5 Key Website Ingredients for Startups to Attract Investors

When you want to attract investors for your startup, its important to have several key ingredients on your website. After all, you want to show them that you’re serious about your business and that you have all the necessary tools in place to succeed.

But what are these essential factors startup websites absolutely must have to attract investors?

Journey with us as we discuss the 5 key ingredients startups need to include on their website for investors to take notice.

1. Unique value proposition

The first thing your site needs is a unique value proposition. Clearly communicate what you do and what makes you different from the competition. This is where you make your case for why investors should choose to back your startup over others.

We recommend using the Story Brand framework to craft your value proposition. But what is that, exactly?

Donald Miller’s StoryBrand Framework captivated the world with its presence in his best-selling book, Building a Story Brand. Listeners have also gained insight from both his podcast and workshops as he further dives into this innovative concept.

This framework will help you craft a message that resonates with your customers. Too many businesses rely on showcasing their features, when really what people care about are the benefits of using them. Don’t make this mistake – ensure that your website communicates the advantages to potential buyers. 

To leverage the StoryBrand Framework, start with a hero (your customer) who has a problem (the villian), then explain what your solution is and how it will make their life better.

2. Social proof & Industry proof

Your next course of action is to bolster the social proof and industry proof on your website. Doing so can help to attract investors and give an overall better impression of your startup website.

To do this, you might wish to include some of the following:

  • Testimonials: If a customer has had a positive experience with your startup, showcase their feedback on your website. This can help to build trust with potential customers and investors.
  • Press: Highlight any press coverage that your company has earned. This can further legitimize your business and make investors more likely to want to move forward with you.
  • Data: Present data that showcases the success of your business or how it is outperforming its competitors. This can help to illustrate that your business is worth investing in.
  • Quotes from experts in your industry: Reach out to professionals in your field and ask them for quotes or feedback on your startup. This can be included directly on your website to provide social proof.
  • Reviews of your product or service: If customers have left reviews on any other platform, such as Google or Yelp, then add them to your website as well.

You need to build your trust and authority in the minds of the potential investors. If you have the approval and backing of other people, investors are more likely to come on board.

3. Highlight your team’s expertise

Another thing startup websites can do to attract investors is to highlight the team’s expertise. By showing off your core team’s leadership and experience, it will make investors more likely to want to invest in your company.

This can be done by showcasing each team member’s credentials, certifications, and accomplishments. You can also include a brief bio for each team member to provide additional information about their career, expertise, and overall qualifications.

If you have any awards or official recognition, be sure to include them as well. This will further demonstrate your team’s capabilities and prowess in the business world.

You can also use this information to communicate your startups brand personality, whether including personal facts about team members or having serious corporate photos. How you choose to present this information says a lot about who you are as a company.

Take a look at the Team page on the website we built for Theia Imaging. Here, each member of the team is featured alongside a professional image, bio, and social media links.

Theia Imaging Team page

This conveys a lot about the company all in one place and would give an investor a great deal of information on which to form a first impression of the company as a whole.

Ultimately, you want to show that your team is capable of taking your startup to the next level and achieving success. Investors will be looking for this information, so make sure it is readily available and easy to find.

4. Contact information

Your contact information should be easily found and accessible on your website as well. In fact, it should be included in your site’s primary navigation menu. This will make it easier for potential investors to reach out to you with questions or inquiries about your startup.

At a minimum, your contact information should include a general email address and telephone number.

Lead capture forms are also a great way to collect inquiries and increase potential investor leads. Include forms on your website that allow visitors to input their name, email address, and other contact information. You can then use this data to reach out and make initial contact with potential investors.

Include social media channels as well if you are posting to them regularly. This can help to further establish your presence and brand online.

None of this needs to be extravagantly presented. In fact, sometimes simplest is best.

Just take a look at the website we built for Theia Imaging, yet again. “Contact Us” is featured prominently in the primary navigation at the top of the website, which then takes you to a super simple lead generation form:

Theia Imaging Contact Us

You can find further contact info in the site’s footer as well:

Theia Imaging Footer

5. Professional web design

The fifth and final ingredient for an investor-worthy website is to secure a professional web design. Don’t go cheap on your website when you’re trying to attract investors. They want to see a professional website that builds trust and communicates you have your act together. Investors also want to see you have confidence to come up with ideas and actually execute on them.

Along with an aesthetically pleasing design that’s also functional, consider including interactive content and media to flex your media muscles and demonstrate your brand is current with the latest design trends. Think about using video backgrounds, animation, and interactive buttons and site elements.

Such elements are present on the site we built for Point 41 Capital Partners. When scrolling down the homepage, parallax animations reveal more content to the visitor:

Point 41 Capital Partners

Engaging videos are always good to include as well. Video has become one of the most effective ways to build a rapport with visitors and create long-term relationships. Plus, video content is more engaging than plain text. So whether it’s a product demo, interview, animated sales pitch, webinar, conference presentation, or something else entirely, adding video to your website could be the thing that makes it stand out to potential investors.

Need assistance?

You don’t have to do everything yourself. And when it comes to creating startup websites, we know a thing or two. We’ve worked with a  number of startups to help them build a professional online presence and website to attract venture capitalists and investors. Contact us for a free quote today.

We focus on beautiful web design that delivers results for your organization. Our specialty is creating customized WordPress websites.

About Us

Johnny Flash Productions

Johnny Flash Productions is a creative agency based outside of Washington D.C. that focuses on digital strategy, web design and development, graphic design and event production that helps businesses get better results from their marketing.