What’s the difference between a funnel and a website?
When I started my online business, I was always hearing the words often.
Website and Funnel.
My initial impression was a funnel at the end of the day is a website. So, what's the fuss about a funnel?
And why influential people like Russel Brunson are saying websites are dead and funnels are the right way to build an online business.
Because in my mind, a funnel is a website.
But then, I started reading more about it and watched a lot of videos, and read a bunch of articles written by marketing influencers and online marketers.
And I came to one conclusion.
A funnel is still a website.
But it's a lot different from what we traditionally call a website.
So, let’s look at the key differences between a traditional website and a funnel.
Funnels are distraction-free
Carefully look at the following two images.
What’re the differences between these images you’re able to spot?
In the first image, you can see there’s a menu, then there are multiple different links, and the visitor on the website can take different actions depending on what they perceive is valuable.
So, on the first website, if I want people to fill up the form and do nothing else, then that’s not going to happen as I’m distracting them with multiple links.
This is one of the key differences between the first image and the second image.
In the second image, there is no distraction. There is only one action that a visitor can take.
We aren’t distracting them with multiple links and options to get out of the page.
So, as you can see funnels provide a distraction-free experience. And compel the visitor on the website to take one and only one action.
There's a saying in sales and marketing; a confused mind always says no.
And when you’re giving too many distractions, you’re essentially confusing your visitor.
So, a funnel is kind of like a jail. Either you fill up the form or do whatever call to action has been set up or get out. There’s no third option for you.
Linear movement
Let’s look at the link map of the traditional website.
I can go from the home page to the about me page, then from about me, I can go to a contact page then back to the home page maybe.
This whole sequence is not linear and the visitor can jump from one page to another and we have no control over it.
Understand this, it’s not a bad thing that a visitor is going to multiple pages on your website, but when we want the users to take one action, it’s not possible to do so because we have no control over the movement.
Whereas looking at the link map of a funnel.
A visitor can go only in one direction. They can’t take a detour.
So, when conversion is the focus, funnels will prove they’re far more effective than a traditional website design.
Focussed
We tend to and want to put as much as services or products we’re providing on one single page.
We think that a visitor coming to your website should get to know everything about you. And they should not miss out on a single point.
This is the biggest blunder you can make when your focus is on conversions.
For example, you’re providing physiotherapy services to elite athletes, geriatric people and working professionals.
Imagine if a visitor who is an elite athlete comes to your page, and see you’re providing services to athletes, the elderly and working professionals.
They scroll through the page, and they see most of the testimonials are from geriatric people.
Then that person will think, you’re providing generic services and your focus is not on elite athletes.
Therefore, a page that’s dedicated only to elite athletes should be there, with a focus only on one thing.
There should be a call to action that will allow them to book a call with you.
Now, this page is a funnel. Because it talks only about one service to a particular segment of people and the information on the website is not scattered.
But if you’re running a blog on physiotherapy, then you need a website and then a funnel won’t help you out.
You need to understand what’s your use case.
Conversion
The sole purpose of a funnel is to get conversions. If your goal is conversion and if you’re using a traditional website then the conversion rate is going to suffer.
A website can have multiple goals. You may want people to read your blog. Or listen to your podcast, watch your videos or read case studies.
It can be anything.
And, as I said, a website is great for a blog, podcast, events, video gallery, and case studies etc.
But if you want people to book a call with you, then you need a funnel and not a traditional website.
But are websites dead?
There’s a lot of marketing noise out there. Companies providing funnel-building software are calling websites dead.
But, are they dead?
No. They’re not.
We talked about use cases and goals. If the goal is to get more conversions, then go for a funnel, but if the goal is to make people read your blog or go through different services you’re providing, then a website is what you need.
Start building your funnel for free.
Now you can start building your funnel for free. Systeme.io provides free-to-use software using which you can create your funnels, create a blog, host courses, do email marketing and whatnot.
So, click on the button below and start building your first funnel for free and you don’t need to be a tech ninja to use this.
Anyone with basic knowledge of the internet and browser can start to build their funnel.
Go ahead and click on the button and leverage the power of a funnel for FREE.
