About This Episode
Many business owners invest heavily in their websites and then, well, assume they’re done. But launching your website isn’t the finish line—it’s actually the start of a continual process of optimizing and enhancing a critical sales asset.
If you’re a business generating $5 million or more in revenue, it’s likely that you already recognize the value of a website. But perhaps you’re grappling with how to keep it fresh, effective, and optimized to capture customer attention. Today, we’re walking through what Vin calls the “living, breathing” nature of a successful website—and how to give it the attention it needs to perform like the sales machine it can be.
The Common Misconception: Launch It and Leave It
Once a website goes live, it’s easy to feel the work is done. After all, you’ve put in the time and budget, and now it’s up and running, ready to attract customers, right? Unfortunately, that’s where most businesses get it wrong.
Vin explained, “Websites are not typically cheap things…they’re meant to be a phenomenal marketing and sales tool for the long term.” Yet so many business owners treat it like a static object, a one-time investment that should naturally generate leads without much oversight. But this approach fails to consider how rapidly the digital landscape and customer expectations change.
The Website’s Role as a Sales Tool
Here’s the fundamental shift that many companies need to make: Your website is part of your sales team. In fact, it should be your best salesperson.
Alex pointed out, “It’s an extension of your sales team. It’s a sales tool, so you need to look at it that way.” This mindset shift is critical to understanding why a “launch and leave” mentality holds your business back.
Imagine hiring a top-tier salesperson and then saying, “See you in six months—hope you’re closing lots of deals!” That would be absurd, right? Yet, this is exactly what happens with many business websites. By failing to check in, update, and optimize, you’re letting that investment stagnate.
Three Foundational Strategies to Make Your Site Work Harder
So, how can you ensure your website performs over the long haul? Vin offers three foundational strategies to keep in mind:
1. Shift to Sales-Centric Messaging
Most websites lean heavily on “we” and “our” language—big mistake. If your site’s content is all about your business rather than the customer, you’re missing the mark.
“A quick test,” Vin suggests, “do a ‘find and replace’ for ‘we’ and ‘our’ on your website. If those terms dominate, you have a messaging problem.” Instead, make sure your content speaks to your visitors, focusing on their needs, pain points, and the solutions you provide for them.
2. Structure Content to Drive Sales-Qualified Leads
Effective websites create a seamless path from awareness to action. The key is structuring your site to guide visitors to the right content at the right time. For example, if a visitor is just starting to learn about their problem, your blog or learning center should be their first stop. If they’re ready to buy, your primary product or service pages need to make it easy to convert that interest into action, whether that’s scheduling a consultation or requesting a quote.
3. Test and Tweak to Match User Behavior
“Everything we do with websites is based on fundamental assumptions,” Vin explained. But as with any hypothesis, those assumptions need testing. AB testing and other analytics tools like Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar allow you to see if your messaging, layout, or calls-to-action are resonating with visitors.
Even a small tweak can make a big impact, but without tracking, you’ll never know what’s working and what isn’t. “You need to treat the website like it’s a salesperson,” Vin said, adding, “This is the training—the testing to see what works.”
Embrace Data-Driven Decisions to Keep Customers Engaged
Your website isn’t for you—it’s for your customers. One of the biggest traps companies fall into is designing and updating their site based on internal preferences instead of customer needs. Data-driven decisions are the solution here.
Vin recommends asking these critical questions: Are users clicking on the primary call-to-action? Are they scrolling past your lead generation form? Do they respond to videos more than images? Armed with these insights, you can prioritize changes that align with customer behavior rather than just company desires.
“None of this matters until it’s proven,” Vin said. “I’ve done so many tests… I’m often shocked when something I thought would work doesn’t. But we learn from it, and that’s how we tailor the experience.”
AB Testing: Letting Users Drive the Direction
AB testing helps you let go of assumptions and let data lead. Whether it’s changing a headline, shifting a call-to-action, or updating imagery, AB tests can validate whether certain updates actually improve engagement. According to Vin, a test should run at least four weeks for best results.
“It’s essential to monitor tests over a full month to catch weekday and weekend variations, as well as any seasonal shifts,” Vin noted. These patterns give you a clearer picture of what works and how customers respond. Just be careful not to chase after every new trend or to over-test; prioritize meaningful changes that support your goals.
Giving Your Sales Team a Valuable Asset
When sales and marketing work together, they create a feedback loop that improves your website and the sales process itself. Sales teams can give critical input on what messaging resonates with leads, allowing marketing to refine the content accordingly.
As Vin puts it, “When your website becomes a true extension of your sales team, it changes the game. Stronger conversations, higher close rates, and less wasted time on bad-fit leads are some of the immediate payoffs.”
Keeping Content Fresh Through Accessibility
One of the worst positions a business can be in is having a beautiful, custom-built site that’s completely locked down. If you don’t have direct access to make updates or adjustments, you’re essentially stuck in a “launch and leave” situation, where small, necessary tweaks take weeks or months to implement.
When you launch a site, ensure you or someone on your team has access to make changes—this is essential for long-term success. Otherwise, you’re stuck paying for updates that could be made in minutes or missing out on opportunities to optimize based on timely insights.
Websites Need Check-Ins, Just Like Your Team
The heart of optimizing your website lies in continual attention and care, just as it does with any high-performing sales team. Vin advises regular check-ins, ideally in regular revenue team meetings, where data and site performance can be reviewed. Discuss questions like:
- Are calls-to-action getting the attention they should?
- Do visitors drop off on certain pages?
- Is there a new pain point we need to address in our content?
Each of these questions opens the door to new ways of refining the site and improving the user experience. And if you’re nervous about the data, don’t be—there’s a lot to learn, and no change is ever wasted.
Your Website Is a Living Sales Asset
Ultimately, your website is not a one-time investment. It’s a continually evolving asset that represents your business to thousands of customers, day in and day out. Treating it like the “set it and forget it” project leaves your business vulnerable to missing out on sales, conversions, and the chance to build lasting customer trust.
To echo Vin’s final thought, “If we’re not coaching our sales team or optimizing and testing our website, how much are we leaving on the table?” When you treat your website like the living, breathing salesperson it’s designed to be, it starts working for you—bringing in more qualified leads, giving customers the information they need, and ultimately, driving greater return on your investment.
Connect with Vin
Vin Gaeta is IMPACT’s head of web strategy. He leads a team of designers, developers, and strategists to provide full-scale website redesigns for our clients.
Learn more about how we build websites that actually deliver ROI
Keep Learning
- Read: 'Does My Business Need a New Website?' Maybe Not
- Watch: Four Essential Elements of a High-Converting Website
- Learn: Boost Your SEO: Is Your Agency Holding You Back?
Author: awinter@impactbnd.com (Alex Winter)
* This article was originally published here
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