Brand Currency
Brand Currency is the podcast where branding actually makes sense.
Hosted by Charles and Jonsi McGill, this show breaks down how to build a brand that not only looks good, but works. Whether you're just starting out or scaling up, we talk design, messaging, confidence, and strategy in a way that’s clear, honest, and real. No fluff. No gimmicks. Just real conversations about the moves that grow brands and the mindset it takes to lead them.
Brand Currency
Website Shame Spiral | Ep. 13
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Your website shouldn’t be the part of your business you try to hide. If you feel that split-second panic when someone asks for your link, we get it and we’re naming the real issue: your online presence doesn’t match your value. Charles and Jonsi talk candidly about the “website shame spiral,” why so many capable entrepreneurs dodge the topic, and how that disconnect quietly chips away at confidence.
We break down why a website still matters even if social media is popping. Linktree can organize links, but it can’t replace a true digital storefront built for clarity, credibility, and conversion. We also unpack the messy realities that keep websites stuck for years: bad freelancer experiences, not having access to make edits, and the confusing price ranges that make it hard to know who to trust. Then we connect it to what’s really at risk: clients, investors, and opportunities that disappear without feedback.
From there, we shift into practical website redesign advice you can act on fast. We talk about cleaning up homepage messaging so people instantly understand what you do, using consistent fonts and brand colors to reduce visual chaos, removing broken links, updating dated photos, and adding real social proof that doesn’t feel fake or “scam likely.” We also share a mindset that changes everything: your first version doesn’t have to be perfect, because great websites are built through iteration.
If you’re ready for your site to work as hard as you do, subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review so more business owners can find it.
Thanks for listening to Brand Currency, where we have honest conversations about branding, business, and what it really takes to build a brand that people trust.
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The Website Shame Spiral
Speaker 2You ever met somebody and you know you're really enjoying them in person and you ask them for their website and they get real quiet.
Speaker 1Yes, yes. As I happened recently, they're real quiet, or you know, they'd be like, uh, oh, you know, sorry, it's not done yet, you know, or uh uh, you know, I'm redoing it right now, you know. You know what I'm saying? And they'll like they'd be like, don't judge me, you know what I'm saying? Like, you know, I I try my best, you know, they got some story or something like that. But you know, the truth is, uh, they're just embarrassed, right? They're just embarrassed about either the site, the way it looks. Um, there's probably some long story behind it. What kind of stories have you heard?
Speaker 2I've heard, oh, you know, we're in the middle of getting it done. And I'm, you know, I ask, like, oh, how long has it been? And they like, a couple years.
Speaker 1Years. I've been getting it done for the last five years, you know, four years. Oh, but sometimes, you know, oftentimes, unfortunately, it's not their fault. You know, I'm I hear about freelancers or you know, agencies they've worked with or or just, you know, people who've been doing them wrong. You know, they they uh they do the site, but it doesn't look the way they want it to, and they're trying to edit it. They don't have access to it, so they can't make the changes. Um, they they're you know, it takes it's taking them months, years to get the site done.
Speaker 2Um, they're just sitting there waiting, you know, it's it's or they can't find the right person to execute on their vision, so they just don't even get it done.
Speaker 1They don't get it done, or they, you know, they'll do something that they think is just like you know passable, but then they really know it's not, especially as things like evolve and starts to look kind of dated. And they know that. And they're just you know, they're just embarrassed. And so, you know, um it's unfortunate, it's very unfortunate. But you know what? I think we can help them out.
Speaker 2I think so too. I'm excited about this one.
Speaker 1Okay, let's talk about that. Okay, all right.
Brand Currency Podcast Introduction
SpeakerThis is the brand. This is the boys, this is the pay. Fool by choice, Charles and John's a don't chase trends, brand currency for perfect teams.
Speaker 1Welcome to the brand currency podcast, where we talk about branding and design in a way that actually makes sense for your business. My name is Charles McGill. I'm your host, and I'm joined by my lovely co-host.
Speaker 2Hi, I'm Jonsi McGill, his wife and partner in business.
Speaker 1Yeah, so we're gonna talk about the websites today. Okay, we're gonna talk about how, you know, folks just be honestly just ashamed of it, right? They get in, they'd be embarrassed, they they're in a in a shame spiral, if you will, of you know, perpetually like having to avoid the conversation of their website. Uh, sometimes folks are just like, hey, just go to my Instagram, just go to my just go to go to my Facebook. Um, you know, thank God for Linktree. Oh my goodness. The Linktree. Linktree done help.
Speaker 2A whole lot of information that's scattered everywhere.
Speaker 1That's scattered everywhere, you know. And that's the thing. We could talk, then we could talk through that too. Uh, how Linktree for for a lot of people doesn't necessarily replace your website. It's a good, maybe a band-aid, but it's not gonna replace what the website should do. Um, but your website essentially is uh your your
Your Website Is The Digital Front Door
Speaker 1digital front door, right? It's it's your digital front door. It is what people, you know, like first get to see. Like, think about like a storefront. Think about like a physical storefront. They're walking into or your house or whatever, wherever your business is, right? They're walking into it physically, and what do they see? That's how they should look at it.
Speaker 2Exactly. And it's, you know, I don't think people really understand the weight of having a website. Some people do, and there's some people who are nowadays like, oh, you know, I just I can get by with social media, but at some point, there has the if you want to level up and really expand your brand or your message or your mission, a website is very necessary.
Speaker 1Very necessary. And because that's the thing, like it your brand actually doesn't feel complete without it, right? You you you feel disconnected um between you know who you are and you know, and and and and also how it you may be represented online, right? And that's disconnect is something we gotta, we gotta close the gap. Uh, because it doesn't make sense for you to be like, you know, in person, be this awesome person doing awesome in business, and then you ask for, you know, people ask for your digital representation, like, you know, your website or whatever, and it looks like it doesn't represent you. It causes some weird like tension. That's why people get embarrassed. They don't want to, they don't want to show you because they it they know it's gonna cause some weird kind of like, you know, some tension. It's kind of like like in person, like you like, you know, if you're not um, let's say yo, you, you know, you might got some new clothes and you got a fresh cut and you looking nice, and people are like, yo, man, this is so cool. Let's go hang out. Uh, you're like, oh, where do you want to go? Oh, let's go eat somewhere. Okay, let's go. And then like, yo, let's take your car. And you know your car.
Speaker 2Especially my because sometimes thank you for getting the detail, by the way, recently. But you know, otherwise it would have like little chocolate and French fries and fingerprints, Starbucks. This is a hot mess. Everywhere.
Speaker 1It would be water bottles, Starbucks, napkins, all types of stuff wrapper under the seat. Like, yes, behind, yes, that's how it looks. So anyway, let's take your car. You go, oh, um, you give me a moment. Let me uh run a corner.
Speaker 2We just uber there.
Speaker 1Because I don't want you to see my car, you know, and that's exactly what it is, you know. Or you can make that analogy about your home, you know what I mean? Like sometimes people are like, oh, well, hold on now, like we we ain't gotta go to my house. You know, but sometimes like it's a necessary thing, you know. Um, and you think about how awkward that would be in interaction if they couldn't, if we couldn't take your car. You know, think about that moment of pause that person may have because they're like, ah, really? Why can't we take your car? You know, because maybe their car is fine. They're like, well, you know, I take my car, it's fine. So they're judging you, right? Or if you're like, you know what, let's just go, let's just go take my car. So then they go up to the car and they get a chance to see all that stuff in it. Ooh, yeah. Then it's like they're just like, ooh, maybe we shouldn't, you know, now they're not.
Speaker 2Maybe we shouldn't move forward with that.
Speaker 1Exactly. Because then and I, you know, and people are people are are people, right? And so you never know. Someone may judge you based on that. Someone may be like, well, if they don't take care of their car, they don't take care of their house. You can you can make it about anything. They don't take care of their their storefront, right? Their digital storefront, their in-person. If they don't kick take care of this, how can they, you know, be effective in terms of working with me? Like, how is this gonna work?
A Real Story Of Website Embarrassment
Speaker 2Yeah, I know. It's like it reminds me of um actually a couple of weeks ago, I was at a conference, and um, it was a conference for speakers and entrepreneurs. And as I was leaving, I was just about to leave, it started raining, and I stopped, you know, because I had to put my hair up, and luckily I had my cap on, so I could just kind of tuck it into the cap. But as I was getting my stuff ready to leave, um, this gentleman stopped me, just casual conversation. What do you do? And um, so I told him we have a branding and design agency, and he was like, Oh man, I really could use your help. And he was telling me about all the impact that he's having in his community, how he's changing lives, and he's really like helping youth and going into um, you know, these uh detention centers for kids, and he's really changing lives and being there for people in the community when trauma happens in the community and you know, supporting everyone. And then he was like, you know, I really need help with my website because I'm so embarrassed by it, I don't even have it live right now. Wow. I know. And he was like, Look, he pulled out his entire laptop so he could show me his website and how you know he's like, this really just doesn't represent me. And it just, I feel so awful about it. I don't even want it out there, you know, for people to see because that's not how I am. That's not a real reflection of me.
Speaker 1So it hurt my heart. Yeah. So what what do you think are some of the reasons why they
Why Good Businesses Delay Redesigns
Speaker 1don't get their website fixed? Like what are what are some of the reasons what are some of the hangups?
Speaker 2Well, some of the hangups are, you know, just not finding the right person that really understands their brand, understands their vision, and you know, can tell that visual story of the impact they have. Um you know, or a lot of people, they're just like, I can't even deal with this right now. I have too much going on, like I have too much on my plate. I'm here, there, I'm speaking, I'm doing all these things, and I don't have time.
Speaker 1Yep, yep. I I think also too, there's just like that that tension of of a price and quality. You know, so sometimes they will have definitely price. They'll have an idea of what they want, and then they go seek out the like say they they see something one, they're like, that looks amazing. They find out the agency or the person that did it, and then they go and seek them out, and then they ask, you know, how much does it cost for me to get something like that? And it's like $30,000 or $50,000 or $80,000, because we've heard all those prices, right? And they're like, whoa, like, man, I gotta can't swing that, right? Um, and then it's also just that weird tension of like websites because they range for so much. Like you can go to Fiverr and they'll be like, oh, I, you know, $300, you know, $250,000 I'll do it for you, right?
Speaker 2So you got you got like something like that, that inexpensive, and you got something like and it also makes like the industry like you know, they don't know who to trust with that because you have all these different price ranges, very and it gets like confusing. It can be a confusing, but it can also be a hindrance.
Speaker 1Yeah, for you to move forward because you don't know. And then the thing is, well, what and this is the thing we know, and this is not a I'm when I'm gonna say this, it's not necessarily like a you know a guarantee, but it this is just a general rule of thumb for business. You get what you pay for. And and typically, it doesn't matter what it is, typically, if you pay, if you go the cheap route, you get the cheap experience. And that can show up in different ways. So that can be, you know, the design is cheap. Um, you know, the process in terms of your experience wasn't that good. A lot of things can happen. And if you're okay with that, you know, and people are like, hey, you know, it's okay. It worked out for me. I think it looks great. Okay, fine. What you think looks great may or may not look great. You may not be the best judge, right? I'm gonna say, because sometimes people aren't designers. Because most people aren't designers. So some people be like, oh, I got this, you know, $500, it was done in a day, two days, and I'm rocking and rolling, it's good to go. And and the next question is, okay, well, how is it performing, right? Is it is it bringing you the attention that you want? Is it converting people? Is it doing those things, right? Because if it's not, but you think it looks good, then does it really look good? Maybe not. Maybe, maybe you're the only one who thinks it looks good, right?
Speaker 2There's a lot of that.
Speaker 1There's a lot of that.
Speaker 2There's a whole lot of that.
Speaker 1And then, you know, sometimes, you know, they'll be so they're not sure who to trust and what actually is the right look and feel. Because we we've seen things like that too, where people are like, oh, I think it looks fine. And like, why do you want to change it? Because they're talking to us, you know. So like, if you think it looks fine, why are you why are you inquiring about us doing it differently? Well, because you know, it's not really moving. People don't really pay on it. I want I want someone to, oh, okay, so that's different, right? You know, so now we acknowledge that, you know, although you may think it looks good, it's not working for you. And so, you know, you need something that works for you. Our suggestion is to get something that looks good and works for you.
Speaker 2That sounds like that's the way it should be, right?
Speaker 1And here's the thing too that that people gotta understand about websites. It's not a your goal is not to try to hit a home run because that is very unlikely. Right. As in the first time you design the site and the first iteration of the site is not gonna be the permanent look of the site. The reason why clients work with us and get our subscription service and continue to work with us is we can iterate the site. As in, we put it out there, see how it goes, and then we start tweaking things. We tweak the messaging, we tweak where things are showing up, we tweak uh the images, we we tweak the you know, graphics, whatever that is. We keep making these changes until the site hits. We did the same thing with our our site.
Speaker 2I know, I was just thinking that. Like all the tweaks that we had to do on our new website, from like, you know, because there were so many moments I was like, Charles, we need to say something different right here, or you know, oh, we need to have this person's image and all the things that we did for them because it's you know, the that was like a really amazing impact that we had on their business. So let's have them right here, yeah, and the whole spread. Yeah, and you know, but you know, it's the whole experience of the website you have to think through. But you're absolutely right. There's iterations. Absolutely. You can't just put it out there and then set it for 20 years. That's so unrealistic.
Speaker 1And and and overall, the point that we're trying to make here is that people know when their website doesn't match their value. And that by itself becomes a confidence killer, right? They you they start to project that that that gap, right? And so what we want to do is figure out, you know, or really just kind of share with them why this matters, because it's your digital storefront. And we and we know we're in the business, so we're like, it definitely matters, right? And I think anybody who whatever industry you're in, if you're talking to a therapist or like therapy matters, if you're talking to, you know, anyone, they're gonna be like, this matters, right?
Speaker 3Right, right.
Speaker 1And so, but since we are in this business, we're gonna tell people why it matters because sometimes they don't know because they're not in the space. So they think that it's not a big deal, you know, like someone who isn't a therapist but still needs help may think therapy isn't a big deal because you know, they didn't grow up that way. You talk to a therapist, they're gonna be like, I can't believe you think that. It's absolutely a big deal, right? So we're about to give you that absolutely part. All
The Silent Sales Killer Effect
Speaker 1right. So one of the things, like, can you think of some of the things that you know folks may be missing out on if their website um, you know, is not where it needs to be.
Speaker 2Oh, yes. Uh well, first of all, they're missing out on clients. If people go to your website and, you know, this something just doesn't feel right or it feels off or it isn't clear what you do, what you offer, um, that can turn a lot of people off. Um, another thing is maybe potential investors. If you're trying to pitch yourself and you're trying to, you know, get people to help you grow your business or your cause or whatever it is, how you represent yourself online definitely matters when you're trying to trying to go after that money. Um, can you think of any other ways?
Speaker 1Yeah, I mean, just opportunities in general. And I I call it the the silent sales killer because when people go to your website and they're not attracted to what they're seeing or they're turned off, they often don't tell you. It's not like they're gonna send you a message. They're never gonna tell. They're not gonna be like, hey, you know, I was interested in what you know you had going on. I was thinking about it, but then I saw your site, and then I, you know, kind of look kind of sketchy, so I was like, nah, just want to give you that feedback. That never happens. And so you just miss out on stuff. People just come and look, and then they just click off, and you just keep missing out on opportunities. You don't understand why. You you literally do not understand why. Um, and that happens so often. And you know, that's the part that I think it's there, comes a time where people start to realize that. We had a recently um a discovery call with with uh some new clients that actually spoke to that. Like they they actually realized that they were missing out because uh someone had shared with them that they had um, I think it was a um, I don't want to give too much detail on the situation. Let's just say that there was a client that they were trying to court, a client of, you know, means, right? And their client was interested in working with them and let them know that in person. And they got their website and because they hand them a card, and then they later um, you know, said, I'm gonna check it out, and we go, you know, but they were very positive. Everything looked, you know, like it was gonna work, right? Um, and then soon after they messaged the follow-up, hey, did you get a chance to, you know, look at everything? Yeah, I did. Um, the person responded, and you know, just give me some more time to think about it, and then ghost them. Just nothing.
Speaker 2Because people will say, when you give them your card in person or whatever, they'll go, they'll say, Let me check out your website. Yeah, I'll get back to you. Yeah.
Speaker 1And then they go binge. That's usually what they do. They'll go like look you up, they'll go look at your social media, they'll go, they'll go all the stuff, right? And if if things check out, then likely they're they're gonna move forward, right? They're gonna be like, Yes. But if things don't check out, they don't always give you that feedback. They just ghost you, right? And why how did the person know that the person ghosted them? Because that same person ended up working with another company similar to hers, you know, doing the same thing, but no feedback. And what and what did that person notice? They that person looked just more polished, the other company looked more polished online. Like just, you know, it looked like, you know what I mean? And so it just matched for, I'm sure for that potential client, she's probably thinking through it. And and it, she may or may not be right. I we don't know. We're all this is all just, you know, kind of guessing at it. But you kind of get a sense of how people do it because she knew that it that it didn't match. You know, she's just like, man, my site really just kind of brought me down. Whereas this other site, like, you know, it it looked really good.
Speaker 2Yeah, and that can kind of chip away at you know what you were saying earlier about confidence.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Because if you're trying to, you know, bring in those clients, you'll have that little scenario playing back in your mind, like, oh, if my website just if my branding looked like that, I could have just gotten that, you know, potentially. For sure.
Speaker 1And because first impressions are, you know, now are digital, oftentimes. Because you don't always we're given like like real life, you know, in-person examples, but oftentimes the examples are the the first impression is not one in person. Like we've had several clients that have come to us because we were referred or just because they they saw a social media post or maybe saw one of our one of our ads because you know, we we try to do low-level ads now, like you know, but you know, they might have seen one of the ads and then they'll click on it and they enjoy what they're seeing. They're like, this is yeah, this looks good. And so they want to move forward. But then you have other people who may have you know similar things and you know, engaging content, they may, you know, attract people, and then they click on that landing page and that's as far as they go.
The Divine Redesign Mock-Up Offer
Speaker 2Be honest, does your website actually reflect the level of work you do? Or do you quietly pray no one asks you for your link? If your online presence is making you look less professional than you are, it's time for a reset. And we've made it easy. Introducing the Divine Redesign Movement by Piana Commission. For just $100, we'll create a custom mock-up of a premium website or sales funnel. No commitment, no pressure. You'll get a stunning strategic preview of your new site, built by real designers, not cookie-cutter templates. In under a week, you'll know exactly what your brand could look like when it's working for you. If you love it, rebuild it. If not, you walk away. Simple! But fair warning: your next client is already judging your digital first impressions. Don't let outdated design be the thing that costs you the sale. Spots are limited. Claim your $100 mock-up now at mydeviredesign.com. Panda Commission. Premium design for your business at every stage.
Speaker 1So,
Simple Fixes For Clarity And Trust
Speaker 1yeah, so you know, this is something that we need to, you know, really kind of help folks with. Um, and so, you know, one of the things that we would want to be able to share with them is how they can get this right. Right? What are some of the steps? What are some of the ways that they can, you know, kind of fix their uh the website that they're ashamed of?
Speaker 2Because it's not, it's not as difficult as people think it is.
Speaker 1It really isn't.
Speaker 2It's not that difficult. It really isn't.
Speaker 1But you know what? And and and I I'm glad you said that, but also because they're not in the space, they think it's difficult. Like I'll tell you, I'll tell you right now, like I thank God for our videographer, uh Zell, who's making us look good right now. Shout out to him.
Speaker 2Shout out to 44 Media.
Speaker 1Shout out to 44 Media. Because I don't know how to do this, right? Right. I've tried, I've messed with some lighting and stuff. I was like, man, I don't get it.
Speaker 2I don't want to do it.
Speaker 1I don't want to do it, right?
Speaker 2I don't want to edit no videos. I don't even want to edit my little social media thing.
Speaker 1Yeah, but we try, but we want we want it to look away. That's right. Right? We want it to look away. We have expectations, we do believe, but we may not have the skills. Expertise. Yeah. And we know, but we know what we want, right? But it and I know if I asked. Him, I can just imagine certain things that I'm struggling with. If I asked him, like, how do you do it? It's not hard for him. He'd be like, Oh, this right here, this day, that. And I'm like, What? Like, I ain't never heard, you know. So that's the same way, way it is with websites, oftentimes with us and graphics and design. People are like, Well, how do you how do you get it to look good? And we like, oh, just take all this clutter out, you know? It's too crowded. Yeah, we gotta help them out. So we we gotta help the people out. And so let's let's talk about some of the things that they could do. Um, so you know, if they can't afford necessarily like a full redesign, because obviously if you if they come and pay us, right? We shout out to our our our our uh our promotion, um, you know, divine redesign, right?
Speaker 2Yeah, right here, right?
Speaker 1So yeah, so we got the you know divine redesign. You can you obviously can um why don't you tell them about it? Maybe that's that's your that's your your lead in that promotion. Why don't you tell them about it?
Speaker 2So the divine redesign is something amazing we came up with. Uh so for a hundred dollars, we'll send you a custom, professionally designed mock-up of what your website could look like so that people can get an idea of you know how we can turn their vision into, you know, the website that they really enjoy, that really represents them, that they can put out there in the world and make more money with.
Speaker 1That's it's dope. It's a dope offer because you know, most of the time when you for you to see the site how it's supposed to look, you'd have to pay and be in contract with that agency or that designer, right? So you have to pay a deposit or some type or whatever. And we're just saying $100, right? And and for you to for us to design it, and the thing about it, we design it as if we're gonna build it. So it's gonna look amazing. And when you see the design and you approve it, we can actually make that happen. So you get to for $100 get to see the mock-up and decide before you invest any more money if you want to move forward or not. If you do want to move forward, it's just $17.50 and you can get the rest of the site done. Go to mydevivinedesign.com and you can see it. Um, and you'll be able to, you know, take advantage of that. But if they can't afford um to get a redesign, what are some of the things that they can do to, you know, to just make it look better?
Speaker 2Well, first of all, they can clean up their homepage messaging because sometimes people will have a whole lot of information. I want to tell people everything about me, everything that I do. And sometimes it's good to just give people a great idea of what you do, as opposed to like every single bullet point, every single detail. Um, so you know, just cleaning up your messaging can really help.
Speaker 1Yeah, because we want clarity. Exactly. That is gonna help you way more than you putting everything out there, a word salad or whatever you want to say, you know. You know, you want to be able to be crystal clear about what people offer. That's one of the things that we help people with. They're like, they ask us to audit and they're like, you know, why is my website not convert? The first thing I look at is if I look at it and if I can't tell what you do from the very first, like, you know, above the fold, looking right at the site, like the first thing I can't tell what's going on and what you're about. That's likely the same thing that's happening to everybody else.
Speaker 2Yeah. And I'm the type of person, most of the time, I'm not gonna read every little thing on your website anyway. I'm just gonna go, I'm gonna skim some stuff, I'm gonna look for the information that matters to me. And, you know, whether or not it's cohesive and it looks good. But because not everybody is a reader. Yeah. I know you're a reader. I'm a reader. Because you like details and you want to look at every little thing and get as much information as possible, but I'm not like I don't have time for that. That's not my thing.
Speaker 1And that's a beautiful point because when we design at Panda, we design for both people.
Speaker 2Exactly.
Speaker 1So, and you know that. So we we design for people like me who want to read. And so we understand that those kind of people, they initially do skim, but we always skim from top down, left, right, right? That's that's it's natural, right? Like we're reading a paper. So top down, left, right. And so depending on how things are positioned and the when words are, and also we uh we attach importance based on words that are highlighted. So things that are larger are more important than things that are smaller. Things that are bold are typically more important, things that are underlying, all those things. Um, if you want to emphasize things, you can change the font from a print font to a script font. That little difference, that script font, that you know, squiggly thing, that if it's legible, it's gotta be led as a few. I know, because sometimes you can't read it, so it's not effective, right?
Speaker 2So that's one of my pet peys.
Speaker 1So you gotta balance, make sure it's legible, right? And so all these things matter, right, to the eye, and as your uh your brain is kind of getting the information in. And then there's some people that I know who are not going to care about none of that because they're not detailed like me. They're like you. They just wanna, they're just gonna skim, like literally just skim, and you're gonna be attracted to what's probably the biggest thing, right? And so we want to make sure that those big things are like things that if you only read that, you would get it. And that's the kind of thing when you when the people position stuff, they gotta be like, okay, if they only read that middle part, they would still understand what's going on, and then include a video or include visual, like we call the visual story, include uh, you know, the graphics and images that will convey emotion or communicate with the code.
Speaker 2Because I want to see how it makes me feel too. Like, how do I feel about this company or this person? Yeah, so yeah, the visuals definitely and we think about that.
Speaker 1That that so like we I've I got my my my designers trained to where I say, hey, I look at the home page, I don't feel anything. It's not, I don't feel a wow. I need to feel a wow. Now, here's the thing, I'm gonna I'm gonna caution whoever's listening because if you send us that, that's not gonna be helpful. Uh, because that's a very like generic thing to say.
Speaker 2I'm saying during the quality assurance process.
Speaker 1This is during the, this is probably a third or fourth revision, and this is me going back and forth, and this is me, I've trained them to understand what I mean by that. But you may have a different interpretation of what you mean when you say I need to fill a wow. Right. But the point is that we understand that there needs to be some type of emotional connection. And so we choose images, choose font, choose things so that there is that emotional connection. As you're scrolling, you're getting that, you know, you're getting that emotion uh or that feeling, that joy, you know, whatever, sad, whatever you're trying to, you know, we're trying to go for authority.
Speaker 2Authority, yes. This person knows what they're talking about.
Speaker 1Exactly. Yes. So all that's intentionality. With that said, all of that can fall under the umbrella to your point of cleaning up your messaging. Right. Right. Um, another thing you could do, which is just a small little hack, is use consistent uh fonts, use consistent colors, right? You should have a brand guide to your website for your brand, right?
Speaker 2Not every single color that you love, not every color you love, right?
Speaker 1And you can't also uh and this is I've hear I can already hear some people, and you would if you didn't have me, you'd probably do this. I could hear you doing this. People are like, I really love purple, and we go, okay, which hex code? And then they're like, you know, this I like deep purple. That doesn't tell. So we get the exact purple, and then you like the purple, and then we're like, okay, and you see the site, you're like, I like this purple, but can you make it a little bit lighter? Can you just give me some different types of purples? That's where we're like, time out. Because what it starts to do, like if you if you're not careful, you're gonna end up, like you said, with all these different colors, right? And it's gonna be cluttered. Yeah. And even though that the individual person who owns the site may feel like this is nice and I'm connected to all of these colors.
Speaker 2I could feel overwhelmed when I go to the site. That's right. And because that is overwhelming for me sometimes. When I go to somebody's site and this is like too busy or too much, I'm like, uh. So let me click off.
Speaker 1That's it. That's it. So what we would suggest is a brand guide. The brand guide will establish uh your primary colors, which usually are one or two colors, and then some accent colors or secondary colors, which are usually about three colors. So usually have a most, the most uh five colors. Three two five is recommended. Um, as far as your fonts go, you want to have uh at least, you know, two fonts, maybe three. What those fonts consist of will be a print font, and you can have a print font for your headline, and then another print font for your uh paragraph or subheadline, right? So you, you know, the subhead, the paragraph, the headline, subheadline, and paragraph should be just two fonts. Sometimes three, but we don't recommend that. The other font that you can have as a variation is your script font. That's the squiggly, the this cursive, right? Which they don't do that no more unless you our age, right? But uh the cursive, uh, that's your script font. So usually your brand guide should consist of your colors, which can be three to five, and then your fonts, which can be two to three. So that's that's that's a way we can help them out. What's another way we can um help them clean up or kind of redesign their site if they can't afford a full redesign?
Speaker 2Just remove links that don't work. That's another one of my pet peeves. I go to somebody's website or whatever, and I click on the link and it's like site unavailable.
Speaker 1Exactly. 404 error. Yeah. It's like, what are we doing here?
Speaker 2Clean all that up.
Speaker 1Yeah, clean it up. We don't want to click on stuff that don't, you know.
Speaker 2Yeah, because then somebody clicks and it's not there, it's like, what's this person doing? Yeah. You're not, you know, making sure that you have all your ducks in a row.
Speaker 1Yes, that functionality matters. And I think about that in real life too. Just think about that. Let me take you uh one time to a uh to a to a restaurant. This you're gonna get this right away. Um, so let's go to a restaurant and we gonna uh we're gonna we're gonna order some oxtail. What are they gonna say?
Speaker 2We don't have that. We don't we don't have that. We don't have that.
Speaker 1Let me let me get some that uh some of that stuff that curry chicken.
Speaker 2Not today.
Speaker 1So so all of that ends up impacting your experience, right? Because you like, man, come on. I have my mouth ready. My mouth ready. You know, y'all heard I saw the review, and y'all talking about y'all getting your oxtail at the bomb. Let me get some of this oxtail. We ain't we ain't got it, man. We ran out. No, you don't don't run out. The worst feeling ever. Or you know, you go to uh a man, I don't know. I mean, I think about like, you know, there's a whole bunch of spots, man. But you know, if you if you go to a spot and you're expecting to get something, they like, we don't got it.
Speaker 2You like, what? I came all the way here.
Speaker 1All the way here. Get it together, right? I think the worst, I remember we talked about this before too, because we um when we had our daycare. Um, do you remember we had our daycare and we were trying to um celebrate uh I think it was either not Memorial Day. It was one of those days where you're supposed to barbecue.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 1And the kids were there.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 1And we had we had talked about it. We were like, oh, let's go to the store and get some uh get some ribs. You remember this?
Speaker 2Uh vaguely.
Speaker 1Man, okay. So they ran out of ribs. That was the that was the point. And remember me and you had this whole discussion about you, you y'all ran out of ribs. How long have y'all known that we were going to that this whole city?
Speaker 2I remember okay. Did you remember? I remember that. Because I would go, I went to Walmart, I think I went to uh I think Costco, and nobody we went all over and they didn't have ribs gone.
Speaker 1And you know, and you know, some people like, well, you shouldn't have waited so long to buy the ribs. It's like, well, y'all just shouldn't run out of ribs.
Speaker 2Make sure you have it available.
Speaker 1How about how about you y'all get an extra load?
Speaker 2There's a whole lot of people who are lasting.
Speaker 1Yeah, because it wasn't us, it wasn't just us. We wasn't the only ones at the store, like where the ribs at. Yeah, it was a whole bunch of people, like like we we all got to. I remember we got on Facebook and it was like people locally were like all complaining about the lack of ribs. What's up with the rib shortage? You know what I mean? And and it wasn't like it was like newsworthy, it wasn't like you know, they were like, hey, you know, yeah, it wasn't toilet paper, yeah. It wasn't like just letting y'all know, you know, countrywide, we got a rib shortage. It wasn't that, you know, it was just like these local people decided not to order enough. And I'm like, how does this happen? Um, but anyway, but you know, going back to your website, when people go to your website, they're expecting things to work. They're expecting when you when you click on that link, they're like, hey, book a call or come buy this or whatever that thing is. When we click on it, we expect it to work. And if it don't work, you got to fix that because that affects their experience. Um, also, if you got any kind of you know, old dated pictures, things that just bring down the site, um, things that just don't look good no more, you know, um, take them down. Like, you know, replace them with something else. Um, also, uh, I would just add as another tip uh that could help, you know, kind of give the the site new life is social proof.
Speaker 2Right. That's so important. It's so important. I think about, you know, because this is another one of my pet peeves. It's so cringy that people are putting fake social proofs on. Oh, hold on now. I know you don't want me to go down that road. Oh, hold on now. I've seen it several times. Oh, this is I've seen this stock photo somewhere. And it's just like photos, stock photos with the quote, and then it didn't say initials, they don't say the full name, it just says first Maria Maria J. Maria J. And it's like, oh, that is just the craziest thing ever.
Speaker 1Yeah, because we we don't believe it.
Speaker 2Nah, we don't. That just you're for gazy out here. But um yeah, testimonials are so important because it gives your brand credibility. You know, people want to see what was what was other people's experience working with this person, you know, before they like almost like Amazon reviews, right? Before I buy anything on Amazon, I am going to re look at at least I look at at least 30 reviews. I know you buy something. I know, I know. I'll be sitting there looking through. I cannot stand it. Like you don't hurry up and press purchase. Because every there's different people have different experiences with things.
Speaker 1So, you know, testimonials are very important. Yeah, and and and and thankfully we have a lot of them, right? And if you don't have a lot of them or you don't have them yet, start to accumulate some. Even if you got one, just make it a good one.
Speaker 2Definitely.
Speaker 1Definitely do video if you can. Yes. If you can't, make it a full quote um and make sure you include their picture, their name, so people can actually look them up. Um, because it helps, it helps your credibility. For sure. Um, on our website, I think we have over, I think we have like 16 or 20 on our website right now. Um, most of my videos on our Instagram page, we have over 40 video testimonies.
Speaker 2But if you don't have 40 or 16, you want at least three.
Speaker 1At least three. At least. And if you don't got three, good, do one. Do something. Do whatever. And make sure it's real. Don't let people tell you it don't matter, put every one. You could just use AI and just put make something up. Because we people can tell. They they'd be like, this ain't a real and then and like you said, you know, people be looking at the site and their mind be like, scam likely.
Speaker 2This is scam likely.
Speaker 1This is not feeling like this is authentic. Um, you know, and so here's the truth: like, if you can just get one page done really well, and I'm thinking about those people who have multiple pages, like they got like 10 pages, eight pages of different offers and different stuff. If it all looks not like it represents you, you'd be better off just doing one page really well that has your offers and focus on it converting. That one page, I'm sure, will convert better than your 10 pages of mess. That one good looking page, one cohesive page is gonna look better than then 10 pages of hot mess.
Speaker 2Yes, most definitely.
Speaker 1So, yeah, that's what we recommend. Um, so yeah, you know, we we we just try to help people out.
One Great Page And Final CTA
Speaker 2If you're ashamed of your website, that's your brand waving a red flag. I need some help. I need some help. So give it the help that it needs.
Speaker 1That's right. Your your brand uh should should build you up, your brand should hype you up, your brand should speak for you even when you're not in the room, right? You want it to speak for you, you wanted to do the heavy lifting. Um, you know, if that's not true for you, if that's if if if you're not excited to hand out your website, or when when people tell you they've gone and looked at your site, you're not excited because you know they they're looking at something of quality and that represents you, if that's not how you feel right now, it's time to change that.
Speaker 2And you can change it by hitting us up at Panda Commission.
Speaker 1Absolutely. And if you enjoyed this episode uh and you and got some value from this, and you're someone who wants to change your website, you can go, you can hit us up at pandacommission.com or you can go to the divine, uh, you go to uh mydivinredesign.com. Um, also that's an option for you as well. Uh, if you if you enjoyed what you listen to, go ahead and like this uh episode, uh, subscribe to our channel, share it with someone, maybe someone that you know that you know needs to, you know, change their website up. Let them listen to this episode. Maybe they can get some insight, get some tips. Um, and you can follow us at anywhere on social media. Um, just type in panda commission. You'll find us uh we're on TikTok now, uh, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. And we'd love for you to be a part of our panda family.
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