Free Website Design Tips for a Sales Page that Converts
You know that feeling? I think some people call it the flow state.
Everything disappears. Your fingers can’t keep up with your brain. Creativity is bursting out of you.
All the ideas that were bouncing around in your mind ✨finally✨ come together more brilliantly than you ever expected.
When suddenly the cat knocks over a plant and you’re jolted back to reality (thanks Augustus 🥲).
As you come back to, your eyes focus on a masterpiece that you somehow just created.
Yeah, I was just there, so I thought I’d share my website design tips with you. (Fair warning, this might make you want to redesign your whole website 😉)
The Power of Strategic Website Design
I don't know about you, but I feel like there's something so energising about bringing a vision to life, especially when it comes to design work (my absolute favourite part of creating a new offer!)…
But here's the thing: creating a sales page isn't just about making things pretty (though I'll admit, playing with layouts, fonts, and graphics is my absolute favourite part!).
It's about crafting an experience that speaks directly to your dream clients.
I know, I know —- you have a vision. You want your website to be ✨stunning✨. And it can be!
But we have to take the right steps first.
So I’m going to break down the best website design tips for small businesses into 3 steps.
If you do this right, you’ll end up with a beautiful blend of strategy and creativity that speaks directly to your dream client.
Step 1: Research and Message Mining 🔎
Don’t write your own copy… steal it!
Kidding, kidding —- kind of.
Obviously you want to use language that speaks to your ideal client. So where better to find that language than… your ideal client.
So here’s what you’re going to do:
Find out where they hang out online.
Make note of their struggles and pain points.
Analyze the language and terms they use in their copy.
These steps will help you get crystal clear on what keeps them up at night when it comes to their online presence.
When you really listen to understand their challenges and desires, you’ll know what copy speaks to them.
I suggest looking at things like client conversations, social media comments, and testimonials when message mining.
Wait, wait, wait —- you don’t know exactly who your ideal client is?
Let’s have a quick chat on how to identify your ideal client —- because these website design tips for beginners won’t be much help without your ideal client.
Okay, this might sound a bit silly, but this is what you’re going to do.
Describe everything about your client —- and I mean everything.
I’m talking marital status, financial situation, age, gender, location, hobbies, beliefs, interests, etc.
Don’t be afraid to get super specific. No, not every client you get will match this exactly. BUT, the more specific you get, the better your copy will be.
Step 2: Craft a Clear and Compelling Offer ✏️
Our next web design tip is to define what we offer at our core.
What is your offer’s core promise?
What transformation are you selling?
At the end of the day, clarity sells.
Fancy language is a distraction to your client. We want them to look at your page and know exactly what you’re selling.
Unfortunately, our attention spans are veryyy short nowadays. So potential clients aren’t going to spend much time sifting through loads of overwhelming copy to find your offer.
Your offer needs to be front and center so they know if you’re a good fit right off the bat.
Personally, I used my introvert-friendly offer worksheet to get super clear on my offer (yes, the same one included in Website Magic 😉)
Once I identified my core promise, I jumped right into crafting copy.
As I gained experience copywriting over the years, I realized that I always go back to the same basic principles. I knew there was a way to outline my strategy and make it available for others to use.
So I ended up creating my own framework for creating compelling copy (also included in Website Magic ). 💅🏼
These resources make it possible to write copy that converts without being a copywriter.
I wasn’t lying when I said these were website design tips for beginners. 🤗
Step 3: Add the Magic 🪄
Now that you’ve identified your ideal client and how to talk to them, it’s time to get to the fun stuff —- design.
I’m sure you already have an idea of what theme you want your website to have. If not, I suggest poking around on the interwebs for some cool themes.
For me, I knew exactly what I wanted to go for: ethereal and magical.
Once you’re settled on a theme, you can start looking for design aspects like fonts, color palettes, and graphics.
I spent a lot of time playing with Midjourney to create the perfect graphics and backgrounds to fit my theme (if you haven't tried this AI image generation tool yet, it's a game-changer!).
Designing your website can be SO much fun, but be careful not to let your design elements distract from your offer. My biggest web design tip is to keep your theme exactly that —- a theme. Don’t let it become the main focus.
Now it’s time to weave everything together on your website.
Take These Tips and Get After It
The process starts with lots of research because the most captivating sales pages aren't just beautiful – they're built on a deep understanding of your audience. When you combine strategic planning with creative design, that's when the real magic happens.
You're so welcome to steal my sales page design process 😉 but what I'd love you to take away from this email is...
Listen before you create
Plan your strategy first
Create your visuals last
Now, I'm super passionate about Website Magic because I've designed it to help you create a website you're finally proud to show off! So get ready to stop wasting time and money attempting to create your dream website and instead follow a streamlined, stress-free process to design a beautiful website that fully represents you and your business.
Hi! I’m Marina,
a Squarespace Web Designer and Copywriter crafting beautiful, done-for-you websites with a proven layout to convert traffic into leads and clients.
