I’ve been working with a client on a brand new marketing plan. She does spiritual life coaching, which is not an incredibly easy thing to market. Many times, people don’t know they want a life coach. They just know they’re unhappy and they want help.
However, she had a problem many small business owners have: her website wasn’t working for her.
A website is often lauded as an essential marketing tool. And it is – a website is a place where prospective customers can go to find more information about a business and be persuaded to buy. Most people’s websites don’t do this.
When it comes to marketing, I believe efforts should translate into dollars. It’s not helpful to put a lot of time and effort (and money) into a tactic which isn’t working. So the issue of her website was a large one to tackle.
We worked together to create a new website for her. We launched the website a couple months ago with the goal of translating digital visitors into clients.
Before the new website, she never had someone visit her site and ask to become a client. She had her old website for years – somewhere around six years – and never saw a visitor become a client. That’s the depressing reality for many business owners.
The problem wasn’t her content. Her content was well-written. It appealed to emotions and explained who she is and why people should care. It included a contact page. But it doesn’t matter how well-written your website is if it’s not working.
The problem also wasn’t her traffic count. She had a healthy amount of traffic – but none of them became clients. It doesn’t matter how many people visit your website if they’re not buying. Awareness doesn’t pay the bills.
So we decided to overhaul her website to funnel more people through her door in real life.
Step one: Decide what the visitors should do.
In this case, we wanted website visitors to sign up for a consultation. It doesn’t cost them anything and doesn’t require a commitment. Once someone tries your service, they’re more likely to pay for it. That’s why grocery stores offer samples of food.
You might want visitors to:
Step two: Promote your goal.
After we decided on her goal – get visitors to request a consultation – the rest was in the details. We created a page with testimonials from current clients as well as information on what life coaching looks like. We provided all of the factual information someone might need to decide they want to try life coaching.
Next, we promoted her coaching on every single page of the website.
However, she had a problem many small business owners have: her website wasn’t working for her.
A website is often lauded as an essential marketing tool. And it is – a website is a place where prospective customers can go to find more information about a business and be persuaded to buy. Most people’s websites don’t do this.
When it comes to marketing, I believe efforts should translate into dollars. It’s not helpful to put a lot of time and effort (and money) into a tactic which isn’t working. So the issue of her website was a large one to tackle.
We worked together to create a new website for her. We launched the website a couple months ago with the goal of translating digital visitors into clients.
Before the new website, she never had someone visit her site and ask to become a client. She had her old website for years – somewhere around six years – and never saw a visitor become a client. That’s the depressing reality for many business owners.
The problem wasn’t her content. Her content was well-written. It appealed to emotions and explained who she is and why people should care. It included a contact page. But it doesn’t matter how well-written your website is if it’s not working.
The problem also wasn’t her traffic count. She had a healthy amount of traffic – but none of them became clients. It doesn’t matter how many people visit your website if they’re not buying. Awareness doesn’t pay the bills.
So we decided to overhaul her website to funnel more people through her door in real life.
Step one: Decide what the visitors should do.
In this case, we wanted website visitors to sign up for a consultation. It doesn’t cost them anything and doesn’t require a commitment. Once someone tries your service, they’re more likely to pay for it. That’s why grocery stores offer samples of food.
You might want visitors to:
- Sign up for an email newsletter promoting your products
- Come to an event
- Buy your book
- Sign up for a consultation
- Donate to your cause
- Otherwise help you stay in business
Step two: Promote your goal.
After we decided on her goal – get visitors to request a consultation – the rest was in the details. We created a page with testimonials from current clients as well as information on what life coaching looks like. We provided all of the factual information someone might need to decide they want to try life coaching.
Next, we promoted her coaching on every single page of the website.
Her consultations are promoted in a slideshow on the top of each page.
This might sound obvious, but how many websites have one goal on every page? Does your website remind people of your goal even on your bio page? Or do you have one or two pages for your goal and a bunch of other pages about the company in general?
In this case, we added a promotion in the header of every page with a button linking to the coaching page. It’s literally the first thing people see on every page.
Step three: Make it easy for visitors to complete the action.
Before the overhaul, she had a page about her service and the contact page was somewhere else. Asking for a consultation was a multi-step process: Find the website, read the right page, then click to another page and figure out what to say in a general contact form. That’s how most websites operate, and it doesn’t work.
On her new website, I included a contact form directly on the page about life coaching. The new contact form had clear instructions: fields for contact information, consultation options (in person, phone, or online), and an optional comment box. One step. Boom.
This change revolutionized the way her website works for her. In the first week, two people signed up for consultations. It’s been a steady stream ever since.
Imagine if you had new clients with no ongoing effort. That’s not a pipe dream. It’s possible. It’s what your website is meant to do. My client can focus on her business – helping people – and new clients come to her. It’s not too good to be true.
With these simple steps – define your goal, promote your goal, and make it easy – your website can work for you, too.
In this case, we added a promotion in the header of every page with a button linking to the coaching page. It’s literally the first thing people see on every page.
Step three: Make it easy for visitors to complete the action.
Before the overhaul, she had a page about her service and the contact page was somewhere else. Asking for a consultation was a multi-step process: Find the website, read the right page, then click to another page and figure out what to say in a general contact form. That’s how most websites operate, and it doesn’t work.
On her new website, I included a contact form directly on the page about life coaching. The new contact form had clear instructions: fields for contact information, consultation options (in person, phone, or online), and an optional comment box. One step. Boom.
This change revolutionized the way her website works for her. In the first week, two people signed up for consultations. It’s been a steady stream ever since.
Imagine if you had new clients with no ongoing effort. That’s not a pipe dream. It’s possible. It’s what your website is meant to do. My client can focus on her business – helping people – and new clients come to her. It’s not too good to be true.
With these simple steps – define your goal, promote your goal, and make it easy – your website can work for you, too.
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