AS SEEN IN:
Choose the right vehicle for the road you're on
Your website's purpose is to​ shuttle prospective customers along a hero's journey to a better life
​
Your brand is the guide that leads them through the obstacles and doubts, toward the promised land (whatever version of it you offer).
If you're here, you already know how important a website is for a business. In fact philosophically speaking, without a website—does your business even exist?
​
Empower your website to get found on Google, captivate readers, and persuade prospects to become loyal customers.
​
It's all about how you deliver your brand story.
Quillpower helps you turbocharge it.
"I tell stories for a living. But that's on stage in front of an audience. When it comes to writing for my website, my mind just goes blank. I had this awful cookiecutter template website from a big agency and hated it. Paul created a site that actually captures what I do—within my narrow budget too!"
–Pamela Hock
By Any Voice Necessary
Website Elements
Primary & Secondary Webpages
Home, About, Services/Products, Resources, etc
The basic structure of your website. Could be a single-page with several sections blurbing about you and your services...or a multi-page hub for connecting readers to deeper education.
​
Well-organized, easily navigable websites score points with the Googlebots forever patrolling (indexing) the world, and having multiple helpful pages can also build internal traffic.
.png)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Keywords/phrases, metadata, H1-H3 formatting, etc...
SEO is critical for any website trying to get found on Google. Many businesses maintain a steady flow of outbound content marketing to expand their organic SEO (even if they also advertise). But even your primary webpages must account for search behavior.
Think about how people search for solutions to the problems you solve—and incorporate those words and phrases into your webcopy (without stuffing—don't sell your soul) keeping seamless brand storytelling as the first order of business.
Social (and other) Proof
Testimonials, case studies, as-seen-in logos, VIP endorsements...
In digital marketing you only have a few seconds to keep readers' attention, build trust, and demonstrate that you can actually do what you promise.
Titles, awards, and certifications are nice—but what people really want to see is satisfied customers who've gained from trusting your brand, voicing enthusiastic support for the journey.
Brand Voice, Story, & Style
Consistency, relevance, human connection, imprinting, etc...
If marketing is the story of a better life, branding is the language you tell it in. Brand encompasses more than just logo, color, and font. It's also tone and cadence, vocabulary and narrative pace.
Consistent language for a consistent story—how you solve problems and improve people's lives. Told in a voice they can connect with.
Call to Action (CTA) Strategy
Contact, download, learn more, buy now, sign up...
Getting people to your website is just the beginning. You've got them to the waypoint—now you need to show them where to go for answers to their specific needs.
​
Each page should focus on one (or two) specific CTAs. Unless you're talking about content pages—but that's a whole other conversation. Lead them right where you want them to go.
Paul Blumer, founder & brand story dowser
About Quillpower
Quillpower offers turnkey copywriting and website projects for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
​
Founded by a novelist with experience in education, food service, and journalism, Quillpower channels the compelling human narratives at the heart of your business to fuel your brand story and drive your online marketing.
​
It all starts with a website that reflects your brand voice and mission.
Wireframe & Website Layout
Every small business website is unique, but any good website is built upon a concrete idea of what you want readers to experience and walk away with.
​
What do you want your website to deliver? That will determine what type of pages (and how many) you need; how much you should share about what; and how to build the brand story arc of each page.
​
Once you know your audience and strategy, the next step is wireframing the webpages. A wireframe is a visual outline of your website. All the elements are represented, but none of the substance. It's for strategizing the layout from a low-stakes birds-eye-view.
Whether building it yourself or outsourcing to a webdesigner, wireframes help save tons of time when it comes to the technical side.
Single-Page Websites
Below is a wireframe for a single-page website (with a menu of anchor links jumping to different sections).
​
A single-webpage is basically like a business hanging a shingle to establish its online presence. Something to consider for solopreneurs to maximize a low budget.
​
Another common use for single-page websites is a bookmark page full of teasers to build anticipation and collect emails for a future brand launch.
​
But whether comprehensive or consolidated to a single page, your website must offer value and connection for the people reading it.
Multi-Page Websites
Most business websites require much more functionality than a single page can offer. Especially for complex services or any business that wants to educate people as well as serve them.
​
A well-organized website with several high-value pages encouraging internal traffic delivers a better user experience and keeps people on your site longer—scoring points with the GoogleBots trawling your webpages.
​
Below is a sample sitemap with 5 primary pages, 6 secondary pages, and 3 pillar pages of cornerstone content linking to relevant blog posts:
21 website elements to consider:
-
Hero section (aka: splash, or above the fold)​
-
Taglines
-
Audience affirmations (yes, this is for YOU!)
-
Calls to Action (CTAs)
-
Pain points
-
Mission statement
-
Problem & solution
-
Benefits & features
-
Origin story
-
Education & certifications
-
Team bios
-
Testimonials
-
Relevant links (internal & external)
-
List of services/products (and prices)
-
Service/product pages
-
Portfolio
-
FAQs
-
Contact forms, lead-magnet opt-ins, etc
-
Social media links (and feeds)
- SEO keywords incorporated smoothly
-
SEO metadata (titles, descriptions, images)
There's a lot to think about, and this list is by no means exhaustive. But remember—not every website needs every element. Simple is good. As long as you deliver the message.​
​
Feeling overwhelmed? Thinking maybe it's time to outsource this one to the experts? Consider this: entrepreneurship is the art of delegating an idea into a company.
Let Quillpower set your sails
