Building a new website or even just updating your old website is a team sport. In my experience, it takes at least 6 individual roles to be filled on your team.
Here you are, you’re investing your money and time in showcasing your business online. So, you want a website that
Attracts customers
Connects with customers
Converts customers
Looks professional
And, you can feel proud of
Here are my tips for who to have on your team for a successful website build, and how to recruit the best member for your team.
You
You're the most important member of Team Website. It’s your business. You want this to happen. You’re ready to take your business to the next step.
The most successful websites I’ve worked on were when the biz owner (you) was totally committed to the project, ready to learn and embraced change.
Are you ready to be on the Team?
Job description:
- Passionate about your tribe and growing your business
- Committed to the project
- Willing to learn
- Able to be guided
- Embrace change
Questions to ask yourself to see if you’re ready to be on the team:
- Why do I want/need a new website or updated website?
- What do I want my website to accomplish for my business?
- Am I ready to invest in my business?
The Brand Message writer
I just want to start off by making sure you’re clear on what I mean by ‘Brand Message’. You see, many people think of their Brand as the visual collateral that comes with their business. Their logo, colour and fonts. This is your Visual Branding.
Your Brand Message is the words behind your business. It gives you the story that directs all other aspects of your marketing, including your Visual Branding.
Most people head straight to the visual designers when they decide they want a new or updated website. But, in my experience, what works best to save time, money and repetition, and to ensure a smooth process, is to nail your Brand Message first.
Getting your Brand Message and story first means you can get consistency through all elements of your website.
The copywriter can use the information to outline the conversation that is crafted onto your website to connect and convert your clients
The graphic designer can be guided to what colours and fonts
The photographer can be guided to what emotions/situations need to be shown in photos
Who do you want on your team?
Someone who can create the story of your business and how it guides your dream client to the transformation they seek
Someone who can help you feel confident about the clarity of your message
A strong foundation for the rest of your team to spring-board off.
Questions to ask your Brand Message report writer:
Are you a StoryBrand Certified Guide (the best form of business story writer!) Find NZ's most awesome StoryBrand guide at Mammoth Marketing
What do you get in your Brand Message Report
Do you focus on visuals or story? (you want someone who focuses on story for this part)
A graphic designer
Now you’ve committed to the project, you’ve got your business brand message clarified, so finally you’re ready for the design elements!
Using your Brand Message Report a graphic designer can create your logo, colour palette, font range and mood board consistent with the story of your business.
There’s an amazing psychology that goes behind choosing colours, design and fonts that your Brand Message Report can help with. And this can have many benefits to your website.
I often explain it like this ... When your words, fonts, colours and images are all in harmony (saying the same things and conveying the same emotions) your client feels this on a subconscious level, which makes them feel comfortable.
When images, fonts, words and colours don’t match in emotion and feelings, it makes us feel uncomfortable and we don’t know why. All we know is that we want to get away from this feeling, and if you’re on a website, that means clicking away. We don’t want this!
Who do you want on your team?
- Someone with knowledge of font, colour and image psychology (and who uses this knowledge in their design process)
- Creative flare
- Creative skills to bring the right collateral for your website
Questions to ask your graphic designer:
- Can I see your portfolio?
- Do you know about the psychology of colour, font and images
- Can you talk me through the process of how you create the visual branding for a website?
Photographer
Yes, you need your photo on your website! Connection is important, and we want to see who we’re about to connect with and invest our health and wellness in. But a dodgy old selfie from 1995 isn’t going to cut it these days.
Professional photography can capture you in the right way, make you feel relaxed and confident in your business.
I really don’t like my photo taken. Like. Really. But I know the benefits of having photos on my website. So, I started stalking a few photographers and came across one I liked. Her photos were so relaxed and fun while still being professional. And the investment gave me so much confidence in how I put myself out there for my business. She really knew when to click the camera button! (Here’s her website if you’re in the Auckland area).
A photographer can help you out with more than just photos of your for your website (and social media). They can also use your Brand Message story to help you decide on photographs that would support the conversation on your website to help convert clients. Pictures not of you, photos of you with clients, pictures of you in action, product photographs.
Who do you want on your team?
- Someone with an eye for capturing the emotions and feelings you want to show on your website
- Someone you feel comfortable (as comfortable as possible if photos aren’t your thing!) with
- Someone who can see beyond the portrait photo
Questions to ask your photographer
- Can I see your portfolio?
- Can you talk me through the process of how you set up for a photoshoot?
- How many photos will I get?
Website copywriter
While you’re getting your logo, colour, fonts and photos all done ... in the background your website copywriter can be getting all your content written for your website.
This may be the same copywriter as the person who wrote your Brand Message story.
Pictures and colours don’t sell your products or services, the words do. And there’s a specific way of putting the words together on websites that engage, connect and transform your client. And ultimately gets them to take the action that leads to the sale.
Getting the right words in the right order takes a knowledge of psychology, your specific market psychology, persuasion, current best practice, user experience (UX), micro-copy and SEO.
SEO is how the search engines find you and present you in search results for specific words or phrases that your client enters into the search box. A website copywriter needs to take this into account.
When someone lands on your website they need to find what they’re looking for and engage with it – quickly. It’s the job of the copywriter to craft the conversation in a way that your client can quickly and easily see this is the right place for them. And know what to do to engage with you.
Who do you want on your team?
- SEO, web-experienced copywriter
- Able to write for humans (UX) as well as Google bots
- Includes tone of voice and competitor research
- Someone who ‘gets’ your business and/or dream client
Questions to ask your copywriter:
- Can I see your portfolio
- What research do you do to make sure you write with my voice?
- Do you do keyword research and include this in the copy?
- What is your process?
Web designer/developer
NOW! You’ve got things ready to give to your web developer/designer.
You’ll find that some web developer/designers also will write, create graphic design and photography. Which streamlines things nicely! Or they may work as part of a team on projects so that everything is aligned. In my experience, web developer/designers often come from a design background.
Traditionally, a web developer builds your website from scratch – coding it on platforms such as WordPress. This means you’ve got a website specifically tailored to your needs. Which is great if you have a complex site with memberships, online forums, data libraries etc.
However, many people just need a ‘simple’ site with service pages and a call to contact to book an appointment. For this, there are many non or minimal coded platforms like Rocketspark (my favourite to build on), Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, Webflow etc. Or shop sites such as Rocketspark and Shopify. This is the realm of your website designer (although to be honest, the terms are often interchangeable).
Who do you want on your team?
- Can help guide you to the right platform for you
- Is experienced with the website platform you want to use
- Can work in a team with others
- Can show you how to use your site when the building is done
Questions to ask your web developer/designer:
- Can I see your portfolio
- What platform do you suggest I use
- What platforms do you have experience using
- What is your process?
- What happens after the site goes live? (support)
Go Team Website!
So, there you have it. This may seem like a lot of work, but it’s easier co-ordinating your team if you know who you need on it. I’ve seen many times where the website’s been built and all of a sudden the designer asks where the copy is. Or when the copy is written and the website platform hasn’t been decided on.
Getting your website updated or creating a new one is one of the big investments for your business, and you want it to start paying off ASAP.
This is how to get a professional site built with as less stress as possible with minimum delays.
Ready to get your website team together?
I work alongside a great team of graphic designers, web developers and photographers who can help you build a website you feel proud to shout out loud about!