Whether you are just booking your first client as a coach or a seasoned pro at it, you are already inspiring and helping people to unlock their potentials. But does your coaching business website show your best side up and convert leads into sales and bookings?
A good website will act like the anchor for your coaching business and help you attract more clients. It also help your audience find you and your content easily.
10 must-have things on your coaching business website to improve conversions
Here are ten must-haves things on your coaching website to improve conversions, whatever your niche is. You can be a life coach, a business coach, a fitness coach, health and diet coach or a time management, these are things things that you really need on your coaching business website.
1) Own your niche
You go to a orthopaedic doctor if you have a knee problem, even if your general physician might know what could be the issue. You go to a specialist, who probably charges a bit more, because you trust his treatments and you want the best.
That is exactly what your business needs as well.
Figure whom you serve specifically, rather than just trying to sell to everyone. While this applies to any business, it is more critical for a coaching business, because you are solving specific problem for them.
You are a weight loss coach, but who are your target demographics? You might work for “women, above 30, who are looking to lose that 30 kg”.
Niche down to the specifics because no one wants a generalist to guide them.
2) First impressions matter
You have about 3 seconds to impress your first time visitor on your website. And you have about 15 seconds to convey they can get from your website and hook them into staying.
Make sure your above fold content (i.e. the first section below the menus) creates an emotional response (“yes that’s true!”) from the reader. Addressing their pain points directly helps to attract the correct audience for your content.
Stating your specialty as a life coach, time management coach, career coach, business coach or even a blog coach, right of the bat helps people to remember you as one, even after they leave your site.
Also that it helps your SEO of your website is an added bonus.
The main reason that your audience followed you to your website is YOU. Unlike other company websites, the business of coaching largely depend on YOU, YOUR FACE AND YOUR PERSONALITY.
And that is why your coaching website cannot get away with a bland coaching website template and stock photos. No, that one dingy photo, taken 10 years ago, in about me section is not enough, especially for a coach!
Whether you are into life coaching, marketing coaching or time coaching, the personal connection is vital and people connect better to real persons, obviously.
The more you pepper your content with your personality, the more the chances of connecting with your audience as a person and the more the chances of conversion into sales.
Take some professional photographs, especially using on your website. It doesn’t have to be all serious and grim. Just remember to stick to the brand colors and mood, but otherwise, have some fun with it.
4) Clear aspirational goals
A person goes to a health coaching website to be inspired and guided towards a healthier lifestyle. Likewise, if you are overwhelmed and always running out of time, you might look for a time coaching website to learn to manage time better or to be more organized and productive in your life.
What I am getting at is, people come to your site looking for a benefit or an outcome towards a goal.
A good coach should help them visualize what they can achieve or manifest with your guidance. Putting the benefits they will derive out of your coaching session in an aspirational way will help your website convert visitors into clients easily.
Please take extra care that your aspirational goals are positive and encouraging, and doesn’t “put anyone down”, especially when you are dealing with tough and delicate situations like weight loss goals or financial guidance.
5) A clear offer
Once you have them hooked, you need to dish out the finer prints. AKA your offer. A good place to list and brief them about this would be on your menu bar, under the header “work with me” or “services”.
While you can be offering a number of services, make sure you explain them all individually and distinguish between the target audience, if they are different.
Even if your services are intangible, you have to make what you will deliver clearly. Some key aspects can be
Will your coaching be 1-on-1 or a group session?
How will your measure your client’s success?
How will you/they keep track of the progress?
How many hours or sessions will you spending, monthly or weekly?
How many hours or sessions do you expect your clients to work on your program (on their own)?
You are the one that has to lead the clients, not the other way around. You have to be prepared with a plan, though it can flexible, you should not expect them to come with one.
6) Show your expertise
Building a website is just one part of the whole online presence. But adding consistent and resourceful content on to your website will improve your authority as well as keep your website fresh.
Use your content to educate and inspire your followers and visitors, and thereby creating a good relationship with them. This personal connect will help you convert readers to potential clients.
Some ways to create content for your site
Write a series of how-to posts and e-books
Share past client success stories as a post
Include some resources like checklists and templates relevant to your niche
Add some fun quizzes and challenges
Videos and podcasts are great additions too.
If you are new to content creation or you hate doing it, and would rather spend your time on your clients, you can hire a SEO content writer (such as myself, he he!) to help you out.
Call to action is the one vital thing that every page or post in your website should begin and end with. People, especially first time visitors of a site, need a lot of encouragements and reminders to come out of their shells and engage with you.
Some good examples of CTAs are
Schedule a consulting call.
Sign up for your newsletter or
DM you on Instagram.
whichever is your preferred method of communication.
End every blog post with a question for your visitor to respond or even ask them to share it with their friends.
Testimonials and reviews are a great way to convince that your methodology works. According to a recent survey, 9 out of 10 buyers consult online reviews before making any purchase.
Especially for a service offering like coaching, which depends a lot on trust and authority testimonials from past and present clients are critical.
Some questions you can ask them to help them share their feedback are:
How did your coaching help them?
What problems did they solve with their help?
Can they share some number and success stories like, number of clients gained, kilos lost, or a before and after picture etc.
Personal case studies and tangible/photographic evidences (of course with the required consents) will help you get those in dilemma to take the leap of faith.
Adding an “as seen on” or “logos of past clients” tab in your home page can improve your standing and build trust instantly.
9) Easy booking
Now that you have impressed them with your services and expertise, the worst that you can do to your business is making them jump through hoops to book you.
Yes, I am serious. It happens.
Put up a few easy, no-nonsense methods for your visitors to book an appointment with you or at least contact you easily.
A simple way to do that is to add in a contact form in your site. Instead of using a generic contact form, add in a few specific questions about them so that they will understand that you are interested in talking to them. It will also help you look professional when you contact them after you do some homework.
You can go a step further and add in call scheduling app (like Calendly) on your site. A “free” consulting call might help as a great sales funnel.
A site with call scheduling option immediately looks ten times more professional, than without one. And it is pretty easy to set one up.
10) Clean and professional looking website
When I say professional website design, it differs from person to person. But what I mean is, the layout should be easy to navigate and appealing to the eyes.
You can use a free template designs for your coaching business website or invest in a premium theme as well. Again, make sure you have a good hosting and speed too.
Do what works for you, but make sure you are not spending too much of your valuable time in tweaking or DIY-ing the site. For a few extra bucks, you can have your entire site designed and developed by a professional.
A final word
I know building a website might sound intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. In fact more than half of my clients have got their investment on their sites back in the first few months.
So take a leap of faith, and get your own website for your coaching business right now! And ensure you have these must-have things on your coaching business website to improve conversions!
Instagram stories business are a great way to communicate to your customers and share with them glimpse of your world. But coming up with those Instagram story ideas for your business is harder than you thought, right?
Do not worry, here I am with more than 50 Instagram story ideas for your business, and now you can keep your customers hooked and even convert them into warm leads easily.
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Why Instagram stories are important than ever?
I know everyone is talking about Instagram stories, reels and live again and again. But have you ever given a thought on why are they so critical?
Keeps your account active
Instagram stories puts your account on top and there is more chance that your followers see your stories than you feed.
As the stories are arranged chronologically, the more often you post, the higher the chances of your story to be viewed by others.
Helps competing with bigger brands
While the Instagram stories are shown chronologically, the feed is not. And unless you have a very strong following, your post on your feed can get lost.
And as a creative entrepreneur and a small business, it can be harder for you to compete with the big brands.
They are more natural and authentic
We all know the amount of effort and planning that goes into creating your Instagram feed to look the way it is. And your audience will love you for that.
But Instagram stories are little more spontaneous and thus, real. Given that they last for just 24 hours, you can afford to be little “on the go” and be creative about your posts.
Better engagement with your followers
Instagram stories are often the gateway to beginning conversations with your followers and warm leads.
By asking them to answer a poll or your questions, they are giving you a space to speak to them via DM (Direct Messages). Utilize this power responsibly to cultivate relationships with them.
Instagram story ideas for business
Now that you know how critical Instagram stories are for your business, let me show you some story ideas that you can adapt as your own.
Show your wins, even if they are small.
Show what you are working on for the day
Show your working process – Behind the screen
Show your workspace
Show off your packaging style
Get your customers to post the unboxing of your products
Capture the before and after of your work in progress
Share educational guides and tutorials relevant to your prodcuts
Share the screenshots of testimonials and reviews received
Help your customers know your products better
Teach your customers how to use your products
Share DIY tips related to your products
Answer relevant FAQs
Offer a behind-the-scenes look at your unpacked products
Teasers for your new product/service launch
Count down for a new product launch
Collaborate with related accounts for a takeover
Share your failures and lessons learned
Share productivity tips
Talk about role models whom your audience could relate to
Run a trivia contest
Ask questions about your products and offer a discount to the winner
Play games with your followers
Run quizzes with AR effects
Create This or that templates and ask them to tag you with answers
Share seasonal updates, if relevant to your products
Reward your loyal customers with “followers only” deals
Run a customer spotlight
Share experience of a customer (only with their consent)
Ask your followers what they want to see on your story
Run an “ask me anything” question
Share user generated content
Show us your morning routine
Show us how you plan your day
Introduce your team
Ask your employee’s to takeover your story for a day
Take a tour of your office
Create your own hashtag and challenges
Create a regular series on Instagram stories (#sundayfunday #Mondayplans #tuesdaytips etc)
Preview an upcoming post or video
Share your latest post from your feed
Share your posts from your other platforms (blog, Tiktok, Twitter etc)
Share latest posts from accounts you love
Recommend a service or a product you loved
Post about your giveaway/contest
Share Shout-outs or press features
Share your favorite quote
Repurpose and update your old content from your feed post into a new story
Go live on Instagram live and share about your day
Share your daily update with a location
Show off skills (cooking, art etc)
Follow a meme/trend
Share inspirational content
Share what inspires you to create
Share valuable and relevant DMs
Share your top 5 lists of ….
Share your favorite tool or tip that you recently learnt
Show your night time routine.
Do’s and don’ts for Instagram stories for business
But before I conclude, I just want to share a few do’s and don’ts when it comes to Instagram stories for your business.
Don’t Just Promote Things
Use your story feature to create relationships, rather just using them to promote your product.
Show Your Personality
Make your stories fun and creative. Pepper in a bit of your personality, rather than copying others idea.
Use hashtags
Did you know that you can use hashtags on your stories as well?
Make use of highlights
Don’t forget to add important and relevant stories to your highlights as well. A highlight can act as a menu for your Instagram.
Don’t post too often
Last but not the least, avoid posting many stories at a time. Your followers might get bored/annoyed and ignore your posts.
Bottom-line
There you have it, an extensive list of story ideas that would keep your Instagram account active and kicking. So what are you waiting for? Start posting on your Instagram stories right today. Feel free to tag me elgeewrites, for an extra bump for your business.
Opening the Google Analytics dashboard for the first time can be intimidating for most of us. But let me talk about a few important Google Analytics metrics to track. These Key Performance Indicators or KPIs are a great place to begin with.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a powerful tool for measuring your website or blog’s performance and it also shows insights on how to improve it. Whatever may be your goal (improve traffic, get more leads and conversions, etc), installing Google Analytics could help you achieve it.
I know it has so many options and reports that it might overwhelm that you are putting off deep-diving into Google Analytics.
Important Google Analytics Metrics to track
But here I am to make things easy for you and help you get the best of this powerful tool. What are the Google Analytics metrics (KPIs) and numbers that you should watch out for on your dashboard, and why?
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Bounce rate
Bounce rate refers to the percentage of your visitors who leave your site without interacting with it. They bounce out of your site, get it?
A high bounce rate shows that the content was
not relevant – You are attracting the wrong audience
not convincing enough for the visitor to convert or interact. – Improve your writing skills or engage a content writer.
Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?
Audience> Overview
You can also view the bounce rates of an individual page at Behavior > Site Content > All Pages.
This metric shows how much time a visitor spends per session (30 minutes of inactivity, usually) or visit, on your site on an average.
It is an aggregate time spent on multiple pages on your site. It includes the time they spend reading your content, leaving a comment, scrolling down, etc.
Obviously the longer they spend, the better it is. The higher average session duration indicates your content is engaging and holds attention.
This metric is very important if you are displaying ads on your site. It also shows the quality of the traffic you generate.
This metric shows the average number of pages a visitor clicks per visit.
The goal here is to keep the content engaging and relevant so that the visitor keeps clicking another page. The higher the number of pages per session, the higher the content writing quality is.
Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?
Behavior> Overview
Benchmark:
1 to 3
How can you improve it?
Focus on your content pillar and link to relevant pages.
Use a “related post” widget.
Hub and spoke model of content marketing can be helpful
Source
This is one of my favorite metrics to look at. This report shows where your traffic comes in from. You can find not only which channel sends you traffic but also which sends good quality traffic (= convertible leads).
Knowing which channel brings you good quality traffic can help you make marketing decisions like where you can spend more ad budgets.
Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?
Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium
Benchmark:
None. But it is always better to have diversified sources for your traffic.
How can you improve it?
Focus on where you get good quality traffic, even if they are low in number.
Referrals
The referral report shows who links and sends traffic to your site. You know backlinks are great for sites, and this report will show where your quality backlinks are.
You can find out which guest post you wrote brings in the most traffic or find out which pin on Pinterest is most effective. Determine where your next collaboration should be by using this report.
Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?
Acquisition > All Traffic > Referrals
How can you improve it?
Collaborate with relevant and quality blogs and sites
Popular posts
This report shows what are your most popular pages. It is super interesting to look at because it helps you choose the type of content that works best for you.
Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?
Behavior > Site Content > All Pages
How can you improve it?
Create topics related to the top-performing posts
Add affiliate links on those posts
Create an opt-in freebie on those pages
Bottom-line
Again, these may seem intimidating but once you get the hang of it these Google analytics metrics and KPIs are your best friends. It will help you understand your audience better and to tailor content to their tastes.
If you have any questions on how to understand any of these metrics, feel free to ask me in the comments or send me an email right away!
Do you know of these important Google Analytics metrics to track? What are some KPIs and numbers that you watch out for on your dashboard? Which is your favorite? Let us talk.
Fewer than 50% of small businesses and start-ups survive the first year. And with the global pandemic throwing a curveball, things are not going to be any easier soon. It is high time to rethink some of your marketing strategies for small businesses to improve your lead conversion and brand visibility.
Creating a Small Business Marketing Strategy
Small businesses often start with a limited budget – money and time, especially when it comes to marketing and strategy. In fact, we spend most of our time behind lead generations that we forget to spend time laying the foundation – strategy and planning.
Here are a few marketing techniques and tips to consider, especially if you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur.
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Creating a brand for your business
A brand is the identity of your business and it defines what your business stands for to yourself, your employees, and your consumers. It is how you differentiate yourself from your competitors.
Identifying your brand identity forms the first step in establishing your marketing strategy. Once you identify what brand is going to be, ensure it is communicated throughout your business practices.
Branding includes everything from your logo to the tone of your social media posts and the presentations you show your clients.
Identifying your audience
Knowing who and where your audience is and catering to them makes a lot of business sense, than just trying to be everywhere at once. Small businesses can thrive on serving niche markets and assert their dominance.
To start with visualize your ideal dream client/customer and understand their behavior.
Where do they come from?
How old are they?
What are their spending patterns?
What are their trigger points?
Once you know your audience well enough, you can craft your marketing strategy and content to attract them.
Identify your unique selling point
Why should someone buy your product, not your competitors? What puts you ahead of your competitors? Is it your economic pricing or discount? Or are your products more durable than theirs?
Identifying your USP or value proposition helps you to differentiate your brand and product from the hundreds, if not thousands, of other competition.
And then it is just a matter of convincing your customer by explaining why he should get your product.
More videos and images
When it comes to convincing your customer or explaining things to others, a picture is a hundred times better and a video is a thousand times better.
The rise of mediums like Youtube, Instagram stories, reels and posts, and Tiktok videos have proved time and again – most people would prefer visual content.
Of course, that doesn’t mean written content is faded out, but visual and written content supplement each other now, more than ever.
Invest in online advertisements
With the number of posts, stories, and videos being posted on social media rising exponentially, it is not smart to wait for our brand to organically.
Advertising aka boosting your content on social media is a lot cheaper than offline ads. And you get to target your audience based on their demographics and geography as well.
Advertising on social media or any other site is not only time-saving but is also very user-friendly. Anyone can do a promotion in a blink of an eye.
Create your own website
Establish your online presence by creating your own website. Your website can act as the home base for all your online activities. And owning a website is neither time-consuming nor too expensive these days.
Correct Search Engine Optimization techniques and paid advertising like Google ads can put your brand and your website on top of the search results.
Content marketing as a tool
Content marketing is a long-term marketing strategy that works well both for small and large businesses alike. It revolves around sharing as much value and information as possible to your clients to solve their problems and building a last relationship with them.
It includes everything from writing blog posts that translates your product features into desirable benefits to your customers to an Instagram story that you shared. Some of the important types of content are:
Blog posts
Podcast
Infographics
Images and videos
White papers and case studies
eBooks
You can enlist more outside help to handle your content marketing, especially when you have a business to focus on.
Use email marketing to nurture leads
While blog posts and social media posts focus on attracting the attention of your prospective clients, email marketing is how you can convert them into leads and sales.
A drip marketing campaign or automated email campaigns are a series of email letters sent on a set schedule following a particular event, say an abandoned cart or signing up for a free product.
Such campaigns are more effective if you deliver the right message, based on the demography and interests of your audience, at the right time, say two months before the event, like Christmas or back-to-school season.
In conclusion
There are no one-fit solution when it comes to marketing strategy. You might have to choose a few of these strategies and find out what works for you. Capitalize the short-term wins and double down on what works.
Which of these marketing strategies do you focus on as a small business owner or an entrepreneur? What are your pain points when it comes to content writing? Let’s chat.
With all the incessant changes in the Instagram algorithm about saves and shares, it might seem like hashtags have lost their importance. But no, they have not.
Quick tips on using Instagram Hashtags
Hashtags still matter a lot on Instagram, despite all the algorithm changes.
You can use up to 30 hashtags on a post, so make the best of it. I personally use all the available thirty hashtags.
That brings me to next question: whether to add your Instagram hashtags in your caption or comment? Why not do them both? You get the best of both worlds.
Do not repeat the same set of hashtags over and over. Mix and match relevant hashtags for better reach.
Include hashtags that have large, medium and niche/small reach in your posts. I have added a bunch of them at the end of the post, and again mix and match to your heart’s content.
Try to add in some geography specific hashtags, depending on wherever you are and the photo was captured at.
Also do not forget to count in book and author specific hashtags like #StephenKing or #TheClockworkPrince.
120+ hashtags for bookstagram
Here are more than 120+ hashtags that you can use for bookstagram (or any social media platform, for that matter) for your bookish content.
I typically save the hashtags on notepad or spreadsheet with their number of posts mentioned. That avoids the last minute frantic search for hashtags, and I can just copy paste relevant hashtags for Bookstagram when I am posting one.
Bookstagram Hashtags with over 1 Million posts (20)
I hope these Instagram hashtags for books and bookish content will be useful to you guys! If yes, please do leave a comment and share it with your friends.
What are your go to tricks for bookstagram? How do you choose your hashtags for bookstagram? Do you have an Instagram account specifically for books/reading and writing? Let’s talk.
Working with beta readers might be overwhelming, especially if it is your first time. Beta readers are the test audience to your manuscript and they can play an important part in making your book better.
5 must do tips to working with beta readers
Every beta reader or manuscript critique is different but the process of their work is similar. In order to make the best of their professional services, here are some of the not-so-secret tips to working with beta readers!
Prepare the manuscript
Beta readers are not just your friends or family, (even if they sometimes are.) They are professionals, even if they volunteer or exchange favors with you, who know what they are doing.
And it is imperative that you send them a “clean” copy of your manuscript. In other words, do not send them your draft.
They deserve to read the self-edited and complete version of manuscript and it works better for both the author and the beta reader to do so.
And also, ensure you send your manuscript in the format (physical or ebook formats) they require to make things easier for them.
I have heard of horror stories from authors being charged hundreds of dollars extra because the beta reader preferred a printed copy to read. I think this situation would have been salvaged if the author had printed the pages herself.
So before sending off the manuscript ensure that you both are on the same page.
Brief them about your requirements
It is also critical to voice out your critical expectations from the beta reader. This step would minimize the disappointments and more importantly, save time for both of you.
Most professional beta readers have a feedback report format and they will be able to share what you can expect from them.
But if you have some specific questions to be addressed and answered, it is better if you share it with them. This might help you to zero in the edits you make later in your manuscript.
Share a time frame
Talking of requirements, one of the most common problems in using a voluntary beta reader or use an “exchange of favors” between your critique group is the delivering within the time frame.
More often than not, when people volunteer to do something for you, it becomes difficult to enforce a time schedule upon them.
But in this case, it is necessary to be clear about the timeline because there are several other things (like revising and editing) to do after receiving their feedback.
Be open to criticisms
As we all know, the main goal of beta reading is get feedback from strangers (or not so strangers) about your manuscript.
It goes without saying that you need to be open to accepting those criticisms and it is not an attack on your writing ability or yourself. Do not take them personally, nor you have to defend yourself.
If you are using more than one beta reader (and you probably should), collect the feedback from all of them in an orderly fashion. Create a master list of all comments and work through them one by one.
That being said, you needn’t accept every suggestions or criticism of every beta reader you engage. It is usually better to trust your instinct when you are not convinced with their reasoning.
Send in feedback
Do not forget to thank your beta reader for their services, and return the favor if need be. You can ask them for a quote about the book to use in your book marketing, and most readers would be happy to see their name in “print”.
In case of a professional or even some volunteer beta readers, a testimonial or a review of their services would be appreciated.
Also if you are taking part in an exchange of critiques with your writing group or another author, do send in your beta reading report of their manuscript as agreed upon.
Treat your beta reader in a respectful and professional manner. And your relationship with them can make your book better and more successful.
