When launching a professional services type business i.e. consulting, law firm, accounting, etc. You need a website. Well one of the principles I learned in studying my fellow MVPs is that many of them aren’t afraid to start small, presentable but small. Applying this concept to a website for your business could play out as follows.

1. Business Card: Your website doesn’t provide a whole lot of more information than your business card, but it is a whole lot better than “domain parked,” “coming soon,” or “under construction.”

   1. It has your business name

   2. Your name

   3. A contact method

   4. A logo if you have one

   5. Your reason for setting up the business (your WHY as Simon Sinek would put it)

2. Brochure: Your website now begins to resemble a printed brochure in addition to the above it now has more info about your company including:

   1. Offerings

      1. What services do you provide and why would a client want them

   2. Testimonials

      1. Other happy customers talking about why they love your company and services or they can be about you or your employees.

   3. About Us

      1. Provide more information that helps people get over that challenge that all professional service businesses have: what we provide can’t be sampled like a cookie or a spinach dip. What we do is intangible, so we have to provide evidence that we are qualified, and hopefully why we are a better choice.

3. Content hub: Now you add articles, videos, and blog posts that provide value to people searching for issues that are too small for you to tackle or that help the customer decide which direction to take when they call you.

   1. E.g. A law firm could write an article that explains the difference between revocable and irrevocable trusts, helping people understand in general when to do one vs. the other, and invites them, when they are ready to reach out for help.

      1. This establishes your expertise in the field providing additional evidence of the quality of your intangible service

      2. Adds value through content that draws visitors to your site, yet they aren’t going to know how to setup either kind of trust.

      3. Some percentage of visitors will convert to clients when the are ready

4. Live or near live interaction: As your business has grown you may want to provide live interaction so that potential customers have a chance to ask a follow on question or two and increase your conversion rate.

Again the principle is to smart small but presentable, and build from there.