Website Organization Blues? Here Are the Pages You Should Include on Your Website.
Don’t overthink this step. If you have completed the stalk Your Competitors exercise, you should have a better understanding of what pages to include on your site.
Here is my rule of thumb….
Don’t reinvent the wheel. Avoid using “cutesy” page titles and instead. keep it simple and generic. I know, generic sounds boring, but unless you are an abstract artist or The Riddler, it’s best to deliver page titles that allow your audience to easily navigate your site. After all, you are trying to solve a problem for your future client, not cause them more problems. If your site is hard to navigate, your bounce rate will be outrageous and your bank account will be empty. NO THANKS!
Here are my recommended page titles. Most websites should have the following pages plus any others that are relevant to your industry/business:
Home
This is essentially your “landing page” - have a nice catchy image, a beautiful memorable logo, and a navigation menu that is easy to navigate.
About
Tell your founder’s story here. Why are you in business, what steps did you take that led you here, what problem do you hope to solve for your clients?
Testimonials (or Reviews)
Why should someone hire you? Many service providers forget this page, but it’s SO important for customer acquisition! If you don’t have enough testimonials in the beginning, try to avoid faking them. Instead, offer your services for free or cheap in exchange for some killer reviews. Bonus, get them to leave the same review on Google or another rating site.
Services (or “Shop” if you are selling an item)
What are your services and how much do they cost? Make sure there is a clear CTA (call to action) on this page so your customers can books a session with you right away if they like what they see. Contact page- how can your clients get in touch with you? What are your hours?
Lastly, before I close out, refrain from making your navigation menu a mile long. If you have more than 6 or 7-page titles in your menu bar, you might need some help organizing your site….
Need help organizing your site? Feel free to send me an email here.
How Much Should I Charge for My Services?
How much should I charge for my services?
This is a question I get a lot when working with clients, especially if they are just starting out.
Unfortunately, there is no magical one size fits all formula to follow. All I can say is this….do your research.
If you have checked out my Youtube Channel or taken one of my website workshops, you know that I am a big proponent of stalking your competitors (or if you are anti-capitalist… your collaborators) in order to find out how THEY are doing things. Specifically, you can also find out exactly how much they are charging for similar services, products, or packages. If their prices aren’t listed on their website (ideal scenario) you can also reach out and pretend to be an interested customer (more skeezy scenario). Or you can just be radically transparent and tell them what you are up to. You can also reach out to virtual communities and ask people what they charge. Keep in mind though, that your rate depends on a LOT of factors such as market value (how much is your product or service worth in your specific region), how much time it actually takes you to create the product or service, how much time it takes you to do the administrative stuff associated with running your business, how much it costs to employ someone to help, etc.
While there is not a magic formula, the following tips can help you figure out best practices.
First, realize that EVERYONE has the ability to define and nurture their desired niche market and make them fall in love with you. If people fall in love with your brand (YOU) and your values, they will be willing to pay MORE than the market value (within reason). My values happen to be that I want to make website building accessible to ALL people not just those with deep pockets. That means my products and services are going to be LESS than the market value. But that' doesn’t mean I am undervaluing myself. This brings me to point #2….
If you are giving away your services for a very low amount and are left feeling depleted, deflated. agitated, or burnt-out - you are not doing anyone any favors. Don’t beat yourself up about it, but definitely don’t do it again. Instead, do this…
Work backward when determining what to charge initially. First, determine your desired hourly wage (don’t forget to factor in the extra costs that freelancers or self-employed people have to face such as health insurance, monthly bills, and expendable income), Then, determine how long it takes you to do your thing. If you are a massage therapist, it’s going to be pretty obvious, but if you are designing websites, it might be a bit more difficult. Make sure to include the time you will spend writing emails, and having meetings- this all counts as work!! So, let’s say my desired hourly wage is 50 euros an hour. And it takes me about 6 hours to build a nice website for a client plus another 2 hours for meetings and follow-ups— I would quote them at 400 euros. I might also add a few hundred dollars for any unexpected occurrences that come up. It’s up to you if you want to break it down for your client. Some folks want to be super transparent.
Now - if you are just starting out, it’s normal to be confused about pricing. There will be a period of time where you will just be experimenting to figure out how much you need to support the lifestyle you desire. Just make sure to log your hours so that next time you know whether you should raise or decrease your prices (although I wouldn’t recommend decreasing your prices if you are having no problems getting customers to pay you for your services.
I hope that helps!
I’d love to hear what services you are thinking about providing to your clients and how much you are going to charge. Feel free to send me an email here.
Ask Yourself These Questions for Clarity Surrounding Your Business & Offerings
On my contact page, I ask folks to fill out a questionnaire that will help me dive deeper into their desires for wanting to bring this website project forward. My hope is that by answering the questions, my potential clients will also gain some clarity on the products they are offering and who they hope to help in the process. Plus I love to read the responses :)
I came up with this questionnaire a few months ago when I found myself in a very anxiety-fueled transition phase. I had just spent half a year building a non-profit but found myself feeling consistently overwhelmed and unfulfilled. Looking back I think I was approaching burnout. Either way, it was exhausting and taxing on my nervous system. Months prior I felt like I was FINALLY on the right path, that I was aligned with my greater purpose and passion. My job was to help others gain life-changing skills and take control of their lives. How cool is that?
But a few months deep into the project, I found myself having major communication problems with my co-founder and feeling the most disempowered I’d ever felt in my life.
To help me get out of my own way, I sought out a channeling empowerment coach. I couldn’t afford her services (I was co-founding an NGO and getting paid zilch while still hustling/freelancing in my spare time to pay the rent.) Though her prices were out of my budget, I felt a good vibe with her on the initial consultation and asked if she would want to engage in a skill swap. Turns out, she was in need of a website and was willing to work with me in exchange. Score!
After a few weeks of working with her, the anxiety grew more intense and I could no longer pretend it was a normal part of co-founding a nonprofit. Though I initially started empowerment coaching with the hopes of overcoming my self-doubt and widening my perspective, I actually realized something much different. This wasn’t the path for me AT ALL. And so I made the very tough decision to walk away from the project.
Through the process of helping my coach build out her site, I realized I actually enjoyed the process a lot. So THIS was what it was like to like your job! Though I’d always built sites for clients on Squarespace, I’d never considered it something I could focus on full time. Nor did I realize that website building can actually be as impactful, as co-founding a nonprofit because you are helping others share their gifts and healing abilities. It was then that I decided to zone in on helping demystify and lessen the cost of the website building process especially for healers, conscious business owners, and non-profits - so that they can share their gifts with the world.
Below are the questions I started jotting down while trying to gain clarity around my new career focus. Answering them helped me define my target market and understand why I was doing what I was doing. I hope they help you too!
Why do you want to bring this idea forward?
Why haven’t you been able to bring it forward so far? What are your biggest challenges? Why do you want to bring this idea forward?
How do you want to feel once your offerings are available?
Who is your dream target market?
How do you hope your clients’ lives will change after your offerings are made available?
What is your biggest fear surrounding this project?
Dream up an ideal client testimonial. What did they say about the process/working with you? How did their life transform? What was their pain point and where are they now?
And for inspiration, here were MY original answers to the questions above.
Why do you want to bring this idea forward?
To help healers, artists, nonprofits and conscious business owners reach a wider variety of people, heal more people, bring light into the world. To drown out the fear and darkness.
Why haven’t you been able to bring it forward so far? What are your biggest challenges?
I never realized THIS was my thing. I thought I needed to be part of a team to make a big impact. I suppose I had imposter syndrome. No clarity. Distracted easily. Swept into someone else’s dreams because I didn’t trust my inner longing. My biggest challenges are NONE- I’m doing this. I hope to stay connected to my why and inner trust.
How do you want to feel once your offerings are available?
I want to feel like my talents and skills are helping others break free from their conditioning, feel confident, feel inspired to uplift others. I want to feel like my existence helps someone else feel comfortable in their skin and not alone. I suppose I want to feel not alone. I want to emanate joy and love.
Who is your dream target market?
My dream client is a healer, energy worker, author, intuitive, coach, therapist, yogi, or masseuse with conscious awareness and nonprofits.
How do you hope your clients’ lives will change after your offerings are made available?
I hope they’ll feel more confident and excited to share their gifts. I hope they’ll feel excited to share their website. I hope they’ll earn tons of money doing what they love and change others’ lives in the process.
What is your biggest fear surrounding this project?
My biggest fears are not embarking on it at all, losing momentum once I start, falling victim to self-doubt, overworking myself, or burning out.
Dream up an ideal client testimonial. What did they say about the process/working with you? How did their life transform? What was their pain point and where are they now?
“I didn’t feel comfortable putting myself out there. I started to develop healing abilities but didn’t feel I had the right to. I also didn’t feel it was right to ask for money in exchange for readings. I still felt like this couldn’t be a legitimate job. After working with Nicole, I was able to gain clarity around my offerings and confidence about pricing. She helped me realize that money is an energy exchange and that it was necessary to charge for my services so I didn’t burn myself out. My business is thriving and my clients are using their new insights to transform their lives.”