It’s time to share some fresh, unexpected web designer questions to help make your website better than you could even imagine it to be for your small, service-based business. You ready?!
Here they are:
1 What is the number one question your business receives?
2 Are the people reaching out to you also booking with you?
3 What feels most painful with your current service scope?
4 What insights are your current clients already providing you?
5 Can you explain the difference between you and your “competitors”?
6 What do you want to overhear someone saying about your business?
7 How many clients do you need to book to hit your target revenue?
Keep reading to learn how you can use each of these questions to help your own small business website!
What is the Number One Question you Receive?
I like this question because you’ll quickly begin to calculate how much time you spend answering this question, and ones like it, again and again. Questions like this can be headed off on your website. If it’s a question that usually leads to a qualified client, providing this information saves you time without any deterrence. And if they aren’t ideal for your business, you’ll likely not have to spend any time responding at all.
Instead of starting every conversation from the beginning, you can let your website handle the first few steps in the ‘conversation’. Your time will be protected for when you personally need to enter into the client’s buying/booking decision process.
Are the People Reaching Out to You Also Booking With You?
If they aren’t, it’s likely your website has a gap somewhere in it’s messaging. And this gap is where necessary information is needed to make sure the right people are reaching out to you. When the right people are the ones reaching out on a regular basis, you’ll notice better conversion.
Common messaging gaps are around found in several places. The details of the service you provide, communicating the right level of value for your services, and delivering a frame of reference for the expected investment.
Revisit recent inquiries and see what information they needed to realize your business isn’t the best fit for them. Take that knowledge and the insight you have on who your services are a great fit for. Look over your website and find places to revise your wording so that you’re making it clear who should be reaching out to you (and who shouldn’t).
What Feels the Most Painful With Your Current Service Scope?
Anytime I’m reviewing a service-provider’s services I ask them them to identify any tension in their current workflows. Doing this provides opportunity to refine those services by how they are presented in the first place. One common goal is to reduce the amount of one-off client needs and create more streamlined processes that produces the highest result in the best amount of time.
By pinpointing your own pain points you can begin to brainstorm ways around these headaches. Often times these situations can be reworked into something positive or valuable for your business and clients.
For example, a home remodeling client of mine also provides design services. But some of their remodeling clients choose their own finishes and the final styling doesn’t accurately represent their design expertise. And working with different materials for each project requires more time. Plus the time it takes going back and forth to help the client make these decisions to begin with.
Working through this question together, we came to the idea of my clients managing the design finishes for all of their remodel clients. This would ensure they always have an end-result they can feature and use to generate future business like it. This is just one example demonstrating the importance of asking this question before beginning a website redesign.
What Insights Are Your Current Clients Already Providing for You?
Disciplining yourself to be present in client conversations. Set an intent to listen to what they’re saying instead of simply waiting for your turn to respond. Being a better listener is simple, but not always easy. But if you can do it, you’ll hear them tell you exactly why they contacted you, how they’re feeling, what’s important to them, where they’re overwhelmed, and so forth.
That insight carries incredible value when making decisions around your website messaging and general business marketing strategy. This information basically lets you inside the heart and mind of your clients. And it is the heart and mind that make the majority of consumer spending decisions.
How Would You Explain the Differences Between You and Your “Competitors”?
Unless you want to offer the lowest prices in your market, you’ll need to spend some time here. I ask this question in conversation because the answers are raw and genuine. I get to hear what frustrates my clients about poor quality, lack of follow-through, and why they’ve decided to build their business in the ways they have.
This question that helps identify some of the most valuable pieces of messaging for any business’s website. As the expert, you know so much more than any of your clients. They don’t know the same disappointments they may face with the wrong investment like you do. They haven’t experienced the difference in quality between providers in your field before now.
As you articulate what makes your business the business it is, you’ll create stronger connections with your audience that increase overall bookings with less effort.
That’s why “competitors” is in quotations. Because once you nail this part of your message, there won’t be any competition. You will be one of a kind.
What Do You Want to Overhear Someone Saying About Your Business?
Technically, this is a two-part question. First I ask, “what are you likely to overhear if someone were talking about your business?”. Once we have the answer to both we can dig into the differences between the two in order to create a brand that drives the second to be more the probable.
How Many Clients Do You Need to Reach Your Revenue Target?
I was driving home one day when the logo on the truck in front of me caught my attention. The business offered dog poop scooping services for your yard.
“People pay for that?”
Of course, some do.
The truth is, businesses don’t need most people to pay for their service. They need a select few to buy in and become a client or loyal customer.
So I ask my clients to determine how many clients they actually need to be booking in order to maintain, and/or grow, a sustainable and healthy business. Because suddenly we aren’t tasked with creating the greatest website with the latest marketing tactics for the entire world. Instead we are intentionally crafting a place for the people who will be absolutely crazy about their services to find them, learn more, and reach out.
The same is then true when it’s time to tackle Instagram. Remember, it’s not about reaching the masses. It’s about preparing the right message for the right people. No one else matters. No one.
Hi there, I’m Katie Taylor! A website designer, business strategist, and creative analyst! I help service-based businesses take their websites from drab to fab with purpose, beautiful design, and strategy so they can stand out online with a better brand, easily book dream clients, and spend more time enjoying life. I also work 1:1 with businesses to create better marketing outcomes.
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You might also like this blog post where I share about the essentials to a stunning & strategic website homepage.