's Tickets At This Year's Conference

Another thing we've found is that the best time to sell tickets is right at the end of this years conference.

Hopefully, the people who came had a great time and would love to come the following year. So, why wait to sell tickets when everyone goes home and that fun euphoric feeling has left?

End the conference with the opportunity to buy tickets for the following year.

Other Ways to Sell Conference Tickets

Obviously, there are plenty of other things you can do to sell conference tickets.

• Social media posts
• Paid ads
• SEO
• Email marketing

The run of the mill digital marketing stuff.

But, we've found that one of the best ways to sell tickets to a conference is through relationships. And, no, I don't mean going to every one you know that might be interested and personally asking them to register.

That feels like a pyramid scheme nightmare.

I'm talking about going to communities that would fit the description of the type of person that would benefit from your conference and figuring out a way to ADD VALUE first then let them know about the opportunity to attend the conference.

For Spark, we did one big masterclass with our own designer community called the 6 Figure Designer Playbook. Then at the end of the masterclass we sold tickets.

We also reached out to some of the speakers that had communities and asked if we could present to their people and let them know about the conference.

We also asked conference speakers to promote the conference and gave them special promo code for people that signed up with them.

That's what I mean by marketing with relationships.

The Reality of Conference Planning

Well that's it. It's all I've got. But, these nearly 3,000 words of tips and advice on conference planning will set you up for success.

BUT, here's the thing.

No matter how much you plan and how thorough you are things will happen that you couldn't have planned for. The screens will glitch and go out during your biggest speaker's main stage talk. Your registration will fail.

Stuff will hit the fan and you'll have to adapt and pivot. It's all a part of it. So, the best thing to do is plan for the unexpected.

Over time, you'll get better and better at solving the problems that come up. And you yourself will be the conference planning guru that everyone asks, “Hey, what's your conference planning like for the events you put on?”

A pretty website with lots of fun animations doesn't actually do much for your business if you haven't thought about your conversion rate optimization strategies.

“But, Chris!” you might say, “it's all about the brand. And, don't 75% of website visitors make a decision on whether or not they're going to purchase from you based on looks alone?!?!”

I've heard that before, too. Although I haven't figured out where that stat comes from. AND, maybe it's a little telling that everyone I've heard it from is a web designer.

I'm not saying looks aren't important. Heck, I myself am a web designer. I love good web design.

But, I've learned from experience that it's not the only thing you need to consider if you're going to have a website that actually helps your business grow.

My Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies Horror Story

My journey to focusing on conversion rate optimization strategies for websites started with my own personal web design failure.

Some people have success stories. I have failure stories…go figure.

One of my first big projects as a web designer was for a company called Bug Jammer. They make products that attract mosquitoes.

You might be thinking, “who the heck would buy that!?!”

Well, they found that when you attract mosquitoes to one specific thing they leave other things alone. So, a lot of farms and zoos would purchase these bug jammers put them in locations away from their animals in hopes that those pesky little insects would leave their horses alone.

Their website was bad. Like really bad. And, they asked me to come in and help.

The site wasn't even responsive. So, it was firmly stuck in the early 2,000's before people started looking at websites on their phones.

So, I came in and did what I thought was a fantastic job. We made the site responsive. We focused on imagery. We dialed back the emphasis on that horrid green.

I was super happy with the result. The client was super happy with the result.

The pages adjusted on different devices. It was wayyyyy more aesthetically pleasing than the old version. There was just one problem.

After we launched sales plummeted.

They lost 1,000's of dollars in revenue every day while that awesome looking website was up.

So, what happened. We took the new website down and we replaced it with the old.

Lessons in Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

This was the catalyst for me. The thing that caused me to start to rethink how I was building websites. It was no longer just about “making it look better.” There was a much more wholistic approach.

I learned that better design, updated technology, expensive solutions is not a guarantee for better conversion.

There's another really great case study on website conversion rate optimization strategies from the athletic clothing company Finish Line.

Not so much anymore, but back a few decades ago they were a big deal. They were in all the malls AND their online store was doing great as well.

The problem was like my BugJammer friends their site was starting to get outdated. It wasn't responsive and in need of a pretty hefty facelift.

So, they got to work. And, they ended up spending $85 million to do a complete revamp. The result looked something like this:

But, something happened when they launched the new site. You probably guessed it. Sales dropped significantly. In fact, the loss was about a $3 million decrease over the most important online and in-store shopping of the year, Black Friday.

There's lots of lessons to be gleaned from here but I think the most important is if you haven't seriously developed some conversion rate optimization strategies it doesn't matter how much money you pump into a website.

What are Conversion Optimization Strategies?

Let's get some definitions out of the way. What are conversion rate optimization strategies?

Your conversion rate is the amount of times someone takes an action you're hoping they take on your website divided by the unique visits to that web page.

So, if you're really hoping someone will buy your brand new, custom Mandalorian mug that says, “this is the way” with a neat little picture of Baby Yoda, then you'd take the amount of times someone purchases a mug and divide that by the amount of unique visits to that product page.

So, let's say you have 100 unique visits to that product page and out of the 100 visits 3 people purchase a mug.

That would give you a 30% conversion rate which is actually not bad at all.

Conversion rates don't necessarily have to be tied to a sale. They could be the number of times someone signs up for a newsletter or fills out a contact form.

We just want to see someone do something that we hope they do and generally that something needs to involve an action that isn't the run of the mill website browsing.

So, page views or bounce rate doesn't really count.

Strategies to Increase Sales

From there you've got a couple of options to increase your revenue based on your website alone. You kid:

1. Increase the amount of unique visits to that product page by way of organic or paid traffic
2. Improve that pages conversion rate

That improvement to the conversion rate is what we call conversion rate optimization. And, often times that's the best way to improve sales.

Sometimes even half of a percentage of improvement on a website can result in huge financial gains for a company.

The good news is there are TONS of things you can do to improve your overall conversion rate. So, you've got plenty of options when it comes to conversion rate optimization strategies. Let's talk about a few those options.

Specifically, let's talk about 9 of those options.

1. Tweak Don't Redesign

Before you decide to go and redo everything on your website, first think about what small improvements you could make to improve things.

I'm the Designer Community Growth Manager here at Showit. That means I hang around design folks a lot.

And, hey if you want to hang out with us we'd love to have you join. All you need is a Showit subscription. Once you've got one of those reach out to our support team and they'll send you an invite link to our community.

We have bi-weekly office hours and monthly AMA with other design experts. Plus, some free courses that you can only get in the community.

More often than not when a designer starts to think about making improvements to their website they think about a complete overhaul.

We're going to change the colors, the fonts, the layout, new brand photography…the whole deal.

BUT, it's actually a better idea to take what's already there and figure out what small changes you can make that might turn into big improvements with your conversion.

And, listen, I know that doesn't sound nearly as fun as doing a full-on redesign. But, you'll never really know what conversion rate optimization strategies are working if you don't first start to tweak and test the design that's already there.

A/B Testing

How do you test out the conversion rate of small changes on your website? You do that through A/B testing tools, my friend.

A/B testing is having two different versions of a website that gets served up to different visitors. So, 50% of visitors will get version A and 50% will get version B.

Then you see what happens. Do visitors that get version A end up making a purchase more often than visitors that get version B?

What's the bounce rate for visitors on version B in comparison to visitors on version A.

All of that data can be HUGELY helpful in developing a successful conversion rate optimization strategy.

Now, when I say versions I mean 1 change to 1 thing on the site. So, having a different header in 1 section or changing the placement of a form from the left side of the hero canvas to the right side.

If you test more than 1 thing it's called a multivariate test and it's really tough to pinpoint what actually made a difference.

When you keep it to just changing one thing you can start to get a really good picture as to what's moving the needle or not. And, that can help you make better decisions in other areas of your website.

A/B Testing Caveats

A few things to keep in mind as you AB test.

FIRST: Running a test longer than 2 weeks gives you what's called dirty data. Dirty data isn't super reliable and can taint the true winner of the test.

Why 2 weeks? Well, think about it. You will likely have repeat visitors to your website. So, the longer you keep the test up there the more those same people will see the different versions of the site.

The test results become more about individual psychology than the likely better choice.

So, try to keep your test less than 2 weeks. If that's not possible then try to see if you can calculate results solely based on new users.

SECOND: You need either a lot of traffic or a huge difference in results to be super confident in the test. There's this thing called “statistical significance” in the AB testing world. And, thankfully, there are a lot of A/B testing statistical significance calculators out there.

Statistical significance lets you know whether the results of the test are trustworthy or could just be a fluke.

So, let's say you're running a test and the result is version A is 10% more likely to give you the results that you're hoping for.

You need to have 3,000 page visits per week If you want to be 95% sure that A is actually the better choice. But, that's just for an AB test that gives you a 10% bump.

The lower the percentage the longer it takes!

So, what do you do if there's no way you're gonna get more traffic to your site within 2 weeks and the changes in result aren't big enough for you to be super confident in the results?

You just take your best guess and go with that. Some of this stuff will become more intuitive the more you do it.

So, don't let a lack of statistical significance stop you from taking action.

A/B Testing Tools

My favorite tool is a site called VWO. They've got a free starter plan that will work for a lot of scenarios.

In VWO you pick a web page that you want to test and then in their editor you make the change that your hoping will improve your conversion rate. From there you tell it the outcome your looking for and it tells you the winner out of the two different versions of the web page.

So cool! You don't have to do any of the math yourself. It just tells you which version one and by how much.

Guidelines for Tweaking Websites

There are a few guidelines I have when it comes to tweaking websites. Let's talk about those.

FIRST: you always want to be testing something. There should never be a time when you're not trying to tweak some aspect of your website.

Again, these don't have to be big sweeping changes. It can be a simple change to the language of a button. Just test and see what happens.

Often times I find that when someone gets a website of the ground they feel like they're job is done. And, I get it. Building a website can be a pretty big task.

But, you shouldn't treat it like a finish line. Instead look at it as the start of a long race.

Tweak, test and tweak again.

SECOND: You need to get comfortable with analytics tools like Google Analytics. Google Analytics can be intimidating, for sure.

But, learning just a little bit about how to navigate and look up things can go a long way. It's okay if you don't know everything there is to know about Google Analytics. Figure out what's important to you and then lean into that. Even if it's just page views.

THIRD: Don't just test things willy-nilly. Have a game plan for how you're testing AND make a guess about the outcome of those test.

You need to use what I call the conversion rate optimization strategy scientific method.

1. Make a hypothesis about a change on your website like “If the wording of the header was slightly different the amount of sign-ups to our newsletter would increase by 5%.”
2. Then test that hypothesis through tools like VWO
3. Analyze the results to figure out if you can really trust them or even hypothesize about why there was or wasn't a change
4. Take an action based on the results
5. Test again

You keep doing that and eventually you'll have built a conversion rate optimization strategy that really takes your website to the next level.

2. Prioritize Your Messaging

Hear me out. I'm a designer. I love making beautiful things. I love making beautiful websites.

But, through my journey as a web designer I've learned one key thing that's important to develop any good conversion rate optimization strategy:

Good copy trumps bad design.

The reverse of that is also true:

Good design won't make up for bad copy.

You have to start with your messaging if you're going to have a solid conversion rate optimization strategy on your website. Starting with design is really putting the cart before the horse.

So, before you open your site on Showit, open a google doc.

HEY! If you want my messaging templates and even Chat GPT prompts to help you dial in your messaging as a conversion rate optimization strategies, I've got some freebie for you!

Sign-up and you'll get the images in this post as well as a Google doc template AND EVEN a free landing page that follows the principles I'm talking about here.

Messaging and Conversion Optimization Strategies

So, what does good messaging look like for a conversion optimization strategy?

You've probably heard it said that people are more likely to buy from folks they KNOW, LIKE and TRUST. And, that's true. But I think it goes a bit deeper.

I think people are more likely to buy from folks they know, like, trust AND make them feel something.

People hardly ever make decisions for rational reasons. This is a concept Dan Arielly talks about a lot in his book “Predictably Irrational.”

We don't consistently pick the best option when making decisions. We overpay for things. We underestimate the amount of time a project will take.

That makes us irrational beings. But, we do it consistently enough that certain patterns begin to emerge. That makes us “predictably irrational.”

Coffee and Conversion Rate Optimization

“That's not true for me!” You might say. But, think about the price of coffee now verses 30 years ago.

If you would have asked people in the 90's whether or not they would buy a $5 cup of coffee they would have laughed in your face.

But, these days, that's on the cheaper end of a Starbucks order! Why the change? Some of it for sure is inflation. But more so, our coffee shops started making us feel something.

Before the age of the boutique coffee shop, the coffee buying experience was pretty bad and nobody really cared about the quality of their morning joe.

Folgers was probably your go to brand if you made coffee at home. And, you honestly didn't even know where the beans came from. It didn't matter if your coffee was grown in the high-altitude region of Venezuela, shaded with potato sack curtains from the harsh equatorial sun.

If you were running late to work and had to buy a cup, you either had to go to a restaurant typically a Waffle House like diner OR you took your chances with the coffee pot left out at the gas station. Fingers crossed on that one.

Then all of the sudden these coffee shops started sprouting up that leaned into the atmosphere and ambience of the space. They talked about the craft of making a good cup of coffee and the people making your coffee acted like they liked you.

It's common place for us now but this was revolutionary back in the day. No one expected much from coffee up until this point.

But, all the sudden the coffee you drank said something about you as a person. There was an excitement when you walked in.

So, coffee went from being mere pennies to up to $10 a cup all because coffee shops and coffee distributors started making the coffee experience emotional.

Why Does Someone Buy a Hammer?

In your quest to build a good conversion rate optimization strategy around good messaging you need to figure out the underlying motivations of your users.

This goes back to the age old, “Why does someone buy a hammer?” question.

Not many people buy a hammer because they just love hammers. And, even if they did this illustration would still work.

People typically buy hammers because they need to put a hole in the wall. But, don't stop there. You could go deeper.

They buy a hammer to put a whole in the wall so they can hang pictures. But, don't stop there.

They buy a hammer to put a whole in the wall so they can hang pictures so they have visual reminders of the people they love. Because ultimately they want to feel like their life meant something to someone else.

Whew…we just got really really deep and it all started with a hammer.

Now, for sure you can get carried away with this. I don't think it would be a good idea for hammer manufacturers to say, “Buy our hammers to prove to yourself your life isn't worthless.”

But, it does mean that you have to appeal to peoples emotions. You have to make them feel something?

I love what marketer C.C. Chapman says, you have to “start with the soul and end with the sale.”

How to Target Motivations in Your Website Copy

There are a lot of theories on motivations. This has been a big topic in the behavioral sciences for quite some time.

So, there's a lot of different motivation models to choose from. And, honestly, I don't think it really matters which you pick. As long as you're being intentional and at least trying to appeal to people's hearts.

I've looked at a lot of the models and there's one that I've found is really simple BUT also really robust. That model is called the “McClelland's Human Motivation Theory.”

Yes the founder of this motivation theory does look like a the drunk/malnourished version of Colonel Sanders, BUT his ideas are pretty solid.

Using the Human Motivation Theory for Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

McClelland distills all human motivations into three buckets:

1. Achievement
2. Power
3. Affiliation

And, if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. I'm hard pressed to think of anything I'm trying to accomplish that aren't connected to one of these motivations.

• You want to build a thriving business? Achievement
• You want to get more time back in your day? Power
• You want to be a source of good in the world? Affiliation

It's all connected to one of those three. AND, each of your user will likely have a mix of motivations. So, addressing ALL THREE OF THOSE motivations in your messaging is a corner stone in all good conversion rate optimization strategies.

Motivations & Their Evil Twins

But, here's what I've found. Each of those motivations have a good side and a dark side. In psychology, they call it reward seeking vs. punishment avoiding.

So, let's say you're motivated to get healthy. You're gonna drop some LBs, sleep better and regularly exercise.

Reward seeking motivations would be things like feeling better or fitting into the clothes you wore in high school.

Punishment avoiding motivations would be things like feeling crappy all the time and being uncomfortable in your own clothes.

All good messaging conversion rate optimization strategies make room for both reward seeking AND punishment avoiding. But, I've found it's really important how often AND where you place each kind.

For instance, you don't just want non-stop punishment avoidant motivations. That starts to feel really heavy AND can signal to the user that someone's trying to manipulate them.

But, at the same time, you don't want to leave them out altogether.

This is where I like to use Donald Miller's Story Brand model.

The Story Brand Model in Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

Donald Miller's Story Brand model encourages it's users to outline there website like someone would right a story.

Every story has an intro, a conflict and a solution. So, your website should have a really clear intro, a really clear problem the user is facing and a really clear solution that they can act on.

How does this help us with conversion rate optimization strategies? If you can use this model to keep people interested, it keeps them on your website for a longer amount of time.

AND, the longer they're on your website, the more likely they are to be convinced to sign-up or buy.

We can use this model to help us know how to lay out each section of our site and whether or not we're using a reward seeking type motivation or a punishment avoiding motivation.

So, I'd typically start out with a reward seeking then go to a punishment avoiding then back to reward seeking so on and so forth all the way down the page.

Analyzing Each Motivation in Relation to Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

Let's take some time and look at each motivation bucket and see how that relates to good messaging optimization strategies.

The Achievement Motivation

The achievement motivation is for the go-getters. It's for the people that love the challenge simply because they enjoy looking back on an accomplishment and saying, “I did that!”

I can relate to this one. I love doing really challenging things. There's something about the struggle of trying to figure things out that makes it all worth it.

And, if you want to capitalize on good messaging conversion rate optimization strategies, you're gonna want to highlight this motivation on your website.

Some reward seeking achievement motivations would be things like:

• Reaching your full potential
• Accomplishing your dreams
• Having a sense of pride about who you are and what you do
• Capitalizing on opportunities

Some punishment avoiding achievement motivations would be things like:

• The fear of failure
• Having nothing to show for your efforts
• Feeling a sense of shame
• Missing out on opportunities

Now, when you read that list of punishment avoiding motivations you're probably thinking I'm being super manipulative. And, listen, I'm not telling you to really lean into stuff that make people feel insecure just to get a sale.

But, all good messaging conversion rate optimization strategies address the things that people are ALREADY feeling. In a lot of ways, doing so will put words to things that people are already thinking they just don't know how to express.

So, no, don't go ham on punishment avoiding motivations. But, don't leave them out altogether, either.

The Power Motivation

The next motivation that's included in all good conversion rate optimization strategies for messaging is the power motivation.

I feel like the power motivation gets a bad wrap. A lot of people roll their eyes when I mention it. But, the power motivation doesn't have to mean your desire to control or manipulate other people.

Instead think about how people want to have power over their own destiny. Or the power to not be limited in their choices.

Every person that has thought, “I wish I could be my own boss,” understands this motivation as I'm sure you can, too. Even if you haven't thought that.

Some things that you could mention in regards to the power motivation are:

• Being able to control your own schedule
• Being in the drivers seat
• Being able to stick to your commitments
• Taking life by the horns

Some punishment avoiding motivations in the power bucket are:

• Having something or someone else tell you what you have to do
• Not being able to stick to a diet
• Feeling like life is boring
• Getting passed up or passed by

The power motivation addresses all of those things and is an essential part of good conversion rate optimization strategies for your website's messaging.

The Affiliation Motivation

The final thing to focus to round out all good conversion rate optimization strategies for your messaging is the affiliation motivation.

The affiliation motivation is deeply solidified in the human psyche. Over time, people realized you were more likely to survive if you stayed in a pack. But, I think our desire to have close and meaningful relationships is for much more than survival.

We find more meaning when we know were connected to other people. So, you've got to include the affiliation motivation if you want to develop solid conversion rate optimization strategies for yourself of your clients.

What can you speak to in regards to the affiliation motivation?

On the reward seeking side you've got:

• Feeling connected to the people around you
• Feeling loved and loving others
• Making an impact
• Leaving a legacy
• Making memories

On the punishment avoiding side of things you've got:

• Feeling lonely
• Feeling left out
• Feeling unloved
• Feeling disconnected
• Harboring regrets

How to Use Human Motivations in Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

Okay, so you've got all the knowledge of what your users motivations are. Now what do you do with that?

First, make sure that you're addressing ALL THREE motivations. The idea behind McLelland's theory is that individuals will typically be more motivated by one of the three buckets.

BUT, you never know who's visiting your website. And, truthfully, I think people are more complex than that. We're likely motivated by all three. It just depends on the day and time.

So, let's take an example. Say you're motivated to make more money. Which most people are, right?

You can find all three motivation buckets in that single motivation. You want to make more money SO THAT:

1. You feel like you've built a life you're proud of (Achievement)
2. You can buy the things you want when you want (Power)
3. You can leave an inheritance for your kids kids (Affiliation)

User Headers as a Way to Drive Motivations

Once you've spent some time figuring out the different motivations behind someone's reason to sign-up, buy or do whatever it is you're hoping they'll do, it's time to sprinkle some headers into your website to drive those motivations home.

There's this idea when it comes to conversion rate optimization strategies in regards to messaging. It's called the “micro-yes.”

A “micro-yes” is when a user reads something and inside can say, “me too!” In other words, they personally identify with a statement that you've made.

The goal is to get as many “micro-yeses” as you can. That way they'll be much more likely to give you a big macro-yes when it comes to purchasing your product or signing up with you.

Having headers that speak to those internal motivations a user might have gives you a better chance to get those “micro-yeses” through out your website.

Do that enough and in the right way and you'll be on your way to solid conversion rate optimization strategies.

Value Propositions and Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

Okay, you don't just want to pull on people's heart strings in your copy. There are no well rounded conversion rate optimization strategies with messaging that only mention internal motivations.

You also have to talk about who you are, what you do and what you offer. That in a real dumb downed way is what's known as your value proposition. And, if you want to increase your chances on someone buying from you then you've got to make sure you do a good job of explaining those things.

At it's core, a value proposition answers 3 questions:

• Who are you and what do you offer?
• Why should someone buy this over ANYTHING else?
• Why should someone buy this over something just like it?

Let's talk about each of those questions for a bit and how to let them influence conversion rate optimization strategies.

FIRST QUESTION: Who Are You and What Do You Offer?

I've seen a lot of websites do a great job of having great visual aesthetics. They've got cool animations. Heart wrenching messaging.

But, when I'm done looking at the site I still think, “What the heck do they do?”

When I was first hired at Showit, I started trying to figure out how to truly convey the value of Showit to people.

Over and over again I heard from marketers that would encourage me to focus on “benefits over features.”

So, what are the real world benefits of using your product verses all the little gadgets that come along with the product.

So, for us it was all about creative freedom, ease of use and feeling like you had a friend to help you along the way.

So, I tried really diving into those things on our messaging. I talked more about just how much you'd love your website after you built it on Showit rather than the gallery components in the builder or the fact that you could create parallax sections on your website.

Benefits OVER features.

But, here's the thing. Some people do that and don't talk about features AT ALL.

All good conversion rate optimization strategies have to have a really clear way to communicate, “this is who we are and this is what we do.”

And, typically it needs to be as simple as that. It shouldn't take up an entire page BUT it should definitely take up SOME of a page.

Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies I Learned from a Tony Robbins Webinar

I once attended a webinar with Tonny Robbins and Dean Graziosi. It was inspiring they talked about all the ways my life was going to change. Then came time for the big offer.

All I had to do was sign up to get those big changes myself. The problem was I had no clue what I was signing up for.

Was it a class? A community? A course?

What would I be getting from it? Lessons? On what, exactly?

They'd done a great job of really firing me up without tell me what I was signing up for.

They literally came on the next day and said, “Sorry, we didn't do a good job of telling you what you are getting.”

So, yeah for sure, fire people up. But, also, just let them know what you're giving them.

SECOND QUESTION: Why You Vs. Anything Else?

Okay. You answered who you are and what you do. Now to stay in line with value proposition based conversion rate optimization strategies you've also got to answer the question, “Why you vs. anything else?”

We're not talking about “why you vs. your competitors?” We're asking, “Why you vs. signing up for another online streaming service?” Or that extra pastry from Starbucks. Or any of the million other things someone could purchase besides saying yes to you.

This is what's known as opportunity cost.

Opportunity Cost and Conversion Rate Optimization

Opportunity cost answer the question, “what other opportunities do I have to say no to in order to say yes to this one?”

This is where you really dig in to show people how much better it would make their life. You don't have to go down some big list of other options and individually prove yourself, your product or service.

But, you do need to make a compelling enough appeal that it's not tough for them to connect the dots.

This is where you can get into the details on who you serve best. AKA it's all about your target audience.

For instance, if you sell products for teachers, you need to speak to their specific problems. Even getting so granular as to what grades they teach and how your products are made for them.

Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies and Ideal Customer Avatar

The main people and businesses I see struggle in this area of conversion optimization strategies are folks that have a hard time picking a specific audience they're trying to appeal to.

A lot of marketers call this your “Ideal Customer Avatar.” Your Ideal Customer Avatar is creating a persona and describing the likes, dislikes, their fears, their hopes, their dreams, the shows they watch, the products they're loyal too.

It gets really, REALLY granular.

This isn't just a messaging issue. This can determine what types of things you're offering altogether. So, if you skip this step at the beginning, you'll have a lot of work to do on the backend.

But, no matter what, if you don't settle it, conversion rate optimization strategies won't help you a ton. So, think of this as a first order of business.

THIRD QUESTION: Why You vs. Your Competitors?

Okay, now we know what you do, who you are and why someone should pick you rather than opting for the flight upgrade on their next trip.

The next step in value proposition based conversion optimization strategies is answering the question, “Why should someone by from your rather than your competitor?”

This is where most businesses start with their marketing messaging. So, it's probably something that isn't to difficult for you to answer.

Where I see most conversion rate optimization strategies fail in this area is they don't lean in enough to what makes them unique.

You're looking for what some people call your “onlineness,” your “secret sauce.”

In some ways, this is highly dependent on the product you're trying to sell. But, I think more so it has to do with the people behind the product or service.

As AI becomes more, more prevalent in our culture THE ONLY WAY you can help people justify saying yes to you vs. some AI generated alternative is with your story.

Your Story in Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

It's like my friend Jen from Tonic Site Shop says, “A.I. can't steal your story.”

More than ever, people aren't just wanting to buy the best products. They're wanting to buy the best products from the best people.

If you're trying to grow sales you need to be focused on growing your audience at the same time. And, the best way to grow your audience is by leaning into what makes you YOU.

So, don't hold back. Don't try to hide your weirdness. Talk about the journey of creating the product you're trying to sell or launching the business you launched.

That more than anything will help you stand out over and above your competition AND it's a great component of all good conversion rate optimization strategies.

Other Value Proposition Based Conversion Optimization Strategies

Okay, those are the key things behind a strong value proposition. BUT, there are some other really important conversion based optimization strategies that would fall in the realm of value props.

Those things mainly have to do with your credibility AND what I call “the mirror.” Which sounds spooky but is really a pretty simple concept. Let's talk about both of those elements.

Credibility in Conversion Optimization Strategies

One of the things people are asking themselves when they consider buying from you is, “Can I trust this person or business?”

The way you help people answer that question with an unreserved, “yes,” is by giving them social proof.

What is social proof?

It's little cues and signals that let people know other folks stand behind the product or service. That could come in the form of testimonies, product reviews or even an “as seen on” section from well known people that have worked with you or bought your product.

If you're just getting started any kind of social proof will do. But, as time goes on you're looking for a few things that will really make the social proof have a big impact.

Namely, that's if the social proof is:

• Specific (Address a fear or concern)
• Results-Driven (“I bought this and it made me X more dollars every month”)
• Less-Polished (Production value is great unless it's a testimony. Then it feels fake)
• Video (Video testimonies carry so much more weight than other forms)

Specific

You want testimonies or reviews that speak a specific issue. So, if a lot of pre-customers are worried about it not working the way they need the product to work, a good testimony would say something like,

“I was worried it wasn't going to work the way I needed it to BUT it did and then some!”

If you've ever been on a client call and handled objections THESE are the types of things you want to try and find testimonies for.

It will help calm people's concerns if other people had the same concerns but had good outcomes.

Results Focused

A review always carries more authority any time you can get it with a specific result attached to it.

So, if you've got a course that's supposed to help make people more money get a review that says, “I signed up for this course and in a month made $2,000 more from my business.”

People are more likely to trust really specific pieces of information. The more vague the review or testimony the tougher it is for someone to believe you.

Think about that review verses, “This course definitely helped me make more money.”

How much? How long did it take?

Get specific for better results.

Less-Polished

People are WAY more skeptical today than they were even 5 years ago. It's so easy to pay for reviews or even make completely fraudulent ones altogether.

So, if you want to stand out and be believable keep your testimonies from being polished. Keep the grammar errors in there. Don't change out a word and put little brackets around it.

Let it be what it is.

Better yet, allow people to leave reviews that you are unable to touch.

Video

Finally, video is a much better medium for testimonies than plain text. It's easier to connect with the testimonial giver AND it's more believable.

Just make sure there are captions because as we've learned from that anywhere from 53% – 78% of users leave sound off on all videos.

So, add captions and let it autoplay on loop if you want a better chance of someone actually consuming the testimony.

“The Mirror” in Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

My Friend Davey Jones who runs BDOW! once said that the main question people have when they visit a website is “Can you do something like that for someone like me?”

That's a big question people have every time they're deciding to buy or sign up. How do we help them feel good about the answer to that question?

It starts with a solid Ideal Customer Avatar like I mentioned previously BUT it also means that people need to see themselves in the imagery on the website.

So, do you have a good reputation of all kinds of people all your site? Will someone load it up in a browser look at the other people who are being highlighted and say, “Oh this isn't for me.”

There are some things that are sold that really only have a specific type of person in mind. But, even then there's a lot of diversity in the most targeted of audience.

So, make sure you're not leaving folks out accidentally.

3. Adding Incentives

Alright, we've got our messaging down NOW we need add some incentives to our conversion rate optimization strategies.

Incentives help users answer the question, “Why should I buy or sign-up now verses a month from now?”

The main thing we're trying to get from them here is a firm YES or a firm NO. A maybe does us no good.

You're going to have people that your product is a good fit for. You're gonna have people that your product ISN'T a good fit for.

If people leave your website without knowing who they are in that matrix then you've not done your job. AND one way that you can motivate people to cross the line is by giving them incentives.

What are incentives? They're things like:

• Deals
• Bonuses
• Countdowns

Deals in Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

We're all probably painfully aware of how people use deals in conversion optimization strategies. Heck Black Friday is becoming more of a national holiday in the US than some actual national holidays are.

The reason we're all familiar with these types of conversion rate optimization strategies is because they're so effective.

So, figure out a way to offer a deal to your clients or purchasers. Give them a discount if they bundle. Offer a percentage off at certain times of the year. Your conversion rate will thank you.

Bonuses in Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

Bonuses are another helpful tool to increase your conversion rate. Think of it like adding a little honey to the offer. You're just sweetening the deal.

This is especially great for folks that feel like if they offer any kind of deal it will cheapen the offer.

There was a product I was really wanting to buy a year ago. And, it was a bit on the pricey side. I asked my wife about it and her thought was to wait until Black Friday when all the deals happen.

I knew this product was fairly new to market and they likely wouldn't discount it, but would probably opt to add some bonuses into the purchase.

AND, that's exactly what they did. So, I got 3 other things along with my order because they didn't want to cheapen their offer with a discount.

Countdowns in Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

Countdowns are another really strong incentive in conversion rate optimization strategies.

You could use them for the expiration of a deal or bonus OR like a lot of people do you could use it to signify when a cart closes.

I've seen a lot of course creators use them to let users know when their doors will be closing on access to their course or community or whatever.

They work great and are the epitome of FOMO.

A Word of Caution on Incentives

Just a brief word of caution about incentives in conversion rate optimization.

You've got to be careful not to over incentivize your users. This will do either one of two things:

1. Make them immune to any deals or bonuses you've got
2. Teach them to wait to buy

People aren't dumb. They'll begin to notice when you start teetering toward manipulation with your incentive practices. So, be strategic and intentional.

Don't discount to heavily unless you're wanting to get rid of some stock. When I see something that's been reduced by 75% I think, “It was probably never worth that much.”

Or I question what's really going on. Is it a fire sale?

Think of incentives like the salt you put on your food. Too much makes it uneatable. But, just enough makes the flavors of the food come out even more.

4. Removing Friction

Moving right along on our conversion rate optimization strategies, we now focus on usability.

The main thing we're trying to determine here is how hard it is for someone to do what we are wanting them to do. This is what MEC Labs calls friction.

When they check out does everything work right? Are there too many fields for them to fill out? Are there too many steps in the process?

With cart abandonment being around 70%, these are questions you REALLY have to ask.

The more friction there is the less likely they are to say yes, sign up or purchase.

There isn't really a rule of thumb when it comes to this element of conversion rate optimization strategies. Whether or not someone is willing to deal with the friction of purchasing depends a lot on the person, how motivated they are and the perceived value of the thing they're trying to buy.

Think about the friction of buying a house. It's so incredibly painful BUT it's worth it because of what you get when it's all said and done.

Then think about the friction of buying a coffee at Starbucks. You don't even have to leave your car. Two completely different products with two completely different levels of friction.

Your job is to figure out how much friction people are willing to deal with in order to convert.

Once you've found that out, you make sure that the experience on your website matches the friction people are willing to put up with.

How do you do that? Let's talk about it.

Dog-Fooding in Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

There's a term in UX Design called dog-fooding. It basically means you're trying out and/or using your products yourself.

So, you act like a customer who is purchasing from you for the first time. You take the first steps they would whether it's filling out a form or adding an item to a cart.

Then you keep going until you've done the final step.

Take note of what you experienced on the journey. Did the forms work right? Was it tough to know when I didn't fill out a field correctly? Did I feel like I needed to refresh my window when I hit submit because it was taking too long?

Those are all questions you should be asking as you're using your own website AND ones that will help you pinpoint friction issues.

User Testing in Conversion Rate Optimization

Nothing will help you realize the problems on your website quite like having someone else use it right in front of you. That's right, I'm talking about user testing and of all the conversion rate optimization strategies, this one's super helpful.

User testing in it's most basic form is sitting down with someone and watching them while they perform certain tasks on your website.

All the while you try not to help and have them talk outloud about what they're thinking and doing.

It can be excruciating seeing someone struggle to find a button on a page when you know exactly where it is. BUT, the fact that they struggle means it's not as obvious as you think it is.

When you're the one building the website or even the owner of the website, you start to get used to little things here and there that would be impossible for someone to figure out if they'd never been to the site before.

That curse of knowledge makes it pretty tough for you to be objective about your website. And, after all, blindspots are called blindspots because you don't see them!

User testing reveals all of that stuff.

So, sit down with a friend or random person at a coffee shop. Have them sign up for your newsletter or buy a product on your shop.

Notice the things they do and where they struggle and use that as a way to reduce friction.

5. Addressing Anxieties

The next piece of our conversion rate optimization strategies is addressing anxieties.

So, many websites I've seen highlight the positive. They talk about how great your life will be after you decide to purchase their product.

But, very few address the anxieties feel about signing up or saying yes. As a result the elephant in the room goes unaddressed. And, when that happens, users tend to think the answers to those questions are way worse than they actually are.

So, rather than avoiding the question, SPEAK TO IT!

A funny thing happens when you do that. People start figuring out solutions to the things they might not be in love with about your product or service.

My Personal Story of Addressing a Client Anxiety

I'll give you an example.

I was on a call with a potential client. They need a multi-language website. I gave them my pitch about who I am and what I do.

BUT THEN, I said, “Listen, I'm familiar with the idea of building a multi-language website. I've read the Google documentation about it. I've even pointed people in the right direction that were doing it themselves. BUT, I've never personally built a multi-language website. I'm confident I can. But, you gotta know it's unfamiliar territory for me.”

Can you guess their response?

I'll give you a hint. They didn't hang up the phone instantly with a parting swear word for wasting their time.

They instantly responded and said, “No worries! I'm sure there are always things in the web world that require you to toe the line of things you're not familiar with.”

See what happened?

I addressed an issue head on while also communicating confidence in the product. The result was the client trusted me more and was more than fine with my limitations.

But, what do you do if you're not having a one on one conversation with the person you're hoping will buy from you, and you're unable to get feedback about what their anxieties even are? Great question. You've got a few options.

Discovering User Anxieties for Your Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

The best way to figure out the anxieties people have about your product or service is to ask them.

You'll discover SOOO much from surveying people who have JUST PURCHASED your product. How do you do that? Send them a survey.

I like to ask:

• What made you sign up/buy?
• Were you considering alternatives?
• What's one thing that nearly stopped you from saying yes?
• Was there anything on our website that you couldn't find answers for?

The answers to those questions are like GOLD for conversion rate optimization strategies.

Then you take their feedback and figure out how to address it in your websites copy.

But, what if you don't have a lot of customers or you're just getting started? In that case, you try to think about it from your own perspective. What anxieties would you have if you were purchasing the product?

Or, you could ask other people. Recruit a friend tell them about your business or idea and ask what objections they would have if they were the ones making the purchase decision.

One way or another, you've got to take a stab at addressing anxieties on your website. Your conversion rate optimization will thank you.

6. Improve Your Usability

The final step in our conversion rate optimization strategies is improving your UX.

UX stands for user experience and at its core it's all about empathy. It's you putting yourself in the shoes of people who are visiting your website and seeing the experience from their perspective.

The main things to consider when it comes to UX in conversion rate optimization strategies are

• Is the site skimmable?
• Have you tested it?
• Did you consider the user journey?

Is it Skimmable?

This is gonna be tough but no one is reading your website. Like no one.

At most they're scrolling through, reading the first few words of headlines and then MAYBE stopping at sections that seem interesting and looking a little bit more.

So, what do you do?

First, make your font size bigger. Anything below 16px on desktop or mobile is going to be tough to read.

After that, make sure you don't have huge paragraphs with tons of words in them. In other words, hit the return key every once in a while.

Better yet, instead of paragraphs use lists with bullet points and emphasize the words in paragraphs that are really important.

In other words, make your copy really easy to consume.

Have You Tested It?

Next, have you tested it?

We talked about this a little bit when we were trying to remove friction. But, truly sitting down with someone and watching them struggle through your website can be on of the best conversion rate optimization strategies out there.

I like to use Steve Krugs method which is really simple. I'd encourage you to grab his book, “Rocket Surgery Made Easy.”

The basic idea is you recruit 3 people once a week to sit down and look through your website. You record the them scrolling through and ask them to talk outloud so you can hear what they're thinking.

The first question you ask is “What do you think this website is for?”

You'd be amazed at the responses you get. I did this for a redesign of a website and the response I got was no where near the purpose of the site. So, I had to go back to the drawing board.

After that you give them a few tasks and watch what they do. Those tasks could be signing up for a lead magnet or purchasing a product.

You will really quickly learn the holes in your website and then be able to adjust things for better conversion rate.

Did You Consider the User Journey?

I've seen so many websites falter at this conversion rate optimization strategy.

I've seen ads that look one way that lead to landing pages that look completely different. I've seen websites where the checkout button was hard to find or the contact form was buried.

Every website should start at the ending and work backwards from there.

What do I mean by that? What is the one place you hope people end up on your website? Is it a contact form? A purchase confirmation? A thank you page?

You figure out the ideal place for people using your website to end up and then you go one step back. Then you go one step back until you finally come to the user's entrance point.

A few things on this:

ONE: The journey should feel cohesive. You don't want the entrance point which would be like an ad or a blog to feel completely different than the final destination.

TWO: You want the path to get to the end to be as straight of a line as possible. In other words, don't require them to jump through hoops to end up where you hope they'll go.

If you consider this one thing you'll be in a better place than 90% of the websites out there on the internet.

Wrapping Up On Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies

Phew, this article got away from me. But, at this point, if you don't have quite a few tools in conversion rate optimization strategies for your website, I don't know what to tell you.

But, here's the last thing I'll leave you with.

Don't forget that all of this is an experiment. There is absolutely nothing that is set in stone regarding conversion rate optimization strategies. There are general rules of thumb that are good things to try.

But, at the end of the day, you just have to try things out and see what works.

But, guaranteed, if you don't even try or consider how to improve your conversion rate, it likely will never improve.

So, go out there and try one of these things out. Don't try to do everything at once. Pick one thing that you're going to try and go for it.

You might find that make simple changes on your website will result in really big payoffs.

So, you've got a business. And, every business needs a website, right? No problem!

You sign up for your favorite website builder (Showit…obvs) and you're all jazzed up to get started. Then it hits.

Blank Canvas Syndrome. AKA, you have no idea what elements a good website needs to have. What was once excitement has now turned into panic because you don't even know where to begin.

No problem, my friend. You've come to the right place.

We recently did an interview with a web design pro and she had a ton of website tips that will help get you started on the right foot.

It was actually part of a video series we're doing on the inner workings of building a Showit template.

But, first, let's meet our instructor.

Website Tips from Jen of Tonic Site Shop

Jen Olmstead is a website-building superhero from Tonic Site Shop. She's built websites for some pretty awesome folks like Jenna Kutcher, Amy Porterfield and Chris Loves Julia to name a few.

She's also made some of the most beloved Showit templates out there including the free website template, Gimlet, that comes included in every Showit subscription.

Jen is one of the most sought-after Showit designers and just plain awesome when it comes to strategy and marketing. She had more than a few gems to share when we recently sat down for a chat.

Without further ado, here are 9 website tips to help your website stand out.

1. Start With a Single Person in Mind

One key to having a website that actually helps you grow your business is to design your site with one person in mind. In other words, you SHOULD NOT try to appeal to everyone.

This might be a tough pill to swallow. After all, if a customer with money in hand showed up at your door, you would never turn them away, right?

The problem is that when you try to be everything for everybody, you end up excluding more people than you include. This is about being the right solution for THE RIGHT PERSON.

One of the main question someone is asking when they choose to purchase a product or a service is, “Does someone like me buy something like this?”

That little gem of wisdom is from our good friend Davey Jones of Sumo.

So, the more generic you are the more it actually hurts you. Rather, you want to think of your IDEAL CLIENT and design for them, specifically.

How do you do that?

• Look at the products they buy.
• Look at where they like to shop.
• Look at the television shows they watch.
• Look at the books and magazines they like to read.

Use that as your inspiration. Put easter eggs in your copy like a John Wick or Gillmore Girls reference. This gives them little hints that you understand them AND this website was made FOR THEM specifically.

Find a Friend that Looks Like Your Ideal Client

One fun way to put this into action is to try and find a friend that matches your ideal client and send the website to them.

Get their feedback. Ask them what they like about it. Ask them what's confusing.

Use them as a litmus test for how well you hit your target audience. If they really like it and feel like the site was built just for them, you've succeeded!

If not go back to the drawing board, make some changes and try again.

2. Limit Yourself

One of my favorite website tips that Jen gave in our interview was this:

“When anything is possible, everything is possible, and everything is a bad idea.”

Jen Olmstead

It's the same concept that Austin Kleon gave in his book Steal Like an Artist: “Limitation = Freedom.”

Just like it's important to have a list of things YOU WANT to include in your website, it's equally important to have a list of things YOU DON'T WANT to include.

This is another way of helping a potential customer or client know that this website is FOR THEM.

One of the main ways you limit yourself is with a rubric we call a brand or style guide.

Typically, a brand or style guide is an actual document or image that lists out your color palette, your font treatments, your brand voice and other important things that make up how your business is portrayed to the world.

Without something like that you could end up confusing potential customers or clients by sending messages that don't quite work together.

So, do yourself a favor and put some limits on what shows up on your website.

HINT: This might change over time as your business grows or develops. As time goes on you might find out that you really like something more than you thought you would OR you really DON'T like something you've done for a long time.

It's okay to switch things up BUT whatever you do, just make it really clear.

3. Find Ways to Be Different

As consumers, we've become numb to the constant drip of ads and promos. We don't really pay attention to majority of the ads that are shoved in our face. We can't!

It takes far to much energy to just live our lives let alone try and process ALL OF THE INFORMATION we are bombarded with on a daily basis.

So, if you're looking for website tips that are gonna help you stand out, here's a solid one: be different. Design in such a way that it makes people stop their scroll.

How do you do that?

First you have to figure out what other people are doing. In a small way, you have to become a student of what's already out there.

So, go check out your competitors. Ask yourself:

• What color palettes are they using?
• Which fonts are really popular?
• What kinds of images are people using?

Then, figure out a way to add your own spin. The best way to do that is to add your own personality to a website. So, if your favorite color is blue PUT IT IN THERE.

This is not only a gem in terms of website tips, it's also helpful with business strategy. If everyone in your industry has the same type of offer, figure out a way to stand out.

You don't have to be WAY FAR OUT THERE to accomplish this. Slight signals that who you are is different than everyone else will go a long way.

4. Pull Inspiration from Unique Sources

One sure fire way to stand out is to look for inspiration from unique sources.

In other words, if everyone is going to pinterest to look for different things they want to have on their website, you go somewhere else.

Better yet, go outside of your particular industry to find sources.

Jen mentioned how her and her business partner Jeff would go to small book shops and search through the magazine sections.

She even one time created a template based on a french magazine she found in the backseat pouch on an airplane.

In other words, BE CURIOUS, and let that curiousity fuel what the decisions you make for your website.

One of my favorite projects was inspired by an illustrator and graphic designer Cristiana Couceiro. Cristiana has a unique style that blends graphics, illustration and real images that feels collage like.

When I was building the website the one question I asked myself was, “Would this page look like it fit inside of Cristiana's portfolio?”

If it did, it passed. If not, it was back to the drawing board.

So, do yourself a favor and add some limitations to what you allow on your website. It'll give you a clear focus and help you make decisions.

5. Keep an Eye on Trends

Like it or not, when you decide to start a business, you've signed up to keep a finger on the pulse of what's going on in the marketplace.

Now, that doesn't mean you have to know everything about every industry. BUT, it does mean you need to have a decent idea of what's going on in your neck of the woods.

One way that you can do that is spend a little bit of time every day purusing new websites or reading different ads that come across your screen every once in a while.

One resource that I use is something called Muzli. Muzli is a chrome plugin that shows you different pieces of design inspiration every time you open up a new tab.

So, instead of staring at a blank screen with a Google search field, you're met with a curated list of images from other designers and projects.

I gotta be honest. This might be one of my favorite website tips from Jen. I might spend a little too much time browsing through all the articles here.

BUT, it has helped me A TON with staying fresh in the design world AND it can help you too.

But you don't have to stop there. There are other great resources like eCommerce websites or Jen's favorite Panda.

If you're looking for even more, I've made a list of 16 different places that I pull from.

6. Have Fun

Finally, whatever you do, just have fun. As website tips go this is probably my favorite.

It's easy to get really tense about building a website. After all, there's a lot riding on your site.

But, here's the really cool thing about websites: it's pretty easy to change them. Especially with a platform like Showit.

So, even if you make a mistake or try something that doesn't work, you can just come back and try again.

This is actually one of the things I love about web work the most. You can't do that with print design. Once it's printed, it's out there. You've likely printed a lot of the same thing to try and save some money. Until you run out of what you just printed, you're kind of stuck.

Not so on the web. So, take risks. Have fun. Try out different things and see what works.

Look at your website as an experiment that can be iterated on not a statue etched in stone.

Website Tips that Will Help Your Business for Years to Come

No one likes the idea of having to redo a website every 2 years. It takes a lot of work to get a website off the ground.

At Showit, we know that all too well.

But, one way you can be sure that your website will have some “staying power” is to stay in line with these website tips.

Do things like:

1. Design and build it for a specific person
2. Use a brand or style guide to limit your options
3. Find ways to be different and stand out in your market
4. Find unique sources of inspiration to pull from
5. Keep an eye on what's current (including graphics, copy and marketing trends)

And of course HAVE FUN while you're doing it. Enjoy yourself and figure out ways to add your own personality and flair into your website.

After all, the world doesn't need another Jenna Kutcher or Amy Porterfield website. They need YOUR WEBSITE with all you have to offer.

And, of course Showit is there to help along every step of the way.