If you search the web for "how to build your personal branding website" you'll discover endless, identical listicle articles to choose from.
Hundreds of inspiring ideas to skim and immediately forget…
This guide is different.
Today, we'll explore how to actually build an effective personal branding website, step-by-step.
The goal of this article is to help you feel confident creating your own successful website to promote your personal brand business.
Let's get started!
Why You Need A Personal Branding Website
A personal, branded website is very different from a local, product or content-led business.
Yes, your long-term business goal is to sell products but to achieve this, your website goal should be starting and nurturing a relationship with your audience.
Everything on a successful personal brand website should be geared towards helping your audience know, like, and trust you.
It doesn't matter what you sell. YOU are the product
In any given industry, there are probably hundreds of similar products available to buy.
Yoga courses, nutrition plans, online marketing workshops, language tuition... these products can't compete on their own unless they're exceptional, unique, or supported with a large advertising budget.
But you have something that no one else does – You!
Your face, your personality, your voice, your story.
This focus on the person – not the product – is what defines a great personal brand website.
Your personal website needs to showcase you in a professional and trustworthy way.
It's one thing to tell people they can trust you, but it's far more effective to show that others have trusted you in the past!
Keep reading to learn the key steps to creating a personal, branded website that catches your target audience’s attention & piques their interest in your business.
How to Build a Personal Branding Website to Boost Your Business
1. Download & Install Thrive Suite
A successful personal branding website needs to look great, load quickly and provide your site visitors with a stress-free user experience.
Part of a “stress-free user experience” includes a website that is easy to navigate, clearly communicates its value, and gives your site visitors a reason to keep interacting with your content.
To achieve this, you need to build your personal website with the right set of tools. One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face is finding a reliable set of plugins that work well together…and don’t cost an arm and a leg.
If you’re looking for high-quality plugins that are compatible with one another and can help you create an impressive personal branding website…you need Thrive Suite.
Thrive Suite contains the plugins and site-building templates you need to build your personal branding website…without writing a single line of code.
Build a professional-looking website that leaves your visitors feeling impressed and eager to learn more about your products and services.
No scrappy templates or features – when we say our plugins and templates are high-quality we mean it.
With Thrive Suite you can…
Build a stunning, professional-looking websites with our library of customizable templates and intuitive theme builder
Grow your email list with our library of 400+ opt-in forms
Design engaging quizzes to generate leads & segment your audience
Build an impressive membership site, online course platform – or both
Collect, manage, and showcase customer testimonials from one place
Moderate comments, boost reader engagement & build a community right on your blog posts
Create smart automations to connect your website with your favorite tools
… and so much more.
2. Activate Thrive Theme Builder & Create Your Site’s Structure in Minutes
Thrive Theme Builder is our marketing-focused site-building plugin that helps you create your website’s structure in less than 10 minutes. And you get immediate access to it when you purchase Thrive Suite.
You can also buy it on its own, or with Thrive Architect, our drag-and-drop page-building plugin. But you get the most value out of this tool when you combine it with the other powerful site-building plugins you get with Thrive Suite.
Once you’ve activated Thrive Theme Builder, you’ll need to select a theme for your website. Each theme comes with a set of fully-customizable, professionally-designed templates that are perfect for your brand – no matter what niche you’re in.
Here are a few examples of the templates you get access to, when you use Thrive Theme Builder, to create your personal brand website:
After you’ve selected a theme, you’ll be directed to the Thrive Theme Builder Setup Wizard.
By the time you’ve completed the Wizard, you’ll have set up the following:
Selecting your main brand color
Picking a conversion-focused header
Selecting a Homepage template
Picking a Single Blog Post template
Choosing a Blog Post List template
Selecting a Page template
Choosing a Menu template
By the end of the Setup Wizard, you'll have created a clean site structure that you can now go in and customize using Thrive Architect.
3. Create & Customize Your Core Pages
The following pages are must-haves for your personal branding website:
- A clean, conversion-focused homepage that creates a great first impression & communicates who you are and what you do.
- An about page to provide more detail on who you are, your expertise, and your values. This is a great place to explain your motivation for becoming the coach, consultant, entrepreneur, or creator you are.
- An engaging blog to share business updates, valuable insights, and other content to solidify your position as a thought leader in your industry.
- A portfolio page to showcase your best work as a writer, photographer, designer, developer, etc.
- A services or "Work with Me" page to display the products or services you offer, their prices, features, benefits, etc.
- A testimonials/reviews page to showcase the glowing testimonials you've received from your clients and customers
- A contact page to make it super easy for interested potential clients or customers to ask you questions or request additional information.
Creating a new page for your WordPress website is super straightforward.
In the WordPress Dashboard, select the "+ New" button at the top of the page and select "Page".
When taken to the next screen, name your page and select the bright green "Launch Thrive Architect" button.
Thrive Architect will provide you with four options:
1. Normal Page
2. Blank Page with Header and Footer
3. Completely Blank Page
4. Pre-built Landing Pages
To create clean, conversion-focused pages that are aligned with the website structure you built in Thrive Theme Builder, we recommend the "Pre-built Landing Page" option.
In the Landing Page Library, you can select a Smart Landing Page from any of our companion themes.
Our Smart Landing Page sets are designed to help you create stunning, conversion-focused pages in minutes.
It's as simple as perusing the Landing Page Library, finding a landing page template you like, selecting it, and customizing its design to fit your branding.
Watch this video to learn how to use smart landing page sets like a design pro:
And if you want a full, step-by-step tutorial on how to create the best landing pages on your website, watch this video from Tony:
Key Elements of a Successful Personal Branding Website
Thrive Theme Builder helps you create clean structure for your website and Thrive Architect helps ensure that your pages convince your site visitors to take action.
Thrive Architect's Page Block templates are one of the most powerful features inside Thrive Architect that you can use to quickly customize and optimize your pages for conversions.
With this drag-and-drop page builder, you can easily make sure your site has all the key elements of a successful, personal branding website:
Clear, compelling headlines to capture your audience's attention
Hero section to create a great first impression
Relevant, appealing images to show off who you are and what you do
Copy that connects with your audience & tells a compelling story
Testimonials to establish credibility and win trust
Detailed benefits to showcase the value of your offer
Clear call-to-actions to prompt your audience to take action e.g. “sign up for my mailing list”, “Take a quiz”, “Book a consultation or appointment”, “Click to call or email”, etc.
FAQ sections to answer your potential customers' questions
Frequently Asked: How to Build a Personal Branding Website
FAQs
Q: What should be included in a personal brand website?
A: Your personal brand website must have:
- Unique branding to make your brand stand out - a distinct logo, specific color scheme, etc.
- Clear, compelling copy that communicates who you are, what you do, and why your target audience can trust you
- High-quality images that show who you are (to build trust)
- Social proof from previous clients or customers
- Clear Calls-to-Action to encourage your audience to further interact with you and your business
Q: What is a personal brand website?
A: Your personal brand website is your digital business card. It’s also your central hub for the content you create, the products & services you offer, and where your audience comes to learn more about you.
Q: Why create a personal brand website?
A: Building a professional-looking personal brand website is a great way to build an engaged audience that engages with your content, showcases your business, grows your mailing list, creates your own membership network to share exclusive content, and so much more.
A personal brand website helps separate you from your competitors and draw your target audience in with your dazzling personality.
Next Steps: Build Your Personal, Branded Website Today
A personal brand website can be so much more than a glorified business card or resume. You are a multi-faceted person with a unique message – your website should be too.
The challenge with personal brands is showcasing the hero of the story, while being driven by the needs of your audience. But with the right tools (read: Thrive Suite) and steps to creating a personal website your audience will love…
You can overcome any site-building challenges and put your brand’s best foot forward.
For more content on how to build an impressive, conversion-focused WordPress website, check out these free resources:
Your visitors want to learn about your story, and they want to feel a connection before they're ready to buy your product.
So use the tools at your disposal to show them who you are and why they’ll benefit from your products and services.
