Good websites have a lot in common with icebergs - there's so much more that goes into their creation than you'd guess by just looking at the end result.
Just like an iceberg, the bulk of the work required to create an awesome website that drives leads and persuades visitors is hidden well underwater - you'll never see or experience the majority of it.
keep reading to learn about the multiple departments, disciplines, career fields, and infrastructure required to create a website worthy of your business, now and for years to come.
Your First Website & Marketing Discussion With HLM
Oftentimes the most important step in creating a quality website that will serve your business well and generate more leads is the planning phase. This begins with an initial conversation with one of our Digital Marketing Consultants.
During that conversation, our consultants will take a deep-dive into your business to better understand the services you offer, the kinds of leads you're getting right now, the kinds of leads you want more of, and your future business growth & expansion plans.
We do this to not only make a beneficial recommendation about what services to offer to accomplish your goals, but so that we can create a plan for your new website.
If you're serious about taking your website and marketing to the next level, be prepared to have an in-depth discussion or two with your Digital Marketing Consultant.
Your Website & Digital Marketing Plan
After an initial discussion or two (what we call the "Discovery Phase"), your consultant will work with our Digital Strategy team to create a robust Recommendation including all HLM services that will accomplish your goals - including a plan for your website.
When your Consultant presents our Recommendation, they'll show you something called a Website Sitemap.
This is an initial outline of the pages that we'll build on your new website, structured in a bullet-point outline format to demonstrate the "hierarchy" of pages, like the simplified example below:
- (1) Homepage
- (2) Residential Services
- (4) Commercial Services
- (6) Locations
- (7) Location #1
- (8) Location #2
- (9) Many More Additional Pages...
Something important to keep in mind about your sitemap is that it's been designed with your marketing goals in mind, to include the proper structure, types of pages, and number of pages, to give your new website the best chance to appear in Google Search Results as possible
HLM creates holistic strategies to accomplish your marketing goals. A solid website is a HUGE part of that. Your website sitemap will be designed with Digital Marketing in mind. There'll be a reason behind why each page on your sitemap is being recommended!
Your Website's Onboarding & Project Management
Once you've decided to work with HLM (a smart decision, we think!), you'll go through our Onboarding Process. This includes meeting your Project Manager and other team members that will be assigned to your account to fulfill all HLM services you've signed on for.
Your Project Manager will begin to pick your brain about any design & website preferences you might have at this stage, by having you complete our Creative Brief.
If you don't have ANY design preferences, brand requirements, etc., that's fine! Our team will make recommendations concerning the direction of your website.
For those that have at least an inkling of what they'd prefer from a design perspective, our team works with each client to incorporate their design requirements and preferences, mixed with our design and marketing expertise.
We're getting into more detailed website planning with your Project Manager at this stage, to make sure that your website looks awesome, AND drives your business leads!
Your Website's Search Engine Optimization Considerations
SEO (Search Engine Optimization), is a broad term that bleeds over into other disciplines, such as Copywriting, User Experience, Website Development, and more.
Before we even begin building your website, our SEO team is involved to ensure that SEO is considered during the planning stages, and that your current rankings are maintained as well as possible during a marketing and website transition.
Our SEO team stays involved and works with other departments throughout the build of your website.
At this stage, think of our SEO team as the soundtrack to a movie you're watching - they're always there behind the scenes making sure the goal of driving you more leads isn't lost in the excitement of creating the visual elements of your website.
SEO is a broad, multi-disciplinary term that has a hand in everything, from Website Design, Website Development, Copywriting, User Experience, and more. Our SEO team works with all other HLM departments to ensure SEO is always considered every step of the way.
Your Website's Content & Copywriting
HLM employs an entire in-house Content Team to ensure our clients receive the best copywriting possible for their websites (as well as their blog posts, email newsletters, ad copy, etc.), but this department is oftentimes discounted by some - especially in the age of ChatGPT!
What ChatGPT can't do is provide an HLM Content team member that uses their full human critical-thinking skills to speak with you, make a significant effort to understand your business, research your competitors, research your services, and gain an understanding of the "personality" of your business to then write in a tone that portrays you accurately, AND is beneficial from a marketing perspective.
They also have to work with HLM's SEO team to incorporate the right kinds and amount of keywords and other important phrases into their copy, in a manner that reads as natural and authentic.
They also have to work with the Design team to ensure the length of their copy fits into a given website design. Oftentimes, completed copy actually informs the design of a website!
Oh, and one last thing - you NEED good amounts of written content for SEO to work. The more good-quality, unique, and SEO-optimized content you have on your website, the more chances you have to appear in search results and gain more leads.
There's more that goes into writing the content of a website than most realize - if your goal is to gain new leads, portray your business accurately & professionally online, and have a great-looking website that encourages people to contact you!
Your Website's Technical Development
At HLM, our Website Designers work closely with our Website Developers. Our Developers are the ones that make the functionality of your website, well... function.
Throughout the early stages of your website journey with HLM, we'll have identified certain things your website may need, such as pop-ups, third-party integrations, interactive maps, directories, categorized portfolios, etc.
Our developers help to make those things happen so that you have as useful of a website as possible.
Have a special design request or tweak that might be a little unusual but important to you? Oftentimes a developer will work with your main designer behind-the-scenes to make that happen - and you probably won't even know a developer had been involved!
Our designers focus on what they do best - design. They come from design and art backgrounds, not necessarily technical backgrounds. Our developers work very closely with our designers to make the end result all come together, and provide you with the website you want and need.
Your Website's Hosting & HLM's Infrastructure
Once your website is completed, that's the end of one phase - and the beginning of another.
HLM has an entire infrastructure team that is dedicated to the safe and secure hosting and maintenance of your newly-created website.
This means you have a team of people whose sole job consists of making sure the website server your website lives on is maintained correctly.
They also monitor the performance of all HLM websites, and allocate server resources as needed - sometimes on the fly - to ensure your site has the bandwidth available to accommodate spikes in traffic from any marketing efforts or events your business may have, or if something nefarious is occurring somewhere on the internet, that might negatively impact your site.
This isn't your two-bit GoDaddy Shared Server hosting and infrastructure solution. You have a team of people that have your website's back here at HLM at all times.
Your Ongoing Website Support
Lastly, HLM employs a Website Support Team, whose job it is to fulfil your website requests.
Need an image changed? Email support@highlevelmarketing.com (or visit this page to submit a request).
Need to add a new employee? Email Support.
Need a paragraph of text added about an upcoming event? Email support.
Need a telephone number or email address changed? You guessed it - email Support.
Your business is a living, breathing thing - meaning your website should be too. We have the people and systems in place to get the changes and updates you need accomplished quickly, and accomplished right.
Putting it ALL Together...
Let's recap. Your completed website - and it's ongoing support and maintenance - is a culmination of skills, specialties, and career fields from 9 distinct departments, including:
- Your Digital Marketing Consultant
- HLM's Digital Strategy Team
- Your Project Manager
- Your Website Designer
- Your Website Developer
- Your SEO Team member
- your Content Team member
- The HLM Infrastructure Team
- HLM's website Support Team
If you're serious about taking your online and digital marketing to the next level, then this is the kind of website that's required in 2024 to stand out and get ahead.
It becomes even more necessary when you realize that many other marketing efforts will stem from - or lead back to - your website, like when someone googles your business name after seeing you on a billboard, or when someone visits your website after receiving your direct mail flyer around a special promotion.
Your website is your company's entire foundation online. Make sure what people see when they visit it is just the tip of the iceberg.
If YOU need help building an iceberg of a website that will drive you leads and serve you and all of your marketing efforts well, then contact us now to get started and talk to someone within minutes.
