A lot of people are confused when they think about their website. The problem is they kind of put a bunch of different things together in terms of their expectations and smash them all together and call it their 'website'.
 
The challenge is is that a website actually performs several different functions that are not all the same or related to each other. And it’s really important to be crystal clear on the different functions your website serves and how the website works within your own business process.
 
That way, you can go about making improvements as well as just judging the success of your website.
 
But let’s cut to the chase, the purpose of your website is to make money. And how does it make money?
 
Typically it is by selling your product or service.
 
So there are three main phases when I can when it comes to selling something on your website.

• Traffic Generation
• Lead Generation
• Lead Conversion

So let’s go through all three phases and see how your website functions in each one of them.
 
1. Traffic Generation
 
If you remember the old movie called Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner hears a voice that tells him if you build it they will come. Well unfortunately that’s not usually the case when it comes to your website
 
A lot of times someone will build a brand new website and then kind of not know what to do next because they’re not sure how to generate traffic to their website.
 
One of the main functions a website can have is to generate traffic specifically via Search Engine Optimization /SEO/
 
And this can be done by targeting the correct keywords for your industry and making sure that your site is optimized to rank for those keywords in Google. This way when people searching on Google will come across your website and you will get traffic from those people searching.
 
2. Lead Generation
 
The second purpose of a website is to generate leads. The way I define a lead is basically someone who has raised their hand and contacted you either via email a contact form or a phone call to get in touch and learn more about your product or service.
 
So the purpose of your website is to take a random stranger who is anonymous and visiting your website and move that person down the line so that they now become a lead. A lot of times I’ll ask established businesses how they currently generate traffic to their website and they will reply that people don't come to their website. But that’s not actually true.
 
A lot of established companies have reliable ways of generating new traffic to the site typically this is in the form of networking and word of mouth. And so what generally happens next is someone hears about this company and the next thing they do is Google them and find their website.
 
The purpose of the website at that particular time is to help that prospect make a decision to take that next step and become a lead.
 
And so a lot of people who contact me, their website is a bottleneck in that process. Their current website might be very dated or unprofessional looking. The website does not represent the company well and they might lose some of those potential leads they might otherwise have gotten due to a poor website.
 
3. Lead Conversion (a.k.a. Make a Sale)
 
The last purpose of a website is to generate a sale or new business.
 So, in this case, they’ve already heard about you somehow. They’ve already raised their hand and contacted you either via the website or some other means and they are now a lead. They are someone who might become a sale but they have not yet become a sale.
 
And in this case, the purpose of your website is to educate the prospective client. To establish yourself or your business as the authority and leader in that particular industry.

 It is to bring Goodwill by providing valuable content. 
It is to provide reassurance by supplying testimonials and case studies.
 
But the website is effectively acting as a support system to help close the deal and generate that sale.
 Now by the way there are actually a bunch of other purposes a website could have such as:

• Finding new employees for your company
• Helping to answer questions and save your own time for existing clients
• Provide a resource to people who might be giving you press
• Highlight your company in a positive way for people who might invest in your business 
• Etc.
• Etc.

But I’m trying to keep it simple here for this article and focus on the task at hand which for most people is generating new leads and new business.
  Now that you have a better understanding of the purpose of a website; particularly for your own business.
Try mapping out the three different phases and how they relate to your own current website right now.
 
How do you currently generate traffic or interest in your website?
 
How does your website currently do in generating new leads? Is it helping you or is it a bottleneck?
 
And how does your website do in converting leads into sales? Are you providing useful information of value that could educate prospective clients? Does your website position you as the authority in your field?
 
Well, that should be enough to get you started.
 
Hope that helps get the wheels turning.
 
Talk soon.