Is Your Website Costing You Clients? Here’s How to Fix It

0:0010 years ago, I made the decision to build my personal brand that was elevated, yet approachable, and reflected who I was, not just what I did. I created my website with ShowIt because it's true drag and drop freedom so you can easily build and update your site. Plus, their real human support team, game changer. Want to try it for yourself? Head to jasminestar.com forward slash ShowIt for a 14-day free trial and first month free when you subscribe. If you want a customer who's like, I'm looking for a content creator, I'm looking for a chef, I'm looking for a bigger, I'm looking for a photographer.

0:30What content have you put out that is making Google say, this is the person? That's going to be the main question. Do you want your website to be showing up in AI searches on places like ChatGBT, Claude, Propexity, and all the other AI search engines? What about making your website optimized with AI? What if you can have your website bring in new, qualified, amazing leads? Welcome to the Jasmine Starr Show, where I empower seven-figure entrepreneurs to scale to eight. And I'm going to bring you along the journey of how I've been optimizing and updating my website to ensure it's in alignment with not just where the industry is now, but definitely where it is heading.

1:11Okay. So I wanted to update my website for better discovery. Now, before I talk about what I'm doing, I want to bring you in on a real life recent story. So I had a friend, he sold his business for$40 million or something like that. It's rumored to be 40 million. I think it's probably a little bit more. He sold the business and for the last two years have been on a deep dive discovery of the next business he's building. He launched it a bit ago, two years ago, and he's already doing over$10 million. And he said, you know what, Jasmine, I want to do it differently this time. I want to build my personal brand alongside of it.

1:43He's like, I've seen you build your personal brand and I want you to speak into my journey. And I said, I'm honored. This is great. And he said, I hate content. And I was like, okay, great. And he said, I am looking to hire a video content agency to help me scale my personal brand. And I said, this is fantastic. And so he came to me asking clear strategic questions. And then he said, hey, here are two agencies I'm looking at. And I had said, before I see those two other agencies, let me send you a link of this one agency that's pretty incredible. So what I want to talk about are the three options that he and I were looking through.

2:22One was completely all high end. It was about$35 ,000 a month for one weekly YouTube video. The other agency had all like big personal brands. They were very featured prominently there on the homepage and in the portfolio. They were also high ticket. And another agency where he knew some of his friends were getting represented and help with the content from that agency. So we were looking at three distinct options, each within their own value propositions. Now, all three things being equal, he had to make a decision. And he's the kind of person that he's like, my time is the most valuable thing I have.

3:03Before I set up a sales call, I'm going to use the website as a point of differentiation to see how deep and how fast I want to move with the company. So I want to pause here because he was at the point of making a decision based on a website. And at this very moment where you are ever watching or listening, there is somebody on your website right now who's trying to make the same decision? Is this company meant for me? Is your product, is your service meant for them? So just at this notion, somebody's there on your website right now, how are you feeling? Are you feeling excited? Are you feeling confident?

3:41Or are you feeling like in the past, there have been times where I feel like if somebody's on my website, I'm like, ooh, like, don't worry, my website's going to get better. Like, I don't know if you're feeling that, but this is the episode where you're going to have like a come to it moment where you realize, okay, I have to make changes in order for me to get changes. So all things being equal, your website is the place to put your best foot forward. Yes, there's social media. I love it. I'm a big subscriber of it. Like I post content every day. I get it. But to get the most distilled highest version deep down on a platform I own, that's going to be on my website.

4:17I believe that your website is your digital storefront. You know, if I had a store in Main Street USA and you came in and the floors were dirty or somebody didn't say hello, there was like a light bulb that was missing, I would feel a certain way about that. And yet many of us keep our websites in the same way. It's kind of sort of there and it's there to do the job, but it's not really the best representation. I believe it's a calling card. I believe that your website is the best representation of your business. So you might not feel that way. However, your website can get discovered and your website is more likely to get discovered than things that you're posting just on social media.

4:52So as we were looking through the three websites, I have to tell you that one of those websites jumped so far ahead of the competition. It was so much better. And so you might be wondering, yeah, but what made it better? I will tell you, the copy on the site was so clear. It was so compelling. The message, copy is the words that you use, but what's the overall message? What are they about? Who are they for? And there was such a clear buyer's journey. Like the message is like, here's what we do and what you want. Okay. Very clear on what you want them to do. Set up a sales call. Lastly, the design.

5:29Now I understand that design is a personal taste, but I looked at this and it just exuded high end. It just exuded luxury. It just exuded. We are not here to be messed with. It was such a vibe. Just looking at the site, I felt different. And here's the crazy thing. He felt different. Now, I've been in the personal brand world much longer. I have been building a personal brand much longer. But for he and I to have the same visceral reaction to the site, it meant that something was really spot on. They know their customer. It felt like luxury. They knew exactly who they were. They knew exactly who they were for.

6:08And we were immediately drawn to it. To me, in my mind, that is like a check, check, check on a score sheet. It was just winning. We were looking for an agency for him. And I'm telling you, this website made me want to book a call. It was just that good. So the website became a portal. It became a way to draw in clients. And your website will become a way to draw in clients. But more than anything, it's making a warm lead. Like he and I were on the site. We were already kind of warm. But the minute we were like, this place is extra special, we became a much warmer lead. The website was pre-qualifying us to get on the call, which is crazy.

6:46So this is what I believe a website should exactly do. So after that conversation, I was like, ooh, Jasmine, you need to take a good, cold, hard look at what your website is doing. And with all the changes with AI, what are you doing with your website to really stay ahead of the curve? Now, before I make strategic decisions, I want to make sure those decisions aren't informed. I'm just not coming up with like a random idea. This is what I need to do. So I use a company called ShowIt for my website. I am very biased. The company was found by my friend, Todd Watson, and I was the second customer.

7:20I mean, we're talking about back in the day. This is like probably 2009 that I was on his platform and I've been on the platform ever since. It is innovated. I love it. Now, when I first started using it, I was a photographer and at the time you needed to know a lot of code. Like if you wanted to make a change, you had to pay your graphic designer, you had to pay your web host to make those decisions. And so when ShowIt came along, it was one of the very first platforms that you can make all the changes. You could design it yourself. You weren't waiting on anybody. And I was like, oh, heck yes, sign me up.

7:48So I was able to infuse my own perspective, my design. I was able to move quickly, which is a huge value for me. And guess what? They've continued to innovate and I freaking love them and I'm obsessed. They also use WordPress. Now, the reason I'm bringing this up is I started my career in business, my first foray in business, and I didn't have a website. I used a blog and it was a WordPress blog. And that's where I was getting most of my traffic. So I would write a blog post every day around what I was doing in my business. And lo and behold, people started finding my blog and saying, well, this blog is good enough for me to book you as a client.

8:20But what I started realizing is when I started raising my prices and wanting to attract a different subset of people, the blog was just the starting point because the website became like the entire linchpin. So I wanted to have a website platform that would still integrate and work, kiss right along with my WordPress site because I had so much like, I know this is not the right word, but I call it Google juice. I had so much Google juice in that blog that I wasn't trying to move an entire platform. So ShowIt and WordPress, they work together and it's still what I use today. And yes, in case you're wondering, I still blog.

8:51I blog two to three times a week. In fact, we have show notes for this podcast listed on platforms like Spotify and Apple. But we have a dedicated two-time weekly post that goes on to WordPress because we want it to be searched. We put our show notes. We put the show description. So we are making sure that my website is being constantly updated. Why? Because we want to make sure that people searching for business-related content will be able to find it. So here again, my website, my blog, they're all working together, and I wanted a platform that was going to be doing that. So you're going to hear me talk about SEO.

9:28And while I'm not changing my website every week, I am constantly updating the overarching website that is comprised of my blog multiple times a week. So after all of these years, I am still a customer. I actually texted Todd before this episode and I was like, can I verify, was I customer number one or customer number two? And he's like, you were number two. Don't try to fake the funk. Okay. Anyway, I called their marketing director. His name is James. And I said, James, I'm really looking to update my website. Can I ask you a few questions around what's been updated with AI? And he said, yes, of course.

10:01And the thing I realized was that I had that conversation and he was just breaking things down so brilliantly that I was not expecting to share the conversation. Like it was on Zoom. And I was like, hey, do you have some time? Let's hop on Zoom. I was not expecting to share the conversation, but it was so good that I was like, James, can I share this? And so with that, I am very, very happy to share this. Now, one of the reasons why I found it so valuable is because I am a self-proclaimed data nerd. I don't want to make decisions just based on feelings. I like facts. I like data and I like analytics.

10:33So James, he's like, Jasmine, I'm just in the game of studying websites. Like, yes, he's their head of marketing, but this guy, he knows website creation. He knows website traffic. He knows website effectiveness. Like he loves getting into the market and the business of what it is they do. So I was like, good, let's have a conversation. Now I'm sharing this because I just don't want it to be for myself. Now, when I originally called him, I just want to be very clear because the video I'm about to show you, it's like the two of us are just like talking shop. So it's not high budget in any way, shape or form.

11:01Like I was there in like a trucker cap and I was like, I'm coming in off my afternoon meetings. So please understand the intention was not to post it on the podcast. But all of a sudden I said, I really want to share what I'm learning so that we all collectively rising tide raises all ships, right? So collectively we move forward. Now I'm not showing the entirety of our conversation because James was telling me about a new, like a few new features that are going to be dropping soon. And he's like, Jasmine, you can share parts of the conversation, but you can't share all of it because that's too soon.

11:27We haven't announced it yet. So what you're going to see is a bunch of clips of this conversation, but you will understand the entirety of it and how powerful this is. So I'm going to share his insights right now, and then I'm going to come back and I'm going to outline the changes I'm making for my website. Now, I began the conversation with James by asking what will make websites even more important for businesses in light of AI. And here is his answer and the start of our conversation. I'm probably going to go back to the same. I think credibility, legitimacy, you know, it's a funny thing. Well, let me just say it.

12:05I think credibility at a certain point, someone is going to want to know if you are real. I think we live in a world where everything is generative. I think people have to validate it. So I think there's going to be a credibility, trust, brand equity, identity. I think people still value that at the end of the day and humans aren't giving up on humans. I think there's a lot of fear because AI is accelerating at the rate that it is. And everybody keeps, because they're marketers and they want clicks and everybody wants followers, that they're saying this is dead and that is dead. Designers are dead.

12:34Websites are dead. But it's like, yes, if the website in and of itself as a tool is changing, the human that the other human is trying to connect to, the means by which they connect to that human might change, but it's not going away. And if the website is giving you a much clearer picture of who I am as a human who can serve you and help you achieve the results that you want, that's not going away. And I think the reason why most people sort of fear that is just because of the language that keeps being sort of like spread out. So again, I don't think, I think it's still one of the best ways to create a reliable brand because when people want to actually find out who you are, they want to click, see a picture, and then meet you and approach them and go, is this who I'm actually talking to?

13:21Because I don't think people are going to want to be talking as much as people are creating businesses for so that Mark Cuban has his AI version that you can talk to and get advice from. That's fine. But I don't think when someone actually has a real problem and they want to build a business and they need help designing it and thinking through it and somebody to have emotional intelligence and taste when it comes to doing that, I don't think they want to be talking to a machine in that way. I think they want to build with people still. So I think that That brand equity is still going to be there.

13:47I think legitimacy is still going to be there. I think trust is going to be a big piece of it. So you just took us a church. I'm probably with your permission. Can I use that clip? Can I use that clip? I was just using this as a conversation because I was like, I want to get the goods and I want to put together like an investigative story from like the people who are in it. But I'm like, oh, like that's the whole thesis of the podcast. Can I use that video clip with your permission? Sure. Yes. Just that one right there. That was good. Like it was too good. I'm not going to, I'm not going to be selfish and just keep it from me.

14:14Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Loved that. That was so juicy. What opportunities are business owners missing when leveraging their websites? Give me more context with this one. I don't know. Like you guys see a lot of websites and you see like really highly trafficked and you see effective websites. Are there some key points that you're like, oh, it's just if they just added this or if they just made sure, like what are the common mistakes that you're like, oh, the website's the best for this and we don't have either an anchor image, a promise, a header, a sandwich menu, whatever. What are these kind of like or are there?

14:45It doesn't have to be. So how is it making websites AI search engine friendly? So let me back up a little bit. Let me back up a little bit. What I'm hearing from people is like they're like if we look at Gemini, right? People are searching and what's coming up above everything else is the AI search versus Google ranking. And so people could see the writing on the wall. And then we see it upswing in ChatGPT using it for like search or intent based marketing. So when we think about this, how are we optimizing or are we? And I say we because I just put myself in everybody's business. How is show it optimizing for like AI search?

15:20I do think what a lot of people have misunderstood about SEO or about AI search optimization versus traditional search optimization is that it hasn't actually changed. What drives a lot of that has still been sort of like the brand that you've built, brand dimensions, links, authority. And so in a sense that if I create a piece of content that actually answers a real problem and people reference that article, people reference that resource, what's happened? And this has happened in Google's algorithm, too, is that when Google makes the algorithm smarter, all the tricks go away. And so that's the thing that I think people are starting to see and go like, oh, it's tanking a lot of things.

16:05Now, across the industry, there were, because people aren't clicking as much anymore, everyone has seen drops in site traffic. I think that's just an industry thing. Like I watch agency owners who do this for huge enterprise companies, billion dollar valuations, nine figure valuations. And they're all saying the same thing. It's just like, okay, yes, everybody is seeing a decline in site traffic because of AI overviews. And the fact that many of these conversations, people no longer have to click to a bunch of websites because the agent is running through hundreds of them at a time. and they're just giving the answer they want.

16:36And so what that means is that when people do click on these links, they're that much more ready to purchase. And so the optimization is still there. It's like you might get less traffic, but the traffic that you do get is going to be the right traffic. And so I think the fact that like, like writing a good blog and answering a question in a detailed way, optimizing isn't necessarily a technical thing that the platform does. I think what we're trying to do is just educate people on how to write your articles such that, you know, all these LLMs and, you know, AI search tools crawl your site in a way.

17:13It's already, it's just packaged to make it easier for them to find the answer that people are looking for. A confused mind says no, like you've heard that before. And I think sometimes, you know, business owners create websites, but it's not always clear what they're offering. So the offer isn't clear. Donald Miller talks about this about clarifying your messaging. And so I think it goes back to the same idea of like, you know, make it exist first and then make it good. I think it's the gap between it existing and it actually being good. Right now that you've got a website, like, is it effective?

17:47Is it working? And so we've we're starting to work on things like a website health assessment to try to help people sort of figure out like, hey, even from an SEO perspective, like if the tags aren't right, like it won't. Google's not going to call it properly. So then you don't get ranked in the same way. So it's like some of these more like, think atomic habit type things, the 1 % type things is a book called the slight edge where it's like, there are small things that people can do. It's not usually an overhaul. It's just like, Oh, that, that headline isn't the clearest. And oftentimes does come to the writing of it.

18:19It was like, is there a clear path from the promise to the delivery right from promise to fulfillment? And I think those are usually the things that I think people, those are the opportunities people miss it's just can i say that a bit more clearly so that people just see the clear path take the clear action and then i can deliver on that promise so here's a great i i feel like i've got quotes all the time now i read a book called the one thing and i feel like it's the same thing with the website you know what's the one thing that by doing it it would make everything easier or unnecessary so when someone comes to your website What's the one thing they need to know that by doing it would make everything easier or unnecessary?

18:58What's the one thing about you? What's the clear path to get to the promise? Like, if you're saying I can get you this stream outcome, what's the one thing they need to do with you in order to get that? You know, and I would say the clearer we can make that on websites, everything else is just reinforcement. Right. I wrote an article a while back about branding and when it got to the messaging part, it's like, it's really your gospel. You know about this, your sister's pastor. The gospel is one message, but then you're like, but people need every single week to essentially learn the same thing.

19:33I go, well, that's the strength of the message. I go, the core message is the same, but the way you say it or the way you would reinforce it or its application is what changes. But the one thing you want people to know is the same thing, right? And so when it comes to like your website, which is, you know, someone's introduction to who you are, it's like, this is the thing I can provide. If you're in that situation, here's how to get it, right? I'm not, they don't like the sales, like Jeff's trying to sell somebody something. But, you know, if it's a situation of, I've got a solution to a very common problem and you are here probably because you have that problem, go here and it'll get you closer or to get the next solution.

20:14I think if you're doing that and it's that clear, I think you'll be fine. I'm gonna clip that too with your permission. I'm not sure. You said, I'm not sure I have anything else to share. And I'm like, okay, okay. This was everything. Just thank you for your time. Like it feels like very, it feels inordinately generous for you to spend this time to speak into this particular topic. I'm obviously passionate about it. Big fan always. So to get your perspective, it makes me a lot more confident as I speak about it. So Jane, thank you. You're the best. Welcome back. So here are my three biggest takeaways.

20:50These are going to be the things that I am changing and or adding to my website. Number one, I'm going to be updating my messaging for a clear pathway to my business. Right now, I do a lot of things. Mostly the holding company needs to be highlighted and then there needs to be pathways for people to find out the other companies I serve as an advisor, an equity shareholder, or an outright owner of. I need to get a lot clearer on that. Number two, I'm going to continue blogging three to four times a week to help with my SEO and my GEO. They're calling that generative engine optimization, search engine optimization, and generative engine optimization, because I understand that people were going to Google, and if you were not on page one, you were probably not going to get found.

21:40So everyone's like, things like Gemini, you're going to Google and you're typing in your query and what's coming up at top is an AI answer. Why would you now go and click through four or five websites to find an answer when you can get it served to you? So what am I doing to make sure that that content is served? Well, I need to constantly be updating. So one thing is I'm going to make sure that my website is clean and it's easy to crawl. I want AI search engines to crawl it. And I'm also going to make sure that it loads fast and it's actually useful content. I'm going to be creating helpful content that serves up AI so that when somebody is searching for business related content or topics around advisory or topics around holding company, they have the opportunity to find me.

22:22The third thing I'm going to do is my podcast website. So if you go to jasminestarshow.com, it all sits under Jasmine Star, but you can go to jasminestarshow.com. It's actually sitting there on jasminestarshow.com. So when I update my podcast episodes on my website, I'm going to be sure to add readable text and I'm going to make sure that my podcast and websites are searchable. So if somebody is looking for a specific search, like a search term for your business, like the best website builder, or maybe they're looking for something in relation to like my business, like how do I find a strategic business partner?

22:59we need to ask ourselves, does my website deserve to be shown in the AI search engine? Does my website deserve to be on page one? Like, is the content I'm putting out so helpful, so pertinent, so unique, so insightful that it's making people say, wow, this is exactly what I was looking for. If you are saying, why is my business not showing up in AI generative searches? or why am I not on page one of a Google search? Well, you have to ask yourself, what is the searchable content? What's the helpful content? If you want a customer who's like, I'm looking for a content creator, I'm looking for a chef, I'm looking for a bigger, I'm looking for a photographer, what content have you put out that is making Google say, this is the person?