How to Build a Consulting and Coaching Website that Converts [Behind-the-Scenes Tutorial]

Do you have a consulting website?

For many consultants and coaches - both new and seasoned - they see their website as nothing more than an online brochure or resume. They believe myths such as "you can't find clients through your website" or "your website plays a small role in your business" and wind up leaving money and opportunity all over the table.

FACT: You can attract high-paying clients by virtue of your website. You can set it up to act as your 24/7 marketing machine.

FACT: Your website, particularly the content on your website, is the single best way to warm up potential clients and shape their thinking that you're not simply an extra pair of hands to do contract work but an expert and strategic advisor.

This tutorial will show you how to build a consulting website that makes you the obvious solution for your future client's most pressing problems.

Transcript

What to Expect in This Tutorial

Betsy Jordyn: Hey, it's Betsy Jordyn. Today we are talking about your website. So this quick win is all around how you can begin to either start with your website strategy or refine your website strategy so it is set up to attract and impress your perfect ideal client.

So that you are no longer sitting in front of the computer wondering, "Oh dear God, where's the next week going to come from?" because they're going to be coming to you.

Consulting Website Objectives

So let me share my screen and give you some ideas on how you can start developing your website strategy. So first things first let's get on the same page around your objectives. There's three objectives to your website, and I'll tell you, one of those objectives should not be that you just want to have a brochure. It's not going to be your online resume. If you have that, you're just leaving money and opportunity all over the table.

So if you want to do that, that's fine, but I want to help you get more consistency, more strategic positioning do not do not do that. Do not play small. You want to really achieve these three goals.

Connection

You want to make sure that when your clients land on your website, that they know that they are in the right place - whether that client comes to you from organic search or through some other marketing thing that you've done through following up after you do a speech or that kind of thing, or comes from a referral.

Either way, you want them to see that, "Yup, here's my need. And yes, you are the person: You are the one that they've been waiting for that has the answers to these burning questions. You need to be clear that your clients have a problem and you have an answer.

So it's up to you to show on the website that, "Yes! You get them!" and you have the answer and you want to help them get to know like, and trust you. One of the things I recommend to everybody, and everybody has a little bit of a meltdown when I suggest it is that you want to have a picture of you on your homepage. And it's not about you being as some smarmy shameless, self promoter, it's all around you creating that limbic connection with your future clients so that they know like, and trust you because when you're dealing with an organization or an individual of what we do, it's very vulnerable work. Even if it seems like it's just, you know, like helping an organization improve. But if you're a leader - this is your reputation on the line. And by inviting a consultant in, you're just saying, "You know what, here take a look at all my dirty laundry."

So you want to make sure that you show up as somebody who they can, like they can trust and that they are getting to know you

Credibility

So here's the thing about credibility. Most consultants think, and the coaches as well, think that the credibility is all in your credentials and it's not. They don't care about your credentials. I can't think of any website iteration I ever had with my clients that I really led with my master's degree. I have a master's degree. I have a ton of credentials. I do emphasize Disney because Disney is interesting because a lot of people aspire to work with a Disney type of organization if they're consultant. Or as leaders, they aspire to create companies that have the caliber and sustainability of Disney. So that was relevant because it related to what they wanted, but they don't really care if I got a master's degree.

You don't care if I have a master's degree. Do you care that I got a master's in organization development and human resources? I don't think you do. But what you do care about is in terms of, do I get you, do I get your struggles? Do I understand what you're going through? Do I share with you why they might be struggles for you and I, how do I normalize that for you and how I can and will solve your problems?

I get, for example, with you, cause watching this video, I get how much you need this business to succeed. I know how much you have on the line. I know that you want to have control over your career. I know that you've got to consulting and coaching, not always through the easiest of circumstances. Some of you got here purely from vision, but the large majority of you got here because you were laid off and you got blindsided by that.

Or you got blindsided by some sort of nutty reorganization that made you report to somebody that you're like, "No way, No how!" Or you had discontent for a long time saying, "Oh God, there's gotta be more to life than what I'm living."

And that's all the ways that you got here and you need this business to succeed because you don't want to ever have to go back to corporate. And you've got a lot of people depending on you.

If I'm following it right, hopefully you're going to trust me because I get it and I have solutions that are relevant for it. Same thing for you. You have to make sure that your website establishes that kind of credibility.

I get it - You're trying to grow your business to the next level. I get it - it's hard because your entire leadership team is all over the map and they're all jockeying for your approval and they don't care about the enterprise perspective, the way that you do so therefore you need a consultant like me to come alongside you.

It's that kind of stuff that will establish your credibility. You show that through your content, you show that through your language.

Conversion

And then finally conversion has to be one of your goals. This is where you want to get people on, on your list or on the phone. So ideally all roads lead to a free consult, but everybody's not always ready for that free consult, right? You've been wanting to, even if you're watching this video, you've probably been following me for awhile. You're probably getting a sense like, "Oh, I might be the person for you." And you're not a hundred percent sure, but you'll be willing to sign up for my list and get some of this free value to make sure and to see if you can do all of the business built on your own before you call me. That's the same deal with your clients.

So you want to be able to get people on your list so you can develop that relationship. So you definitely want to make sure that they learn more about working with you and how they can get that free consult. But you also want them to voluntarily give you their name and email so that you can develop that relationship. That's why you're here. You and I are developing a relationship right now. You want to offer similar kind of value for your clients.

Consulting Website Strategy

So let's talk about the strategy. Big picture - there's a macro strategy and there's a micro strategy.

The macro strategy is how your value proposition and brand gets manifested into relevant products and services.

The micro strategy is around how visitors navigate through your site.

You need to be focused on both.

So the macro is how are you positioned in the marketplace.

And the micro strategy is how does each page meet a micro conversion goal.

So when you think about your website, you got to think about it broader. You got to think about your web presence. Your social media. Content marketing. If you're going to do ads, networking, all of those things need to be matching to one another and all roads lead back to your website. So you need to have that in place.

And then you need to look at each one of the pages. So you want to make sure your home, your about, your services, your results, your blog, contact us pages support and reinforce your value proposition.

And you want to make sure that there is a:

• Big, compelling promise of value - how your expertise will convert pain points into value
• Tight and consistent visual branding
• Great design, aesthetics throughout
• Friendly, relatable images
• Copy written in the second person, not third person. Don't talk about yourself, talk to your ideal clients.
• Clear calls to action for each content block for each page and the overall site.

So each page has a purpose. Each content block has a purpose. You need to make sure you know, what all of those purposes are and that you leverage each one of them.

Charles Browne Consulting - a Powerful Example of a Consulting Website

I'm going to take a minute and I'm going to share with you about Charlie's site. I'm going to explain all of this from the standpoint of an actual client. I've used Charlie a lot because he is my most recent grad and he's got an awesome website.

So one of the things that you'll see with Charlie is that he has a very clear value proposition right here on his homepage, but he also is reinforcing it in his logo.

What's really fun about Charlie's though, is that he's doing it in his fun personality way. You know, so it's not just his name, but he's also saying, "Hey, I'm this guy I'm getting in there."

So he's creating connection from this standpoint, he's offering opportunities for credibility and he's bringing his personality in here.

When you look at his about page, it's a combination of things along the lines of what he's promising is that he's helping somebody become excellent. He works with operational leaders and helps them get to that next level. And then he also shows why he's that performance expert that can come alongside with, it's not just something that came up out of the blue, something that has been in his life.

So all of these pieces are together. He has clear calls to action in terms of you can get on a call with him down here, he could see that you can get book, a free call and his contact, or you can get his free guide.So there's a lot of different ways that you can get started working with Charlie. So that's an example.

So how do you get started?

1. First things first is you want to get your strategy down that moves you into positioning.
2. Where do you fit into the marketplace? How do you stand out? How are you different?
3. Then you work on your messaging, then your writing, the last thing that you do is the writing. And then the design.

A lot of people just skip all of this foundational stuff. If you skip and go straight to writings, straight to design, straight to marketing, and you don't have all of these foundational pieces in place, you well spin guaranteed. You know, so if you're going to be, you know, go back to when you were in school and you had to write a paper, you have to begin with the outline.

Take Action: Go Slow to Go Fast

So my whole adage all the time is to go slow, to go fast. So take a minute and look at your own website or your website plans that you have in place and make sure is it set up for success? Is it set up to position you as a sought after expert or are you settling for a online brochure that will be like all the other myriads of consultants who use a lot of stock images, third person language buried with meaningless credentials, buried in methodology that makes a future client go to sleep. You know, are you going to be that person?

OR Are you going to set yourself up as a sought after expert? A future thought leader? And are you going to position yourself in such a way that you make it clear that your client, "You've got a problem? I get it. And I am the person that you've been waiting for!"

So take a look at your website, make sure and think through what is one thing that you can do to improve your web presence, not your website, your web presence, the whole kittincaboodle.

And let me know how that is. If you need some help, I am definitely here for you. This is an area of gifting and passion for me. I love nothing more than the whole process of figuring out like what makes somebody awesome and positioning that out into the marketplace. So if that is something that you need help with, definitely let me know. Send me an email at [email protected].

You could go onto my website and you can just schedule a free intro call and we can talk about that some more. Let me know how things are going too, and if you've taken action on any of these recommendations and I'd love to see what you did so that we can celebrate your improvements together. So talk to you soon. Thanks so much.

Struggling to communicate your expertise? Our Template Value Proposition guide helps you identify your strengths, clarify your messaging, and attract clients effortlessly.

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