Many web developers and designers suffer from what I refer to as the ‘cobbler / shoe’ problem. We tend to be so busy working on client sites–like the one we launched last month for Fisher Business Management – that our own sites can sometimes languish, unloved for months or even years.
This month, I had a brief window of time before leaving for an extended vacation and I decided to buckle down and revamp karveldigital.com.
The 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 rule says that you get 80% of your results from 20% of your efforts. With a deadline that involved sending my computer off for repairs and getting on a plane to Maui, I had to stay focused on my most important goals:
- A new theme with features that make adding new content even easier
- Creating better flow for visitors with better Calls to Action (CTAs).
Practicing What I Preach
A few weeks ago, I finished the beta of the first Websites That Works course. My theory is that with the right tools, non-programmers can till make professional looking, effective sites.
I followed my own advice and chose a few tools and a theme that meant I could create the site quickly and with a bare minimum of custom coding.
[Tweet “Find out how I complete revamped my website in 2 days to get more leads”]
The Tools
- Dynamik Website Builder
- Beaver Builder Page Builder
- Theme based on the Digitalpress Dynamik Digital Press Skin.
The Dynamik tool allows you to control much more of the code and customize at a granular level by filling in the blanks, while Beaver Builder is great for creating highly engaging customized layouts using drag-n-drop tools that really are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get).
The Dynamik skins are basically head starts on customizing the Dynamik theme settings the way you want it. I picked something with the general look, feel and layout I wanted and then tweaked from there.
With the hard parts out of the way, I was able to focus on the most important part: the content. I rewrote the home page, added a more complete services page and wrote new copy highlighting some pain points I’ve been seeing a lot lately that I want to solve for my clients.
Lead Generation
Thrive Themes is a company that makes conversion-focused WordPress themes and tools. I used the Thrive Leads plugin to create new opt-ins, target them to specific relevant pages and even setup a automated test with two different forms to see which one converts better. The winner will automatically become the default that is used going forward.
People who opt-in to my newsletter are sent to my Active Campaign email marketing software.
The setup for this took about 90 minutes.
E-Commerce
In preparation for the new membership site we’re launching next month, I installed WooCommerce, a popular e-commerce framework for WordPress that was recently purchased by Automattic.
Pre-register for the new membership site before March 1st and get your first month for just $7.00
The Stats
In total, I spent roughly 16 hours over a two day period[1] and re-launched the site two days before heading to the beach for a couple of weeks.
Is it perfect? Definitely not. But I think the results are a huge step towards putting into practice all the things I’ve learned and taught about digital marketing over the past year. As a digital marketing tool, a website is never really done. You should always be improving, testing and adjusting based on your results.
The new site gives me a better platform to build on, and the tools I’ve leveraged allow me to focus on strategy and less on code because these days I’m all about getting those 80% results with that 20% effort.
Do you have a site that needs some love? Want to take take your digital marketing to the next level and grow your business? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation.
Let me know how you like the new site in the comments below.
- Yes, there were all-nighters involved and a lot of coffee.
