The way you present your services online can make or break your business.
For service-based businesses, it’s not just about listing what you offer on your website; it’s about showcasing your services in a way that clearly directs website visitors to the most relevant area of your website, so that they can find out how you can help them as quickly as possible.
My 3 bucket method is a way to structure your website that helps visitors self-select, reduces decision fatigue, and moves potential clients along their journey towards working with you.
The power of three
You might have one signature service, or you might offer services across a dozen different areas. But the idea behind my 3 bucket method is to immediately give visitors a choice of 3 options (or buckets), as soon as they land on your website.
Three really is the magic number, as it gives the website visitor enough options to make them feel fully catered for, without overwhelming them with choices.
(Want more info? There have been numerous studies carried out about our innate love of the number three. Here’s an interesting article about the power of three when it comes to addressing decision makers within a marketing strategy.
The purpose of the three buckets is to immediately address the various motives and interests of your website visitors, and guide them to the area of the website where
- you can tailor your messaging so that it speaks directly to them
- they can get the information they need as quickly as possible
Creating your buckets
The trick to the 3 bucket method when it comes to structuring your website is to figure out the best ways to help your visitors self-direct. This really depends on your business and what you offer, so here are some examples:
Example A: You have one flagship service and one main client type, but offer optional add-ons
- Bucket 1. A free ‘lead magnet’
- Bucket 2. Your core offer
- Bucket 3. Additional services
Example B: You have one type of client, but their needs vary - you offer different services to cater to this
- Bucket 1. Ongoing retainer work
- Bucket 2. Project work
- Bucket 3. One off consultations
Example C: You offer services for different sizes of businesses - each size has different needs
- Bucket 1. Services for solo biz owners
- Bucket 2. Services for small businesses
- Bucket 3. Services for larger companies
Example D: You specialise in one thing, but your mode of delivery depends on what the client wants
- Bucket 1. Do it yourself (could be free or low-ticket)
- Bucket 2. Done with you (mid-ticket)
- Bucket 3. Done for you (hight-ticket)
Example E: You offer one main service, but your clients come from different, distinct areas
- Bucket 1. Specialty area 1
- Bucket 2. Specialty area 2
- Bucket 3. Specialty area 3
One page per bucket
I recommend creating one page for each bucket.
Each of these pages would go into more detail about the contents of that bucket, whether that's one specific offer, or a group of relevant services. Splitting your buckets into 3 different pages has a variety of benefits:
Language and messaging: Wheras the wording on your homepage needs to be general enough to address all client types and their needs, you can tailor the language on a bucket page to address the problems of this specific website visitor, at this specific point in their buyer journey.
Relevant information: The visitor will get information completely relevant to them, without having to wade through a bunch of stuff they don't need.
Search Engine Optimisation: Google displays individual pages in the search results, not entire websites. By creating a page which is focused around a specific service or area within your business, search engines are more likely to understand what it's about, and show it to people searching for that specific thing.
Displaying your services on your website
A really great way to display your 3 buckets is to create an ‘at a glance’ section on the website homepage (as shown in the examples below). This section would link to the page for each bucket. The 'at a glance' section lets visitors see a quick comparison of what you can offer and allows them to self-select, depending on what their needs are.
Let’s take a look at some real examples from Pie Heart Studio website clients:
Tracy from The Marketing Depot described herself as a ‘marketing generalist’ when we met. Although she offers multiple, extensive services, we used the 3 bucket method to group them into logical buckets and direct her website visitors to the most relevant area for them:
Rachel White, sports dietitian, has different types of clients with different needs. Using the 3 bucket method, we grouped her services so that it’s very clear where website visitors need to go, depending on their requirements:
And then Joanna Injore, a cancer dietitian, offers the same service (1:1 consultations) to all her clients, but because they have very different symptoms and needs, her three buckets reflect this:
Further categorisation
After grouping your services into three logical buckets, there might not be any need for any further clarification or categorisation. But often it’s useful to give potential clients a little more choice over how they work with you.
For example, Tracy from The Marketing Depot needed to further group her services into packages, to provide some structure and clarity to her offering:
Rachel, the sports dietitian, offers a 3-session package as standard for her ‘Event Day Nutrition’ service, but also offers a one-off consultation for quick support:
Packages are a great way to add some structure and clarity to your services. Packaging up your offerings minimises the amount of decision-making your potential clients have to do, and makes it much easier for them to take action towards working with you.
Reflecting your buckets in your main navigation menu
Your main navigation menu should be another way visitors can see exactly what your business offers at a glance, without even having to scroll or click.
(Read my article on how to build a super user-friendly nav menu)
Each of your buckets should be clearly visible in your main navigation. Depending on what the buckets are (and how many tabs you have in your menu) it may be best to group them into a drop-down list, as shown below:
Not sure how to implement the 3 bucket method?
Sometimes you know you need to streamline your services, website structure, or menu navigation but you just have no idea how to go about it.
You might be looking at my 3 bucket method, thinking that there’s no way this can apply to your type of services.
I promise, there will be a way.