Disclaimer: As an affiliate partner, we might profit from your purchases from third-party websites, however, we do not charge you extra in the process. Read my Disclaimer Policy here.

I’ve always been encouraged by professors to have a digital presence. When I was attending and starting my classes at the University of Missouri, I was constantly told about the importance of having a presence on various social media and web platforms. It wasn’t enough to have experience. My experience needed to be broadcasted and promoted well for my peers and supervisors to take notice.

It became so ingrained in our curriculum, I had started nearly three different blogs by the time I finished my undergraduate degree from the Journalism School. All of them pertained to a separate class that had different requirements for our teacher’s grading scales.

I’m thankful for the experience that blogging was able to teach me. Not only did it help quicken my writing, but it also introduced me to different types of writing styles and formats that were fairly different from my traditional writing for school papers or traditional print publications.

At the time, I knew no one wanted to read my blog posts. I didn’t market them nor did I particularly cared about how my blog looked or resonated with others as long as it met the requirements set by my professors.

That all changed when I started looking for jobs and applied my design skills to a digital platform. Now, those blog posts I had curated throughout my schooling were a great way to showcase some of my digital props for my potential employers.

I needed to know how to interact and develop good skills while working on a website and be able to understand how to work within them while working on stories and content.

Now that I’m working on my own small business, it’s even more important that I use and curate those blogging and web design skills that I learned so long ago at Mizzou. I know not everyone has the same experience that I had while working with blogs, website design, or even social media from a business standpoint, but it’s become a vital addition to working with a small business.

What is your digital presence?

So what exactly is a digital presence?

Digital presence can be fairly easy to define for a business. Your digital presence encompasses your social media, website and virtual presence.

You might have a personal digital presence that differs from your business media presence. For now, let’s work on your business’s digital presence.

You’ll want to ask yourself this question before we begin: What is your digital presence telling you?

Many websites can become cluttered or overcrowded with differing ideas, methods, and intents. It’s easy to become confused, especially if your brand message isn’t aligning with your website or blog. You might be talking to another target audience than you were when you first started or selling a completely new set of services or products.

If that’s the case and you need some help cleaning up your website, let’s work through a few tips on what can be done to make a clear and cohesive digital presence for your small business.

Related Content: CREATE: What is your ‘Zone of Genius’ and how do you use it to appeal to your target audience?

How to clean up your website

Clean Web Design Tip #1: Define your goal

Every website has a goal. For your small business, your goal might be to make sales. Your goal might be to have them attend an event. Maybe your goal is to provide them with resources for your ideal client’s profession.

You should have a goal that utilizes your website as a business tool. Your website allows your ideal clients to have access to your expertise and offer your services or products to help them succeed.

While it is good to have a descriptive and manageable goal, you’ll mainly want to have a destination in mind when setting your website’s goal. Where do you want your readership to go to on your website? Should they be completing an actionable step through the website or just looking through to certain pages?

Clean Web Design Tip #2: Conduct the 5-second test

Imagine someone visiting your website. If the lost power 5 seconds after visiting your site, would they be able to find it again and be able to tell someone else what your website provides for its readers?

Especially within Generation Z, many target audiences last about 5-8 seconds on a website before moving on. If your website doesn’t clearly state or convey what it does to help readers, they will move on to something else that can hold their attention.

If your website fails the 5-second test: Create a one-liner

A one-liner will help you clarify what your website or business does in one sentence. It can be seen as a “What do you do?” type of response.

So, how do you make this one-liner statement?

Meera Kothand uses Donald Miller’s Storybound to explain this one. Miller uses a four-part approach to create a one-liner:

1. The character- Who are you talking to?

2. The problem- What are you solving?

3. The plan- How will you solve it?

4. The success- What’s the outcome?

You can and it’s almost more helpful to include your one-liner throughout your website. This can be on your homepage, your 'About Me' page, or your business products’ page. This allows your business’ brand message to be seen throughout your website, both subliminally and literally.

Related Content: New ideas and tips to create your business content marketing strategy for Generation Z

Clean Web Design Tip #3: What changes need to be made?

Now that you’ve got a clear message that you want to provide throughout your website: What changes need to be made?

You want your ideal client to see you as a problem solver to their problem. To do that you need to be seen as the leading figure or an expert in your niche.

To be seen as an authority figure, scan through your website and see what needs to be improved to prove to your target audience you’re the person to solve their problems.

Clean Web Design Tip #4: Align your website with your brand

Just as you would do with a one-liner, you’ll want to align your brand message with your website’s design.

Imagine different elements of your business’ marketing plan. If you want simple and minimalistic to be the image you convey with your business’ brand. You should reflect that in your website’s design.

Your website and your logo should reflect similar styles. You might have created a vision board previously for your business or a brand board as well. These tools should also be reflected throughout your web design process. The website should look as if it’s extended from your brand’s process and only gives further repetitive information about your business.

Clean Web Design Tip #5: Modify dated materials

Web design is constantly changing. To be perceived as the expert and go-to problem-solver, you’ll need to keep a close eye on any trends or changes that might happen to your website. Look through every visual element on your website on every page and determine if it serves the right purpose and target audience you want to connect with.

Once you identify all your outdated pages and elements, determine a timeline to update and modify your pages to keep everything current and up-to-date.

Clean Web Design Tip #6: Identify missing marketing components

Just as in marketing, the goal you identified earlier should have a plan of action throughout your website.

You should be able to go through your website and make a pathway to where you would like your ideal client to go. Both the web design and content within your website will lead them to take the actions and steps you want your ideal client to take to achieve your goal.

Determine where your main goal should be located within your site and design around it to make it look like the best plan of action for your readers.

Related Content: CREATE: How to move your ideal client through the marketing strategy customer ladder

Clean Web Design Tip #7: Construct a clear navigation

Once you know what path you want your reader to take, identify your navigation bar’s blocks along with any drop-downs you’ve attached.

For a clear navigation bar, you’ll want to determine three things about your pages:

1. Is it necessary?

2. Is it part of your brand message, trust-building, or sales?

3. For drop-downs- Can it be relocated?

Once you’ve determined the necessity of your pages, recreate your navigation bar. While it might remain the same, having a clear navigation bar allows you to determine how a reader will read through your website.

It can become difficult to design a website that accurately and effectively promotes marketable qualities to an ideal client in business when a business owner is new to web design. Learning and maintaining an aligned digital presence is essential to keeping a cohesive and clear brand message for your small business.

Want to learn more about creating a marketable and brand-aligned website for your target audience? Join my e-newsletter for tips on design for your start-up business.