In this web-driven world, everyone knows you need a website for your business.
But if you’ve ever tried to build a website, you’ve likely been intimidated…
Not by building a website itself…
That’s easy.
But by building a website that is effective.
After all… what the heck is the point of building a website if it’s not going to…
- Drive traffic
- Generate leads
- Make sales
… like clockwork?
That’s the goal.
You don’t just need a website.
You need an asset.
In this guide, we’re going to show you the difference between building a website that is… well, just a website… and building an asset that drives leads and sales for your business.
If you need a quick laugh to help dispel the common illusion that a basic website will get you what you want, check out the video below…
Want to cut to the chase and see how ClickFunnels compares to all other common website builders, email service providers, CRMs, online course creators, etc…?
Then check out these charts.
How to Build a Website the Tough Way
Here’s what really drives home the sting of building a website that doesn’t drive the results your business needs…
It takes forever.
Every building a basic website.
First, you have to purchase a domain. You have to find a domain name that isn’t already taken, and pay a fee to purchase it.
But that’s not all. Once you have a domain, you have to get a hosting company to host your website on their servers. This requires fees as well.
But that’s still not all. You have your domain and hosting, but you still don’t have a website.
There are a couple of different options for building your traditional website.
You could build a custom website which requires an expertise in coding to accomplish, or you could build a website using a content management system that has basic website templates that you can use.
Assuming that as a business owner you don’t have the coding expertise necessary to build your own website, you would need to hire a web developer to build your custom website for you.
Hiring a developer is expensive, and their finished product isn’t built to convert visitors into customers.
The other option, using a popular content management system like WordPress or Shopify, provides limited template options, meaning you end up with a basic website without customizable structure or automation.
Whether you build a custom website or use a CMS, you have to figure out which pages you want your site to consist of and how they will look.
You have to figure out how you will use design elements throughout your website and plan and write the content that will go on each page.
In case you’re not catching on by now, building a website takes a ridiculous amount of work.
If that website ends up being ineffective…
Yeah… yikes.
What you need is a way to build a website easy and fast.
You also need something that gives you all the other tools you need to turn your website into a lead-gen and sales-gen machine.
That’s what we’ve built at ClickFunnels.
Let’s talk about that.
How to Build a Website… the ClickFunnels Way
Want me to show you how easy and fast it is to build a website with ClickFunnels?
Then get yourself a free trial right here (you can cancel anytime) and let’s walk through it together.
First, you can click on “Site and Funnels” and then “Domain” to connect an existing domain or buy a new one…
Don’t worry, though.
If you don’t have a domain yet, we’ll automatically provide you with a free subdomain where you can operate your website and funnels for the timebeing.
Then you can choose a theme from our Theme Marketplace for free — all of these are high-converting.
Then you can use our powerful (patent-pending) drag-and-drop editor to customize your website however you like (within specific restraints to make sure your website still looks nice).
Point is…
Building a website the ClickFunnels way is faster and easier than building a traditional website.
And not only can you build a website.
But you can build sales funnels, a blog, an ecommerce store, a membership site, landing pages, and workflows.
You also get our CRM, analytics, a customer center, the ability to create and sell online courses, and tons more.
(click on the links to learn more about each!)
… all for a single subscription.
But ClickFunnels doesn’t just replace all of those tools… it outperforms them.
Check out, for instance, our TwoCommaClub, where we’ve given out nearly 1,000 awards to members who’ve grown their business to over $1M in revenue.
There’s Jamie Cross…
Natalie Hodson…
Garrett White…
And so many more.
The purpose of ClickFunnels is to provide business owners with everything they need to succeed online.
However…
There’s one question we get more than all the others…
What the Heck is a Sales Funnel?
Let’s look at how a website works.
People come to your website, they look around aimlessly, and then they decide on their own what action they’re going to take. And most of them leave.
The reason that most website visitors leave is because they haven’t been guided.
They’ve been shown a ton of stuff — some content, some products, some ads, some news, and an About Page — but they haven’t been clearly instructed as to what action they should take.
It’s sort of like if someone comes into your brick-and-mortar store… and you don’t greet them, you don’t ask them if you can help, you don’t guide them.
That’s where a sales funnel is different.
Having a sales funnel instead of a website is like having your very best salesperson guide each prospect to conversion.
Except it all happens online… automatically.
Here’s how it works.
Using a sales funnel, each page is intentionally crafted to guide the visitor to the next page and the next action… eventually leading to conversion!
For example…
You can see 6 different real-world examples of sales funnels over here.
You can create sales funnels to…
- Generate leads
- Make sales
- Get new customers
- Grow your email list
- Host a webinar
- Sell AFTER a webinar
- Sell high-ticket services
And pretty much anything else.
You can easily create sales funnels with ClickFunnels — in fact, that’s our bread and butter.
Get yourself a free ClickFunnels account here and I’ll walk you through creating your first lead-gen funnel!
On the left, click on “Site & Funnels”…
Then click on “Funnels”…
In the upper right, click “Create Funnel”…
Then give your funnel a name and choose the URL path…
After you click “Create Funnel”, you’ll be taken to our funnel flow editor where you can add steps and visualize your entire lead-gen funnel.
Click on the + button to add your first step and choose “page”.
Now comes the fun part.
You’ll get immediate access to our massive library of high-converting templates — these are all templates the ClickFunnels community has had success with!
On the left side, you can select your goal which, in this case, is “Opt In”.
Choose the template that best fits your business and offer (don’t overthink it, you’ll be able to make big customizations here soon!) and click it.
Give it a name and create it!
Then click to edit it.
You can then use our patent-pending ultra-powerful drag-and-drop editor to customize your lead-gen funnel however you like!
One Final Tip: The Value Ladder
I have one final tip to offer before our time here comes to a close.
It’s called the Value Ladder.
Russell Brunson introduced the idea of a value ladder in his bestselling book, DotCom Secrets (<– Get a FREE Copy There!).
It’s a template for outlining the path your customers are going to take from signing up for your first lead magnet(s)… to buying middle-tier products… to ascending to the most valuable and expensive offer you have available.
If you understand your value ladder, then you’ll have a much easier time managing your sales funnel — if you don’t, then you’ll struggle to guide customers toward the most natural next step.
Here’s the basic template.
On each step. you have a different product or service — starting with your bait and ending with your highest-ticket offer.
The arrows and dollar signs at the bottom indicate your continuity program. This is the subscription program that people pay you for annually or monthly. It helps you create recurring revenue for your business.
The GOAL is to take people from your bait to the big green dollar sign one step at a time.
Okay.
But what does this actually LOOK LIKE in real life?
Let’s get UBER basic.
Imagine you move to a new city and you’re looking for a dentist. You find a dentist’s office that gives you your first teeth cleaning for free — WOOHOO, you think. Let’s do it.
You’ve been baited.
You go to get your teeth cleaned and the dentist asks if you drink coffee. Why yes you do! How did he know? Because your teeth are stained from years of that brown bean water.
He offers you teeth whitening. You say yes.
You’ve been upsold.
He later asks you if you used to wear braces. Right again! He mentions that teeth often slowly shift back from people who had braces when they were younger and that yours are starting to shift.
You ask if he can fix it.
He says he can build a retainer for you to keep them in place. You won’t even notice it.
Let’s do it, you say.
You’ve been upsold AGAIN.
Get the point?
You were baited with his free offer (ethically), and then upsold on things that you didn’t even know you needed!
So.
What does your value ladder look like?
Take some time to outline it — this will help you understand how you draw people into your ecosystem and, just as importantly, how you ascend them toward your highest-ticket offers.
Who Wins?
ClickFunnels wins.
And we aren’t trying to be mean about it.
But the number of tools you get under a single subscription with ClickFunnels is incomparable to all other online tools.
Don’t believe me?
That’s fine.
I’m thick-skinned.
I’d just ask that you check out these charts and then get yourself a 14-day free trial. Then you can tell me who you think is the winner. 😉
I definitely agree that everyone should build their website the easy way and with a value ladder in mind…
because without the value ladder you don't know where to start in product-wise. you will always be wondering what products is the right price or if the audience will buy it…
Also, it's effective to build a website that it's structured as a funnel because in the end not everyone that lands on your website will buy and that's where the funnel comes in. it collects the emails of prospects and filters out the buyers from the non-buyers and in the end, your email list is always the most important thing in your business.
Thanks for sharing the such great info. How much does Clickfunnels charge after trial date….??? And I know it will be a continual relationship between myself and Clickfunnels, what else would I be missing? As to future on going high prices. Ball park speaking. Great tips love it seen it in my mind but couldn't explain it to myself and now I get it…Thank again. Good luck "Launching soon"
Hi Carolyn, Clickfunnels has 2 price points depending on the features you need and they are $97 and $297. Both membership levels include the Funnelflix training video collections. The Platinum ($297) level includes an affiliates management tool if you have affiliates. The Follow up Funnels email automations are included at the Platinum level.
John, great article. Very informative and ta on tactical building a funnel in clickfunnels.
Also, great info graphic!
thank you! great info, very helpful info. I will definitely recommend it to to my friends.
This gave me much information about click funnels. Thank you, sir, for this informative article.
Thank you very interesting would defo invite friends
To be sincere, Building a website is a daunting process full of potential pitfalls. Anyway Great article very very informative.
Hopefully this pitfalls will be reduced to the lowest with click funnel.
Nice
I love seeing new ideals. 2020 is going to be the year to sink or swim . I'm glad you guys are on board with us to swim.
Its amazing article and helped me to create a beautiful website.
we are waiting to get assistance to launch pwgenesis. a fashion design and clothing outfit we are small but we need your help asap. pwgenesis@gmail.com
Mr. Ammadou Gibson – Chair
929-342-7579
I like what you do and known about your company for sometime. However, I have forgotten what exactly you do and I was reminded of a video I've watched about your company. I then decided to check your company out. Here I'm leaving a comment. Would you like me to leave a comment or a constructive criticism about my first impression about your website? Let me know please. If yes please email me, I will come back to your site here and leave my comments. Thank you! I will definitely come back to your site.
How much does it cost?
Hi Julius I hope this price chart helps! ttps://www.clickfunnels.com/signupchart
clickfunnels is one of the best landing page snd funnel builder out there on the market. However you still need a full fledged website depending on the industry and your objectives.
I am not able for 14 day trial says member so it blocks me from joining tryin to launch product. Because my business had before c9vid was hands on now trying to do both digital and assist vets elderly and broken on and off line while creating products to sell online of my own in attire lisa loves and others products affliate links
Hi Lisa thank you for letting us know it sounds like you've really been through a lot. Please send in a support ticket by emailing support to support@clickfunnels.com. We hope this gets solved for you quickly. Take care.
Useful comparison John.
One question.
Creation of content and Content marketing is essential to reduce or avoid reliance on Google Ads or other forms of Paid Search Engine Marketing. Can a website built with Click Funnels include a Blog Page to host created content?
Engaging useful Content is an essential element of building an e-mail list, a list of potential future customers and attracting potential customers a Business. That Content can of course form part of a Funnel.
BRGDS,
Paul
Paul, we do have a blog post I think can help you with this. https://www.clickfunnels.com/blog/blog-posts-and-funnels/ Thank you for being such a great member of the community! I hope this helps!
Hi
I put my website address in the above box but it does not recognise it.
Can funnels be implemented now after I’ve already done the website??
Sudip, absolutely funnels can be implemented after you've already done your website! Many of our members have both. Websites are great for building SEO and as a permanent web presence they give you a professional appearance. Funnels are more dynamic. With funnels you aren't waiting for your audience to find you, you're actively pursuing your audience and leading them strategically thru the steps you want them to follow to convert them from a lead to a customer. I hope this helps! Keep moving forward.
great information. very concise.
would like to sign up under a person who is passionate about Click Funnels. who will be able to assist. I know I have to do my homework and work really hard, and that is my responsibility to set and reach my goals: I am not going to be texting and bothering for any inconvenience I find, but sometimes I am going to need some guidance.
I like your idea let me have some more information.
Thank you for commenting, we feel the best way to learn how ClickFunnels can help you grow your business is by scheduling a free demo call. You can book this or someone on your team can by following this link: https://demos.clickfunnels.com/schedule3 This software works for all niches and all businesses. We look forward to supporting you!
I am interested let Me have some more information on how to get in on Click Funnels.
My Email is: athelhart198@gmail.com
You can book this or someone on your team can by following this link: https://demos.clickfunnels.com/schedule3 This software works for all niches and all businesses. We look forward to supporting you!
Your keen presentation has hit the mark. After so many websites building and hosting, over the years, I have spent thousands of dollars without making one sale.
Now I am convinced Click Funnel is the way to go.
Simeon, I would encourage you to take our One Funnel Away 30 day challenge to get started. The One Funnel Away Challenge is a fabulous product that will walk you through daily actionable steps to create and launch your own sales funnel within 30 days. It includes support, community and motivation to keep you moving forward. https://onefunnelaway.com/challenge-b
Hi this is Suzana Tanevski I just want to know if you can set up and launch t me a automate funnel that would run on to promote ads on affiliate and auto pilot as I am just starting my new Suzana Online Ecommerce Business
Good luck with your new business. Thank you for commenting, we feel the best way to learn how ClickFunnels can help you grow your business is by scheduling a free demo call. You can book this or someone on your team can by following this link: https://demos.clickfunnels.com/schedule3 This software works for all niches and all businesses. We look forward to supporting you!
I already have a website, though it is in serious need of reworking, which I am doing presently.
I need another website as an adjunct to my present one, and am looking at click funnels. What would be VERY useful would be so actually SEE websites designed by click funnels clients. A picture (or two) tell a "thousand words", as I hope you are aware!
Q.1 Can I put MUSIC on my site eg Come and See without having to link to something externally (such as YouTube or Sound Cloud
Q2. Q. Can I put pdfs on my site eg Come and See (notated music) without having to link to something externally? ((such as YouTube, or sync.com)
Many thanks,
Donald
Can I schedule a brief call with a sales professional or one of your insultants?
I am interested in the value your approach provides.
Respectfully,
William J Sheppard
917-703-9039
Thank you for commenting, we feel the best way to learn how ClickFunnels can help you grow your business is by scheduling a free demo call. You can book this or someone on your team can by following this link: https://demos.clickfunnels.com/schedule3 This software works for all niches and all businesses. We look forward to supporting you!
John: This is an exceptionally well prepared presentation. Congratulations!
Antonio F. Granados
Colonel ( Retired)
US ARMY Veteran
Thanks for the awesome feedback!
Interested in building a funnel.