Knowing when is the right time to invest your time and energy into creating a website can be tricky!

Not only does creating a website take time and energy it’s also an investment. So you want to make sure you’ll get a return on all of that before you dive in.

On the other hand, waiting too long before creating your website can potentially be a big drain on your business.

Knowing when you’re ready for a website is a bit like in the Goldilocks fairy tale:

If you create your website too soon
Knowing when you’re ready for a website is a bit like in the Goldilocks fairy tale:
You won’t know your business well enough to know what to put on your website. You’ll also not have your marketing strategy figured out so it’s not likely you’ll be sending many people to your website in the first place.

If you create your website too late
You’ll be putting an unnecessary strain on your business. You’ll miss out on connecting with (and booking) clients and likely be investing a ton of energy on other marketing channels without the long-term payoffs that a website can provide.

And if you create your website at the perfect time
You’ll be far enough into your business to know what you want to do and who you like to work with. You’ll also have some marketing strategy in place to start driving traffic to your website and have systems in place to manage an influx of inquiries.

Sounds simple enough, but knowing when it’s the perfect time for you and your unique business to create a website can be tricky, so here are my best tips to know you’re ready.

Signs you’re ready for a website:

You know what you want to offer
You have decent clarity around what it is you do and what you want to offer. Maybe you’ve got a few services planned out or maybe you’re offering custom packages but you know what problem you solve and how you deliver it.

You know who you want to work with
You have a good idea of who you are excited to work with and who will be a good fit for the services you’re offering. You may also have some clarity around who you don’t want to work with which is helpful as well!

You’re ready for more clients
This is critical because if you’re at capacity and aren’t looking to connect with any more clients for the next 6 months, your efforts creating your website will be a bit wasted. That’s not to say you can’t create your website with the intention of building up a waitlist or booking clients for further down the line, but if you’re content with the client load you have and don’t see space for new clients in the next few months your website probably isn’t a priority for your business right now.

So now you know you’re ready for a website, what should you do next?

The process of creating a website that supports your business goals, connects with your ideal clients and brings you eager inquiries from potential clients isn’t as simple as slapping some photos and text on a template and calling it a day.

If you want your website to become a true asset to your business, you’ll need to thing a little more strategically about what you put on your new online home.

So now you know you’re ready for a website, what should you do next?
Do you want people to book a call directly?
Or perhaps you’d prefer they fill in an inquiry form?
Or even hop into the DMs to chat there?

Figure out the end goal and build the rest of your website towards it.

Then map out the information that a potential client is going to need to be ready to take that step
Will they need to know more about you?
Will the want to know about your process?
And they’ll definitely want an idea of the results you can get them!
Oh, and some of the nitty-gritty details like timelines and budgets.

Figuring out the information someone will need to go from a stranger on the internet to an interested potential client will make it so much easier for you to map out the pages you need on your website and write the content to sell your offers.

Then figure out the best tech and tools to help you accomplish your plan
There are tons of different website builders out there and they all offer slightly different things, so being super clear on what it is you want will make the process of picking the right tech a whole lot easier.

I recommend picking the simplest solutions that will work for you.

Note, I did not say the cheapest! Yes, price will be a factor early in your business journey but do consider the payoff by using free or very cheap tools if they aren’t the best solution for you.

And then get started creating your website!