How to write a coaching website

Are you trying to write a coaching website? Our website copywriters have written dozens of websites for business coaches, book coaches, leadership coaches, executive coaches, mindset coaches, LinkedIn coaches and others.

Below you’ll find some of our best tips for getting started writing a website for a coach, including…

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The first problem with writing a coaching website

Here’s your first problem trying to write a website…

Take a business coach as an example.

A business coach might help a business owner or manager to improve business performance, increase profits and achieve goals.

Coaching might mean working with clients to clarify their business goals, identify opportunities for growth, set strategies and take action.

The coach might work on employee issues, team engagement, recruitment…

They might introduce other professionals in their network to work on challenges.

Put another way, a business coach is a professional who has knowledge and experience in handling more than one of:

• Marketing strategy
• Leadership development
• Sales management
• Financial analysis
• Organizational design
• Change management
• Human resources
• Mindset
• And dozens of other things

A business coach works at the strategic and tactical levels, so where on earth does a coach start when writing about what they do?

Where does a coach start when writing a website about coaching services?

The idea for this blog post came from a question asked at one of Taleist’s live Stand Out Sessions. Here’s the video excerpt of that part of the live stream:

And if you have your own copywriting, communications or marketing questions, you’re welcome to ask at a live session.

1. Begin with the transformation your coaching offers

The number one problem that coaches have is they cannot explain what they do.

It’s hard for coaches because the transformation isn’t always measurable. Often, it’s not even easy to describe.

Going to a coach isn’t like seeing, say, a physiotherapist. You don’t go in with a sprain and leave with a bandage or an exercise to do. You might leave a coaching session feeling better, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to put your finger on why.

And getting results from coaching can take a period of time.

All of that makes it hard to describe the transformation your clients experience. However, describe that transformation you must. You do have to nail that down because people buy transformations.

A client sees a coach because they want to be transformed. Maybe from ignorant to capable. Perhaps from beginner to intermediate or intermediate to senior.

Whatever it is that they want specifically, it’s a transformation.

2. Identify the transformation you’re selling

So you have to identify the transformation that your ideal client wants. This will be the core around which your copywriting is built. (And if you’re wondering, here’s our answer to the question What is copywriting?)

To get to the heart of the transformation, ask these questions…

What is your ideal clients’ pain at the moment? What is their burning problem? That’s where they are. That’s where they want to be transformed from.

Now, how would they like to see themselves in the future? This is where they get to thanks to the transformation you catalyse.

3. Be clear about who you work with

Niching is the number two problem for coaches in their marketing.

Business coaching website copywriting example

For example, our Sydney copywriters wrote a website for a coach called James. James specializes in people who have achieved in their career by being technically brilliant. However, technical brilliance will get you only so far.

James’ clients are excellent at what they do, but they have reached a ceiling. They can’t get any higher up the greasy pole unless they get better at managing people.

And these people are not necessarily people, people. Maybe they’re a brilliant software developer and they’ve risen up high because they’re technically brilliant. Now, however, they need to manage other people and they’re not good at it.

These people have become James’ coaching niche.

Importantly, he didn’t have a clearly defined niche at the start of the website copywriting process. That’s part of what the process is for. (If you don’t have a copywriter to help you, there’s an online course to help you define your USP , what makes you different.)

Defining James’ niche and his point of difference unlocked the rest of the coaching website. That’s because we knew exactly who we were writing for — or to.

Online courses to sharpen a coaching website

Why coaches resist niching on their websites

Narrowing the audience for their website is a problem for coaches — and for many businesses. They are reluctant to narrow down who they work for because they don’t want to rule anybody out.

But as we say in copywriting, as soon as you’re not ruling anybody out, you’re not talking to anybody either. If you’re talking to everybody, you’re not talking to anybody.

How clarity unlocks a coach’s website

Niching scares the hell out of business owners, whether they’re coaches or not. They think they’ll lose business. The reality is the opposite. Coaches get so many more clients through clarity.

How much more likely is that first discovery call when someone reads a coach’s website and thinks, That’s me, I have that problem.

That’s what you want from a website. You can a potential client thinking, I recognize myself. Yes, that’s the destination that I want to get to. Oh my God, I must call this person.

You won’t get that from a website that says, Wherever you are and wherever you want to be, I can get you there.

That level of generality will trigger a prospect’s objections. How can you be so confident that you can help me regardless of who I am and what my problems are?

Are you a coach who needs help writing your website

Our Sydney-based website copywriters are experienced in helping coaches:

• Define their point of difference
• Identify their target audience
• Write a website that makes the coach the irresistible choice

If that sounds like it would help you, we’d love to hear from you.