Sometimes it seems like everyone and their brother have launched podcasts in the last year or two. While a significant amount of podcasters do it out of passion for their subject matter, many other podcasters get into it with the hope of creating a hit show that will let them quit their day jobs. On the other hand, some podcasters want to at least cover their expenses and production costs. And at meetups and podcasting conferences, the business sense of podcasting and monetization comes up frequently.
The simple truth is that unless you are a media celebrity, YouTube star or have a large social media platform, podcasting is an unlikely way for most individuals to create significant income. At least not the sort of income to retire on in a few years.
New podcasters may make next to nil when they create their initial episodes and work on building listeners. For example, The Jerry Banfield Show creator reported earning $188.73 for 74,080 plays, meaning he’s earning about $2.55 for every 1,000 people who listen to his Anchor.fm broadcast, although sponsors on the platform tend to pay more, Banfield reports. Click here to see the article at Listen Notes
That said, podcasting as content strategy does make business sense and is an excellent contributor to attracting and retaining clients. Inbound Marketing is all about getting potential customers to know, like and trust you, and nothing does this better than podcasting. We talk to so many business owners who share amazing stories about how their initial conversations with prospects has changed because of their podcasts.
The whole feel of an initial conversation with someone interested in your business changes if they have already listened to your podcast.
In many cases a podcast builds a connection and understanding of how your service, business or product fits their needs. And all this happens before the first conversation.
For interview shows, often the relationships established with your guests become an important asset.
Alternatives To Monetization Through Ads
Do ads make business sense for podcasters? Photographer: Joshua Earle | Source: Unsplash
That said, many podcasters do not have a business associated with their show. And for them it is important to earn a little income from the podcast to offset or even pay for the production costs and listener growth.
There are many more elegant alternatives to podcast monetization than playing programmatic ads on a podcast. The best 3 approaches of late are sponsorships, memberships and guesting.
Sponsorships
You can work out a deal for "host read promos" for select sponsors, all without accepting programmatic advertising placed on your show with little input from you.
Your sponsors contribute a negotiated amount of funds or resources for a period of time, in exchange for host read ads on your show.
It helps to have a DAI (dynamic audio insertion) capable podcast host, more on this in upcoming posts. This simply means you can add and remove sponsor promos throughout your back-catalog of episodes, even after publishing, and there is no “hard coding” of promos.
Memberships
The other effective model of creating some income from your podcast listening audiences is through membership models. There are an increasing number of platforms around this, Patreon being the one that has been around the longest.
The most effective membership programs are around offering a combination of premium content, access to a membership group and personal access to you, the host.
Podcast Guesting
Guesting as a podcast growth strategy is pretty well known. Usually the term “guesting” is thought of as appearing on other podcasts, in order to grow a podcast’s own listener base. But there are also ways in which booking the right guests on a show can lead to financial success:
Guesting as monetization strategy involves reaching out to interview potential high profile clients in your niche.
Usually an interview podcast promotes their guests, and allows the host to outreach to people they would otherwise be shy to contact.
We have seen it time and again, recording a podcast together can quickly establishes a close relationship with potential clients one would not have otherwise have even met.
Podcast Monetization Blog Series
Coming up: We are about to launch a blog article series on podcast monetization, sponsorship models, guesting and podcast membership models. We will explore the following in more detail:
What are the best monetization options today?
The business sense of in-house promos delivered via DAI (Dynamic Audio Insertion), and how average podcasters can take advantage of it creatively, for pre-roll, mid-roll promo slots
Why dynamically updating a back-catalog of episodes can bring your old episodes back to life
How to structure DAI campaigns with in-house promotions even when there are no sponsors involved
Planning and executing on membership models, including the latest apps and solutions to deliver premium content
Guesting and outreach as part of a monetization strategy.
So stay tuned, and let me know your questions and comments!
https://polymash.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/PodcastBusinessSense1200_5490c37b70f6deb78bc5f5d01bd47def_2000.jpg6751200Juergen Berkesselhttps://polymash.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Polymash-Logo-2019-680px-Web2.pngJuergen Berkessel2020-12-14 19:08:212020-12-18 18:28:05The Business Sense In Podcasting?
Today's episode is a little different. We are going to talk about the importance of building a great podcast home page, and the role it plays in promoting your podcast.
Podcast Homepage Design Patterns
Let me apologize in advance: Talking about podcast homepage design patterns is a mostly visual exercise. It you are listening and not able to see the video and the show notes, I'll try my best to verbally explain the page layout elements as we go through.
But the episode features a YouTube video where you can see the visual bits explained in detail, and I'd encourage you to watch it above.
What we are talking about is a highly converting podcast homepage design pattern called “The Upside Down Podcast Home Page” – optimized to create a guided experience for your site visitors, and to encourage them to subscribe to your podcast via email. The video covers 2 versions of this – a more complete version for established podcasts with multiple seasons or topics, and a simple version for new podcast sites with a narrow niche and a focused audience.
But first I want to outline the reasons behind focusing on email list building instead of on iTunes rank and "New and Noteworthy" presence. I get asked about this a lot, especially by "podcasting purists" and "old school" podcasters who are experienced and may already have a solid audience and following. For them, understandably, the primary goal is to serve listeners on iTunes.
Why Podcast Homepage Design Should Focus On Email List Building instead of iTunes Subscribers
The holy grail of podcasting is to get iTunes Subscribers, right? And to get into the "New and Noteworthy" charts, right? And so podcast homepage design should focus on getting visitors to your site to subscribe on iTunes, right?
Well, not from my point of view. For a number of reasons: The iTunes podcast ranking algorithm as well as the "New and Noteworthy" charts are seriously broken at the time of this writing. The top 200 podcasts are being gamed and exploited, and are full of entries who are paying thousands of dollars to overseas click farms for instant presence in the top charts. This is not just my opinion, but has been extensively covered in the podcast news beats. If you want to see a comprehensive video explaining how this is the case, and what the impact on the iTunes ecosystem is, just watch this video by Lime Link.
So why design your podcast website to get people to subscribe on iTunes, when you could be getting people to subscribe to your podcast via email notifications?
I would gladly trade 1,000 iTunes subscribers for 100 podcast email notification subscribers.
Email list building sounds like such a trite concept, but even today it is still one of the most valuable assets your business can build. The fact is that you can provide your audience with more valuable context, and you get to better position your episodes through the email notifications you send. Should you still encourage your listeners to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher? Of course, but it is better to do so after they have opted in via email.
The Inbound Philosophy of the "Upside Down Podcast Homepage" Design Pattern
"Conversion Optimization" is such a crass term. Sounds vaguely exploitative, like you are somehow tricking or taking advantage of your audience.
Let me try and debunk that.
The "Upside Down Podcast Homepage" design pattern is intended to better serve your audience.
It is meant to create a better experience for them. It is based on empathy with your audience. Your podcast homepage design should be intended to help your audience discover your best and most relevant content. Content that resonates the most with their own situation and listening goals, and is also what you are most proud of.
Creating a Guided Experience
And so, the intention is to create a guided experience for your visitors. This means hiding distractions, and reducing some of the options that some visitors may be accustomed to. For example, the presence of a comprehensive menu with lots of choices at the top of the page. Or buttons to jump off to iTunes and Stitcher where they can simply subscribe. From a UX perspective, you may think these make it easier for your visitors, when in fact they can create cognitive friction, overwhelm, and too many choices.
The idea is not to make it "harder" for your visitors to find these links, but to simply guide them on a journey to better understanding your topic, how your podcast addresses their own needs, and how best to stay connected with your content.
None of this can happen if you "make it easy" for your site visitors by placing a "Subscribe on iTunes" button on the top of your site. That just sends them straight to the iTunes store, where they will see a homogenized list of episodes with no context, no background story, no differentiation between one episode and the next.
The subscribe on iTunes links are still there, of course, but placed near the bottom of the page. This means as your visitors scroll through your podcast website, you have the chance to encourage them to discover your content and subscribe to your show via email.
And this is where "Pilot Stories" come in. But first, let's walk through the upside down podcast home page design one section at a time:
Again, apologies for the visual nature of this, but what follows will talk through a number of website design elements called "page sections". These are the building blocks of modern web design. They can be thought of as horizontal bands of grouped content. Most of us are familiar with websites that have a "Header" or "Above the Fold" or "Hero" page section. Well, there are other less prominent sections as well, and we'll talk through each one involved in the "Upside Down Podcast Homepage" pattern.
The "Above The Fold" Section
Above the fold is defined as
positioned in the upper half of a web page and visible without scrolling down the page.
The above the fold section is the first thing that creates an impression when we visit a site. It is often where we find a "Header" or "Hero Image". The top of the page should be dedicated to one thing: getting people to sign up to your podcast via email.
The Upside Down Podcast Homepage Design Pattern – Above The Fold
Look Ma, No Menu: This is what makes it an “upside down” page. Menu links are moved to the footer instead. If you must have menu items, limit them to 3-5.
Showing Face: Showing a face above the fold increases conversions, trust, engagement
Call To Action: Deliver a solid call to action above the fold, but make sure this is NOT an iTunes button.
Social Proof Section
The social proof band establishes you're not a weirdo, and if possible outlines your best reviews, or that your podcast was in the top 100, or that you've been featured elsewhere, including on TV, or even if you've appeared on other podcast shows. It is often implemented as a set of light grey logos where you might have been featured, or can include testimonials from your guests. The design reason for "greyed out" logos are that they are a more humble brag, and less likely to visually compete with the design of your site.
The Upside Down Podcast Homepage Design Pattern – Social Proof Section
In our video, notice the design treatment for this section.
The Roadmap Section
The roadmap section provides an multiple choice on-ramp to let your site visitors self-select their journey through your content. It is most often designed as a section with a set of columns or content boxes with an icon, a headline, short description and a button to find out more.
It provides an "at a glance" overview of your podcast's content, while at the same time encouraging your visitors to select what they are most interested in. Clicking on your road map section represents a sort of "micro-commitment" to further engage with your content.
The Upside Down Podcast Homepage Design Pattern – Roadmap Section
A good example of a roadmap would be for guiding your site visitors through multiple seasons of your podcast. Each season would have a title, a description, and a button to find out more about it. A click on each button triggers a smooth scroll down the page to a pilot story section, which further explains the season and offers some of its best content. This sort of self selective exploration of your content allows your visitors to find what they want as well as stay on your site.
SEO Tip: For extra credit, implement a WordPress plugin called "Reduce Bounce Rate", which communicates with Google Analytics and records scroll movements. In our tests we have observed improvement in bounce rate from the 80s to the 30s.
The Role of Pilot Stories in Podcast Homepage Design
As covered in our video, there are multiple ways in which pilot stories function within your podcast homepage design to highlight your very best best content.
The Upside Down Podcast Homepage Design Pattern – Pilot Story Section
If you have a single and focused niche you may only need a single pilot story. But if your podcast homepage design is intended to offer multiple categories of content, or multiple seasons, then you can add "Pilot Story" sections for each.
For listeners unable to see the illustrations in our show notes, the pilot story section features not only the headline and compelling description, but also a mini grid of your best episodes on the related topic. Our own design approach is to split this page section vertically, with the pilot story on one side, and a mini episode grid on the other side.
This allows you to highlight your best content, instead of hiding it deep inside your site. Use Google analytics to identify the best and most popular episodes from the past, and then feature them here.
Pilot Story Section For Seasons
For people with seasonal shows, these sections can tell the story of each season.
Having a section for each season provides you with a chance to outline the value proposition of listening to each season.
It also lets you highlight the best and most popular episodes, and allows people to jump to the show notes pages for each episode that resonates with them.
Pilot Story Section For Topic Categories
Another way to position the pilot story sections is to categorize your content. Does your podcast offer advice, or tips? If so, chances are that your episodes fall into multiple categories of advice and tips.
You can develop a "Pilot Story" for each category, and highlight the best episodes for each.
Your Pilot Story's Call To Action
One thing all pilot stories have in common is that they offer you the chance to highlight your best content. And it also provides you with the opportunity to offer your audience a call to action. What is it you want them to do?
Don't miss any new episodes…
The simplest way to implement this is to simply offer a way to subscribe to email notifications as a way to stay connected with your show.
A more advanced call to action provides additional incentives to your audience.
For an example of this, see season 2 of the Positivity Strategist Podcast.
Podcast Website Design Example of a Season And Call To Action
This podcast season talks about "Seven new literacies for living and leading in our times", and the gift being offered for people to subscribe to the show is a "7 Literacies Guide" to go along with listening to the season.
Associating your podcast homepage with strong calls to action also allows for utilizing paid ads and post boosts on Facebook and other platforms. And, make sure your podcast episode files use Facebook correctly and link to your show notes pages rather than to iTunes.
Podcast Subscription Links Section
Finally, here is the section about how to subscribe on iTunes or other podcast directories. This appears right at the top of the podcast home page in too many podcast homepage designs.
The reason for placing this further down is this: By the time that people scroll to this section, your pilot stories have had ample time to communicate the benefits of signing up via email.
The Upside Down Podcast Homepage Design Pattern – iTunes Links Section
Minor tip: If you use the icons and graphics provided by each podcast platform, consider adding text explanations under each graphic. Your readers might not recognize each graphic.
The Episode Grid Section
The Upside Down Podcast Homepage Design Pattern – Episode Grid
Like the iTunes links, your complete episode grid is purposefully moved towards the bottom of the page layout, so people are likely more likely to scroll and discover the highlighted episodes in the “Pilot Story” sections above.
The Navigation Footer
This is what makes this home page “upside-down.”
The Upside Down Podcast Homepage Design Pattern – Episode Grid
Most websites have their navigation at the very top of the page, but moving it to the bottom of the page, we have increased focus and conversions.
Conclusion and Examples
We use this design pattern on a number of pages ourselves. And this design pattern is obviously not limited to podcasting websites and homepages. Here are some examples we built for a clients in different industries:
If you are interested in a downloadable PDF version of this design pattern as featured and covered in the video with all the annotations and explanations, please click here to sign up for our podcasting resources guide, which features a PDF version of the entire design pattern with lots of implementation notes.
WordPress Ready Made Podcast Home Page Download
Also, I am creating a "Done For You" version of this design pattern, ready to install on any WordPress site, let me know if that is something you would want in the comments.
https://polymash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/005-Podcast-Homepage-Design_8c9b8208b84be88fe35e30c7a50ad9c2_2000.jpg10801920Juergen Berkesselhttps://polymash.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Polymash-Logo-2019-680px-Web2.pngJuergen Berkessel2018-11-13 08:32:042022-02-10 13:00:25Podcast Homepage Design Patterns For Conversion And List Building
This video walk through outlines a highly converting podcast website design pattern called “The Upside Down Podcast Home Page” – optimized to create a guided experience for your site visitors, and to encourage them to subscribe to your podcast via email. The video covers 2 versions of this – a more complete version for established podcasts with multiple seasons or topics, and a simple version for new podcast sites with a narrow niche and focused audience.
A video walk-through tour of the "Upside Down Podcast Home Page" design pattern
In this post I want to outline the reasons behind focusing on email list building instead of obsessing about iTunes rank and "New and Noteworthy".
Why Podcast Website Design Should Focus On Email List Building instead of iTunes Subscribers
The holy grail of podcasting is to get iTunes Subscribers, right? And to get into the "New and Noteworthy" charts, right? And so podcast website design should focus on getting visitors to your site to subscribe on iTunes, right?
Wrong, in my opinion. The iTunes podcast ranking algorithm as well as the "New and Noteworthy" charts are seriously broken at the time of this writing. The top 200 podcasts are being gamed and exploited, and are full of entries who are paying thousands of dollars to overseas click farms for instant presence in the top charts. This is not just my opinion, but has been extensively covered in the podcast news beats. If you want to see a comprehensive video explaining how this is the case, and what the impact on the iTunes ecosystem is, just watch this video by Lime Link.
So why design your podcast website to get people to subscribe on iTunes, when you could be getting people to subscribe to your podcast via email notifications?
I would gladly trade 1,000 iTunes subscribers for 100 podcast email notification subscribers.
Email list building sounds like such a trite concept, but even today it is still one of the most valuable assets your business can build. The fact is that you can provide your audience with more valuable context, and you get to better position your episodes through the email notifications you send. Should you still encourage your listeners to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher? Of course, but it is better to do so after they have opted in via email.
The Inbound Philosophy of the "Upside Down Podcast Home Page" Design Pattern
"Conversion Optimization" is such a crass term. Sounds vaguely exploitative, like you are somehow tricking or taking advantage of your audience.
Let me try and debunk that.
The "Upside Down Podcast Homepage" design pattern is intended to better serve your audience.
It is meant to create a better experience for them. It is based on empathy with your audience. Your podcast website design should be intended for your audience to discover your best and most relevant content. Content that resonates the most with their own situation and listening goals, and also is what you are most proud of.
Creating a Guided Experience
And so, the intention is to create a guided experience for your visitors. This means hiding distractions, and reducing some of the options that some visitors may be accustomed to. For example, the presence of a comprehensive menu with lots of choices at the top of the page. Or buttons to jump off to iTunes and Stitcher where they can simply subscribe. From a UX perspective, you may think these make it easier for your visitors, when in fact they can create cognitive friction, overwhelm, and too many choices.
The idea is not to make it "harder" for your visitors to find these links, but to simply guide them on a journey to better understanding your topic, how your podcast addresses their own needs, and how best to stay connected with your content.
None of this can happen if you "make it easy" for your site visitors by placing a "Subscribe on iTunes" button on the top of your site. That just sends them straight to the iTunes store, where they will see a homogenized list of episodes with no context, no background story, no differentiation between one episode and the next.
The subscribe on iTunes links are still there, of course, but placed near the bottom of the page. This means as your visitors scroll through your podcast website, you have the chance to encourage them to discover your content and subscribe to your show via email.
And this is where "Pilot Stories" come in. But first, let's walk through the upside down podcast website design one section at a time:
Above The Fold
The top of the page is dedicated to one thing: getting people to sign up to your podcast via email.
The Upside Down Podcast Website Design Pattern – Above The Fold
Look Ma, No Menu: This is what makes it an “upside down” page. Menu links are moved to the footer instead. If you must have menu items, limit them to 3-5.
Showing Face: Showing a face above the fold increases conversions, trust, engagement
Call To Action: Deliver a solid call to action above the fold, but make sure this is NOT an iTunes button.
Social Proof
The social proof band establishes you're not a weirdo, and if possible outlines your best reviews, or that your podcast was in the top 100, or that you've been featured elsewhere, including on TV, or even if you've appeared on other podcast shows.
The Upside Down Podcast Website Design Pattern – Social Proof Section
In our video, notice the design treatment for this section.
Roadmap
The roadmap section provides an on-ramp to let your site visitors self-select their journey through your content.
The Upside Down Podcast Website Design Pattern – Roadmap Section
This could be navigating through multiple seasons or categories. Each segment or column on the road map smooth scrolls to a pilot story section further down the page. This allows your visitors to stay on your site.
SEO Tip: For extra credit, implement a WordPress plugin called "Reduce Bounce Rate", which communicates with Google Analytics and records scroll movements. In our tests we have observed improvement in bounce rate from the 80s to the 30s.
The Role of Pilot Stories in Podcast Website Design
As covered in our video, there are multiple ways in which pilot stories function within your podcast website design to highlight your very best best content.
The Upside Down Podcast Website Design Pattern – Pilot Story Section
If you have a single and focused niche you may only need a single pilot story. But if your podcast website design is intended to offer multiple categories of content, or multiple seasons, then you can add "Pilot Story" sections for each.
Pilot Story Section For Seasons
For people with seasonal shows, these sections can tell the story of each season.
Having a section for each season provides you with a chance to outline the value proposition of listening to each season.
It also lets you highlight the best and most popular episodes, and allows people to jump to the show notes pages for each episode that resonates with them.
Pilot Story Section For Topic Categories
Another way to position the pilot story sections is to categorize your content. Does your podcast offer advice, or tips? If so, chances are that your episodes fall into multiple categories of advice and tips. You can develop a "Pilot Story" for each category, and highlight the best episodes for each.
Your Pilot Story's Call To Action
One thing all pilot stories have in common is that they offer you the chance to highlight your best content. And it also provides you with the opportunity to offer your audience a call to action. What is it you want them to do?
Don't miss any new episodes…
The simplest way to implement this is to simply offer a way to subscribe to email notifications as a way to stay connected with your show.
A more advanced call to action provides additional incentives to your audience.
For an example of this, see season 2 of the Positivity Strategist Podcast.
Podcast Website Design Example of a Season And Call To Action
This podcast season talks about "Seven new literacies for living and leading in our times", and the gift being offered for people to subscribe to the show is a "7 Literacies Guide" to go along with listening to the season.
Associating your podcast homepage with strong calls to action also allows for utilizing paid ads and post boosts on Facebook and other platforms. And, make sure your podcast episode files use Facebook correctly and link to your show notes pages rather than to iTunes.
Podcast Subscription Links Section
Finally, here is the section that unfortunately appears right at the top of the podcast home page in too many podcast website designs. By the time that people scroll to this section, your pilot stories have had ample time to communicate the benefits of signing up via email as well.
The Upside Down Podcast Website Design Pattern – iTunes Links Section
If you use the icons and graphics provided by each platform, consider adding text explanations under each graphic. Your readers might not recognize each graphic.
The Episode Grid
The Upside Down Podcast Website Design Pattern – Episode Grid
Like the iTunes links, your complete episode grid is purposefully moved towards the bottom of the page layout, so people are likely more likely to scroll and discover the highlighted episodes in the “Pilot Story” sections above.
The Navigation Footer
This is what makes this home page “upside-down.”
The Upside Down Podcast Website Design Pattern – Episode Grid
Most websites have their navigation at the very top of the page, but moving it to the bottom of the page, we have increased focus and conversions.
Conclusion and Examples
We use this design pattern on a number of pages ourselves. And this design pattern is obviously not limited to podcasting websites and homepages. Here are some examples we built for a clients in different industries:
Also, if you are interested in a downloadable PDF version of this design pattern as featured and covered in the video with all the annotations and explanations, please sign up for our Podcasting Resources Guide above.
WordPress Ready Made Podcast Home Page Download
And I am creating a "Done For You" version of this design pattern using the Thrive Architect content builder, which means this will be a "ready to install" customizable page template on any WordPress site, let me know if that is something you would want in the comments.
https://polymash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/99a955bbcb18edbaebf518e0dd802382_2000.png6931385Juergen Berkesselhttps://polymash.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Polymash-Logo-2019-680px-Web2.pngJuergen Berkessel2018-09-08 14:17:172022-02-10 13:00:23Podcast Website Design Patterns For Conversion And List Building
Let’s face it, your web site design has a certain shelf life, and the time comes when even the most reticent business owners realize their site is due for a make-over. Being a visual design fanatic, graphic designer and photographer I sympathize with clients who think they have a design problem. Just recently a prospect stated something I hear a lot:
“My biggest problem has always been the design of things”
I think this comes from intuitively recognizing that “there is something wrong or missing” from their site, but failing to realize exactly what it might be. And so the focus falls on “design”, the “look and feel”, the “cool factor”, the latest font choices, video backgrounds and sliders. Thoughts turn to “mobile”, “responsive”, “more modern”.
UX Design Problems Are Hard to Spot At First Glance
Marketers and app developers have embraced user experience as being a fundamental aspect of modern design. But for the average small business owner, blogger, solopreneur and for most lay people, UX is a difficult and mysterious concept to come to grips with, and the lack of a good user experience is hard to spot.
This means that very often site re-designs are based on visual decisions and look and feel only, ignoring the fundamentals of user behavior, research, and customer centric thinking. This also implies little research and planning.
But Digital Strategy Gaps Are Even Harder To Spot
For me, the coolest vanity site out there is useless (or at best a hobby only) if it fails to attract and convert visitors into leads. Or fails to engage consumers of our content. Visitors will come, say “wow this is cool”, and then leave, unless we have a way to capture them. Like being on a blind date with someone beautiful, without ever asking for a name. Now there’s a design problem for you.
Some examples of missed opportunities
We’ve seen carefully crafted corporate site re-designs launch, with no content other than myopic product catalogs, services and company history, all organized by internal departments, and navigable only by the initiated. Why was the site not converting?
Because that’s called an intranet.
So often the language is that of a first person narrative, it’s all me, me, me, or we, we, we.
Sorry, how are you helping your site visitors?
We see sites that advertise their products and services by shouting at a demographic, rather than starting to engage with their prospects.
If you want to start a conversation, don’t shout.
And often we see thoughtful and entertaining blog articles, marooned and hidden away in some far corner of a site without linking to other valuable pages, and without any accessible opt-ins chance to grow email lists for the content owners. Or we’ve seen famous authors book launch site giving away free preview chapters of their book, without a sign up form asking for an email in exchange. I get it, you’re being modest and are providing value, but trust me, it’s OK to have an occasional opt-in asking for a name and email address.
There is such a thing as being too humble.
So the question for me is always one of customer centricity: Who do you place at the center of your site’s experience? Yourself or your visitors?
So what should we focus on when considering a site re-design?
Let us adopt our customer’s point of view. What is our value proposition to them? How can we inform, delight and offer relevant content and experiences to them?
1.) Awareness: Start by realizing the opportunity for re-invention
It starts with simply realizing that each time a web site is re-designed, it is a huge strategic opportunity to re-invent not only the site, but also the way it contributes to your underlying business model.
2.) Education: Why and how content marketing works
Initially, spend more time researching. In my experience, most web design projects benefit from an 80/20 rule: 80% planning, 20% execution. Educate yourself about why content marketing and an inbound approach work so well for most companies that practice it. Here some quick stats and info to understand the opportunity better…
3.) Conversion: Going Inbound
There is no better way to start customer centric thinking than by implementing an inbound content strategy. It will help develop the muscle for customer centric philosophy and language. It will lead not only to a deeper understanding of your site visitors, but also to a better relationship with your prospects.
4.) Marketing Automation: The difference
For small businesses and solopreneurs, the potential of marketing automation cannot be overstated. Once accessible only to relatively large organizations and corporates, marketing automation platforms are now extremely affordable, and an excellent way to design and run sophisticated inbound content campaigns.
5.) Re-Frame the Opportunity: Converting visitors into prospects, prospects into leads
A re-design project is an ideal place to start, because it can provide you with a re-frame: Your site’s job is to convert site visitors into leads, by providing valuable content to your readership in exchange for contact info and email addresses.
Your site can become the central hub of a customer centric overall digital marketing strategy that supports your business goals (and reflects your brand of course).
https://polymash.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Design-problems-in-digital-strategy-and-ux.jpg400800Juergen Berkesselhttps://polymash.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Polymash-Logo-2019-680px-Web2.pngJuergen Berkessel2015-06-05 10:18:002021-03-23 12:21:55Design problems? 5 powerful ways to reframe them as opportunities!
Let’s face it, your web site design has a certain shelf life, and the time comes when even the most reticent business owners realize their site is due for a make-over. Being a visual design fanatic, graphic designer and photographer I sympathize with clients who think they have a design problem. Just recently a prospect stated something I hear a lot:
Marketers and app developers have embraced user experience as being a fundamental aspect of modern design. But for the average small business owner, blogger, solopreneur and for most lay people, UX is a difficult and mysterious concept to come to grips with, and the lack of a good user experience is hard to spot.