Building marketing websites is both an art and a science. Over the past year at Mainsail Agency, we've had the privilege of creating conversion-optimized websites for various clients, from local businesses to enterprise SaaS companies. Here's what we've learned along the way.
Content is King (But Structure is the Kingdom)
Content remains the core of any successful marketing website. 99% of internet traffic consumes content, while only 1% creates it. Your website visitors arrive because they've been linked to it, searched for you directly, or found you through keyword searches. Without quality content, links, and proper SEO, they simply won't arrive.
The Three Pillars of Website Structure
When we begin working with a new client, we always start with a UX-focused discovery workshop. The structure of your site is the backbone of the entire project. We break this down into three key components:
- Sitemap - What pages exist, in what order, and how they're nested
- Information Architecture - How information is laid out and explained to users on each page
- User Journeys - Where users first land, how they move through the site, and how they convert from cold leads
Information Architecture: Building Trust Block by Block
When you zoom out from the actual content and look at the sentiment in each block, you can see how each site builds trust and ultimately converts visitors. The core part of IA is identifying the structure of the page from top to bottom.
Once that structure is established, you need to look at each block (we call them modules) and figure out how to effectively communicate your message within that module. This depends on the type of information:
- Visual content with explanatory text? Use a 50:50 text and image split module
- Data-heavy content? Consider infographics or interactive elements
- Social proof? Testimonial carousels or case study highlights
User Flows: Every Page is a Front Door
Here's a crucial realization: stop thinking of home pages as the front door of your website. Users are arriving from every angle - they're climbing over the roof, falling in the windows, parachuting into the garden.
Yes, a significant portion of traffic will land on or navigate to your home page, but not all of them. You need to think of your website and content as a journey for each user, regardless of their entry point.
The Natural Progression
A user may search for a problem and land on a specific landing page or blog post. This becomes their first entry point, so you need to decide:
- What is the natural progression of their journey?
- What lane can you move them into for the logical next step?
- How do you guide them down the funnel toward conversion?
The Psychology of Problem-First Marketing
One of the most important lessons we've learned is to speak to problems before solutions. When building trust with a new visitor, show them that you understand their problems and empathize with them. This applies throughout the marketing and sales process.
People tend to search for their problems, not for their solutions. But you can market and speak to both sides:
Problem-Focused Approach
When a user searches for something like "How to get more intro meetings," they should land on a page that:
- Begins with their problem
- Shows you understand it
- Demonstrates how your features solve it
- Links back to deeper feature exploration
Solution-Focused Approach
For users further along their journey searching for "Free appointment scheduling software," they want to see:
- Solutions immediately
- Features prominently displayed
- Clear value propositions
- Easy paths to trial or demo
Flexibility: Your Website Must Evolve
Agility, flexibility, staying lean - these aren't just buzzwords for SaaS business models. Your website needs the same adaptability. Your product will evolve, the market will change, and if your marketing can't keep pace, you'll lose ground.
Key Areas for Flexibility
Brand Evolution Build your website from a component-based design system. When your brand changes, you only need to update the components, and changes cascade throughout the entire site. The alternative? Manually updating every text, button, and input box across dozens of pages.
Content Management Modern marketers need to:
- Update pages, products, and pricing in real-time
- Create new pages without developer intervention
- Build landing pages and blog posts on demand
- Preview changes before publishing
- Manage version history and rollbacks
Integration Flexibility Instead of hard-coding integrations, use webhook-based systems or no-code workflow tools. This allows you to:
- Easily swap CRM systems
- Add or remove analytics tools
- Update form handling logic
- A/B test different conversion flows
The Technology Stack Matters
Success ultimately boils down to how your website is built. This includes CMS choices, frontend frameworks, hosting solutions, and security measures. The right technology stack enables:
- Component-based design systems
- Real-time content updates
- Seamless integrations
- Performance optimization
- Security and compliance
Moving Forward
Building effective marketing websites requires balancing user experience, content strategy, technical implementation, and business goals. The key is creating systems that are both powerful and flexible enough to evolve with your business.
At Mainsail Agency, we've learned that the best websites aren't just beautiful - they're strategic tools designed to grow with your business and convert visitors into customers. Whether you're a local business or an enterprise SaaS company, these principles remain the foundation of digital success.