Multiple career changes, ever-shifting goals, new technology, evolving personal relationships; the world of today is one of rapid transitions. And we can all do with a bit of guidance. So, if you’ve decided to share your knowledge as a coach; Congratulations! The world needs people like you. There is something however, that even a coach needs help with sometimes, and that is marketing yourself. Having a website is a basic necessity for any business today. In this article, we at Team Codesign guide you in creating a marketable website with this design checklist.

A Clean Design Look: A coach is someone who helps people gain clarity in a certain aspect of their lives. Imagine then visiting a coaching website that appears clunky and cluttered. It would immediately turn people off! Off all the websites you may come across, a coach’s site is one that must use the concept of WYSIWYG i.e. - What you see is what you get. This helps convince visitors that you can provide what you promised & what they’re looking for, which is clarity.

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One way to build trust is to share free content with your visitors. This could be a short video, an e-book, an audio clip, a link to a webinar or even a free 10-minute call. These offerings need to explain what you do and why a person needs the solutions you provide. Highlighting these offerings not only help people understand you and your service better, they also help you collect a database of email ids which can be used to build your client-base.

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Add Social Proof: Like it or not, our decisions are influenced to a large extent by what other people say. So we say, show it off! Tell your website visitors what customers have been saying about you. Whether its testimonials, reviews, ratings, certifications you’ve received, or even important social media statistics, your visitors need to know. And this doesn’t just apply to your coaching services in general. You could even use social proof for certain parts of your content such as videos, podcasts, blogs etc.

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Make Yourself Accessible: How often have you gone to the ‘contact us’ page of a website only to find that the phone numbers are invalid or the address has changed.  Websites of today provide multiple ways for people to contact you. Use these to the advantage of your coaching business.

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Clear Call to Actions (CTAs): A CTA is an element that prompts a website visitor to take action. You may have come across a ‘Sign up now/Add to cart’ button. These are called call to action buttons. As a coach, you may want your visitors to contact you, sign up for a workshop and so on. Apart from crisp, clear messaging, a CTA must also be highly visible, distinct in design and should ideally indicate to the visitor the benefit of completing the action.

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A Customised Intake Form: Before you begin coaching someone, you may want to know certain aspects of their background, their level of prior knowledge on a certain subject and so on. By getting a few of these details before the first meeting, you could be better prepared to speak with them. Asking them to fill a custom intake form on your website is a good way to achieve this. Do remember however to ask only the most important questions. If your form is too long or in-depth, your visitor may lose interest.

Integrate a Calendar App: Scheduling at the best of times can be quite a nightmare and more so in the digital world. With clients from across the globe, you don’t want to waste your time calculating time zones and setting up initial meetings. To counter this we suggest integrating a calendar app on your website. That way your potential clients can quickly get an overview of your available time slots. Calendar apps also send automated notifications if you wish to cancel or reschedule the appointment. Integrating a calendar app in your website is a huge time-saver and allows you to focus on coaching.

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Write a Blog: So you don’t consider yourself a writer, but you are an expert in your field. Blogs are an extremely useful tool for any business with an online presence. They help you establish credibility with people you may never even meet. They also make your business more credible in the eyes of a search engine.

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A blog is essentially an extension of your website. It allows you to delve into subjects in detail, which you may not be able to do on your website. In order to be effective, new blogs must be written regularly. You could begin with a bank of articles so you have enough time to write new ones. The most important aspect of a blog is that it should add value to the reader.

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Create a Podcast: In a sense, a podcast could be considered an audible blog. Podcasts are usually audio files (though they can be video as well) that a listener can download and hear at their own time and convenience. Listening to a podcast is like listening to the radio, meaning one can carry on with other tasks simultaneously. This makes podcasts a hugely popular medium.

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As a coach, perhaps one of your biggest assets is the ability to inspire. And the spoken word is a strong weapon in your arsenal. A podcast allows you to directly speak to your audiences. You could narrate personal experiences, talk about things that are important to you and show the audiences how passionate you are about your coaching enterprise.

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Coaching is tough business but we at Team Codesign hope this checklist helped you get a head start. For more ideas on getting the most out of your website, feel free to contact us.