One of the biggest questions clients come to me with is ‘What do I put on my consulting website?’
I answer, somewhat tongue in cheek with “Create content for your next client.“
Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
Yet it’s so hard!
When a visitor is on your site we can think of it like a personal conversation. If we’re too formal it’s like putting up a barrier. If we’re too personal, it can be super uncomfortable and things might stop right there.
We all tend to jump right into sharing our offers, who we work with, and how we do it. The process almost always leaves us with a whole lot of words on the page that a visitor doesn’t need or want to read.
Let’s take a step back for a moment.
Think about the actions our ideal client takes to end up on our site in the first place.
it’s about your ideal client
Business coach Melitta Campbell shared in one of her many trainings that people are searching online for an answer. They aren’t leisurely browsing through a magazine.
Instead of thinking ‘what do I need to put on my website’, think about your ideal client. Think about what you say to nurture them along to the point of showing up in their inbox. Because they are on your site looking for an answer, don’t let them just read and leave, like they’re thumbing through a magazine and toss it aside when they’re done!
How can you show them you understand their values and passions?
How can you show you understand their biggest challenges and that you have the solution for them?
The more you know about your ideal client the more you’ll know what to put on your site to draw them into a relationship. (Need help in this area? Here’s a worksheet that can help you identify your ideal client!)
When visitors land on your homepage they *want* you to be their perfect solution. Otherwise they wouldn’t be there. So make it easy for them to understand how you’re relevant to them. Help them see that you can move them towards solving their problem.
is your website a storefront?
I used to always say to my clients to “think of your website as a storefront. Give a glimpse of what your visitor is looking for with your home page ‘front window.’ “
But I’m coming to realize there’s more to it than that. This idea needs to be connect with actually inviting people in to the store. It’s not just about creating the storefront itself in a way to draw people in passively.
Your content needs to invite people in like an owner interested in showing why you’re different. It needs to do this while understanding the visitor. Then it should lead to the perfect-for-them-offer/solution to their problem. Then to guide them to the next step to take to get it/solve it.
A good, organized site helps with this. Knowing your ideal audience and ideal clients) helps immensely. It’s like when I take my dad to the mall shopping.
There’s one high-end chain store my dad loves going into. Everything within its four walls is organized by designer labels. Typically a sales associate welcomes you and asks if they can help you find anything. They often suggest items that are currently popular (and if you’re dressed the wrong way they’ll sneer down their nose at you.)
I can’t stand going in there. To me, everything seems jumbled together with no rhyme or reason why one item is next to another. I am obviously not their ideal shopper. My dad, however, loves this store! They practically cry with delight when they see him coming. They know he already knows ‘his’ designer and that they’ll make a small commission. (I think he secretly just wants the attention.)
You can see it’s not simply knowing your ideal client, but also knowing what they do with the information they receive. It’s the interaction between the information and how they feel about it.
Knowing this store is organized in this manner still doesn’t help me shop there, because it’s not the way I shop. Knowing this doesn’t alter how I interact with it. However, it’s THE THING that brings my dad back there time and again. He feels heard, understood. He knows they’ll know exactly what he needs when he shops there.
bring this to your website.
Create content for your next consulting client by building your authority site with quality content that helps answer their questions and solve their problems in an organized way. This stands for your main web pages as well as your blog posts.
Remember, visitors are coming to your website hoping you’ll have an answer to their problems. Start with this thought and the content on your website stands a better chance of moving to relationship status instead of being tossed aside like a magazine.
