This is a guest blog post written by George Karris. Want to contribute? Check out the 2016 publishing calendar.

As a coach, your website is likely your most important tool for bringing in new customers.

Or at least it should be.

I have met far too many coaches who have beautiful, yet ineffective websites.

In this article, I’m going to give you three solutions to help improve the performance of your website.

(As well, here is a video by my partner Lynda Wallace discussing this issue below, which can also found at www.askarealcoach.com).

The core problem is that most coaches have websites designed by marketing firms (or friends with technology skills), that have no knowledge or understanding of how to build a website that attracts coaching clients.

The problem is so bad that I can tell almost immediately whether or not a coach’s website is bringing in new clients or not.

The solution isn’t an overly sophisticated, 100+ page website either. I have a one page website that causes 20% of the people who see it to schedule a free session with me. I also have a 150+ page website.

Each services its purpose.

So what do you need to do to improve the performance of your website? Three things:

Your coaching website needs to be inviting

The first thing I look for when visiting a coach’s website is the tone of the site. If it is written in the third person, I can almost guarantee you it isn’t performing well.

Here’s why: Coaching is a very personal affair. I know that it is easy to think that talking about yourself in the third person makes you seem important, but in fact it makes you feel distant.

So invite prospective clients to have a conversation with you, and speak to them in a way that shows you can relate.

Coaching is a relationship based on trust, and that starts with a personal connection.

Your coaching website needs to show you understand the problem you are solving

Believe it or not, your prospective coaching client didn’t just wake up one day and decide they needed a coach.

They woke up one day and realized that they had a problem. For the sake of argument, let’s just say that they woke up and decided they were overweight.

Now they have decided to do something about it. There are plenty of options:

1. Get a gym membership

2. Hire a personal trainer

3. Buy a book and start the latest diet fad

4. Get stomach surgery

5. Start taking supplements

6. Begin juicing

7. Hire a fitness coach

Now let’s imagine that you are the fitness coach whose website this person chose to visit. This means that among the options above, this person is at least considering coaching as a possible solution.

If that’s the situation, the FIRST thing your website needs to say is that you understand and can help solve that problem.

This is your value proposition.

Think of it this way: what is the job you are being hired to do? The answer is not “provide coaching,” the answer is solve a problem. –In this case, a weight problem.

So many coaches start their web pages talking about themselves and trying to differentiate themselves from other coaches. I know I’m guilty of doing this early on as well…

But can you see how this wouldn’t work in this situation? The person is just looking for a solution to their weight problem.

Your website may start with, “I’m a great health coach because I’ve…”

Okay, great… but this client doesn’t want to hire a coach… they want a solution.

So it is essential that your website quickly connect with the person and the problem they are hiring you to solve.

Your website needs to a call to action

There is one purpose to a website and that is to get people to sign up for a session with you.

Everything else is irrelevant.

Your home page, your “about me” page, your “contact me” page, blog and every other page you may have on your site need to push a prospect to scheduling a session with you.

If it isn’t crystal clear how to schedule a session, it will never happen. Take a look at my website and see how many buttons there are for prospects to schedule a session. –They are everywhere.

There is literally no chance that someone visits my site and doesn’t know how to schedule a session.

So make sure your website makes it perfectly clear what a prospect needs to do to move forward, and that there is a button in front of your prospect whatever page of your site they are on.

Of course there is more to a great website than just the few tips above, but just implementing these three changes will transform your site’s effectiveness.  

And if you want to know more, Lynda and I created a 70-minute video that goes into detail on how to create a site that performs. We even tear apart a few coaches’ websites (and share the behind the scenes of our sites).

Click here for the details and get access to our free script that shows you how to get more clients from free sessions.

Here’s wishing you lots of success with your practice.

About George Karris

George Karris is a former corporate executive who coaches professionals on how find opportunities that balance their ambition, purpose and overall happiness. He has a track record of professional success that includes setting strategy for a $4B firm, raising millions for a startup, and leading a team of over 200 people. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and has studied positive psychology with Tal Ben-Shahar, Shawn Achor and Tony Schwartz. Connect with George on Noomii and his website.

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