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Hosted by Steve Phipps of Wayfind Marketing, The Growth-Minded Marketing Podcast simplifies marketing for B2B CEOs ready to grow with confidence. Each episode offers real-world strategies, step-by-step coaching, and inspiring CEO interviews—all designed to help you align your marketing with your business goals, stop wasting time and money, and scale without the stress. If you’re a growth-minded leader tired of vague advice and underperforming tactics, this is your next step.
Steve: What do you call a salesperson
who never talks to anyone?
They never answer questions, and all
they do is just leave people confused.
AnnieLaurie: Well, that's easy.
I call 'em unemployed.
Steve: Ha.
Exactly.
And yet there's really good chance that
your website might be doing exactly that.
It's on the payroll, but it's
not producing leads or customers.
And it's probably just
leaving people confused.
Now, if that was a salesperson on
your team, you wouldn't tolerate
that from them, so why do you
tolerate it from your website?
It's time to get your website
working and producing results.
Welcome to the Growth-Minded
Marketing Podcast.
I'm Steve Phipps.
AnnieLaurie: And I'm Annie Laurie Walters.
We help growth-minded CEOs and
marketing managers like you simplify
marketing and lead with confidence.
Today we're talking about how to
upgrade your online presence so
it actually works for you instead
of quietly working against you.
Steve: Now, if you're new to the podcast,
welcome, you're joining us in the
middle of a series where we're walking
through our guide marketing framework.
That's a five-part system that we
built to help CEOs and their teams
create a focused, effective marketing
strategy so you're not wasting time
on tactics that don't move the needle.
AnnieLaurie: Guide is an acronym we use
to help simplify and give structure to
marketing for growing your business.
Guide stands for G, generate your Strategy
and Story U, upgrade your online presence.
I inform with content D, develop your
sales plan and E evaluate and adjust.
Steve: Today we are unpacking the
letter U, which is upgrade your online
presence, and it's all about turning
your website and your online presence
into a 24 7 salesperson, not just a
digital brochure that's collecting dust.
AnnieLaurie: But before we begin, if
this is your first time joining us, we'd
actually recommend hitting pause and
going back to listen to episode one.
It gives you the big picture overview
of the entire Guide marketing framework,
and that context will make everything
we cover in this episode more impactful.
You can find the link to
episode one in the show notes,
Steve: so strap in and let's
start turning clicks into clients.
Now, if you've ever thought our
website looks good, it's fine.
Let me be clear.
In today's marketplace,
fine, won't cut it.
Your website needs to be a high
performing, always on salesperson, one
that's building trust, and they're helping
prospects move forward and take action.
If your website isn't doing that,
you're losing business plain and simple.
AnnieLaurie: It's true.
A nice looking site that doesn't help
people understand what you do or take
the next step isn't helping you grow.
It might look polished, but
looks aren't everything.
Your website should actually work.
A tool that builds trust,
answers real questions, and
moves people to take action.
Steve: So before we move on, ask
yourself, is your website doing its job?
Because what's coming next will help you.
Turn it into your company's best
salesperson working 24 7 to win the right
clients and help you close more business.
Now, again, if you're just joining
us, our framework, the Guide Marketing
Framework, is a simple structure that
we use to help CEOs and marketers
focus on the right parts of their
marketing without getting overwhelmed.
AnnieLaurie: Today's focus is on
the U Upgrade, your online presence.
This is one of the most overlooked
and often the most costly gaps we see.
Steve: Now, your website and your
digital presence, as we've said,
should be a 24 7 salesperson.
But if your website is
outdated, it's hard to use.
It's hard to find information.
It's packed with jargon or
overused phrases that don't
mean anything to your buyer.
Well, your clients, your potential
clients are most likely going to
leave your site within a few seconds,
and there's a high likelihood that
they will turn to a competitor who is
answering their questions and whose
website is easier to navigate even if
that competitor's not better than you.
AnnieLaurie: It's amazing what happens
when you stop trying to make your website
impressive and start making it useful.
Instead, Steve, give us a real world
example of what that shift looks like.
Steve: Yeah.
But we've seen what happens firsthand
when companies take this seriously.
And let me also say, your website can look
fantastic, but it also needs to be useful.
Maybe it's not all that great
looking, but if it's building
trust, you really want both.
And so this specific example that we
have in mind is one of our clients.
They're in the enterprise
expense management space.
And as we've worked with them and they've
updated their online presence, they've
clarified messaging, they've cleaned
up their navigation, created a lot of
helpful, useful content, so blogs and
guides, case studies, things like that.
Within a few months, they saw increased
traffic of over 140%, and they've seen
more than three times the number of
qualified leads coming through the site.
And so this isn't magic, it doesn't
just happen, but it is making your
website actually work for your buyer.
AnnieLaurie: Stories like this
are becoming more common because
buyer behavior has changed.
One of the more sobering stats that
we've seen is that 80% of buyers
decide who they're going to work with
before they ever talk to a salesperson.
Let that sink in.
80% of buyers have decided who
they're gonna work with before
they ever pick up the phone.
And it got me thinking back to a
previous podcast we recorded Steve, in
episode one you said people want to be
able to go through the buyer's journey
by themselves as much as they can.
Can you break that down for us?
What's really going on here?
Steve: Well, there, there's a couple
of things that, that are going on here.
Number one is people
are tired of being sold.
I don't know anybody who wants to be sold.
People like to buy.
And in that process, buyers want to be
able to get the information, they wanna
be able to get answers to their questions.
And so, I mean, think about it, you as
a buyer, what is it you're looking for?
You want information.
How much does this cost?
What are the potential problems of this?
How does this compare to other
products or other services?
There's a whole variety of questions
that people are asking, but if your
website doesn't answer their questions
clearly, they don't feel understood, and
they're likely to move on somewhere else
where they can get that information.
So don't let your website be that website.
AnnieLaurie: So Steve, let's
shift from the why to the how.
What specific steps can our listeners
take to make their online presence
actually support business growth?
Steve: That's a great question, Annie.
Laurie.
There are four key upgrades that I think
every marketer, every company, every
CEO should be looking at right now.
And these aren't nice to haves.
These are fundamental and foundational.
And number one, make your website the
most helpful salesperson on your team.
The most helpful person on your team.
You want your website to function
like a great salesperson.
They're clear, they're responsive,
they're ready to answer
every question the buyer has.
Honestly, we're not trying to
just pitch everything again.
People don't wanna be sold.
They want to buy.
Treat them with enough integrity.
To answer their questions,
even the hard ones.
So if somebody lands on your site and
gets confused, frustrated, or can't
get their answers, they're gone.
It doesn't matter how
good your services are.
AnnieLaurie: And don't forget
mobile, we see it all the time.
A great looking site on a desktop turns
into a jumbled mess on a phone, which
is crazy because oftentimes people are
viewing your websites on a mobile device.
It needs to be easy to navigate, quick
to load and answer the questions.
What do you do?
Who do you help?
Why should we trust you and
how do we take the next step?
Steve: Exactly.
If your site doesn't work well on
mobile, it's like having a salesperson
on your team that's never available.
Your buyer reaches out and
tries to schedule a meeting,
but they're not available.
And if they do get them, they
have nothing useful to say.
They just stare at 'em.
First impressions matter, and if
your website is creating friction,
people don't stick around.
And that's why it's gotta be
clear and fast and helpful
from the first tap or click.
People get impatient, they're
not gonna wait around.
AnnieLaurie: Alright, number two, make
your messaging about them, not you.
We still see so many websites
filled with, we do this.
We've been in business for 20 years.
Our team does this.
Our process looks like that.
But even though it feels intuitive
to explain who you are and what
you do, and tout your successes,
see if there's still a problem with
this approach, unpack that for us.
Steve: So the problem here is this.
Too many companies make
themselves the hero of the story.
They make the story all about them.
But think about, again, when you are
the customer, what are you looking for?
You're not looking for somebody
to tell you all about them.
You're looking for a guide.
That's what your
customers are looking for.
Now, we'll dive deeper into this
in a future episode, but here's
a high level takeaway for you.
Your prospect doesn't care about you.
At least not yet.
What they want to know is,
can you solve my problem?
And if you can help them with that,
then they want to know about how you
help them and why they should trust you.
And so that's ultimately the question
that your website needs to answer
how you solve their problem and
answer it quickly and clearly.
And one of the biggest ways that we see
companies miss the mark is, just as an
example, companies will focus on features.
Not the benefits.
So you may talk about what you
do, but you don't talk about
how it benefits your customer.
So an example, a feature would
say we offer 24 7 support.
A benefit says you'll
never be left hanging.
When something breaks, you see the
difference features describe what you
do, and you need to have that information
there, but you also need the benefits
that explain how it helps the buyer.
When you make that shift, your messages
start to resonate because you've moved
from making it about you and what
you do and how what you do is helping
them, the buyers, and that's what
starts to build trust and drive action.
AnnieLaurie: That's such a good
distinction, and honestly, it's one
that's really easy to miss, especially
for entrepreneurial CEOs who are so
passionate about what they've built.
You wanna tell people everything you
can do, and that enthusiasm is great,
but if it's not framed around your
customer's story, it all starts to
sound like Charlie Brown's teacher,
Steve: wah, wah, wah.
AnnieLaurie: Right.
They'll tune it out really fast.
The key is to show them that they
are the hero and you are the guide
who's gonna help them win the day.
Steve, give us another quick example,
maybe a before and after, or do this,
not that, just to make sure that the
listener really connects the dots.
Steve: You know, I will
hear in just a second.
I just wanna say one other thing
about what you were just saying,
and that is a lot of times what I
see is the CEO or the sales team,
they know what they do so well.
And so they communicate that
information ultimately on the
website, but in sales conversations.
And so there's this flood of
information that oftentimes the
buyers don't understand, or there's
so much of it that's overwhelming.
So I think that's another important
nuance to consider is that it's not
just talking about you, but it's
sometimes putting so much information
that it's difficult to understand.
And so.
To give a specific example of, something
that we see on a lot of websites.
People talk about how many
years they've been in business.
So for instance, we've been in business
for over 40 years now, depending on
what you do and your audience, that in
and of itself may not really mean much.
The question is, how do you put that
into a context that your customer
can see the benefit to them?
So the example of this would be we've
been helping businesses like yours
reduce expenses for over 40 years.
That brings in a very tangible benefit.
It's not that the original
statements are wrong, but they're
focused on you, the company.
Not the buyer.
So the fix again is reframe it, flip
it in a way that helps your buyers
understand how it benefits and helps
them, how it solves their problem.
AnnieLaurie: Here's a quick tip,
action item, if you will, just take
a minute and scan your homepage.
If you see more we and our, then you
see you and your, it's time to flip your
messaging, talk directly to your buyer
and make them the hero, not your company.
Steve: I love that test, Daniel
Laurie, because that's such a quick
and simple, but it's incredibly
insightful and my guess is that most
listeners should go do that test.
You're gonna find that most
of the verbiage is we and
our versus you and yours.
So number three is you gotta
show up in the search engines.
This is, even as search is changing
significantly right now because of ai, a
lot of the times marketers get stuck here.
They might think that search engine
optimization is just about putting
keywords in the right places.
Today it's about way more than that,
AnnieLaurie: right between Google's new
AI powered results and people turning
to tools like Chat, GPT to find answers,
you're no longer just competing for page
one On the search results page, you're
competing to be the trusted answer
that shows up first, wherever your
customers are looking, whether that's
Google, Bing, cha, GPT, copilot, Claude.
Any place they're searching, including
social media, because we're seeing
younger buyers using social media
platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram,
and even sometimes TikTok, to search
for products and services rather than
relying on traditional Google results.
Steve: I think it's interesting to note.
In Q4 of last year, Google's
market share fell below 90% for
the first time in almost a decade.
AnnieLaurie: That's truly Shocking.
Steve: We're seeing that trend
AnnieLaurie: and I don't
think people really are.
Not, everyone realizes this train
is coming down the track as fast
and furious as it is, right?
Steve?
Steve: Well, exactly.
I mean, as I've been doing presentations
on AI and marketing and Google.
A lot of people are unaware of this shift
in buyer behavior to AI driven search,
and it's gonna have a significant impact.
You know what, we should probably
toss that link to the guide.
We have an AI guide that talks about that.
We have a whole page on ai, so
that would be a great resource.
We can put that in the the show
notes so that if you wanna dig
deeper into that, that's another
resource that we can make available.
AnnieLaurie: I think that's a good idea.
We'll make sure to put
that in the show notes.
And I think it's just worth making
the point that as we're having this
conversation about upgrade your online
presence, this is going to be the sneaker
attack that comes and takes you by
surprise, like the thief of the night.
Like we have to start looking at websites,
social platforms, all the different places
that your company has a presence online,
no matter where it is, and make sure that.
It is written, optimized in such a
way that the AI tools are gonna start.
Picking up on that and returning your
content as results within those tools.
It's really a new ecosystem and even the
people in the search engine world are just
now starting to really, get down to the
nuts and bolts about what does this mean?
What kind of changes do we make?
We're learning as we go.
But, I do feel like it's something that as
we're talking about, upgrade, your online
presence really needs to be underscored
Steve: a hundred percent.
And we've got some resources
related to that, that we'll share.
And really what it means is that
your content has to be clear.
It has to be useful and built around what
your audience is actually searching for.
And yes, the technical side of
your website still matters here.
The meta tags, the site speed, the
structure, but really the biggest
shift is about building trust.
That way you've built trust ever before.
Someone is gonna think about
clicking schedule a call.
AnnieLaurie: Exactly.
And what would be really wise for everyone
listening to do is to take some time and
do a quick SEO audit because there are SEO
best practices that are not going away.
Even as AI is changing things, there are
certain things with regard to SEO that
you need to be doing on your website,
on your social media, other places.
You need to audit it so you
don't have to be an expert.
But there are just a few baseline
things that you can do today right
now to make sure that you are at least
positioned with the foundation to
build upon as AI keeps changing how
search results are delivered to people
who are searching your customers.
So we've got a step-by-step
guide on our website that walks
you through it in plain English.
It's very easy to use, and
we're gonna drop that link
down in the show notes as well.
Steve: And that tool will show you
how to check your rankings, identify
technical gaps, and figure out if your
content is helping drive business or if
it's just taking up room on your site.
And so here's one more piece of this
that a lot of companies miss, especially
in B2B, and that is Google doesn't
just care about keywords anymore.
And again, this is incredibly important,
not only for Google, but also for ai.
So chat, GPT, perplexity, you
know, pick your AI search engine.
And so Google has a framework that's
really useful here, and it's Eat EEAT.
It stands for.
Experience, expertise, authorit
and trustworthiness, and they're
looking for your content to
demonstrate each of those things.
And if your site's not showing them
your thoughtful content, that's
not salesy, it's unbiased and
honest, demonstrating client proof.
Testimonials case studies and clear
positioning, you're going to struggle to
rank no matter how good your services are.
Go to chat GPT or Perplexity and
ask them to give you their top five
recommendations for the services that
you provide and see who they list.
Now, if your company's not listed,
ask that engine what you need
to do on your website so that it
would consider you in the future.
That's a very practical tool and process
that you can use to begin to identify,
I can almost guarantee you that one
of the things it's gonna come back
with is you need data on your website.
You need case studies, testimonials.
AnnieLaurie: Absolutely Steve and
listeners stick around because in
the future, Steve and I plan to bring
you a lot of great content about how
to use chat GT in your marketing.
So if that is something that you wanna
learn more about, definitely subscribe
and hit the notification bell on your
podcast listening service because we will
be sharing more about that in the future.
And if you do in the meantime,
wanna learn more specifically about
eat, you'll find content about that
on our learning center as well.
So make sure you go to
way find marketing.com
and see all the wonderful content
that we have made available to you
for free on our learning center.
So moving on to number four.
We need to be present where your
buyers are, especially on LinkedIn.
Okay.
So beyond the website, if you're
in B2B and you're not showing up
on LinkedIn consistently, you're
missing a huge opportunity.
Steve: Exactly.
Social media and LinkedIn in particular
for B2B, which is a lot of who we
work with, it's not just about sharing
company updates, it's where people
are looking to see if you're active
and credible engaged in your space.
It is a great place for
connecting with buyers.
AnnieLaurie: And no, you don't need to
be everywhere or post every day, but
you do need a professional profile.
You need a clear message, and you need
to post regular content that shows
that you're thinking about the same
problems your buyers are trying to solve.
You're establishing thought
leadership, building that trust.
Steve, you're very active on LinkedIn.
Why don't you give us a few tips that
our listeners could implement right away?
Steve: Absolutely.
And let me note that we will dig into
this more in our next episode, when
we talk about informing with content.
But for now, here are
three quick takeaways.
Number one, optimize your
profile and that should entail.
Content that talks about
the problems that you solve.
Yes, it's important to have your
experience, et cetera, et cetera, but
your headline, your summary, your about
all needs to focus in on the problems
that you solve and who you work with.
Number two, use a professional headshot
and have a picture that actually
looks like you, not something that
looks like it's from 20 years ago.
Then number three, share content
that your audience actually cares
about, how you solve their problems.
Again, this isn't about how
great you are, it's about
solving your customer's problems.
So remember, LinkedIn's not a megaphone.
It's a conversation.
Use it to connect, not just promote.
AnnieLaurie: Now before we wrap up
this section, let's call out a few
of the most common traps we see
folks fall into when it comes to
their website and digital presence.
These are the things that quietly
kill momentum, and most of the
time they're totally fixable.
Steve: Yes, they are.
So the first one is thinking
that a pretty website is the
same as a productive website Now.
A website may look great, but if
the person who built it doesn't
understand marketing strategy,
content, user experience, SEO,
it's just a digital brochure.
Remember, your website should
guide your buyer being a
salesperson, answering questions.
It's not just there to
impress them without good.
It looks.
AnnieLaurie: Trap Number two, your content
isn't answering your buyer's questions.
It might be vague company focused
or just plain hard to find.
And when that happens,
buyers move on fast.
We're gonna dive deeper into that in the
next episode, so stick around for that.
Steve: So the third trap is posting once
on LinkedIn and calling it a campaign.
One post isn't marketing, it
is a whisper in a loud room.
AnnieLaurie: Four thinking.
SEO is something you check off once.
It's an ongoing effort and often
it's a marathon, not a sprint.
Search trends shift, algorithms
evolve and content must keep up.
Steve: And the fifth trap is believing
that your website should be about you.
It's not.
It's for your buyer, and it
should be about your buyer.
If it doesn't speak to their needs and
guide them forward, it doesn't talk
about how it solves their problems.
Then your website very well could
be undercutting your growth.
You might not see the impact right
away, but lost trust, missed leads and
poor user experience do add up quickly.
AnnieLaurie: The bottom line, you
don't have to do everything, but you
can't afford to ignore it either.
Your website isn't a set
it and forget it tool.
You need to focus on things like
messaging, design, mobile usability, and
how your site guides users to take action.
Then keep those things fresh.
Make updates appropriately.
Revisit it regularly if you
want your online presence to
actually support your growth.
Okay, Steve, we've covered
a lot in this episode.
Coach us through some next steps.
Steve: All right.
Audit your website.
Seriously, get out your phone and act
like you've never seen your website.
So pull your website up on your phone.
And then ask yourself about your website.
Can I instantly, or within five to 10
seconds understand what our company does?
Is there a clear and
obvious next step to take?
Do I immediately understand the benefit
that I get if I become a customer here?
Does this site make me feel confident
that they can actually solve my problem?
And is it easy to use on a mobile device?
And then the last thing is, again,
like we've been asking, is this
focused on me as the customer or
is it more focused on the company?
And take it a step further.
Ask someone outside of your
company to do the same thing.
Ask somebody that
doesn't know what you do.
A fresh set of eyes is going
to catch things that you've
stopped noticing or maybe you
never noticed in the first place.
AnnieLaurie: And once you've
done that, don't let the
findings sit on a sticky note.
Prioritize the changes.
You don't have to rebuild
your entire site, but you do
need to start moving forward.
Steve: Even small things like rewriting
your homepage headline, or simplifying
your navigation can make a big difference.
If you're not sure what to change
or where to start, just reach out.
We can help you get unstuck.
AnnieLaurie: This episode is brought
to you by Wi-Fi into marketing.
We help growth-minded CEOs and their
teams stop spinning their wheels
with confusing marketing and start
scaling with a clear focused plan.
Steve: If your online presence isn't
helping you grow, it's time to fix that.
So head over to wayfind marketing.com
and take our free guide
marketing assessment.
It'll take you about five minutes,
and when you're done, you'll get a
personalized score plus immediate
access to our Guide Marketing Playbook.
And that's over 30 pages of actionable
tactical things that you can do for
your marketing based on your assessment.
It's packed with practical steps
on how to clarify your message,
improve your website, and align your
marketing with your sales goals.
AnnieLaurie: In our next episode
we'll dive into the eye of guide,
which is inform with content, we'll
break down how to create content your
buyers actually wanna read and how it
can become your best marketing tool.
Steve: It's time to go
make your website earn.
Its keep.
We'll see you in the next episode.