Make Your Mark Online: Website Tips for Personal Brands: Recent Episodes
Martin Huntbach & Lyndsay Cambridge
Are you a personal brand struggling to build and grow your website?
The Make Your Mark Online Podcast tells you how to create an online presence you can be proud of. We’ll be going through all sorts of juicy topics like conversion rate optimisation (CRO), copywriting for the web, search engine optimisation (SEO) and content marketing.
We’ll be breaking these topics down, making it easy-peasy for non-techies like you to understand and implement in your business straight away. Pretty cool, eh?
The Make Your Mark Online Podcast is hosted by Martin and Lyndsay, a husband and wife team who have spent the last seven years designing websites through their digital agency, Jammy Digital. You’ll hear lots of laughter, some disagreements and a few interruptions from our unruly cats.
We’re honest and upfront, and won’t shy away from telling you where to save money and where you should invest it. This isn’t about us getting you to spend thousands on a website, in fact, often it can be quite the opposite!
Most of all, we want to make this podcast as actionable as possible, so you can start implementing exciting new things that will grow your business. If there’s a particular topic you want us to cover or you have any questions then don’t be weird! Just drop us an email at hello@jammydigital.com
A Start Here page is a way of welcoming a website visitor who's unsure what to do next on your website. They're unfamiliar with you and your business, and a start here page gives them a tour of your site and explains what you do.
In this podcast episode, you'll learn...
- What is a start page and whether you should or shouldn't have one
- What to include on a start here page
- How a start here page can convert
- How we go against what many others say should be on a 'start here' page
Website copy is one of the key elements that will make your website a success. That's why, in this episode, we'll give you four easy ways you can instantly improve your writing.
You'll learn...
- How to make your copy more engaging
- How to identify passive voice
- How to make your copy less clunky
- How to use rhythm in your writing
You may have noticed some changes happening in Google, which can be a bit worrying.
In this episode, we're going to talk about these changes, what impact they'll have on you and, most importantly, what you can do about it.
We'll be chatting about...
- The issues with Google that could lead to less organic traffic to your website
- How you can still maintain and even get more traffic from Google even with these changes
Everyone wants their website to look great. When our websites look good, we look good. And we feel confident driving traffic to it.
But often we get too caught up in how a website looks and we neglect everything else.
But there are actually 6 elements that make a great website, and all these need to be carefully balanced.
In this podcast episode, I talk about...
- What the 6 elements are
- How you can implement these elements on your website
- How the elements work together
- How not one website in the world can get these elements 100% right
In this super practical podcast episode, we're going to tell you exactly how to collect email addresses on your website.
In this episode, you learn...
- What I class as pushy or annoying ways to capture leads
- The best way to capture email addresses from your blog
- How to get people to get in touch with you when they're on your service page
- What information you should ask for when capturing people's data
- How you can capture leads from your homepage
Resources Content Planner
Facebook Group
Website Buyer's Guide
In this super practical podcast episode, we're going to tell you exactly how to produce over 50 pieces of content in just 30 minutes.
You'll probably want to grab a pen and paper for this episode, or better yet, download our content planner which will help you.
In this episode, you learn...
- How to relate your content to the products or services that you offer
- The type of content that delivers more leads and sales
- The six key topics you need to cover in your content
- How to get in front of people searching on Google
- Why you need to view your content as a customer service tool
- How to create over 50 pieces of content in just 30 minutes by following along to this episode
Up until 2017, we did nothing to market our business.
Instead, we relied on referrals.
But when you only rely on referrals to fuel your business, you will hit problems.
In this podcast episode, we're going to tell you...
- Why referrals are bad for business
- The bad things that can happen when you rely on referrals
- What to do instead of relying on referrals
- The benefits of actively marketing vs referrals
- How to turn a referral into an 'ideal' client
- How content marketing can educate a referral
Extra Resources:
Make Your Mark Online Membership
Jammy's Content Planner
Facebook Group
Website Buyer's Guide
How much time do you waste speaking to the wrong kind of clients? Clients that don't want to pay your prices, clients that don't respect your skills and experience.
We're always talking about how to attract MORE customers to your website but shouldn't we start talking about how to attract the RIGHT kind of customers.
That's what I'm talking about in this week's episode.
Over the past few years we've been using our website content to only appeal to our ideal customers. We spend less time trying to sell our services and more time helping our customers.
Can you do the same?
What has attending events and conferences got to do with building and improving your website?
We attend lots of business/marketing conferences up and down the country and for us, it's easily been one of the biggest contributing factors in growing our business.
In this episode we discuss all the benefits that attending events has had on our business and why you might want to start attending them yourself if you haven't already.
We live and breathe WEBSITES.
And over the years, we've seen it all. The good, the bad and the hideous.
But over that time, we've seen a pattern. A pattern of what makes a website good and what makes a website bad.
In this episode we talk about the most common mistakes we see websites make so you know what to avoid.
These mistakes could be damaging to your website and may cause visitors to:
- Leave early
- Not take action
- Not trust you
Have you heard of a Learning Centre before?
We have one on our website and we also recommend our clients have one too but what is a Learning Centre? And can your website really benefit from having one?
In this episode we discuss:
- What is a learning Centre?
- Why you might need one on your website
- The problems with a traditional blog
- What to include on a Learning Centre
We also talk about how you can get your hands on a Learning Centre at the end of the episode.
Getting paid by your clients is hard enough at the best of times.
Wouldn’t it be better if you gave your clients an easier way to pay you, meaning you retrieve payments quicker and it saves time for them?
It’s really easy to take payments via your website, and in this episode, I give you 4 ways to take payments, without a big Ecommerce plugin
We discuss the costs, pros and cons of the following 4 options:
PayPal Buttons
Stripe + the WordPress Plugin
ThriveCart
GoCardless
In this episode we discuss what you need to think about when redesigning your own website.
You don't want to lose any valuable content or risk losing traffic so there are a few steps you can follow to safeguard yourself.
We discuss:
- How to host your new website whilst it's being built
- What to consider when choosing a theme
- What to do with all your plugins
- How to migrate the content
- What are "redirects" and when to use them
- How to manage your SEO settings
Enjoy the show
Does your blog content look a bit naff? There are so many blogs out there and it's sometimes difficult to stand out. If you want to make your blog posts sparkle then listen to this week's episode.
We talk about all the different things you can do to make your blog posts more interesting and easy to read.
Everything from font size to Tweetables. And Headings to bullet points. Everything in this list is what we do to make sure our blog content looks the part.
Read more https://makeyourmarkonline.net
Pricing is a sensitive topic at the best of times, but it gets even more interesting when we talk about whether or not you should display your prices on your website.
In the episode we cover:
- Why you might not have your prices on your website
- Benefits of putting your prices on your website
- What WE did and the results we got
- What I'd recommend that you do
Like most website topics, we discuss this kind of thing in our membership. To find out more visit https://makeyourmarkonline.net
Why do some Personal Brands attract a huge following whilst some fail to gain any real traction. We've found that there are 5 key elements that will allow you to attract more potential customers using your website.
In this episode, we’ll be going through...
- How to build trust on your website
- How to use your website to attract your ideal clients
- How to be viewed as an expert
- How to stand out from your competitors
- How to transform your readers into paying customers
Having a bad website can actually COST you money.
Nobody sets out to have a bad website, so why does it happen?
In this episode we discuss:
- How people end up with a bad (or ineffective) website
- The downsides of a bad website
- How this could be impacting your brand confidence
- How this could be impacting your sales process
- Why we paid 3x more than we needed to based on their website
- How a bad website can impact your SEO
- How your website could be affecting your conversions
In this episode, we discuss whether or not you should outsource your website tasks?
Websites can be a headache. Small tasks can sometimes take hours to complete and when you get stuck, you feel like pulling your hair out.
In this episode we cover:
- What we mean when we say outsourcing?
- What could you outsource with your website?
- When not to outsource work?
- When to outsource website tasks?
- 3 lists to freedom by Chris Ducker
- Where you can find people to outsource to?
In this episode I tell you how we increased our website visitors by 10x within 12 months.
We discuss:
- What we were doing before 2017
- How many visitors we were getting per month
- Why we decided to change things
- What we did to increase our traffic
- How we did it step by step
- Traffic number after 2017
Important
We’re running a free webinar on Mon 28th Jan. We’ll be covering 5 essential elements that make a perfect personal brand website.
https://jammydigital.com/webinar
Every year pretty much every business owner sets themselves new goals, new targets to hit and areas to expand or grow.
But often, we don't set ourselves any goals for our website.
Our businesses are growing and changing, yet our websites remain static.
This is a huge mistake.
Having no goals for your website means the part of your business that's viewable to the world is out of date and inefficient.
In this podcast episode, I talk about goal setting for your website and how to measure website success. This includes measuring and improving...
- Web visitors
- Page views
- Bounce rate
- Number of enquiries
- Rankings
- Conversions on sales pages
- Email subscribers
A lack of effective content is one of the most common mistakes we see on websites.
In this episode we'll be completing this 4-part mini series on how to plan your new website.
We'll be covering
- How to plan your website content
- What to consider for your homepage content
- What you should include in your content
- How many words you should include
- What to include on your about page
- What to include on your services pages
- Mistakes you want to avoid
In this four-part series, we'll be outlining the four key pillars to website success so you can get your website live ASAP in 2019.
In this third episode, we're talking about 3 key design elements that will dramatically improve your website.
In this episode we'll cover...
Website Photographs/ Imagery
Your Colour theme
Website Themes
- Should you use photographs or stock images?
- Where to find ideas for your colour theme
- How to find great themes and what to avoid
In this four-part series, we'll be outlining the four key pillars to website success so you can get your website live ASAP in 2019.
In this second episode, we're talking about the structure for your website. This structure is based on the goals you have for your website, which we talked about in the previous episode.
We're going to go into detail about how to structure your homepage to get people to the right pages on your website. We'll also be looking at how to present your services. This is exactly the process we follow with our clients to ensure website success!
In this episode, we’ll cover...
- Structuring your web pages
- Prioritising your menu items
- Mapping out your homepage (click below to download our diagram)
- The first third of your homepage
- Things to consider on your homepage
In the next four episodes of our podcast, we'll be outlining the four key pillars to website success so you can get your website live ASAP in 2019.
In this first episode, we're talking GOALS for your website. Yep, before doing anything else, you need to understand your website goals first.
In this episode, we’ll cover...
- Understanding your website goals
- Why understanding your website goals is important
- What can distract you from your website goals
- The questions you need to ask yourself for website success
- Reverse engineering your customers' web journey
- Honing in on your services
Over the past 10 years, we've tried hundreds (probably thousands) of tools that have helped us and our clients improve their websites and businesses.
Some tools were fantastic, helping us save time and money. Others, were terrible, taking us ages to wrap our heads around or costing too much.
So in this podcast episode, we'll be running through our favourite tools that we use all the time to improve your website and business.
- The best tools to create images and graphics for your website
- The best video hosting software
- The best email marketing tools
- Our favourite page builders
- The best tools for taking bookings over your website
- The best tools for taking payments over your website
We're all human. And sometimes being human means our egos can get the better of us.
Generally, it's okay when this happens. We can keep ourselves in check and try to be better people.
BUT, what happens when our egos creep into our business and, more specifically, our websites?
In this podcast episode, we'll be going through our top ego-driven, website faux-pas that will drive your end-user insane!
In this episode, we’ll cover…
- Why your about page is not about you!
- Why you should steer clear of the word 'newsletter'
- Using silly names for normal stuff
- Looking pretty is way more important than user-experience, right?
- When your website is for your competitors
- Using your blog as a promotional tool
Designing a website yourself can be a lonely and overwhelming process. You've got to figure out hosting, domain names, themes, plugins, content management systems as well as write new copy, figure out the design and get new images.
It's no wonder business owners tell us they've been working on their websites for months or even years.
We get it.
In this episode, we're going to tell you how to best avoid website overwhelm and make sure you get a good website up and working as quickly as possible.
In this episode, we’ll cover… * How choosing a good theme can make or break your website * Keeping it simple so your head doesn't explode! * How to seek the help of a 'techie' when you're on a budget * The research you need to do before jumping into DIY website design that will save you so much time and money * Where to get answers to your questions * Where to get support
Resources Make Your Mark Online Membership
Facebook Group
Good photography can make or break a website.
If you have bad photos or you rely heavily on crappy stock images, it can really turn off your end-users.
We're pretty terrible at the art photography, but, we've learnt a lot about how to get the right photographs for your website.
In this episode, we'll tell you how to prepare for your website photoshoot.
It doesn't matter if you're paying for a professional or getting a friend to help, by following these tips you'll get the most out of your photography.
What We Cover...
- Do you really need a photoshoot for your website?
- Our tricks to make website photography easier
- Why you should avoid the 'suited and booted' look
- How to make your own stock photos that look cool
- The need for different locations and outfits
Resources
Make Your Mark Online Membership
Facebook Group
Testimonials help build trust, authority and make it clear what kind of clients/customers you want to work with.
Anyone can get a testimonial and add it to their website but getting an effective testimonial can be difficult.
In this episode, we discuss
- What makes a 'bad' testimonial
- What makes a great testimonial
- How to get the kind of testimonial that connects to your target market
- What questions you should be asking your clients to get the perfect testimonial
The web design industry has a bad reputation. It seems like every business owner you speak to, from large, corporate companies to freelancers, have had a crappy experience with a web design agency.
Why is this happening?
Personally, we know many fantastic web design agencies and freelancers. Are people just not finding them? Or is there something else going on?
In this episode, we unpack how to find the right agency for YOU, and how not every agency will work for your business. We also give you our run down on how to spot a bad web design agency or freelancer.
Building your own website is much cheaper than hiring a web designer. However, sometimes there are hidden or unexpected costs to building your own site.
In this episode, we walk you through how much you're likely to spend if you DIY your own website and where the best places are to invest your money.
We’ll cover…
- When you should build your site yourself rather than hire an agency
- The danger of 'free' domains
- The difference between expensive and cheap hosting
- Should you get a free WordPress theme?
- The difference in prices and where you should invest your money
- The additional cost of plugins
Useful Resources and Links
Site Ground Website Hosting
Membership Community
Episode One Podcast: Should You DIY Your Website?
Free Facebook Community
Trying to appeal to more than one target audience on your website is tricky.
It's difficult to make sure our message connects with each audience we're targeting. For example, a recruitment agency must appeal to businesses to work with, but they must also attract good candidates too. How would they go about appealing to both audiences on the one website?
There are methods of achieving this and it's something we carefully consider when we build websites.
In this episode, we walk-through the ways you can do this successfully.
In this episode, we’ll cover…
- Examples of business who appeal to more than one audience
- Should you set up a new website for your separate audiences?
- When you should set up your own website and when you shouldn't
- How to signpost your particular audience to the right place on your website
- Using CTAs and your big, bold statement to appeal to more than one audience
- Do you need different layouts and page designs for different audiences?
This week we launched a membership community to help personal brands build and grow a successful website.
We've had so many questions about the membership, and it made sense to answer these in our latest episode.
In this episode, we cover…
Why we decided to launch the membership
What courses are included inside the membership?
Who is the membership for?
Who is the membership not for?
How much does it cost?
Do we have original content?
Check out the membership - https://makeyourmarkonline.net/
Writing your about page is usually treated as an after-thought. A place to stick your education history, that award you won in 2004 and talk about your favourite pizza toppings.
If this sounds like you, then you seriously need to look at your about page again.
In this episode we cover:
- What is the most common mistake people make on their homepage?- What you should do before you put pen to paper
- How to create a great opening sentence to your about page that gets people hooked
- How to connect with your readers and build trust on your about page
- How to format your about page so it doesn't look too text heavy
- Why you shouldn't forget your personality
- What else you should include on an about page
Choosing your domain name can take forever!
Should you have your name as your domain name?
Should you use your business name as your domain name?
Or even, should you include a keyword within your domain name?
It can be tricky. In this podcast episode, we go through the pros and cons of different domain names and which ones are right for you and your business.
Working with your ideal client is the dream, but sometimes it's difficult to say who you want to work with and who you don't.
In this episode, we discuss the many ways you can attract your ideal clients and put off those you don't want to work with.
In this episode, we'll cover... * How to work with people who will respect you, your knowledge and your time * Subtle ways you can say who you don't want to work with through your website * How you can tweak your website to attract your ideal clients * Why making it clear who you want to work with creates excellent customer service * The benefits of helping people who aren't your ideal client via your website
We were bright-eyed twenty-one-year-olds when we invested every penny we had (and hadn't, to be honest) into a brand new website.
It failed miserably.
In this episode, we uncover what went so wrong in our first ever business, so you don't make the same mistakes as us.
Converting your website visitors into paying customers doesn’t just happen by accident. There are so many things you can do to increase conversions on your website.
In this episode, we’re going to be going through eight very simple tweaks you can make on your website that will transform your readers into leads.
In this episode, we go through how to transition from a traditional, service-based business into a personal brand.
In this episode, we'll be discussing whether or not you need to redesign your website or simply tweak it.
In this episode, we’ll cover…
- What is a big, bold statement?
- Why you need a big, bold statement?
- Where should this statement go?
- The nine different ways you can create a big, bold statement
Special Announcement
https://jammydigital.com/wait/
What is tone of voice and how can you find yours?
In this episode, we're taking a deep dive into what you need to do to find your voice in your writing and for your website.
Not really sure if you should build your own website of pay an agency?
In this episode we'll be answering this question.
This is the introductory episode of the Make Your Mark Online Podcast with husband and wife team, Martin & Lyndsay.
Are you a personal brand struggling to build and grow a successful business website?
In this episode, we’ll be talking about:
- What topics we’ll be covering in future episodes
- Who the show is for (so you know you’re in the right place)
- A little about us and our background
- How you can get your website reviewed for FREE
- How you can find more relevant content
If you want to grow your online presence, drive more visitors to your website and make more sales. SUBSCRIBE and download the first 4 episodes right away.
Don't forget to subscribe.