How Should Your Website Be Working for You?
As a professional services firm or thought leader, your website is more than just a digital calling card—it’s a central hub for your entire operation. Whether you’re an academic, consultant, writer, or speaker, your website should be working as hard as at least one or two team members, helping to amplify your ideas and optimize your outreach. In today's fast-paced digital landscape, a website is not just a place to display information; it's an engine that drives engagement, captures leads, and keeps your audience connected with your work.
So, what exactly should your website do for you? In this blog post, we'll explore how your website can serve as your resource librarian, community manager, PR agent, speakers bureau, and administrative assistant, ensuring that it is both efficient and effective in amplifying your thought leadership and expertise.
Your Website as Your Resource Librarian
Your Objective: Organizing and Showcasing Your Ideas
If your business revolves around sharing ideas, research, or insights, you’ve likely amassed a significant amount of content over the years. This content could take many forms, from research papers and journal articles to podcasts, interviews, blog posts, and opinion pieces. These materials are the cornerstone of your thought leadership, but in the current media environment, even the most compelling content often has a very short lifespan.
Once published, your content might garner attention for a few days or a week, but over time, it fades into the background, making it harder for your audience to find it again. In this context, your website can play a crucial role by acting as your digital "resource librarian," curating and organizing your content in a way that allows it to live well beyond its initial publication date.
The Problem: Making Evergreen Content Discoverable
External platforms, like journals or magazines, don’t prioritize long-term visibility for your content. For instance, a well-researched article published in a renowned academic journal might be forgotten after a few weeks unless your audience knows exactly where to find it. The same applies to podcast interviews or magazine op-eds—they quickly get buried under new content.
This is where your website steps in as a long-term resource. When designed effectively, your website can provide a curated and navigable space where your audience can access your entire body of work, not just your most recent publications. Think of it as an ever-growing, searchable library that houses your most valuable content, allowing visitors to find exactly what they’re looking for, even if it was created months or years ago.
The Benefits: A Well-Organized Knowledge Hub
Imagine walking into a massive institutional library. Without guidance, the sheer volume of materials can be overwhelming. But with the help of a librarian, you're guided to the exact resources you need. Your website can perform a similar function, helping users find the right content through intuitive navigation, search functionality, and well-curated content categories.
The benefits of turning your website into a resource librarian are significant:
Enhanced discoverability: Your audience doesn’t have to sift through countless publications or websites to find your work—it’s all neatly organized in one place.
Continued relevance: Even years-old content remains accessible and useful, keeping your ideas alive long after their original publication.
Control over curation: You get to decide how your content is categorized and highlighted, ensuring that your audience sees what’s most important or timely.
Questions to ask about your website's role as a Resource Librarian for your audience:
Is all of your content housed somewhere on your website?
Is the content organized in a way that’s easy for users to navigate and explore?
Do you regularly update and curate your content to keep it relevant?
When someone lands on your homepage, do they immediately see the most important or featured content you want to highlight?
Your Website as Your Speakers Bureau
Your Objective: Securing Paid Speaking Engagements
Paid speaking engagements are one of the most effective ways to amplify your voice and monetize your expertise. Historically, speakers bureaus acted as gatekeepers to these opportunities, but the rise of digital platforms means that event organizers now turn to the internet to find speakers. This shift creates an opportunity for your website to function as your personal speakers bureau.
The Problem: Missing Out on Speaking Opportunities
Many experts miss out on paid speaking opportunities simply because they don’t make it easy for event organizers to discover and vet their public speaking skills online. A website that doesn’t showcase your speaking experience or expertise might mean that potential opportunities pass you by.
The Benefits: A Dedicated Platform for Showcasing Speaking Skills
Your website can play the role of a speakers bureau by providing all the information event organizers need to assess your expertise and speaking experience. By creating a dedicated speaking page, you can showcase videos of past talks, list the topics you cover, and provide testimonials from previous events. This gives you the edge over being just one option in a speakers bureau catalog—you’re the sole focus on your own platform.
Here’s why this matters:
Showcase expertise: Your website can highlight your speaking experience, including videos, photos, and topics.
Streamline bookings: An easy-to-use inquiry form allows event organizers to reach out directly, cutting out the middleman.
Boost credibility: A well-crafted speaking page can give event organizers confidence that you are a professional and engaging speaker.
Questions to ask about your website’s role as your Speakers Bureau:
Does your website include a dedicated speaking page that highlights your public speaking experience?
Are there videos or photos of you speaking at events that demonstrate your skills?
Is there an easy way for event organizers to inquire about your availability and topics?
Do you list relevant speaking topics and provide testimonials or reviews from past events?
Your Website as Your Community Manager
Your Objective: Building and Nurturing an Engaged Audience
In any field where the sharing of ideas is central to success, community building is essential. Having a dedicated audience or network of followers gives you direct access to the people who care about your work. In the digital space, your website should serve as a key tool for community management, helping you build, engage, and maintain connections with your audience.
Social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, or X (formerly Twitter), are often the starting point for community building, but as many professionals have learned in recent years, these platforms don’t work for you, they work for their advertisers. Algorithm changes, declining organic reach, and shifting platform dynamics can make it difficult to consistently engage your audience.
The Problem: Lack of Control on Social Platforms
One of the biggest drawbacks of relying solely on social media platforms to build your community is the lack of control. An algorithm update can drastically change the reach of your posts, leaving you scrambling to reconnect with your audience. Additionally, social platforms are owned by third parties, meaning your relationship with your audience is contingent on their rules.
This is why your website should be your primary community hub. While social media platforms can function as spokes and help you discover new followers, your website should be the ultimate destination where you can draw in your audience to engage with your work more deeply.
The Benefits: A Community You Control
By building your community through your website, you regain control over how and when you communicate with your audience. Your email list becomes your most direct and reliable form of communication, bypassing social media algorithms. Your website can facilitate email sign-ups, community events, or exclusive content that keeps your audience engaged and connected to your work.
Here’s why having a website-driven community is so powerful:
Direct communication: With email sign-ups on your website, you have a direct line to your audience.
Audience segmentation: You can create different email lists or community segments based on user interests, allowing you to tailor content to specific groups.
Long-term engagement: While social media engagement tends to be fleeting, website-driven communities are often more invested, as they’ve taken the extra step to subscribe to your updates.
Questions to ask about your website’s role as your Community Manager:
Does your website offer multiple ways for users to sign up for your email list (e.g., pop-up forms, footer sign-ups)?
Do you provide clear information about what users can expect when they subscribe to your list?
Do you offer incentives for joining your email list, such as exclusive content or special offers?
Is your website managing the email sign-up process and automating any follow-up offers or messages?
Your Website as Your Administrative Assistant
Your Objective: Reducing Administrative Overload
A good website doesn’t just showcase your work—it makes your life easier. Administrative tasks, such as fielding inquiries, distributing materials, or managing appointments, can be time-consuming. Fortunately, your website can take on many of these tasks, acting as an administrative assistant that streamlines operations.
The Problem: Unnecessary Administrative Tasks
If you frequently receive emails requesting the same materials—such as CVs, headshots, or information about your services—or if your contact forms are outdated, your website might be creating unnecessary work for you. By not having the right tools in place, you end up spending time on manual tasks that could be automated.
The Benefits: Automation and Organization
Your website should be equipped to handle routine administrative tasks. This can include offering downloadable resources (such as CVs or headshots), automating appointment booking or inquiry responses, and syncing contact forms with your customer relationship management (CRM) software.
By handling these tasks automatically, your website reduces the burden of repetitive tasks and helps ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Some benefits include:
Automated inquiries: With well-designed contact forms, inquiries are routed to the right person or department.
Streamlined booking: Integrated appointment scheduling tools can automatically handle bookings and calendar management.
Easily accessible assets: Offering downloadable resources ensures that anyone needing a CV, bio, or headshot can access them without contacting you directly.
Questions to ask about your website’s role as your Administrative Assistant:
Is your website up-to-date and user-friendly?
Do your contact forms automatically sync with your CRM or email system?
Does your website offer downloadable resources for commonly requested items?
Are you using tools to automate appointments, bookings, or email responses?
Your Website as Your PR Agent
Your Objective: Amplifying Your Presence and Attracting Media Opportunities
As a thought leader, getting media attention can significantly boost your credibility and amplify your reach. Traditionally, businesses relied on PR agencies to pitch their ideas to the media, but in the digital age, your website can take on much of this work. With the right features, your website can act as your personal PR agent, making it easier for media outlets to find, feature, and contact you.
The Problem: Limited Visibility Without PR Support
For many professionals, gaining media visibility is a challenge. Without a dedicated PR team, it can be difficult to get your name in front of the right people. Even if you have a PR team working for you, they can only do so much; your website should complement their efforts by providing everything a journalist or media outlet would need to feature you.
The Benefits: A Website That Speaks for You
A well-designed website can handle the tasks of a PR agent by providing a media-friendly environment. Journalists, podcast hosts, or TV producers looking for experts to interview often work on tight deadlines and need to find the right person quickly. If your website has a press kit, updated bio, and media features easily accessible, it increases the chances of you being contacted for media opportunities.
Key benefits of a website that functions as your PR agent include:
Streamlined media inquiries: Journalists can quickly find your contact information and press materials, making it easy for them to reach out.
A professional image: Having an up-to-date press kit, complete with high-resolution headshots, bios, and media features, signals that you’re media-ready.
Amplified exposure: By showcasing your previous media appearances, you provide a track record of credibility that can attract more attention.
Questions to ask about your website’s role as your PR agent:
Does your site include an easily accessible press kit with your updated bio and high-resolution headshots?
Does it clearly communicate what topics you can speak on and what your areas of expertise are?
Is there a section that highlights your past media features or appearances?
Do you offer a straightforward way for journalists to contact you for press inquiries?
Conclusion
Your website is more than just an online presence—it’s a dynamic, multi-functional tool that can significantly enhance your effectiveness as a thought leader or professional. By thinking of your website as a member of your team, serving as a resource librarian, community manager, PR agent, speakers bureau, and administrative assistant, you can optimize its functionality and ensure it works as hard as you do.
So, whether you're looking to increase your visibility, manage your community, or reduce your administrative burden, an effective website design can help you achieve your goals. By integrating these roles into your website’s design and functionality, you’ll have a site that supports your business and amplifies your expertise, allowing you to focus on what matters most: sharing your ideas with the world.