Turn Your Firm’s Site Into a Digital Demand Machine
I’ve been designing websites for over a decade. And you know what? They haven't all been great. 😬
I bet your first offerings or tech solutions weren't great either, were they? Like you, I've spent a long time failing towards success, and getting better at creating web experiences that work. If there's one thing I have learned about websites or landing pages it's that a great web experience should help your tech business grow. Period.
I knew I was onto something years ago when my team designed a series of landing pages that generated 3 million dollars of actual revenue (not pipeline) in only three days. It wasn't even a website...it was just some landing pages as part of a campaign. It was nuts! That’s one million per day. Since then I have seen it all—had lots of wins, won a handful of awards, and even experienced a few losses when it comes to websites in the b2b world. It’s not easy…but it’s also not science rockets.
I’ll explain...
One landing page we recently did for a tech client churned out 4-5 high quality leads per day during the campaign we ran. Oh, and the offering is a multi-six-figure ERP implementation,
which is really hard to do.
Or so you thought . . .
A winning b2b tech web experience doesn't have to be complicated.
At Forrest we always start with the three Cs of a profitable web experience. Now, you will need WAY more than just these three things, but without these you’ll have a really hard time building a site that’s no different from all the other digital brochures out there.
If you get this recipe right, you’ll position your website to go beyond a digital brochure and become a growth ecosystem.
Here are the 3 foundational elements you’ll need:
01 Clarity
Tech experts often want their website content to sound like a robot speaking in tongues. Not sure why, I think it’s because we’ve been trained to think that using big words is impressive. If you saw my previous post on this newsletter then you're already convinced that’s not true.
Sounding smart on purpose actually has an adverse effect on readers.
Time is also a factor: You have three seconds to get someone to scroll, therefore clear is always better than clever. Your website should clarify three things in the first three seconds of someone reading. We call this the “Above the Fold” section. This is the area of your site that people see before they scroll. When someone lands on your site they should be able to decipher the following in 3 seconds or less.
Who are you?
What problem do you solve?
Who do you solve it for?
Keep it simple and make it super clear! Most people think you have to be really clever and sexy above the fold. This could not be further from the truth.
expert Donald Miller says it like this:
“When you confuse, you lose.”
Clever is confusing. Just keep it simple. Make it clear. If you do this people will stay on your site longer and increase their chances of buying from you.
02 Creativity
If you’re selling a six figure offering or implementation and you’re trying to tell your market that you are an industry expert...whose solution is worth millions…but your site looks like a digital 💩…then you’re already losing trust and sales.
Shitty websites get shitty results.
The C in Creativity is all about having a nicely designed site. The point is, great design is not a “nice-to-have” in the tech world. It’s a must-have with actual ROI that you need to prioritize in order to stand out in one of the most crowded spaces.
Say this out loud:
“Beauty Matters.”
(Yes, even in tech!)
The good news is that you don’t have to hire a big agency to accomplish good design.
Design Legend, Dieter Rams
“Good design is as little design as possible.” -Dieter Rams
If you’re going to play the part…you have to look like it. Make sure your web design is simple, minimal, crisp, and beautiful. Your brand strategy should provide you with a framework for how your website should look and feel, and all in a way that makes it really easy for you to build, edit, and update on a regular basis.
If you have visual brand guidelines the first place they should show up is on your website. You can do this internally with very little outside resources by making sure that your website reflects your brand guidelines. Use your brand guidelines in everything you create and you'll be one step closer towards a beautiful and creative site without having to spend on outside resources.
03 Confidence
What I mean by "confidence," is that your site needs to be a place where users GET HELP FOR FREE.
Attention spans are shorter than ever and nobody wants to read your white paper. They want help. They’re hurting. If you have a blog it better be packed with value. Webinars? Make them valuable! If they aren't, people will bounce. Make sure you give it away and always be thinking of ways to add more value to your site that helps searching tech users.
Confidence in your brand is created by giving away value without selling. That means your free content can't be a sales pitch for your offerings in disguise. This is really important for b2b tech sellers because information is a commodity. They can learn what you know almost anywhere.
Be the brand who gives it away for free and you’ll be top-of-mind in your buyer’s brain, while also instilling confidence in them. This is a win-win!
Let me say that again because you might have read past it quickly. Here, I will put it in quotes so it stands out:
Your free content can't be a sales pitch for your offerings in disguise.
Brandon, what should my free, valuable, content be about?
Glad you asked. Here are seven things you can put on your website that offer free value without pitching an offering or service:
How-to guides (Does the software you have help users see all their data in one place? You could create a How-To guide that talk about "3 Ways Data Visibility Increases Revenue"
eBooks - Does your software help keep project management all in one platform so that users don't have to use more third party apps? You could create an eBook for CIOs that shows them "4 Ways to Increase Productivity on [your partner platform] Without Spending More Money."
Checklists - Does your tech solution help HR teams create easy to navigate experiences for new hires? You could build the "Ultimate Checklist for a Winning Onboarding Experience" (Make versions for each industry you specialize in.)
Templates - If you build on ServiceNow or Salesforce, or Microsoft, etc. you could give away the templates that you've used to help clients win. What about something like, "Download our winning workflow template for improving catalog workflows!"
Webinars - Webinars are tricky. Most of them are just sales pitches. The key is to make your webinars really valuable. Why should a CTO, CIO, or VP of any business trade in an hour of their time to hear you talk? Your webinars have to give them something.
🥴 Bad webinar title idea: "Digitized process improvement and automated compliance for manufacturing companies." This title is just a pitch. There’s no value. It doesn't answer the, “What’s in it for me?” question. It’s literally just a topic. It’s also filled with jargon. To top it off, there is no hook, and it’s a mouthful to read.
🤑 Good webinar title idea: "7 Ways Manufacturing Leaders Can Lower Costs With Less Effort." This headline has all the things a good headline might need. It's clear, has a compelling hook, and is super specific to its audience. Then, you could make the keys to those seven steps all about how technology is doing that. You don’t even need to talk about your solution. Just help the manufacturers lower their costs without having to try harder. They’ll come to you to book the demo. That’s the power of confidence.
6. Courses - This one is a bit of a challenge for tech partners. However, think about your market. Think about how crowded it is. What if you developed a 3-5 video course of your practice leads or SMEs showing your target personas HOW to do things? What would happen? They would see you as the experts. You wouldn't have to pitch to them on why you can be trusted. They would just trust you. Why? Because you went out of your way to give them something that's invaluable–confidence.
7. Demo videos - Now, most demos are just pitches to buy. You have to remember that buyers are always in the research phase, in fact, 95% of buyers are NOT ready to buy your offering at any given time. If you create helpful, simple, high quality demo videos that allow them to do their own research without being sold to, they will get the answers they need, or reach out if they have other questions. Demos are a great source of free content because they also give a first impression of what it might be like to work with your team.
When your website is a place where users can get the help they need to overcome their problems they will leave feeling like they can take on the world. They will be more confident in themselves and they will also be super confident in you and your brand as someone who “gets them.”
The human way to do marketing is to help, not sell.
“Brandon, this seems like a lot. Where do we start?”
Great question. These are all things you can do internally. If you have nothing like this on your site already then you can start with something simple like an eBook or a how-to guide. These require low effort to create. All you need is some time with a practice lead or SME to help you make the content really valuable. Remember, done is better than perfect. Get something out there and see how humanity responds.
Giving people confidence is human, and humanity sells.
Boom!
Now that you know what the 3 keys are, Clarity + Creativity + Confidence, you can assess your site in light of these things.
Start by asking questions like these internally via survey, or in a workshop with your team:
How clear is the messaging within my site, on a scale of 1-10?
How creative, beautiful, and nicely designed is my site on a scale of 1-10?
How confident do users feel when they come to my site? Do they get free help…or do they just get sold to?
Now what? Let's get technical (Yay for left-brained people!)
Once you tackle these three things you’re going to need to take your site and plug in all the “marketing tech” needed to turn those visitors into buyers. It will take time and money, but if you do it right you won’t have a website anymore. Instead, you’ll have a demand engine and a brand that looks and feels like a hundred million dollar juggernaut.
At Forrest, we use a mix of tech and tactics to make winning websites. Our recommendation is that you start with something like WebFlow, Wordpress, or Squarespace, and then get the right CRM in place. HubSpot is the best for tech consultants (in our opinion). Then, you can expand out from there. Once you get a good foundation you can get creative with things like:
Tools like these will go a long way when trying to sell a six figure offering to a major business. Just remember, the tools used MUST help you hit your goals. Otherwise they are nothing more than bells and whistles which make lots of noise...and no money.
If you’ve read this far then I know what you’re asking yourself...
“Is it time to redesign my website?”
STOP!
In the words of John C Reily:
(Classic scene! 😂)
Pump the breaks! Don’t give anybody ANY money just yet…
Why? There’s a vendor on every corner waiting to take your money. And they will. Probably a few freelancers too. Find someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes profitable websites and have them give you an assessment on what you already have. If not, then you’ll get chopped up in the Vendor Blender like everyone else. Do this first. . .
Find someone who knows your industry. Are you a ServiceNow, Microsoft, or Salesforce partner, etc? Find someone who knows those worlds.
Find someone who will seek to know your business goals FIRST. Avoid salesy creative teams who just want to make you a pretty site for the sake of having a pretty site.
Talk to your internal homies. Sales, marketing, and others in the C-suite at your firm are going to want to weigh in. Host a website vision meeting and talk about what their expectations are for the site. Don’t guess. Get everyone on the same page. Then, if what you have can’t be repurposed to hit those goals you can start thinking about an overhaul.
Count the cost
Just know that a website overhaul is going to cost you money, time, and emotional energy.
You’re going to have to be bought in from start to finish.
That’s why starting with the 3 C’s is a great first step towards your 9 figure website. It’s the foundation. These 3 things are structures you can do put in place internally, on your own, that will put you well on your way towards having a digital growth ecosystem, not just another site. Effective tech marketing starts here. Having an legit tech website strategy is the foundation for your brand in this digital age.
*Things we did not talk about: SEO, tech website optimization, Success Stories, Blogging, Contact pages, About pages (my fav), Demand generation, Site maps, etc. A website is a complex and dynamic ecosystem. Start here and we will talk about the other stuff later on.
How’s your site?
Check out some of the creative tech websites we’ve built. High-quality lead generation starts with a great site with great landing pages.
