5 Things your coaching website needs (revisited)
In 2016, I created this video about the 5 Things Your Website Absolutely Needs.
Almost 3 years later, the tips that I’ve shared are still completely relevant. However, as businesses change (particularly your business and mine), I wanted to expand on the useful content in this video.
So here we go!
1) Important Content … First
In the video, I talked about putting your most important content ‘above the fold’ on your website. You have only 6 seconds to make an impression before your visitor decides to stay or leave.
Therefore, if you place your most important content high on the page before someone needs to scroll down, you have a greater likelihood of keeping that person’s attention.
I would like to add that not only do you prioritize your important content, you make sure that you know what’s important to your visitor. If you don’t know you can look to see what questions that they are having (whether it’s in your own online space or elsewhere), what your competitors are talking about, and what you are being asked to deliver.
Most people (yourself included), want to know “What’s in it for me?” <– answer that question first.
Don’t make the mistake of leaving this questions unanswered.
2) Show Your Face
I used to work with clients that were hesitant to put their photos on their website. Why?
If you are a coach , speaker, or consultant, you are delivering a highly personalized service in which YOU are the product.
Would you invest over $1,000 with a coach if you don’t even know (at a minimum) what they looked like?
I am adding that you not only need a photo, but a professional photo – by a photographer with the right lighting, positioning, and retouching. Why? Because you need to position your self as a professional. You are someone worth investing in.
There are many ways to get an affordable head shot. Try Groupon or ask around for pricing. Seek out an up and coming photographer or student if you are on a budget. If you have a larger budget, you can invest in a longer photoshoot with a varied assortment of headshot and lifestyle photos.
Make sure you appear approachable and uncross your arms. SMILE!
Be sure to include your photo on your ‘Home’ page and your ‘About’ page.
3) A strong call to action
I always ask my clients, “What would you like your visitors to do?” I usually get 3 or 4 answers.
This is fine. However, you want to avoid giving your visitors too many choices. Too many choices are confusing.
Instead, identify ONE thing that you want them to do, and build your website around that. For example, if you ultimately want someone to book a discovery call with you, then you should make this the main call to action on your website.
In addition to what I’ve talked about in the video, you also want to make it easy to take action. If it’s submitting a form, let the user know what to do and what to expect next. You should be able to answer the question “Why should I do this?”
Tell your visitor the benefits of taking the action (and maybe the consequence of NOT taking the action)
You want to be very specific. “Click here”, “Sign Up”, “Download” are weak calls to action. We click, submit, and download all day. How will taking action on your website make an impact on the visitor?
4) One page, one purpose
Cut down the clutter.
I don’t see this much anymore, but I did mention in the video. They idea is to have one purpose for each page. (And where should the visitor go next?)
For example, if you offer unrelated services, you should have a single page for each type of services. This will make it clear what you offer, as well as give your visitor a clear next step.
Think of each page like this: “Why does this page exist? How does this page help my business? What do I want someone to do wit this information?”
Bonus: Make use of sub headlines to separate your content and make it scannable. it’s a quick way to help someone determine what your page is about – and stay to read.
5) Analyze, Analyze, Analyze …
If you are not measuring, then you have no idea what’s working. Fortunately, there are several tools that make it easy to see how your website is performing.
I recommend Google analytics because it’s 100% free. It’s robust and fairly straightforward in some regards. The most important thing you need to know is how many visitors you’re getting at a minimum.
And what’s the bounce rate? How many pages they’re clicking through on your site and which pages on the most popular? I say those are the main performance metrics that I would look at.
But then there’s just so much more like goal conversions and funnels. But at a minimum you need to know how your site is performing because if something’s under performing you can change it. And if something’s performing really well, you could just do more of that. But you need to have analytics to really know any of that information.
Sometime’s it’s easier to stay busy than to look at your results. However, I’d like to challenge you to keep your eyes open and don’t overly judge your performance. Make a plan to improve because you are now armed with knowledge. (and knowing is 50% of the effort)
Keep enjoying the process
Yes,, these are the things your website needs. However, you should give yourself permission to enjoy your continuous improvement. Part of the enjoyment is getting help for the things that you want to do. You don’t need to do it alone!
What if you could get a FREE 30 min strategy call to talk about your business, your goals, and anything you may be struggling with. Wonder no more.
Want to implement some of the improvements in this post? Book a strategy call with me now.
Until next time!
Don’t have a site? Wanna revamp your current site? Or just liked the video?
Book a strategy call now, or you’ll get a lump of coal in your stocking!
