In today’s digital age, a successful website isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s an absolute necessity. With visitors typically spending less than three seconds on a page, first impressions matter more than ever. That’s where the Designers Plants & Coffee podcast comes into play, shedding light on the crucial elements of establishing a strong online presence across various platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
For creative professionals and businesses, your website is your portfolio, your storefront, and your primary means of connection with potential customers. A well-designed website not only showcases your products or services but also acts as a hub for gathering valuable customer information—like email addresses—allowing for ongoing communication and relationship building. This is especially vital for retail and product-based businesses that often found themselves lacking effective websites even before the pandemic.
When designing your homepage, there are a few crucial elements you can’t overlook:
These components are not just aesthetics; they’re part of a strategic approach to keeping visitors engaged and encouraging them to explore further.
Social media is an invaluable tool for attracting attention and driving sales. It allows you to connect with your target audience on platforms that resonate with them. For example, TikTok is the go-to for younger users, while Facebook remains a stronghold for older demographics. Utilizing these platforms effectively can help drive traffic to your website, increasing your chances of conversion.
Engagement strategies play a significant role in keeping visitors coming back. Consider offering discounts or valuable content in exchange for email sign-ups. Regular communication is key to building trust—service-based businesses may send out updates weekly, while retail businesses might communicate even more frequently about promotions and new arrivals.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, there’s a rising demand for social media interns to assist creatives in their marketing efforts. This not only helps businesses stay ahead of the curve but also allows them to engage more meaningfully with their audience. By investing in the right talent, you can enhance your online presence and amplify your marketing strategies.
In a world where attention spans are fleeting, a strong online presence is your best defense against the competition. The Designers Plants & Coffee podcast emphasizes that a successful website, paired with effective social media strategies, can significantly impact your business’s success. Whether you’re a small business owner looking to enhance your digital footprint or a creative professional eager to showcase your work, now is the time to invest in your online presence.
So, are you ready to take the leap and transform your website into a powerful marketing tool? Dive into the insights from the podcast and start making meaningful changes today!
Interested in getting your website done or revamped? Reach out to Zahiyya @ Region Design LAB
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So when you get a website, you just can’t just have a website.
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You have to have something that entices people, because when people get on your website, they
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stay on there for less than three seconds.
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Welcome to the Designers Plants & Coffee podcast, where we discuss how to succeed as a designer,
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while staying true to yourself, finding peace in the process, and making money doing what we love.
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Subscribe on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
00:20 – 00:24
What platforms do you all use for your business?
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So it’s mainly Instagram, Facebook, and for Region Design Lab. I use LinkedIn.
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For Cover Me Chic, I do have a YouTube channel.
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So those are my only platform.
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I am on social media.
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For my business, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.
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I do have a YouTube page.
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I literally have only posted these podcasts.
00:46 – 00:50
I’m also on TikTok, but I heavily use LinkedIn.
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I do have a website.
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How do you find your website to be important for your business?
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I actually have on my website a few types of examples of work in the creative field.
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I mean, we’re very visual.
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People wanna see some of the work that you’ve done.
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Your website is a great place to place your portfolio.
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So your website, absolutely, especially in today’s age.
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And for me, I am retail and product-based.
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So of course I have a website.
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I think it’s pretty good.
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I’ve had my hint, hint, wink, wink website developer here take a look at it.
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She’s giving me some pointers.
01:27 – 01:31
Well, because I build websites, I know a lot of the statistics behind it.
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Before the pandemic, less than 50% of small business owners had a website, which is crazy.
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But then people got websites and it’s just like a holding page. It doesn’t sell anything.
01:42 – 01:43
The website is very important.
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I always say you have to have your own platform because God forbid, something happens on an
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Instagram or Facebook and they close your account, where does your business go?
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And the importance of having a website is getting people’s email addresses.
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So you can communicate with your customers.
01:57 – 01:59
So when you get a website, you just can’t just have a website.
02:00 – 02:04
You have to have something that entices people because when people get on your website, they
02:04 – 02:07
stay on there for less than three seconds, if it doesn’t interest them.
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If you want to go deeper with that, I mean, you can definitely contact me.
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I work with mostly like solopreneurs and small businesses to develop their websites and a lot of the backend stuff.
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But having a website is very important and I have a website for all of my business.
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What is the most important thing you think small business should have on their homepage? The top three things.
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First, you have to entice them to stay.
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So your headline on your website has to be very distinct, very clear, and basically explains
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what you do in a sentence.
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It’s not even a sentence, it’s a couple of words.
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You can’t do like something catchy or something like clever or something.
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No, I help businesses grow online. You know, very simple.
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I create websites to make people buy, very simple.
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You know, I mean, of course I’m just coming off to the top of my head, but you have to say something
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to make people say, okay, this is where I am.
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So when people usually look at website, they look at it in a Z format.
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So your logo is usually in the left-hand side.
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The right is usually like a call to action.
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And then the middle is your headline.
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So that’s the three things you need on the top of your page.
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Those, that’s like the minimum.
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Zaheer worked on my website, redoing it for me and it’s great.
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Look her up, she’s your girl.
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How do we use social media, our websites?
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Can we use them better?
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I think the purpose of social media is basically to gain traction, to gain attention.
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Ultimately, if you’re a business, it’s to sell your product or service.
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You have to basically hone in on your target customer.
03:44 – 03:48
Like if you are dealing with a young customer, of course they’re on TikTok.
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If you’re dealing with an older customer, Facebook, but also you want them to engage with you.
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You want them to come back to your website. That’s the whole thing.
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And then when you get them back to your website, you can have a call to action.
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What is a call to action is basically you want them to do something.
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Enter their email for a free download or enter their email for a discount.
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And for that exchange, getting their email, then you can keep in contact with them.
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And that’s the purpose of social media, is to gain people’s trust.
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Does anybody write a newsletter?
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Yes, that’s the purpose of getting people’s email address.
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So you have a newsletter and you basically tell them stuff that they might be interested in, hopefully.
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You know, you’re not just sending them garbage because they’ll of course unsubscribe.
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If you have like the retail, that’s when you send coupons out and let people know when you’re having sales.
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Keep your business top of mind to people because people have their lives, they forget.
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I mean, some people say, okay, send it out like, twice a week or three times a week.
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I mean, personally, I would just send it out maybe once a week, maybe once every two weeks.
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Depends on your business, your business model and who your customer is.
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But once a week usually is for, at least for service-based business.
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For retail businesses, people send more times because if it’s like a coupon or a sale or something
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like that, you really want to get people’s attention.
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Definitely depends on your business.
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For me, I am higher intern.
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If you are a social media intern, please reach out.
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That’s just a whole nother business in itself because a lot of creatives, they don’t have a
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lot of time to do the social media thing, to do the marketing thing.
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So if that is something that you really do, you should reach out to a lot of creatives and you
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probably get, you know, that’s a very lucrative business.
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If you have questions for us, if you want to appear with us live, email, DM, leave us a message in the comments.
05:38 – 05:43
I am Naima of Fearless Threads along with…
05:43 – 05:46
Latisha Winston of Keeping You in Stitches and…
05:46 – 05:49
Zahiyya from Region Design Lab. See you next time.
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