A website is just one part of your online presence.

Think of your website as being an online brochure or business card, letting people get to know you. It showcases information about you and your services. It’s a general point of reference to let prospects know about your business and can offer information about multiple topics.

Obviously, your website is a very important part of your online strategy…

However… 

A website in a traditional sense is not the best way to take people on a journey from interested to buying.

Let’s take a look at a traditional website and how it works.

On your website, visitors land on a page e.g. your home page, and can then click onto any other page that takes their interest.

They read a few things, maybe feel a level of interest and then probably click away to look at some other websites, without actually taking any action.

While you can browse a website in a variety of ways, a sales funnel offers a defined path for visitors to follow. They are taken through a series of targeted actions leading to a specific goal.

Also, a sales funnel focuses on a very specific topic, instead of offering lots of different information like a website does.

An basic example of a sales funnel could be:

1. Landing Page

A landing page is a single webpage with no menu to distract visitors. It typically has a free offer (or “lead magnet”) such as an eBook, report or checklist.

To get access to the free information, you enter your name and email address into a form (I’m sure you’ve done this many times – I know I have!). Capturing email addresses is one of the most important parts of a sales funnel, so that you can follow up with people by sending them automated emails.

The only action that visitors can take on the landing page is to subscribe to get the information. That’s it, there are no other distractions like you would find on a traditional website.

2. Thank You Page

A thank you page is simply that, a page thanking your visitor for subscribing, and letting them know how to get the free information that they signed up for.

In the case of an eBook, they would be receiving an automated email with the download link.

3. Email sequence

This is a series of emails that are sent automatically, delivering the eBook, report or checklist and building a relationship with your new subscriber.

In follow up emails, you would ideally give away more tips and free info to build trust and increase authority with your new audience.

People are often not ready to invest immediately and need several “touch points” before they decide to take the next step. Each email gives you that opportunity.

In later emails, you would let them know about any services or courses you have. In the case of a high value coaching service, you could invite them onto a discovery call with you.

The beauty of offering a lead magnet and email sequence is that your audience can get to know you and get more of a feel for whether you can help them.

It also potentially cuts out people who could waste your time on a discovery call, because it will weed out those who are not ready for what you have to offer.

And if you have an online course, your follow up email sequence could let prospects know about a limited special offer and send them to your sales page so that they can buy straight away. These special offers may only available as part of your funnel and not on your website, creating a sense of urgency and exclusiveness.

To really leverage the power of online marketing, a website could lead into multiple funnels, each with a different offer tailored to the visitor’s particular interest.

But don’t get overwhelmed at this suggestion, it is best to start with one, and then add others down the track.

As you can see, websites and sales funnels complement each other perfectly for a cohesive marketing strategy.

When done effectively, both websites and funnels can really elevate your business or brand, making you an unstoppable force in the marketplace.