How To Build A Website That Converts? 7 Step Framework

A website that doesn’t convert does more harm than good. 

Just imagine, after putting in so much time, effort, and money in building your website and driving traffic to it, you find out that it doesn’t do a good job of converting visitors into customers.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll be really pissed.

And to be honest, I don’t want this to happen to anyone of us.

Hence, I’m going to share with you the 7 step framework that’ll help you build a home page that converts like crazy!

Why home page?

Because the home page is the most visited page on every website. No matter what you do and where your users land, they always end up checking the home page.

And the way your home page communicates your offering can make or break your conversion rate.

I learned this framework from this book: Building A Story Brand by Donald Miller, in which he talks about how you can clarify your marketing message using the elements of storytelling.

Now before we dive into the framework, I’ll like to clear one of the most common misconception people have while building websites.

Pretty websites sell things:

No, they don’t. Words sell things. Your design serves as the catalyst in the decision-making process, but design alone can never convert a user.

A website with clear messaging and average design will always outperform websites with amazing design and not so clear messaging.

Just keep this in mind and you will be well on your way to building a website that bring conversions.

Now that our head is in the right place, let’s see how you can use the 7 step framework:

1. The hero wants something: 

Remember: Your customer is the hero!

In this step, you need to identify who your customer is and then figure out what they want which relates to your business. 

The idea behind it is to build a story gap.

What do I mean by that?

The moment you mention you can help them achieve what they want, they’ll want to know more and will start paying attention. 

P.S make sure you are focusing on only one want of your customer, as more than one will confuse them.

2. Has a problem: 

Once you open a story gap, you then have to emphasize on the problem that your customers are facing in achieving their goal. 

The idea behind it is to deepen their interest in your offering and hook them to the story.

The more accurately you state their problem, the more interest they’ll develop in your offering.

3. Meets a guide: 

And that’s you. Instead of positioning yourself as the hero, you position yourself as the guide who helps the hero achieve his goals.

And for positioning yourself as the guide, you need to demonstrate two things:

1. Empathy: Helps in building trust.
2. Authority: Gives them confidence in your ability to help them.

Now that you have defined their goals, pointed out their problem, and positioned yourself as a guide, you need to…

4. Give them a plan: 

The plan tells the customer how exactly you can help them achieve their goals. And an effective plan will do one of two things: 

• Clarify how the customer can do business with you.
• Remove the risk of doing business with you.

5. Call them to action: 

If you have done everything right, your customers will be jumping on their seats and want to know what they need to do next. 

That’s when you need to provide them with a Call To Action.

And your website should contain two kinds of CTA:

• Direct CTA: The main action you want them to take, like a “Buy Now” button.
• Transitional CTA: The action they can take if they are not yet ready for taking the main action. Like “Download PDF” or “Get A Demo”

In the words of Donald Miller, a direct CTA is like asking a girl to marry you, and transitional CTA is like asking her for a date. 

6. Help them avoid failure: 

Now, this is critical. You have provided everything that your customer wanted to make a decision, but there’s still a burning question they have in their mind.

What will happen if they don’t choose to take the action?

What will they lose?

You don’t answer this and your customers are likely to postpone taking action. 

So tell them what’s at stake. Tell them why they need to take the action NOW.

7. Ends in a success:

Always remember, your customers want to be taken somewhere.

Since you have already identified their goal earlier, what you need to do now is get into the details of it.

Tell them how their life would look like after achieving their goal.

Paint before and after pictures in their mind.

And Voila! You now have a website that converts.

Once you implement this framework, your customers will come running to you with their credit cards in hand.

And the best part about this framework is it’s not limited to your website. You can use it in all your marketing material from email, social media to your advertising.

Now go build a website that converts!

And if you are a marketer, designer, or entrepreneur who wants to dive deep into this framework, I’ll highly recommend reading this gem of a book.