Artwork courtesy of Beeple
I’ve been asked recently to explain the difference between a sales funnel and a website…
To be quite honest, it took me some time to come up with an analogy that makes sense…
If there is one thing I’ve been learning as I continue to follow Russell Brunson’s strategies it’s to avoid what he calls “techno-babble”…
Techno-babble is industry specific terms that most consumers don’t understand or use in everyday language…
One such term is a “Sales Funnel”…
You may have heard the term before, but do you know what it is?
To understand what sales funnels are, it’s important first to understand what traditional websites are…
Tradtional Websites Explained
A Traditional website is usually between 5 – 20 pages with a homepage that visitors land on…
There is traditionally an about us page, a contact page, maybe a services page, and sometimes a blog or product catalog page…
The homepage is kinda like a four lane highway, and each page on the website is kinda like off and on ramps…
Visitors (also known as website traffic) are going all over the place…
Some traffic goes to the about page, other traffic may go to a blog post, and some traffic may go to a product page to make a purchase…
Those streams of traffic are taking off-ramps from the main homepage…
Sometimes, if the visitor doesn’t find what they are looking for, they leave and never come back…
I also used the term on-ramp because if the website is doing a good job at getting their website found in search engines, traffic may come in from a blog post and then come to the homepage to see what else the website is about…
Search engine optimization is where the value of a website comes in because if you optimize the website properly, it can become highly visible to visitors and show that you’ve put effort into building your online presence…
With any website, the goal should always be to increase sales either through online purchases or getting the visitor to contact the business to make an offline purchase…
The biggest problem with traditional websites is the visitor has all kinds of choices with no clear path to navigate…
Through a continual improvement process its possible to tweak your website to give your visitors what they want…
But this takes a lot of time and a lot of money before you’ll see results…
How A Sales Funnel Can Solve The Problem
I want to go back to my analogy of roadways to explain a sales funnel…
Think of a sales funnels as a type of website that is kinda like a series of one-way streets…
All traffic is heading one direction towards the same goal of making a sale…
With a sales funnel, there aren’t links to other web pages or social media share buttons to distract the visitor…
The fact that there is only one thing for visitors to focus on is what makes the sales funnel different than a traditional website…
Each page of a sales funnel has one objective, and the visitor either completes that objective or leaves…
Now, you might be thinking how does that benefit a business?
By removing distractions for the visitor, they can focus on what you’re offering, which leads to higher sales conversions (something everyone wants, right?)…
Not All Sales Funnels Are Created Equal
At this point, you might be thinking “how do I get started with my sales funnel?”…
But, I want to make clear first that sales funnels aren’t a magic bullet…
There is other work that has to go into a funnel…
From my experience, there are three pieces to a successful sales funnel…
1. The Right Strategy For Your Sales Funnel
Before you even start developing your sales funnel, you need to create the strategy that will make your funnel successful…
I have learned that the best place to start is by using the strategies provided in the DotComSecrets book …
You first have to decide who it is you want to serve by creating a customer avatar with the characteristics of your dream customer…
Once you’ve determined who it is you want to as a customer, you need to figure out where to find them online…
After you locate where your dream customer hangs out, you develop bait that will attract them…
Finally, when you’ve hooked your dream customer with the bait, your goal is to ascend them to the highest level of service that you offer…
It’s kinda like going fishing…
You decide what type of fish you want to catch, you find a pond where that kind of fish is plentiful, and use the right type of lure to catch as many fish as you can get…
My point is that just like you need a strategy before you go fishing, you also need a solid strategy that can make your sales funnel successful…
Does that make sense?
2. The Right Copywriting On Your Sales Funnel
Once you’ve figured out your strategy, the next step is to communicate your message to your dream customer…
That’s where copywriting comes in handy…
There are a couple of ways to get the right kind of copy that will appeal to your dream customer…
The first way is to hire a professional copywriter…
If you’ve got a good size budget to spend on your sales funnel, then this may be the right option for you, but it could cost you $20,000 or more to get someone that can give you good results…
So, if that is out of your price range, the second way is to invest in a copywriting course and learn how to do it yourself…
Depending on the length of the course and how fast you pick up on proper copywriting techniques, you could probably create some copy that starts getting you sales within two to three months…
If that doesn’t seem very appealing, there is a third way…
Using a software called Funnel Scripts…
Russell Brunson partnered with a professional copywriter to design a software that makes it easy for non-copywriters to customize the scripts from the DotComSecrets book and use it in their sales funnels…
However, it has branched out to include a large variety of copywriting scripts that go beyond the book…
I have written an extensive Funnel Scripts review here if you want to learn more…
3. The Right Software To Build Your Sales Funnel
I’ve had over 12 years of experience building websites, and I’ve used several website building tools…
WordPress, Expression Engine, Lead Pages, Wix and a few others…
My primary tool of choice has always been WordPress, but the biggest problem with using a platform like WP is that it’s not designed to build out sales funnels…
To create your sales funnel using WordPress you have to string together several systems and force WordPress to work outside of the box…
You may accomplish this painful feat, only to have a new version of WordPress release and break everything that you likely paid thousands to build…
But in my professional experience, I’ve discovered a software called ClickFunnels to build my sales funnels…
The software is perfect for non-techy people to go in and create sales funnels in a matter of minutes…
Not days or months…
Everything is together in one system and works seamlessly to make building working sales funnels a synch…
If you want to see how easy it is to create your first sales funnel, then get your 14-day free trial to ClickFunnels today…
Sales funnels are still a newer concept so it’s important to develop your strategy and hone your message so that your sales funnel is successful…
If you don’t already have a website or a sales funnel and want a way to have everything wrapped up into one platform, then I would recommend getting started with BuilderAll…
Some ClickFunnels Alternatives
Now, if you are using WordPress and don’t want to buy into another platform to create a funnel, a good alternative is to use a tool called Thrive Leads…
Here is an in-depth review I really like over at markinblog.com…
Do You Need A Website And A Sales Funnel?
The short answer is yes you need both…
The main reason you would need a website is to be visible in online search engines like Google or Bing…
People are researching businesses that they want to engage with…
if they can’t find you in a simple Google search, they may not trust that you are a credible business…
So, it’s definitely valuable to have a website, but, for the most effective way to sell your products and services online, you need a sales funnel…
Wrapping It Up
I hope I’ve clearly explained the difference between a sales funnel and a traditional website…
They are both needed for your business…
If I had to recommend which to start with, I’d say a sales funnel…
It’s way faster to start getting a return on your investment and with tools like ClickFunnels, it’s also way easier…
Once you’ve started making money online, take some time to invest in a good website that is optimized for search terms in your industry…