In short
People hire a career coach for at least seven different reasons. In this article we share what your website needs to say to get clients, the pages you need, and a full example.
If you're a career coach, you already know how long a recruiter spends on a CV before it goes on the yes pile or the no pile. Seconds. You've probably told clients that a hundred times. Well, your website gets exactly the same treatment. The question is whether you've given it the same advice you give your clients.
I'm not having a go. Writing about yourself is hard, and it's harder when you can help with a lot of things. But the person landing on your site is doing what a recruiter does. They're scanning for one thing, and if they don't find it fast, they're off.
We looked at 10,954 live coaching websites and checked each homepage for 10 things a stranger needs before they'll get in touch. Things like whether you can tell who it's for, whether there's any proof, and whether there's a price. Only 14.3% of them could be understood by a stranger within five seconds. So the bar is low, which is good news if you're willing to clear it.
Who is actually looking for a career coach?
Not one type of person. People come to a career coach for very different reasons. We looked at the books people buy about their working lives and what they write about them, and found at least seven different reasons, each wanting something different from a coach. Here they are, in the buyers' own words:
- The one who's stuck. "Stuck in a career rut, becoming more miserable by the day." They've done the personality tests and read the books, and they still can't decide.
- The one who got passed over. "Passed over for a promotion that went to a less qualified person. I am livid!" They don't want a new career, they want what they've earned.
- The one who keeps getting rejected. "Rejected over 30 times." "Completely froze." Their CV gets them interviews and the interviews go nowhere.
- The one who thinks it's too late. "Is it too late?" "Reinvent yourself after 50." They want proof that people their age have done it.
- The one who's just been made redundant. "I feel like a failure." They need their income back and their confidence back, and not always in that order.
- The one going back after a break. "The fear of going back to work." They're worried about whether they'll still be taken seriously.
- The one who's burnt out. "No amount of rest will help." They've tried time off and it didn't fix it.
Now picture each of those people reading a homepage that says "Helping you find a career you love." Which of them thinks it's for them? None of them, really. And that's the problem with being a career coach for everyone.
What goes at the top of a career coach website?
Who it's for and what you fix, in their words, in the headline. Not your name, not your qualifications, and not a nice line about potential.
This was the biggest difference we found between coaching websites that work and ones that don't. The sites that did best across those 10 things, the ones a stranger can follow from arriving to getting in touch, almost always say who they help and with what, right at the top. And 49.2% of all the coaching sites we looked at don't say it clearly anywhere.
So for a career coach, pick the person from that list you're best with and talk to them first. "For managers who keep getting passed over for promotion" stops the right person scrolling. "Career coaching for professionals" stops nobody.
If you genuinely work with two or three of those groups, that's fine. Lead with one, then give the others a clear way in further down the page. What you can't do is lead with all seven at once. There's more on the five-second test here if you want to check your own headline.
What comes next on the page?
Proof, and it has to be proof a stranger could check. Two thirds of coaching websites show none at all. Of the sites that did best, 89.5% have some. Of the ones that did worst, 18.5% do.
Career coaches have an advantage here that a lot of coaches don't. Your clients' results are easy to see and easy to say. Got the promotion. Landed the job after 30 rejections. Went back to work after three years out. A named client saying one of those things, with their job title if they're happy to share it, is worth more than any amount of "I help people unlock their potential". The testimonials post has more on getting them.
What doesn't count as proof is your own description of yourself. "Clients say I'm a great listener" is a claim with quotation marks round it.
Should a career coach website show prices?
In my opinion, yes, or at least a starting price. 82.3% of coaching websites don't show any price at all. Career clients are often worried about money already, especially the redundant one and the one going back after a break, so leaving them to guess doesn't do you any favours. If every programme is different, say so and explain what the price depends on. The coaching pricing post goes through both ways of doing it.
Where does your own story go?
After the proof, not before it. 90.7% of the sites that did best have a story on the page, and a third of all coaching sites have nothing human on them anywhere. So you do need it. But it goes fourth, because it turns a page they believe into a person they'd contact.
For career coaches the story often writes itself. If you came into coaching after your own career change, a redundancy or years of hiring people, say that, briefly, and say why it means you understand the person reading. That's the bit they care about, not the full CV.
What's the next step for someone who isn't ready to call?
Give them one. 94.3% of the coaching sites we looked at ask a stranger to book something, and for a lot of them that's the only option. But think about your seven people. The redundant one might be ready to talk today. The stuck one has been stuck for two years and won't book anything this week.
So have the booking button for the ready ones, and something useful they can take away with just an email address for everyone else. For a career coach that could be a checklist for the week after redundancy, or the five questions to answer before you decide to leave. Then you can stay in touch until they're ready.
What does that look like on a real page?
Here's a homepage written out top to bottom for one of the seven: the manager who keeps getting passed over. The names, prices and quotes are made up to show you the shape. Yours have to be real.
The headline: For managers who keep getting passed over for promotion.
The line under it: You do the work, you hit the numbers, and the job still goes to someone else. I help you get seen by the people who decide, so the next one is yours.
The first button: Book a 20-minute call.
The proof: "I'd been passed over twice in three years. Four months after we started working together I got the promotion." Sarah, Operations Manager. Then two or three more like it, each with a name and a job title.
The price: Six sessions over three months, from £X. Every programme is built around where you are now, so I'll give you an exact price once we've talked.
The story: I spent twelve years on the other side of the table, deciding who got promoted. I know what the people making that call notice, and I know what gets missed. That's what we work on.
Two ways forward: Book a call if you're ready to go for the next promotion. If you're not there yet, get my free checklist, "Why you got passed over: the 7 things decision-makers look for", and I'll send it straight over.
That's it. Someone who's been passed over reads that headline and knows within five seconds the page is for them. Everything under it answers the next question they'd ask, in the order they'd ask it: can you do it, what does it cost, who are you, and what do I do now.
What other pages does a career coach website need?
Fewer than you think. For me, four does the job:
- The homepage, built like the example above. It does the heavy lifting.
- An about page with the longer version of your story. Keep it about why you understand the reader, not a list of every course you've been on.
- A page for how you work and what it costs. The sessions, the length, what's included, the price or what the price depends on, and who it isn't for.
- A way to book or get in touch, on every page, not just one.
If you work with two or three of the seven groups, give each one its own page that talks to them in their words, the same way the homepage talks to your main group. That's far better than one services page trying to cover everyone.
A blog is a bonus, not a must. If you write one, write it for the people you've picked, about the problems they've told you about.
Does a career coach website need to look amazing?
No. Nearly every coaching website is well built already. They load, they work on a phone and they're secure. Paying a designer to make yours prettier won't fix a headline that doesn't say who it's for. Website design for life coaches goes into why the look is the half that's already done.
Questions coaches ask about this
What should a career coach put on their homepage?
Who they help and what they fix in the headline, then proof a stranger could check, then a price or a starting price, then their own story, and finally a next step for people who are ready and one for people who aren't. There's a full example further up this page.
How many pages does a career coach website need?
Four is enough to start: a homepage, an about page, a page for how you work and what it costs, and a way to book on every page. Add a page for each extra group you work with.
Should a career coach niche down?
You don't have to turn people away, but your homepage has to lead with one group. People come to a career coach for at least seven different reasons, from being made redundant to being passed over for promotion. Pick the one you're best with and talk to them first.
Can I check my own career coach website?
Yes. Put your website through the same checks we ran on the 10,954 coaching sites and you'll see where it loses people.
The figures here come from our own corpus of 10,954 scored coaching websites and 918 mapped coaching markets. How we built and scored it.