What is the purpose of your website?
A good website has one clear purpose. This applies whether you run a webshop, collect leads or simply want to showcase your brand. If your visitors don't understand what they can do here and why it's relevant to them, then it's hard to get results.
In the last blog post, we looked at what makes a website great, from design and UX to content and conversion. But even before all that, it is important to know its purpose. It is the purpose that sets the direction of the entire website.
Read also ”What is a good website?“
In this blog post, we look at why a clear purpose is important, what types of purposes exist, and how it affects design, content and performance.
Why is a clear purpose important?
A clear purpose guides both the user experience and the business outcome. Here's why it's important:
- It quickly captures the user: You literally have milliseconds to create a good first impression.
- It increases the conversion: Pages with one clear call-to-action perform up to 266% better than pages with multiple messages.
- It makes you credible: Clarity and structure make it easier to trust your business.
- It creates direction: With a defined purpose, you can better assess whether your website is actually doing its job and you avoid ending up with a neat, but passive, digital brochure.
Types of purposes
Not all websites have to do the same. Here are the most typical purposes and what makes them strong:
1. Webshop — Sell products
Your site should make it easy to find, rate and buy. Focus on clear product listings, fast navigation and a smooth checkout. Confidence-building elements such as reviews, return policies and payment icons can determine whether the customer completes the transaction.
2. Lead generation — Collect inquiries
The purpose is to get the user to contact you. It requires clear messages, clear contact buttons and low friction. Make it easy to take the next step and drop the long forms. People don't fill in contact fields if it feels like work. A good leadsite creates trust and motivates with a clear value.
3. Branding and Presentation — Show who you are
Here it is about appearing professional, building trust and making it easy to understand who you are. Pages such as “About Us”, cases and contact should be in the closet. A good branding site tells your story visually and humanely. It feels more like a conversation than a sales pitch and that makes a difference.
4. Knowledge Sharing — Share Your Expertise
Blog or resources? Perfect for SEO and to show you know what you're talking about. Give value first and build relationships through knowledge. The user should be able to easily find, skim and understand your content. The more concrete and applicable it is, the better. It builds authority, without pushing on with sales.
5. Recruitment — Attract employees
Job sites should be easy to find, honest about the culture and easy to apply from. Tell us why it's great to work with you and show it with real faces, not stock photos. A strong recruitment site answers the questions candidates have before asking them and removes unnecessary barriers.
6. Platform — User system or app
If your site is the product itself (e.g. booking, SaaS, or marketplace), the design should make it ultranemous to get started. One main purpose, one primary action. Here it is about getting new users to quickly understand the value and activate themselves. Simple design and clear navigation are the key words.
Maybe you're thinking: “Hey, but a lot of websites have blogs, about us pages and collect leads?”
Yeah, and that's okay. A website may have several functions. But each side should have one clear goal. For example, a blog can both share knowledge, enhance SEO and retain visitors, but it should still support the overall purpose of the website.
As long as you're conscious of what the purpose is for each section or subpage, you can build an overall experience that still feels sharp and purposeful.
The best place to start
It may seem like a small thing, but choosing a clear purpose for your website changes everything. The design becomes easier. The lyrics become more focused. And most importantly, your users will have a much better experience.
Once you know what your site needs to do, you can shape the entire experience around just that. Should it generate sales? Then product and checkout should be sharp. Should it attract talent? Culture and people need to step up.
Purpose becomes the foundation of it all, and without that foundation it's hard to build something that lasts.