As a seasoned digital marketing specialist, you know how to assess your clients’ needs, define their online objectives, and create a website that reflects their brand and serves their business goals.
However, when building a website for your digital marketing agency, things tend to get challenging. Agency owners are well aware of the common pitfalls and best practices of site-building.
Yet, when doing the work for yourself, it is often difficult to strike the right balance between creating an immersive design – that clients expect from a digital agency – to be SEO-friendly or choosing the best development platform that is scalable enough for future agency growth.
Designing and developing your website may get watered-down because there are so many alternatives to go with and disadvantages to beware of. Thus, in this article, we discuss the steps for a streamlined and effective website-building process for your digital marketing agency.
1. Hold a Kick-off Meeting
Just as you would set up a kick-off meeting with a new client, take the time to do the same for your own project.
Your site-making tasks may get pushed aside as client projects get prioritized, which is why it is crucial to define specific tasks and allocate them to different teams/team members. In addition, during the kick-off meeting, you should define the project scope, specify the timeline, and determine deliverables.
This initial project phase is the perfect time to define how you’ll measure project progress and mark milestones, what tools and methodologies you’ll be using, and what your website design objectives are.
2. Define Your Agency’s Identity
To create the best possible digital product for your clients, you need to know their industry, ideal customers, business goals, competitors, company strengths and weaknesses, etc.
Forming a clear idea of who your client is and what their day-to-day business looks like helps you determine the perfect solution for building their online presence.
So why should making a website for your digital agency look any different?
Start by identifying your company’s tone of voice, brand identity, mission and vision. Define what your ideal buyer persona looks like and what services you will offer them.
Lastly, think of how these brand elements will translate into your site’s layout, colors, content, development framework, and other site-making aspects.
3. Rely on Data, Not Hunch
Instead of assuming what your competitors do in their digital endeavors or relying on industry knowledge to identify your site’s flaws, strive for a data-driven approach to website design.
Even the most experienced digital marketers aren’t strangers to errors in judgment or subjectivity in decision-making. Therefore, you should A/B test any idea before translating it into your agency’s website.
Additionally, leverage the power of the digital marketing tools you hold in high regard. Analyze the analytics of your current online presence, do extensive market research, implement data from website heatmaps, and map out your content strategy using keyword research software.
4. Design an Attention-Grabbing Hero Section
The hero section is the first thing your prospects see when they land on your website. Thus, this website element is vital in ensuring visitors get a great first impression of your agency and continue their user journey, convinced you can do an equally great job for their business.
This section should be visually appealing yet valuable in the sense that it summarizes what your agency does. Integrating clear call-to-action buttons is a must – preferably one to lead the clients directly to schedule a meeting and the other to discover your services further.
You are a marketing agency, so having a memorable tagline is pretty much a must. Make sure that your hero section messages clearly differentiate you from your competitors or highlight what sets your agency apart from others.
5. Speak the Client’s Language
Well-versed marketers may find it challenging to craft their website content – for services pages, project portfolios, and blog articles alike – to the needs of non-specialist clients.
Agency owners can easily get carried away by trying to integrate all relevant keywords into their content, knowing just how difficult it is to rank well in such a competitive industry.
However, what you, as a digital marketing agency, know as conversion optimization may not be what your clients call it. Likewise, the techy vocabulary behind the pros of one programming language over another may be beyond the understanding of your average clientele.
Therefore, when creating your marketing agency’s website, balance out the goal of targeting relevant keywords and the need to remain understandable to your target customer.
6. Make the Most of Your Portfolio
As a digital marketing agency, you should put your work front and center when creating your agency website. In this line of business, prospective customers are keen on partnering with agencies with an enviable client pool and an attractive portfolio.
A portfolio page is especially important if you offer visual services, such as web design, branding, creative advertising campaigns, etc.
Let your work do the talking, and keep portfolio pages lightweight when it comes to copy. Include a short client brief, project challenges, your solutions, and the goals your work has met.
Make sure your portfolio pages – visual or not – include elements of a case study, e.g., client testimonials, client names, the project scope, and all other info you deem relevant.
7. Detail Your About Us Page
Besides the desire to get to know whom you worked for, potential clients are keen on getting to know your agency and your team. It’s not uncommon for prospects to check out their potential digital marketing agency’s employees on LinkedIn to check their previous experience and industry expertise.
So, while building your agency website, anticipate your prospects’ curiosity and let them know that you will be a great cultural fit by detailing your About Us section.
On this website page, you can include facts that speak about your digital agency’s story, outline your team members and their individual expertise, and state your agency’s aims.
8. Become a Trusted Resource Hub
As a digital marketing agency, you seek to convert clients who wish to leverage this growing online business trend.
Generally, your clients want to learn more about what they are investing in, assess their digital flaws and needs, or learn to do some of the marketing activities themselves.
You can use their desire to learn to your advantage by integrating valuable client resources, such as tutorials, downloadable materials, or guides, to your website.
Creating a resource hub on your website is a great way to generate and capture leads, as you can require prospects to complete a contact form to access or download the resource.
To Wrap Up
Building a website for your digital marketing agency might be more challenging than it initially appears. After all, you are experts in the industry, with years of experience in creating a digital presence for numerous clients.
However, too many possibilities, a lack of objectivity, and prioritizing client projects often get in the way of efficient and effective web design and development for your own business.
If you feel your website project isn’t going at the pace you envisioned it to go, it’s a good idea to reach out to some of the top Houston digital marketing agencies and seek professional assistance from colleagues who can understand your business the best.
