Is Your Website Truly Working for Your Coaching Business?

Is your website actually doing its job?

I ask because there is a difference between just having a website and having a website that actually works for your business, helping to turn prospects into clients.

Here are some tips to help you elevate your website so that it can work harder for your business.

Make a Great First Impression

• Minimize loading time. When prospects click on the link to your website, how long does it take for the site to load? Research suggests that 40 percent of p­­eople will abandon a website that takes more than three seconds to appear, so make sure to check your site’s loading speed using a tool such as Pingdom and make the suggested adjustments if needed.
• Ensure mobile responsiveness. With the majority of people now accessing the internet via mobile devices, it’s become imperative to have a mobile-responsive website. Otherwise, your site will not be easy to use for those accessing it from the small screen of a mobile device, and Google’s search algorithms will penalize your site with a lower ranking in search results, making it harder for people to find you online. You can check the responsiveness of your website using a tool such as HubSpot’s Website Grader.
• Optimize “above the fold” content. People will quickly click away from a website if the first things they see on the screen give them the impression they might not be in the right place. The “above the fold” content—the content that is visible on the screen when someone first lands on your site before scrolling down—needs to be customized to entice and resonate with your ideal clients. Let the right people know they’re in the right place and should explore your site further by using language that your ideal clients use and by including imagery that reflects who they are or who they aspire to become.

Help Your Prospects Get to Know, Like and Trust You

• Show your face. Given the high-touch, personal nature of coaching, one of the main purposes of your website is to build the “know,” “like” and “trust” factors with the right prospects. There’s no faster way to do this than with high-quality, authentic photos and videos of you. Let your website visitors see exactly who they’ll be meeting at each of their coaching sessions, and they’ll begin to envision themselves working with you.
• Display your expertise. Let your prospects know they’re in safe hands by including “credibility indicators” (signs that others already trust you) on your website. These could include highlighting the qualifications you’ve earned, such as an ICF Credential; posting photos or videos of you speaking at events; or publishing thought leadership on your own site.
• Share testimonials. You can powerfully illustrate the results people can get from working with you by posting short, descriptive testimonials from past clients (with their permission, of course) throughout your website. Don’t just publish the types of testimonials that say things like, “I love working with coach Barbara. She’s amazing!” (though those are nice, too). Publish the ones that really showcase coaching impacts. (For example, “After coaching with Barbara, I’m much more confident speaking up in front of my team. I trust myself more and don’t second-guess every decision I make.”)

Encourage Prospects to Take Action

• Focus on benefits. Economist Theodore Levitt famously said, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” In the same vein, our clients don’t want coaching, they’re looking for a solution to their problems. When you point out the results and benefits prospects can get from coaching, you’ll make a much stronger case for engaging with you.
• Create clear calls to action (CTAs). Now that you’ve gotten them excited about the prospect of working with you, what action do you ultimately want your website visitors to take? Make a purchase? Give you a call? Schedule a consultation with you? Whatever it is, state it clearly and make it easy for people to do.
• Minimize clutter. On each page of your website ask yourself, “What do I want prospects to know and what do I want them to do?” Make sure that the content on each page addresses those questions and that no distracting extra ”stuff” is packed in there. Remember, a confused mind does nothing, so it’s best to limit the number of CTAs on each page to one—maybe two—to make decision-making easier.