Podcast S3E3: 6 Things You'll Need Before You Design Your Website

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Show notes:

(Please note that these are computer generated and therefore imperfect).

Ellie: Welcome to the capable collective podcast. He plays for women who want to ditch the overwhelm and learn to run their business with ease. I'm your host, Ellie McBride. And I firmly believe that as women and non-binary folks, we work best as a collective. So together with my. We are sharing the tools, systems and ethos behind a simple yet thriving business.

This season, we will be talking all about making great content from your website to social media. My guests and I are here to help you create content that attracts and engages your audience episodes drop on alternate Wednesdays. So make sure to subscribe, to catch everyone ready to dive in. 

Today, we're going to be talking about websites. And this is my first solo episode and a little while. Um, I had, didn't do one lot all last season, but websites are my jam and I would love to chat with you about how to get content together for your website, especially when you're first getting ready to launch or maybe doing a big overhaul. 

I want to talk to you about everything you need to pull together...get organized before you start. So, why is it important to get organized before you kick off a website project? 

To start with the obvious, it seems time. If you have everything together from the start of the project, you don't waste times hunting down the right thing. Um, or getting off-brand or getting distracted, but more importantly, if you've taken some time to pull together all the elements I'm going to share with you today.... it's going to be so much easier to create a cohesive, gorgeous design. 

 your website is your only place on the internet that you have full control over what people see and how they interact with your expertise.

So you need to think through exactly what you want to have on your website and how you want it to look and feel and function really carefully. Most website designers worth their salt will help guide you through each of these steps. However, if you're going to go the DIY route, or if you're going to buy one of my custom Squarespace templates, hint, hint, they've just launched this week.

I was so freaking stoked. You'll want to pull together your thoughts and elements in these six key areas before you get started. So the first area is your brand. Pull together, your logos colors, fonts before starting your website. One of the very first things you'll need to have an idea of is what you want it to look like and how it will tie into other areas of your brand.

Like social media. There are few ways you can do this. If you don't already have established branding elements, you can DIY it. There is tools like Canva that are amazing for those helping you get your colors, fonts, logos together. And, um, I really recommend this for a new brand that is still settling into your work and your brand and your expertise, and really how you are wanting to present your work to the world.

If you are kind of past that stage, you can hire a graphic or a brand designer to help you get the look and feel you want to go with your. Finally some website agencies include branding and logo design and their higher end packages. So that's an option as well. The second thing you'll need to pull together before you design your website is good photos.

So let's talk a bit more about this good photography is a must. You want clear high quality images, both of you and the things that symbolize your work to tell a story about who you are and how you can help your ideal customers. I usually recommend that you work with a photographer that makes you feel at ease and that you feel comfortable directing and having them direct.

The photographer I work with knows what I want. She knows that I want photos of me being human and messy and real, which means my photos are packed with personality. Being able to communicate my vision with her through Pinterest boards and other tools has made a huge difference as restrictions have eased a little, and there are a lot of photographers getting back to work.

However, if you're being a little cautious, um, and locked down still, or if you're at a part of the world that isn't locked down again or. There are loads of photographers doing virtual photography sessions through zoom and FaceTime. They can help you get the best photos through directions and advice with your own equipment.

Finally, if you feel confident in your photography skills, you can do a shoot with yourself or with a friend, just be mindful of your lighting and environment and editing your photos to make sure they match the feel of the website you're after. So. The other thing that we talked about is having photos that kind of symbolize your work.

And I would say that there are some really great resources for that, um, stock photography, websites, like Unsplash, and I would have a look around there. There's also places you can buy those like creative market. You can buy a whole pack of perfectly designed and they all match because they're all edited the same and it's glorious.

The third thing you want to have pulled together before you design your new website or use one of my beautiful templates is a clear list of what you offer. So often when designing or redesigning a website, people use the opportunity to update or refine the products and services they offer. I often find that people are all a hundred percent clear on the changes that they'd like to make in this area.

And so when I'm working with my custom clients, I find there's a little bit of back and forth of helping them to refine that. I would recommend that you spend some time journaling planning and speaking with a coach or mentor, because this can really help provide clarity in which offers are going to serve your life while still being in demand for your clients and customers.

I usually suggest having a couple of really clear ways that people can work with you, learn from you or buy the thing and keep it really simple. Don't make people use precious brain power to buy, which brings me to my next point. The fourth thing you should have pulled together or really clear in your head before you want your website is one clear action.

You want people to take across your website. It's likely that you'll have multiple calls to action or CTA. It might be that you're inviting people to read your blog book, a call or view your shop or sign up for your email list. And that's great. And you want people to be able to plug in with your work in a place that feels right for them.

However, you should have one action that shows up on your website over and over and over again. That action should be geared towards what's going to brand money, but it doesn't have to be a hard sell if you don't want it to be for me, that call to action on almost every single page of my website.

Sometimes in more than one place on a single page is to book a free call with me that it means that we can both determine if I'm the right person to build someone's website. And I can share a little bit of my process with them. The fifth thing that you should have pulled together before you launch a new website before you even start, it is copy that sells a story and it should convert.

The human brain is literally wired for stories. So using storytelling on your website to share it, why people should work with you or buy your amazing products is not only really effective, but as also really human and natural, it can be a really great way to connect with your people. And to help them become paying customers.

Good copy really has an impact and it is specific to you, your values and your mission and what your audience needs to hear before taking the next step with you. You might have questions about hiring a copywriter. If you're considering outsourcing that I would make sure that your visions align the sixth and final thing that you should make sure is pulled together.

Before you start your new website and some policies. This is something that really gets overlooked quite a lot. And I it's so important to have proper policies on your website. It's important to cover your legal liability. You definitely don't want something to go wrong and not have a legal notice to support you if the time ever came.

If you're in the EU or have a website when visitors are in the EU, that includes the UK and the GDPR also covers. You'll need to have a GDPR compliant, privacy and cookie notices. If you ship products, you'll want delivery and return policies as well. You might also have something like a course where you want terms of use or services.

So have a think. I also encourage all of my clients to have a value statement or a diversity inclusion policy on their website. It really sets people apart by showing their audience exactly what they stand for. And remember humans love buying from real humans who care about the things that they also care about.

Once you have all these pieces together, what's next. Well, you can either work with me and to have a custom designed website. You can go to my site and shop my beautiful custom templates. I have three, I have the Penelton, the seaside and the Portland. Each of them named after one of my hometowns and Oregon and designed accordingly.

They are so special to me. And I've designed them with so much. Um, I think that you're really going to love them. It's a really affordable, really fast way to get a brand new Squarespace, 7.1 website out into the world that has had professional eyes, professional design, professional thought. It's been a beautiful thing to put these out in the world and to use my expertise, to help even more people get the website of their dreams.

So I'm really, really excited about putting these into the world and you can see my website for more. And by the way, this is part of my website business. So it's not under the capable collective it's under calibrated concepts.com. You can also find more information on my Instagram at Ellie Mae McBride.

And that's a wrap. You now have all the information you need to get started to pull a load of resources and things together to make you designing your website or having it designed super debrief. Good luck. I can't wait to see your new site.

Thank you for listening to the capable collective podcast. I really hope you enjoy this episode and have gotten value from it. If you did, please subscribe on your chosen listening platform. And if you happen to be listening over on apple podcasts, please take a moment to leave a review. It helps other people to find and trust this podcast.

And it would mean the world to me, this episode was edited by Emily Crosby media. She's amazing to work with, and if you are looking to start a podcast or for some practical media solutions, definitely check. Thank you so much. Again, have a great day.