3…..2…..1. That’s it. That is the average time you have to make an impression on a visitor to your website’s homepage.

Not very long, is it?

I like to tell my clients that their website is a reflection of who they are, what they stand for, and what people can expect if they engage in their services. Stop to think for a moment. Is this what your website does?

Aside from pure aesthetics, website pages need to be functional too. Many coaches, consultants, speakers, educators, and wellness experts rely on their website to draw in qualified leads, build their email lists and increase their social following. Having designed many sites for business owners in these industries, I recognize the importance of having a beautiful, easy-to-use website that ticks all of the boxes.

I’m guessing you’re reading this because you’re also considering a website redesign strategy but are unsure if it’s necessary. Well, in this blog, I’d like to share with you my top five reasons your coaching or consultancy website may need an upgrade.

Whether you’re considering a complete rebranding or your relationship with your website has started to trouble you, I hope this blog gives you some insight into whether a website redesign will take your business to the next level.

1. Your Original Website Was Not Professionally Designed

Does this sound familiar? To keep costs at a minimum, your first site was created by you or someone you know. Bootstrapping a business requires frugality. You saved some cash by going the DIY route and managed to get your name out there—great job!

Most experts agree websites should be redesigned (or at the very least updated) every two years or so. However, when you log on, you realize it’s been a bit longer than that, and the whole thing looks a bit…amateur. Given your professionalism and dedication to your career, is this how you want your clients to see you?

That heart-sinking feeling you get when you log on to your current site should be replaced with a sense of pride—typified by a functional, flawlessly gorgeous website.

2. You’d Rather Send Clients To Your Facebook Page

I can picture it now. You’re talking with a potential client, the conversation is great, and they’re clearly interested in your offer. Then, those dreaded words:

“What’s your website address?”

Now all you can think of is a potential client visiting your site, only to leave due to the slow load time, poor quality photography, and broken links. *Poof* (that’s the sound of sales evaporating into thin air, btw).

It’s true. A site that lacks basic functionality is an immediate turn-off. Customers are evaluating every part of your offering, so if your website looks and feels a little clunky, choosing your competitor over you is easier.

Of course, you can improve facets of your website by selecting higher-quality photography, ensuring all of your pages are active, creating cool lead magnets that draw people in, and tabs that assist a visitor’s navigation. Other times, it may be necessary to start from scratch. An old website can become a black hole, confusing not only your potential customers but you too!

3. You Need Your Site To Do More

As your business has grown, competition in your field has heated up, and your existing website just may not be giving you all the features and functionality that you need.

Websites need hooks to draw your audience in closer. At a minimum, you need a way to capture your lead’s information so that their visit to your site can be followed up. (We’re talking about a lead magnet or freebie). Definitely a blog page for SEO and thought leadership. Membership courses, opt-in pages, and sales funnels are all great additions to modern-day sales-oriented websites.

And I haven’t even mentioned optimizing your site for mobile devices! When around 70% of potential customers are likely to view your site on a smaller screen, a website that is only optimized for desktop computers is akin to literally throwing leads down the toilet.

Content such as podcasts, blogs, and lead magnets will leave visitors wanting more. To be a thought leader in your industry, you need the right combination of content, so next time a client wants to check you out they won’t be left wondering, “is that it?”

4. Your Numbers Are Depressingly Low

Often, we think we have it all covered in our website:

✔️Beautiful colour scheme
✔️Engaging, well-written website copy
✔️Easy-to-digest layout
✔️Fantastic imagery courtesy of a professional photoshoot
✔️Weekly blog
✔️Links to social media and other relevant pages

But there’s one problem. Nobody’s coming. Tumbleweeds. Crickets. Aside from the odd rogue visitor who happens across your page and bounces out immediately, visitors are few and far between.

“What on earth is happening,” I hear you ask.

Unfortunately, there is much more to building a functional website nowadays than just the list above. You’ve probably heard this acronym before, but I will remind you just in case: SEO.

In website terms, SEO is the eighth wonder of the world. Challenging to come to grips with, SEO (or search engine optimization for the uninitiated) is the method by which Google and other search engines crawl your website and index it on search engine results pages. Based heavily on a searcher’s intent, Google will show websites that match what a potential customer most wants to see. Now, if your content doesn’t hit these notes, you can forget getting found anywhere near the first page—especially given 75% of searchers never go further.

SEO needs to be a part of every website redesign strategy. A lack of helpful, keyword-rich content, poorly written meta descriptions, and non-existent site maps—all of these factors and more affect how your site ranks. While building your site’s authority can take a while, investing in and developing your SEO is critical to generating high-quality leads, even more so when referrals are coming in at a lower rate than usual.

It is essential that your site gets found through search. When you optimize your content for SEO, it makes it so much easier to identify your best-performing pages using Google Analytics. From here, you can build a template of what types of content works and what doesn’t. By following the entire process from the curiosity phase right through to the point of purchase, you can turn your website’s content into a lead-generating machine!

5. You’re Not Accessing Your Ideal Clients

Many website owners have a common problem: getting plenty of leads but not converting. Whether customers find your site through social media, email, or elsewhere, your service needs to reflect your work and steer these visitors in the right direction.

How is your site laid out from an objective perspective? Does your website solve your ideal client’s pain point? Or is it a selection of different resources with no cohesive goal? Are you directing them to the content with the most value?

So many small business owners have understandably made the mistake of designing their websites to focus on what they want the customer to know. Most of them are not marketers. However, if you’re experiencing a high abandonment rate, this could be why.

Every sales-orientated coach, mentor, education practitioner, or speaker needs to be customer-focused, not company-focused, regarding website design. You can formulate a cohesive website redesign strategy by carefully examining site elements like structure, content, imagery, features, and links and how these components aid a customer’s journey. Your aim should be to make your site more user-friendly and straightforward for potential clients to find relevant content with few clicks. Nobody likes a laborious minefield that leads visitors down the rabbit hole.

Summing it Up

If you’re looking to make sales, it’s essential to have a cohesive, functional, and beautiful website for your coaching, consultancy, mentoring, speaking, or wellness business. Generating leads is, after all, your ultimate goal, and everything on your site should be geared toward doing just that.

If you’re feeling like your website just isn’t cutting it anymore, or it just needs some finer touches to elevate it toward its full potential, a redesign project may just be the ticket.