Yesterday’s post on why niches rock resonated with a number of people; let’s add practical to the theory.
Your website needs to let your Right People know in the first few seconds that they have come to the right place and welcome them. And it also has to gently but firmly steer away the Wrong People.
So how do you do that?
This is what design is for
Go look at Goddess Leonie’s Goddess Guidebook website. It’s the most spectacular use I’ve seen in a long time of design as a litmus test. If you’re one of her people, by gum you know it and you love it instantly. And if you’re not? You can’t leave fast enough, lest the pretty watercolours taint your monitor.
(Interestingly, I am not per se one of Leonie’s people, but I still love her website. It is possible to attract people outside your Right People circle when you’re committed to your niche.)
Your colour choices, the images you use, the amount of white space you leave… these all make an impression that helps me decide if I’ve come to the right place. Done well, you will end up with a high bounce rate (quite a few people leave the website instantly) and a high average time on site (as your Right People tend to stick around and get comfy). That’s exactly what you want.
Header image
The header takes up the primest of the prime real estate. The images and text you use will be the first impression a new reader has of your website. You don’t have to go hardcore and hire Martin Whitmore like we did… Sarah Marmoset used Paint Shop Pro and did an excellent job of making a header that gives me a feeling of am-I-in-the-right-place and what-am-I-gonna-get-out-of-this.
Domain name
Anyone who thinks the word “awesome” is juvenile will never click on a link to our website.
Those with no interest in internet marketing for mothers will avoid internetmarketingformommies.com (Hi, Jackie!)
And of course, people who ARE interested in speaking clearly online will go to speakclearlyonline.com
The best domain names include a hint of what you do and who you do it for, either with Jackie’s [thingy] for [people] formula, or more subtly. workhappynow.com is clearly for people who think being happy at work is important. (Not everyone does. I pity those people.)
Taglines ‘r’ us
Your tagline (also known as a strapline for reasons I have never been able to discern) is the line that summarises what the website is about. For us, of course, it’s Website advice for delightful weirdos, which is my favourite tagline ever. It gives you an idea of what we provide and who for, with an extra dose of if-you-think-that’s-a-silly-idea-you-should-leave.
Please note that this tagline took a year to come up with and I only got there after having to explain about fifty times to friendly colleagues at the Day Job what my website was about. (It’s a great way of finding your USP: my first attempt took five minutes – “Oh, it’s for people who want to start or grow an awesome website and it’s got some copywriting and some tech stuff and…” – and my last one took five words.)
The first satisfactory version, a year ago, was Start and grow an awesome website. Less catchy, but it did the job: answering the why-am-I-here part very simply.
The content
This isn’t part of the three-second test, of course. What you write, and how, will take that first impression of “Huh. I think this is a good fit,” and either confirm it or break it into little bitty pieces. I use references to Nathan Fillion and World of Warcraft not just because it’s who I am, but because it works for my people. I slip them in because I know that some will notice, and LOVE IT. It makes us part of a group, the wink-wink-nudge-nudge “Was that a Pratchett reference?” secret society.
Havi does this with her own, almost totally incomprehensible to outsiders, lexicon of terms. Her Right People talk to each other and connect as a community through shared rituals and language. Professional groups do the same thing with jargon.
Why a lot of websites just… miss
If you don’t know who your Right People are, in detail, then you make all of the above decisions randomly. The result is a serious lack of cohesion and focus: a colour scheme that feels calm and soothing, around content that is exciting, with a tagline that speaks to professionals, but products for creatives.
Once you DO identify your Right People, all those decisions become much, much simpler. The design and the content don’t fight each other. Your website becomes… awesome.
Does your website welcome your Right People? Tell me in the comments!