I’ve designed a few coaching websites in my time (we’ve got some beauties for sale right here) and I want to share what I’ve discovered really works when it comes to creating magnetic coaching websites that stand-out and convert. 

Many people dive straight into a laundry list of features and bonuses, (because we all worry about delivering value) without first focusing on the problems your ideal client might be facing and how you can help them overcome them. 

But more than any other kind of website, coaching websites are all about relationship-building.

And it’s a relationship that you can’t rush. Before you introduce your program and ask for a sale, your ideal client needs to believe 3 things about you. 

1. You have an innate understanding of the problems they are facing right now and how you came to have that understanding

2. You can deliver a transformative experience with a clear destination and explain how they will feel when they get there

3. You have a unique approach that will work for them and the position you are in right now.

This week, I’m going to show you how to build trust and curiosity, which will lay the foundation for converting interested visitors into keen buyers. 

A note before we begin. I am going to focus on messaging rather than tangible features, and it just so happens that with coaching websites, most of the heavy lifting is done on the home page. 

But don’t worry, I’ll be giving you a features checklist at the end of this week, so you can make sure you have all of the moving parts you need to really power your coaching website. 

A Killer Positioning Statement

Let’s get into this. When visitors land on your site, they need to immediately understand what you’re offering and that statement needs to be seen ‘above the fold’ (ie. visible on all screens when your site loads). 

This is your hook and without it being instantly understandable and catchy, you’ll end up with an uncomfortably high bounce rate.

Your positioning statement needs to make people scroll or click. That’s it.

For snappy website elevator pitches, I love the Donald Miller Storybrand approach to one-liners. 

Problem. Solution. Result. 

This is actually the framework of any great story or movie. The hero has a problem, finds the solution and lives happily ever after. 

OK, sometimes people die along the way. (You can leave that part out of your statement.) But the principles remain the same. 

I went hunting for some great examples out in the wild and one of my fav software tools, Bonjoro nails it with their one-liner and explainer statement.

“Build superfans with video.

Convert, retain, and grow customer superfans with delightful personal video messages sent at just the right moment.”

I’m also a power user of ActiveCampaign and they are nailing the story structure too. 

Automate your marketing in a few simple clicks.

Spend less time on repetitive tasks so you can focus on doing what you love.

If I had to re-write my own statement for The Design Space (and I need to), it would go something like this.

Problem: Building a website is hard and you need to be super techy
Solution: Design-led no code website themes
Result: Convert more clients

“Easy, no-code WordPress themes designed to convert ideal clients, without compromising on design.”

Needs a bit of work, but you can see how effective the structure is.

And the great thing is that this statement provides the structure for the rest of your landing page.

From Struggle To Success

The next section of your landing page, takes the problem and solution from your positioning statement to make your audience aware of where they are now and where they could be.

Following on with the story theme, every hero’s journey begins with a struggle. It would be a pretty boring story if it was all plain sailing. 

Your ideal clients need to believe that you understand their struggle and that you’ve walked in their shoes. 

At this point, it’s tempting to dive in and introduce yourself but it’s still too soon. People connect with their own problems first and people second. Positioning yourself as the expert will come later.

In your next section you need to:

• Demonstrate empathy with the problems your ideal client
• Share your experience
• Paint a picture of the end result or destination and what it will feel like
• Clearly lay out the journey to get there. 

As an example, here are just a few snippets from the ‘experience/journey’ section of my marketing membership home page.

Empathy:

“You’ve heard the buzz about marketing funnels but you feel… overwhelmed? Yuck?

Don’t even know what it is? Friend, same.”

Experience:

“I’ve been where you are, feeling mortified by the mere idea of selling, creating endless content and trying all the tech tools.”

Destination: 

“And yet, we still need some kind of system that brings in new leads without you having to do ALL the heavy lifting.” 

Journey:

“Follow my step-by-step guided programme that will take you from marketing newbie to launching your own automated sales funnel. No sleaze. Just genuine, respect-based marketing for real humans to enjoy.” 

Your Superpower

Yep. You guessed it. Your super power is getting results for people and you’ve already touched on that result in your positioning statement.

In the previous section, your goal was to get people curious about the destination and the journey. Now it’s time to get personal and introduce your audience to your super power, aka, your unique take on solving their problems. 

This is where you introduce your core product, highlight what makes it different and why you are the expert they need. 

The questions to ask yourself here are…

How do we get the results we promise? What are the tangible features that do that and what expertise do we bring to the table? 

In my Design Space statement above, the result we promise is ‘Convert more clients without compromising on design’. Note how our feature list answers every aspect of the problem from our positioning statement.

Key Features:

• Conversion-focused copy prompts on every page
• Built to be SEO friendly
• Beautiful design that looks great on every device
• Unlimited, patient support

The Evidence

By this point, if you have a strong positioning statement and you’ve outlined their journey and your expertise, you’ve done all of the heavy lifting. Now it’s time to let other people do the talking for you. 

Testimonials, case studies and hard data are what you need to complete the picture. 

Nice words from clients and customers are great but they aren’t as powerful as being able to demonstrate the change or progress you have been able to make. You need to be able to show where your clients were both before and after you have worked with them.

I know that I have a tendency to leave feedback collection to the last minute. 

It helps to have a client workflow checklist which prompts you to record their starting point at the beginning of a project as well as the end. 

Depending on what you do, it could include hard data like web traffic or sales or more emotion-based situations which you can ask them to describe. If you create something visual, like branding or websites, make sure you take a ‘before’ screenshot and record their search engine results, for example.

If you’re in the market for a coaching website, we have a selection of beautiful coaching themes which are designed to convert, with copy prompts, the right SEO structure and all of the marketing layouts you could want. Check them out here.

And, if you need a hand kicking your marketing into shape, check out our membership for small, but courageous businesses – The Marketing Fix.