As mentioned in last week’s post, once you pitch an editor or influencer for the opportunity to appear on their platform, one of the first places that they look to qualify you is your website
In this way, your website can either be a PR magnet or a PR repellent.
Want to make sure it's a PR magnet?
Follow the steps below:
#1 Get brand clarity
Since editors and potential clients tend to do their due diligence on you by checking your website, your job is to make it as easy as possible for them to reach a (positive) decision. This will require you, first and foremost, to be very clear about your brand so that you can properly communicate it. In order to do that, ask yourself the following questions:
1) Who do I help?
When stating who you help, you want to make sure that you’re not generic about the group of people that you serve. In other words, don’t just say that you help “women”. Instead, say which subset of women that you help e.g. “Christian women," “black women” or “women in business". For example, I help the latter.
2) What problem do my ideal clients/customers struggle with?
For example, I find that the women that I work with tend to fit either one of three categories:
They don’t know where to begin with PR
They are PR-trained but have no time to implement it
They simply don’t enjoy the process of PR
3) What kind of transformation are they looking for?
For example, a transformation that my ideal client wants is to stop being the best kept secret within their industry.
4) How do you solve their problem/help them achieve the transformation that they're looking for?
For example, the problem that I solve is providing done-for-you pitching services on behalf of women in business so that they can go from hidden gem to household name through PR.
#2 Create a tag line
Now that you've answered all of those questions, it's time to use the brand clarity that you've gained to express it succinctly via a tag line. A tag line is “a phrase or catchword that becomes identified or associated with a person, group, product etc through repetition”. For businesses, it’s purpose is to build know, like and trust with their ideal audience by communicating their brand values and/or mission in a concise and catchy way. Traditionally this has been done via TV commercials (using catchphrases or jingles like “I’m loving it” by McDonald’s, for example). Within the online entrepreneurial space, however, they are used in social media bios, PR pitches and (you guessed it) on websites. You can build your own short, punchy and impactful tag line using the steps outlined in my recently published Thrive Global article: "How to Create a Magnetic Tag Line"
#3 Use your tag line as your north star
Now that you've got a tag line you not only have a catchphrase, you have a north star. In other words, your tag line also doubles as your brand's mission statement and purpose. This will help you to optimise your website in such a way that it speaks directly to your ideal clients and collaborators with it's content, thereby:
Setting you up an as expert in your field
Attracting them to you
Making working with you a no-brainer.
Next week, I will be talking about some of the mistakes that people make when it comes to optimising their websites and how you can avoid them. In the meantime, you can click here to access my free Media Attraction Audit- the checklist that helps you to make sure that your website proves your expertise, credibility and authority so that you can be a #mediamagnet, attracting PR (and therefore clients and collaborations) on autopilot!