Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare provider before starting any health program.
Do you need a website as a health coach?
There is a lot of talk within the health coaching industry on whether health coaches actually need a website or not. And our answer to this is that it depends. If you are looking to attract corporate clients or insurance companies and get hired as an employee, then the answer is probably no (you'd be better off developing your LinkedIn profile in this case). However, if you want to build a private practice and attract individual clients, then the answer is a definite yes (this article is for the latter).
When it comes to working with individual clients, your website serves as your virtual “office” or shop front. It is the first place that potential clients will go to learn more about you and what you do. And in today’s day and age, people expect businesses (yes, even small businesses like yours) to have some sort of online presence. Otherwise, you run the risk of looking like you’re not credible or trustworthy.
Think about it this way, if you were looking to hire a health coach, would you be more likely to work with someone who had a website that listed clearly who they are and what they do or someone who didn’t? We'd for sure go with the former.
Now that you know that you need a website, let’s move on to what to include on your website.
What do I need to include on my health coaching website to make it great?
In web design, there are conventions that have been tried and tested and some of the best health coach websites use them. if you want to go with what works, you’ll want to stick to them too. There are certain elements that should be included on every health coaching website as your users will expect to see them. These are:
A clear value proposition
Your value proposition is a statement that concisely explains what you do (your unique offering) and how you can help your clients. It should be prominently displayed on your website (preferably in the header section of your homepage) so that visitors to your site know immediately what you do and why they should care.
For example, you would want your value proposition to say something like: “I help busy professionals gain a sense of control and balance.” over some generic statement like "I am a holistic health coach." Your value proposition should hit your potential client's pain point(s) to capture their attention.
If you’re not sure what your value proposition is, ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the main problems that my ideal clients have?
- How do I help them solve those problems?
- What are the results or outcomes that my clients can expect from working with me?
Remember: your value proposition should be one sentence. If you want to elaborate on your value proposition you can do so by adding a subheading right underneath it.
Here are some more examples of value propositions if you're feeling stuck:
- I help busy moms get their energy back so they can feel like themselves again.
- I work with corporate professionals who are struggling to find balance and want to feel less stressed.
- I help people who have been through a lot of diets finally lose weight and keep it off for good.
A simple and clean layout
When it comes to design, less is more. You want your website to be easy on the eyes and easy to navigate. A simple layout with clear navigational links, headings, and subheadings will do the trick.
Try not to clutter your website's navigation with tons of links with vague descriptions. Make them clear so that before your website user clicks on a link they can imagine where that link might take them.
Your website’s navigation should be intuitive and logical. The user should be able to find what they are looking for without having to think too hard about it.
Some basic pages that you will want to include in your site’s navigation are:
- Homepage
- Pricing page
- About page
- Services page
- Blog or resources page
- Contact page
Pro tip: Try and keep your website navigation links to under 4 or 5. You don’t want to overwhelm your visitors with too many options.
Design that is on brand
Your website should be visually on brand meaning that it should be consistent with the colors, fonts, and overall aesthetic of your business. This includes everything from the photos you use to the copy on your website.
We've covered this in great detail in our article: Marketing for Health Coaches (An Extremely Detailed Guide).
Use easy-to-read fonts
The font you use on your website should be easy to read. That’s why most web designers stick to using sans-serif fonts (these are the fonts without the little feet or “serifs” on the end of each letter).
We've noticed a lot of health coaches using cursive fonts on their websites and while they may look pretty, they are hard to read, especially for people with vision problems. Try and avoid these fonts as they make it difficult for your website visitors to understand your content.
A note on accessibility: When choosing fonts for your website, you will also want to make sure that they are accessible to people with vision impairments. This means that you should avoid using very thin fonts or using low contrast colors with your fonts (for example, light grey text on a white background).
Professional photos
Investing in professional photos is one of the best things you can do for your website and business in general. People are visual creatures and first impressions matter. Having high-quality photos of yourself on your website will make you look more polished and professional.
If you don't have the budget to pay a professional photographer, that's ok. You can still get great photos by taking advantage of natural light and using your phone and a tripod. Alternatively, you can ask around your circles to see if anyone you know is a budding photographer who might want to take some photos for their portfolio in exchange for your time.
Your photos don't have to be fancy, but they should be well-lit and in focus. And make sure that they represent the image you want to project to the world. If you're trying to attract a more professional clientele, for example, you might want to avoid photos that are too casual.
Include an opt-in freebie
An opt-in freebie is something that you offer your website visitors in exchange for their email addresses. It can be an ebook, a mini course, a cheat sheet, or anything else that would be useful to your potential client.
The goal of offering free resources is to get people on your email list so you can nurture them and eventually turn them into paying clients. Provide value first, and then ask for the sale later.
Your opt-in freebie should be directly related to the services you offer as a health coach. For example, if you help people with stress management, your opt-in freebie could be a 5-day email course on how to manage stress.
An about page
People want to do business with people they know, like, and trust. And one of the best ways to build that relationship is by including an about page on your website to show that you are a certified health coach who is qualified to help them. Your about page should give visitors a sense of who you are as a person, what your values are, and what drives you to do the work that you do.
Some things you might want to include on your about page are:
- A photo of yourself
- Your story and how you got into health coaching
- Your qualifications
- What you’re passionate about
- Who you like to work with
- A testimonial or two from happy clients
This is your chance to really connect with your clients and let them know that you understand their struggles. When they see that you’re a real person with a story and passions, they’ll be more likely to want to work with you.
A services page
Your services page is where you tell your website visitors what you offer and how you can help them. This is where you get to sell yourself and your services.
Some things you might want to include on your services page are:
- A brief overview of your services
- The benefits of working with you
- Testimonials from happy clients
- Your rates
- A call to action (for example, a button that says “Book a free consultation”)
Your services page should be clear and concise. You want to make it easy for people to see what you offer and how you can help them.
Social proof
Do you have clients that loved working with you and got great results? If so, make sure to showcase those testimonials on your website. When people are looking for a health coach, they want to see that you have the experience and know-how to help them achieve their goals.
If you don't have any testimonials yet, that's okay. You can also include case studies or blog posts that show off the work you've done with clients in the past. Just make sure you stay HIPAA compliant and don't reveal any personal information about your client without their written permission.
A call-to-action (CTA)
Your website's CTA is what you want your visitors to do when they land on your site. This could be signing up for your email list, booking a free consultation call, or subscribing to your blog.
Your CTA should be clear, concise, and easy to spot on your website. It should also be relevant to the page that it's on. For example, if you're writing a blog post about the benefits of health coaching, your CTA could be something like "Book a free consultation call to learn more about how health coaching can help you."
Make sure that your CTA stands out from the rest of your content by using a different color or font size. You can also use images or buttons to make it more clickable.
A great way to grab your user's attention with your CTA is to make it a banner.
Easy to use contact forms
If you want people to get in touch with you, you need to make it easy for them to do so. That means having a contact form on your website that is easy to find and use.
Your contact forms should be short and sweet, with just the essential information that you need from your website visitors. The fewer fields there are, the more likely people are to actually fill it out.
A blog
One of the best ways to attract new visitors to your website is by writing blog posts that are relevant to your niche. Not only will this help you rank higher in search engines, but it will also give people a chance to get to know you and your work better.
When writing blog posts, make sure to include plenty of keywords and phrases that people might be searching for. You can also use images, infographics, and videos to break up your text and make your posts more visually appealing.
Some ideas for your blog include:
- Healthy recipes
- Exercise and fitness tips (if you're qualified to share this info)
- Self-care tips
- Guest posts from other health and wellness experts
If you're not a strong writer, you can also hire a freelance writer to create blog posts for you. Just make sure that they understand your niche and target audience before they start writing.
An email list opt-in
If you want to stay in touch with your website visitors, the best way to do so is by collecting their email addresses and adding them to your email list. This way, you can send them updates about your work, new blog posts, and special offers.
To get people to sign up for your email list, you need to offer them something in return. This could be a free ebook, a discount on your services, or access to exclusive content.
Once you have people's email addresses, you can use an email marketing service like Mailchimp or Mailerlite to send them regular updates.
How to create a website
We'll write another article to cover in-depth how to create a website. For now, we'll give you a quick overview on how to get started creating your own health coaching website.
The first thing you'll want to do is gather inspiration from other websites in your niche. This will give you a better idea of the types of features and design elements you want to include on your own site.
Next, you'll need to choose a web hosting provider and purchase a domain name. Our go-to source for checking domain availability and purchasing them is Google Domains.
Once you have your domain name and web hosting set up, you'll need to design your website. You can either do this yourself using a web design platform like Webflow, WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix, or hire a freelance web designer to do it for you.
Once your website is designed and live, you'll need to promote it to get traffic. You can do this by writing blog posts, optimizing your site for SEO, and using social media to share your content.
Resources for you building your website
- Developing your health coach brand
- Best health coaching websites
Conclusion
By creating a great health coach website you will be able to showcase your work, attract new clients, and build a personal brand. With the tips in this article, you should now have a better idea of what makes a website great and how to create one that will help you reach your health coaching business goals.
A great way to market yourself while you build your website and long after is by creating a health coach profile on our platform to increase your visibility online and attract new clients. Creating a profile is a straightforward process that won't take too much of your time. Sign up today to get started.
