This is for you if...
<arrow-bullet>You're a service-based business and don't know what to write on your website to connect with people.<arrow-bullet><arrow-bullet>You're not sure if your copy is clear and concise.<arrow-bullet><arrow-bullet>You want your website to reflect you and your work more authentically.<arrow-bullet><arrow-bullet>You don't know how to make it extremely user friendly for people to understand your offerings.<arrow-bullet>
On this page
The list of 21 questions every holistic practitioner and intuitive business need to answer on their website are organized in these categories:
Who Do You Serve?
How Can You Help Them?
What Do You Do?
Who Are You?
What Should They Do?
What to Write on Your Website
Copy and design work together to clearly convey what the website is about. A beautiful website and be ruined by bad, unclear, or long-winded copy — just like amazing, on-brand, and engaging copy can be ruined by an ugly and non-user-friendly website.
If you're a small one-person business who's passion is to help their clients live a better, more fulfilling life, this is the article for you.
Below are the 21 questions you should answer on your website and why they're so important.
Who Do You Serve?
<callout>Why it's important — Your audience need to recognize themselves in the copy that you write. Be clear and help them visualize working with you.<callout>
Depending on where you are in your business, you may or may not know who your audience or niche is.
A very important step here to take is to niche down. There are entire books and courses on how to niche down and why it's important. But that's a topic for another blog post. Basically, it's getting very specific with who you work with or want to work with.
To keep it simple — create your Ideal Client Avatar (in the design world we call them a User Persona). It helps put a face, thoughts, and emotions onto who you're creating the work for, who you want to work with, and who you're talking to.
I'm sure you've heard about this concept before — and confident that you already defined your ideal client —, but even if you didn't you can continue answering these questions. It becomes more intuitive to write your copy when you're clear on who your ideal client is.
Who Do You Help?
Are they a specific demographic? Do you work with people based on their geographical location? Do they all work in the same industry? Do they all have the same belief system? Whatever it is, specify that.
Being explicit with the group of people you work with doesn't mean you're only going to work with them. My ideal client is in the holistic and intuitive small business world, yet my most recent client — who I worked with on a new website — is a hedge fund in Atlanta.
Where Are They Now In Their Journey?
Think of it like this: your client in a certain situation — their starting 🏁 position — and you 💁 help them get to their goal 🏆. Here, you explain how it looks and feels like where they are right now.
You can get very granular here. List in bullet points specific feelings, thoughts, and things they've done to try to get to their goal.
What Are They Looking For?
What's their goal? Where do they want to be? What do they want more than anything else? They could be looking to connect with their truest selves or for a way to solve their health problems.
You can get very specific like you did to describe their starting position. How does life look like for them after reaching their desired goal?
How Can You Help Them?
<callout>Why it's important — Position yourself as the person they need to work with my showing how much you know them and the situation they're in.<callout>
This is where you come into the picture. Bridge the gap between their starting position and their goal.
If you want to position yourself as the person they want to work with, make it clear how they benefit from working with you.
What Problems Do You Solve?
They don't have to be actual problems. They can be frustrations or inefficiencies. Do you optimize or improve something in their lives? How do you help them transform their mindset?
Why Should They Care?
Why are you the person that will help them get to their goal? How do you help them get to their goal? How do you want to make them feel? How will they feel after you solve their problem?
How Do They Benefit From Working With You?
What I recommend doing here (and what I do myself as well) is to read your client testimonials.
Don't have testimonials?
Ask people that you've worked with how they felt after working with you. You can ask them over a quick call, when you meet them next, or reach out to past clients through email or your best method of communication.
Don't have clients yet?
Reach out to your ideal audience and get to know them. Also known as market research, asking questions on groups where your audience hangs out or getting on calls with them helps you understand them better.
They are extremely helpful in getting clarity for your services as well! You never know what you'll learn when interacting with other people you're in alignment with.
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What Do You Do?
<callout>Why it's important — Your audience visits your website to understand what you do and how you can help them.<callout>
Even though this is the easiest question to answer, it usually isn't answered completely. What I recommend: get very specific.
What Services Do You Provide?
Name the services and explain what those services are. You most probably already have this on your website. This is the first thing we put on a website because it's the easiest to write.
What Is Your Process?
There are two parts to this: before they book your services and after they book their services.
Be clear in what they have to do to work with you. Is there a discovery call before the session? Will you send them a scheduling link? Every step in your communication matters here.
Define the method you follow in every session or the phases you have in each project you run with a client. This can be a simple overview or a short list of steps.
What Do Your Services Include?
Regardless what type of offering or product you provide, listing out exactly what your offering includes gives your audience clarity. Morgan Blackman at Holistic Bucks does a really good job at clearly listing out what her services include — specifically in her Broke 2 Woke Strategy Call.
Who Are You?
<callout>Why it's important — People work with people. They want to know who they're working with and who they need to trust.<callout>
What's Your Story?
Telling your story is powerful and the best way to build trust with your audience.
Integrate how your story helps you understand their problems.
Why Do You Do This Work?
Why did you choose this path? Or how did you end up doing what you're doing now?
How Are You Different?
There are many ways to stand out:
- Your approach or method is different from others. For example, your teaching style is very hands on compared to others in your industry.
- You have a background that seems to be unrelated to the services you provide — explain how that background makes you different.
- You've been in their shoes and know exactly what they're going through, while other's in your industry don't get them.
- You've been in business / teaching / practicing for a long time. Have you been giving readings for over 10 years?
- You offer a specific type of offering. For example, you offer Sattva Yoga or Yin Yoga.
Tie this into what your audience values the most.
What Are You All About?
What do you take a stand for? What is your philosophy?
Maybe you're a web designer who's passionate about global inclusion. Maybe you're a yoga teacher who's work is centered in trauma informed yoga for recovery. Whatever it is, state it clearly.
It's OK not the have an answer to this question. Usually this step requires more experience and doing the work.
How Do You Connect With Them?
Why this audience? Why does your audience care about your story?
Maybe you've been through exactly the same situation they're in right now. Maybe you were helped by people in their industry and want to give back — this is one of the ways I connect with my audience, btw.
What Should They Do?
<callout>Why it's important — When you're clear with your guidance and instructions, you make their experience on your website more easeful.<callout>
In other words: What is the goal you want your website to have? What do you want your visitors to do?
The entire point of a website is to convert your client into buying something from you. Sounds cult-y or sales-y, I know. Here's what I mean: you guide them with clarity towards where you want them to go — it's their decision if they want to take action or not.
I learned these important tips in yoga teacher training on how to guide a class:
- Structure a class with an intention and/or a peak pose
- Use direct and succinct language to guide them to the peak pose
- Remind your students to reconnect with that intention
By applying this to a website, you can guide your visitors to their intention — why they went into your website in the first place — and remind them of it throughout the website by using clear call-to-action.
What Actions Do You Want Them To Take?
This is where call to actions come in. Be clear on what you want them to do. Book a session? Set up a call? Learn about your services?
Whatever you tell them, make sure it aligns with your goals. For example, if you want to grow your email list, tell them to sign up for your newsletter or download a lead magnet. If you want to get in touch with them, tell them to call, email, or schedule a time with you.
How Can I Help Them Find What They Want With Ease?
How can you help your website visitors find what they want with as little effort as possible? By creating a super simple navigation and having clear and consistent buttons. Sounds easy, but it's not. I see my clients make this mistake all the time.
I know you want to put out all the information — I do, too! We love what we do and want to pass on the knowledge. The best thing you can do for your business and your visitors is to cut the clutter.
If you're not sure, go back to your goal. Add buttons strategically to guide them to the website goal.
Final Thoughts
On the impermanence of your audience —
In the end, all of this isn't set in stone. Audiences change, businesses transform, humans evolve, and we transition as time goes by. Your niche will change and the services you provide will as well, together with your copy.
On the repetitiveness of your message —
Yes, this might all sound very similar and have many overlaps. That's the point. Repetition leads to retention. By repeating your message — even though it's written in different ways — your website visitors are more likely to remember you and what you communicated.
On the specificity of your services —
Being specific brings clarity to your website visitors. It's OK if you don't have the specifics yet — or don't know how to answer some of these questions.
Be consistent and specific. Talk about your ideal client. Tell your story.
