2022 Website Strategy

Understanding and Implementing Website Strategy

Web strategy is a term used to reference the short and long term plans implemented by organisations to generate specific goals and outcomes as it relates to their online presence.

This can encompass anything from website design and development to online marketing and social media engagement.

In this article, we’ll discuss website strategy and how you can implement it successfully.

Types of Website Strategies

There are four different types of website strategies that businesses can use to achieve their desired outcomes. The most common website strategies are:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is an extremely relevant topic when it comes to website strategic planning. 

It refers to the process of addressing a website’s discoverability to queries in search engines, with the ultimate objective of ranking it as high in results as possible.

SEO can be implemented in many ways, but is most commonly  done through keyword placement, technical website optimization and link building.

2. Content Marketing

Content marketing is a perfect website strategy example to leverage for its ability to increase brand presence, industry authority, trust between customers, and for its seamless ability to introduce new products, services, and platforms to existing audiences.

At its foundation, content marketing focuses on creating and distributing high-quality, valuable content to target audiences with the goal of attracting new customers or by converting existing ones (by pushing them down their buyer journey).

Furthermore, how a business approaches their content strategy reflects greatly on their organization. For instance, there are some companies that strive to be thought leaders within their field that will tend to output more enriched, high-value content than say a small business that outsources all their content to oversea writers with no clear-cut parameters.

The mediums you use in marketing matter, in addition to how you use them.

From the typography, colours, and structure of your site, content, and images, your content marketing needs to serve as a reflection of your business (because it is). Fortunately, content marketing can be managed through a variety of mediums, such as: 

• Videos
• Blog post
• Infographics
• 3D Animation
• Case studies
• White papers
• And more 

Given the various types of content at your disposal, it’s up to you as an organization to see what works best for your rankings, audience, and business as a whole.

3. Social Media

Every company’s marketing strategy today needs to account for social media. Why?

Social media plays an incremental role in establishing an online presence, raising brand awareness (for eventual lead generation), and for reaching out and providing support to potential and current customers, 

Despite being ‘off-site,’ social media can be interwoven into most website strategies.

For instance, many businesses publish blogs on both their website and social media, oftentimes interlinking the content between platforms – this practice not only improves an organization’s SEO ranking power through organic link building but also increases user awareness to other brand media outlets.

An additional way social media can be leveraged into website strategies would be conducting surveys (via social media platforms) to see what kind of content your audience (potential customers) are most interested in learning more about. You can then craft your content around their demands, pushing customers down their buyer journey to a sale.

4. Pay-Per-Click Advertising

Pay-Per-Click, or PPC, is an online advertising model where businesses run ads on platforms such as Bing or Google Ads. For every click, a small fee is deducted from the company’s ad budget. 

Oftentimes, PPC ads surface around transactional or commercial search queries. 

This means that the search intent behind that query is where the searcher wishes to learn more about an item, product, or service before moving forward or where the searcher specifically wishes to purchase a particular product or service. 

As part of the web strategic plan of a business, PPC can be one of the most instrumental web strategies in a business’s marketing arsenal. But how does this work?

In terms of ensuring your business is showing your product and services to only relevant audiences, you can do no better than PPC as that’s what its entire model is based on. 

For example, many companies with core landing pages and squeeze pages leverage PPC because it not only helps solidify their search position as a brand competitor but also organically boosts their SEO through ongoing ads and improved search presence. 

Additionally, PPC is a great way to jumpstart a new site with traffic, for increasing brand recognition and authority, and for continually reminding your target audience that your products and services are here to stay (and here’s why you should buy with us instead).

Why is Website Strategy Important?

Taking the steps to develop a website strategy is important for any organisation that wants to be successful online. Without a strategic plan, it can be difficult to achieve specific goals, and you may end up wasting time and money on activities that don’t produce results.

A good website strategy will take into account your business goals, target audience, and budget to create a custom plan that’s designed to help you achieve success.

How to Create a Website Strategy

Creating a website strategy can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. 

Here are five important steps you can follow to create an effective website strategy for your business:

Step 1: Define Your Goals

The first step is to sit down and define what you want to achieve when someone visits your website. 

Do you want to increase sales for products or services, generate leads, or build brand awareness? Once you know what your goals are, you can start planning how to achieve them.

Step 2: Do Your Research

Before you start implementing any website changes, it’s important to do your research. This means understanding your target audience and what they’re looking for online. 

You should also take a look at your competition to see what they’re doing well and where they could improve, in terms of things like user experience, calls to action and customer journeys.

Step 3: Create a Plan

Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to start putting together a plan. This should include what changes you want to make to your website, how you’re going to implement them, and what kind of budget you have to work with.

You can use Google Analytics or other tools to track your website traffic, conversion rates, and other key metrics.

What it Takes To Implement an Effective Web Strategy

Developing a website strategy is one thing, but implementing it effectively is another. To make sure your strategy is successful, there are a few key things you need to do.

Set Realistic Goals

If your goals are unrealistic, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Make sure you take the time to sit down and realistically assess what you want to achieve with your website. Once you have a realistic goal in mind, you can start planning how to achieve it.

Take Your Time

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a successful website. It takes time to see results, so it’s important to be patient. Don’t expect overnight success, but don’t give up if you don’t see results immediately either.

Be Flexible

Things change, and your website strategy should too. As your business grows and evolves, your website should as well. Be open to making changes to your strategy as needed to ensure it’s always aligned with your goals. 

Also keep an open mind to how you can make your efforts as visible as possible, whether that be through a mobile friendly website or mix of content offerings.

Get Help When You Need It

If you’re not sure how to effectively implement your website strategy, don’t be afraid to ask for help. 

Professional web design teams like those at Pixelcarve are highly equipped to help you fully realise your website strategic planning goals.

Interested in implementing a website strategy plan in a way that’s both easy and effective? Contact Pixelcarve today to learn how.