Building a coaching website is not easy. Sometimes it’s not even fun (yes, I say that as a website designer…don’t tell anyone). But it is easy to make the same common coaching website mistakes most other people make, simply because you don’t know any better.
That’s totally fine, you aren’t a web designer!
But since I am a website designer for coaches, I’m going to help you make less of these mistakes, and turn your website into a more effective marketing and selling tool for your coaching business.
Because the number one priority for your coaching website should be helping your future clients and customers realize they need your help, and get to the point where they’re ready to reach out and book a consult call.
So let’s tackle your coaching website and make sure they’re getting what they need to make that happen.
20 COMMON COACHING WEBSITE MISTAKES I SEE REPEATEDLY
1. You don’t have enough content
You need to invest some time and energy into writing copy for your coaching website. A single paragraph on your about page that outlines your qualifications and family situation is not enough. And a few words about the services you offer isn’t enough, either. Your visitors are on your site to learn more about you and what you do. Don’t let them down by only sharing the bare minimum.
2. You have too much content
While it’s true you don’t want to share too little, you also don’t want to write too much. People aren’t going to read your entire life story, and they don’t have the patience for you to list out every detail of your offerings. Give them the information they need to make a decision on whether or not to hire you as a coach, but don’t go on and on. Edit it down to the most compelling bits of information you can include.
3. You think content is about you
If there’s one coaching website mistake I wish I could clear up for everyone, it’s that your website content is never about you…it’s about the people you’re hoping will hire you as a coach. Stop talking about your business and services as they relate to you, and start talking about them from your clients’ perspective. A good place to start is by changing out I for you wherever you can.
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4. You over-crowded your navigation
Please, please, please…don’t put more than 6–7 main pages on your coaching website navigation. And if possible, get it down to five. When you offer too many page options for people to choose from, they get confused. And a confused mind always says no. Limit yourself and keep it clear.
5. You don’t use call-to-actions
Every page of your coaching website should have a call-to-action on it. Yep, you read that right: every page. If someone gets to the end of a page and doesn’t know where to go next, there’s a 50% chance they’ll just close out of your coaching website. Can you afford to lose 50% of your potential clients? Nope. Every page should lead your visitors to their next step, which should end in booking a call with you to discuss working together. No exceptions.
6. You don’t have coaching testimonials
Testimonials are important for so many reasons, but most important is that they prove you’ve worked with people before. You should definitely have testimonials on your coaching website, and they need to be sprinkled where visitors will see them. Don’t dump them all on a praise page where they’ll never see the light of day; put them front and center where they’re sure to get attention.
7. You are using other people’s coaching content
I cannot stress enough how important it is that you don’t do this. Do not copy someone else’s coaching content and use it as your own. Not only does this put you at legal risk (hello, copyright laws), but it also makes you look bad. You could destroy your entire reputation if someone realizes you’ve stolen the content on your site. And trust me, it usually gets around. I’ve seen at least seven instances of this happening in the five years I’ve been doing this, and it always ends in embarrassment or worse.
8. You have too many coaching services to choose from
I said it above, and I’ll say it again: a confused mind always says no. When you list too many choices or options for working with you, you’re going to confuse your potential coaching clients. They’re going to leave instead of having to make a decision. Try to limit your offers to one main solution, with a maximum of three different packages all resulting in the solution.
9. You have poor quality images
An easy way to lose trust with your visitors is by using low-quality images on your site. Photos that are too small or have bad lighting don’t look professional, and since people are so visual, they put a lot of importance in imagery. Make some effort to use high-quality photos on your coaching website, and optimize them correctly. If you can’t afford a custom brand photoshoot yet, I recommend investing in some quality stock photos to get started.
10. You have no contact info
It’s really important that you include contact information on your site. I’m not saying you have to put your phone number and home address on your coaching website, because you don’t. But you want to at least have your email address and where you’re located easily accessible so people can know where you’re based and reach out to you directly.
11. Your coaching website is slow
I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but it’s worth saying again: your pages need to load quickly on your coaching website. If it takes too long for your website to load when someone visits it, they’re going to abandon the page rather than wait it out. Get rid of anything that’s slowing down your website.
12. You have slideshows and carousels galore
All the fancy, fun sliders on a coaching website are cool and all, but they’re probably not helping your cause. Most sliders are hard to navigate, and on top of it, they make your page load slower (which we talked about in the last mistake). They can also cause your page to lag or shift in height, which upsets your visitors’ experience and probably annoys them.
13. You don’t have a favicon
Your favicon is like the cherry on the top of the sundae. It fits into the tab of your browser windows and helps people easily switch back to your site when go to check their email and want to come back. Not having a favicon makes your coaching website look unfinished and you unprofessional.
14. Your site isn’t optimized with SEO
SEO is how you get people to your site through Google search, and it’s something you should absolutely be using to increase your reach. The whole point of a coaching website is to get more traffic, and skipping this basic tactic towards meeting that goal is silly.
15. Your design is too crowded
Imagine walking into a cluttered office and being overwhelmed by piles of papers, notebooks, photos, and furniture. Your eyes wouldn’t know where to look, right? It’s the same on a coaching website. If your pages are too crowded with photos, text, ads, buttons, and so on, your visitors won’t know where to go first. Don’t let that happen. Keep things clean and clear and easy to follow.
16. You don’t have any legal pages
While most people won’t notice if you don’t have a privacy policy or terms and conditions page on your coaching site, it’s the law to have them. Don’t get caught in a sticky situation, and create those pages and the content that needs to be on them. I recommend using The Contract Shop (affiliate link, yo!) or a lawyer to create yours.
17. Your fonts are horrible
If people only have your coaching website to judge you on, it needs to be readable. Don’t make the mistake of using fonts that are hard to read and process. People aren’t going to strain their eyes to make sense of your text…they’re going to leave.
18. You are missing social links
Social accounts are how people check that you’re currently active as a coach, and without them, they’ll think you’re hiding. Make sure you link to your active social media accounts, but don’t link to accounts that you’ve abandoned or don’t update regularly.
19. Your site isn’t mobile-friendly
By now you should know that mobile users make up more than 50% of all coaching website traffic, and it’s absolutely essential that your site is usable on phones and tablets. If you have issues with layout or resizing on smaller screen sizes, it should be your number one priority to get them fixed. Use Google’s free Mobile-Friendly Test to check your site on mobile.
20. Your site is ugly
I’m sorry to be blunt, but if your coaching website is ugly, people are less likely to trust you. They’ll think if you can’t afford to invest in a decent template and the time needed to set up an attractive website, or invest in a custom website, that you’re not successful. And if you’re not successful, no one else must be hiring you, so they shouldn’t either.
DON’T LET YOUR WEBSITE MISTAKES BE THE REASON PEOPLE DON’T HIRE YOU
Your coaching website should be one of the most powerful tools in your marketing and sales strategy, and the first step is making sure it’s set up well. Most of these website mistakes are simple things to fix, and won’t take much of your time to get right.
As long as you’re hitting the most important factor — that your coaching website is built for your clients and their needs rather than your own — you’ve got the biggest piece done. Now it’s time to dig in and fix those little website mistakes that remain and polish things up.
About The Author
Hey! I’m Cass, a Certified Brand Coach and a Co-Founder at Lovely Impact. I help coaches elevate their businesses with beautiful branding and websites. Here on our blog, my content focuses on branding, web design, and storytelling.