Five Real StoryBrand Website Examples That Get Clients (2026)

Speaker: [00:00:00] Welcome to from Click to Client, where we transform a confusing message into a clear, compelling story that sells. I'm your host, Chris Jones, StoryBrand marketing expert. I'm here to help you attract more dream clients with the power of story.Hey there. Today I'm gonna pull up five real client wire frames and walk you through. Through them live. I'm gonna walk through what's working, what's not, and mistakes that most people are making, and how to fix them. These are actual StoryBrand websites I built for real clients, I think it's much easier to learn by looking at real world examples rather than just talking about it. So if you're listening as a podcast, don't worry.I'm gonna narrate everything that I'm looking at so you can get the full picture without needing to watch. And if you're on YouTube, you're gonna see the wire frames as I scroll through them.

This is part one of a three part series, and today we're gonna [00:01:00] dig into what I believe are the two most important sections of your website. The hero section. That's the very top of your website, and that's. First thing anyone sees, it's above the fold, meaning nobody has to scroll down to read it. And then we're also gonna cover the problem section, which goes right below it, and here's why these two sections matter more than anything else on your site.

If you get them right, you buy time. Your visitor thinks this is for me, and then they keep reading, and the more they read, the more likely they are to reach out and wanna work with you, or at least book a call with you. If you get these two sections wrong, the visitor will literally bail. They will leave, they're gone, and you'll never even know that they were there in the first place.

So every story you've ever heard, every book you've ever read, every movie you've ev ever been to, it always begins with a hero in a hole. When I [00:02:00] say a hero's in a hole, I mean your hero is stuck in a hole, they've fallen into a hole. They have a problem that they don't know how to solve themselves. And your website needs to prove within just five seconds that you know who your hero is and you really understand the hole that they're in.

So let's get into it. Alright. What is the hero section and what is it supposed to do? The hero section is at the very top of your homepage. It's what your visitor sees before they do any scrolling. It's sometimes called above the fold because it's prime real estate.

it's your very first impression. So we really wanna make it count. I actually like to call this part of your website, the billboard section of your page, because it acts just like a billboard that you would see on a freeway. So imagine you are on a freeway right now and you're driving. 85 miles an hour, and you're driving by a billboard, there's a billboard on the [00:03:00] side of the freeway.

If that billboard is too wordy, is too poetic, is too nuanced, is too complicated, you're not gonna be able to read anything on that billboard. You're gonna just drive right by. Your brain is literally gonna shut down and say, Nope, that's too dangerous. We have to focus on. But if the billboard has a handful of words, they're really clear and they're meaningful, then your brain will be open to digesting it.

And because people are only at at your billboard section of your website for five-ish seconds, you've got to be that simple. one of the things I like to, to challenge my clients with is, could a caveman come to your website and is it so simple and clear that a caveman could grunt what you do to another caveman?

And they both nod in agreement. Yep, we get it. So that's how simple we wanna be. Your billboard section [00:04:00] or your hero section or your header section, they're all the same thing. They're all that first section on your, your homepage. It's got one job and that's to, to answer the questions. What do you do?

How's it gonna make my life better? And what do you want me to do next? So it's gotta do a lot of heavy, heavy lifting with very few words, and that's the challenge. The visitor coming to your website. All they wanna know is, am I in the right place? Is this the right website for me? And if you don't communicate those things within about five seconds, they're probably gonna gonna bail.

So we've got one shot, we wanna get it right, and this is why your hero section matters so much. So, as I mentioned, I'm gonna get into some real examples, but before we do, I wanna answer this question, which is, what is the most common mistake coaches make in the hero section? So the most common thing I see is a coach who [00:05:00] opens his or her website by introducing herself, something like, hi, I'm Amy. I'm a certified life coach based in North Carolina, and I'm so passionate about helping women step into their power. And I wanna be really gentle here because Amy probably worked really hard on that website and she's proud of it, and she feels personal and warm. Like there's nothing wrong with showing up, being warm and welcoming and personal, but. The truth is there is a problem with this because the opening is entirely about Amy and the visitor doesn't come to Amy's website to learn about Amy.

They actually come because they have a problem and they're hoping that Amy can help them. In StoryBrand, Donald Miller teaches that your client is the hero of the story, not you. So I want you to think of yourself as the guide.You are guide. You are Yoda.

You are not Luke. Your hero is Luke [00:06:00] Skywalker. You are Yoda.

the moment you open with, hi, I'm Amy. You've just made yourself the hero. And your visitor, who is the actual hero, who we really wanna position as the hero, you've just kicked them out of the narrative completely. And they feel that even if they can't consciously name it, they can feel that they can't see themselves in your story, and so they're gonna leave.

The second mistake that I see a lot is. Really a high cognitive load message. This just means that the brain has to work too hard to figure out what it is you do, how it's gonna make their life better, and what do you want them to do next. So this can look like too many words, too much to process, too fast, industry lingo.

It happens so often. I, see it all the time, a coach will have a headline that reads something like. Helping ambitious, purpose-driven women who are ready to break through their limiting beliefs, unlock their true potential, and create a life [00:07:00] filled with joy, meaning, freedom, and fulfillment on their own terms.

So say that out loud. By the time you get to the end of it, you've forgotten how it even started. Commas are not your friend in the header section. We wanna avoid commas. We wanna avoid the word. And or too many ands. Long sentences With lists and commas and qualifiers,They exhaust the brain before it can connect with the message. And so again, the brain shuts off. In StoryBrand, we talk about cognitive load The higher the cognitive load of your message, the less likely someone is to engage with it. A confused mind always says no. A confused mind will always click away from your website without taking any action, without booking that call with you.

And the irony is those wordy headlines almost always come from coaches who care so deeply. They want to include everyone. They do so much for their clients and they don't [00:08:00] wanna leave anyone out, and they really wanna communicate like all the wonderful things that their clients are gonna get through working with them.

But when you try and say too much, nothing ends up landing. The hero mistake number three, vague and flowery language. This is one of the most subtle mistakes because it actually sounds good. It sounds inspiring. Things like reach your full potential, live your best life. Step into who you are meant to be. It's beautiful. It's poetic, it's optimistic, but it's really meaningless to someone who is really suffering.

Because here's the thing, your visitor is not in a poetic mood when they land on your website. They're tired. They're probably frustrated. They've probably tried many things that haven't worked. They're a little bit cautious and so vague, flowery language doesn't really meet them where they are. It kind of floats above them and feels unattainable and kind of squishy and fuzzy.

It's just not something that their [00:09:00] brain can hold onto, so like reach your fullest potential. A headline like that could describe a fitness coach, a business coach, a therapist, a meditation app, or a vitamin company. It's just too broad and too vague, and It describes no one specifically, so it really resonates with no one deeply.

the antidote to flowery language is specific words that create specific results, Let me show you what I mean.

Okay, now I'm gonna walk you through a handful of real life examples of coaching websites and service provider websites that actually work. So all the three mistakes I just talked about, these websites are actually done, right. These header sections are. Nailing it. So we're gonna start with Krista, who is a coach and she works with with widows.

Her headline is, I Help Widows Truly Love life Again. And then the subhead tells [00:10:00] exactly what she does. Evidence-based grief, support and coaching to transition from surviving to thriving. Just a handful of words that. Say really clearly that she is a coach and she offers grief, grief support to help widows transition from surviving to thriving. The next example is a parenting coach. This is a client named Jill, and her headline is, I help parents handle challenging behavior with calm and clarity. And then the subhead is break free from daily battles and rediscover the joy of parenting. Now notice she is telling the visitor what she does, how it's gonna make their life better and what she wants them to do next. The call to action should always be included in that header section because we wanna tell them what we want them to do. So Jilly's call to action is book your family piece planning call. notice we've integrated a [00:11:00] benefit into that. That button so people know if they book a call, they're actually gonna experience a benefit from the call, whether they work with Jill or not. I'm gonna go back to Krista's Krista's main call to action. For her widow clients is discover your grief stage assessment. When we implemented this call to action, she literally doubled her assessment signups overnight. Now the next example I'm gonna walk you through is Andrea. Andrea is a coach for women who have, who are in the thick of dealing with infidelity.

For Andrea's example, we've got a very clear headline. Navigate the Pain of Infidelity and Emerge stronger than Ever. Coaching for individuals and couples ready to face the truth, reclaim your power, and build something beautiful. And then her call to action is book a. Find your path forward strategy call.

[00:12:00] So again, what do you do? How's it gonna make my life better and what do you want me to do next? These headlines are all about the hero. They are not about the coach themselves. They are not about the guide. We have time to get into that later, like as we've built trust and allowed the visitor to really.

Buy into what you do and know they're in the right place. Later on in the page, we can talk about you as the coach or the service provider, but right up top, we wanna only talk about our hero. So another client I wanna feature today is. Molly. Molly has a group membership for her clients and her headline is, master every Area of Your Life with grace and ease.

Join a community of ambitious women who are ready to find balance in their success, feel peace inside and create a life they actually enjoy. So we do have a, a few commas in there, but the words are just so simple [00:13:00] that my brain can actually. Track and remember. And then finally we have my client, Megan, who is a, a coach as well for working moms.

And her headline is, stop Running On Empty and Start Living a Life You Love. Coaching for ambitious working moms ready to trade overwhelm for peace. So notice how clear that is.

Okay, so you've got your hero section dialed in. Now we're gonna delve into the problem section and. What I wanna answer here is why does this section matter so much? It is literally one of the most important things that you do on your website. If the hero section answers, am I in the right place? The problem section answers, does this person actually understand what I'm going through?

This is the moment your visitor goes from curious to fully engaged because in the problem section we open up a story loop and when we open up a story loop, our brains can't [00:14:00] help but fully engage and we will not disengage until we know that loop has been closed. It's just a story psychology. So here's the StoryBrand principle that drives this.

Every great story begins with a hero who has a problem they don't know how to solve on their own. Your visitor is that hero and they showed up on your website because they're literally in a hole and they need you to help them get out of the hole. Your job in the problem section is to describe that whole so accurately that they feel understood before you've offered them a single solution.

Because here's what most people don't realize. People don't buy solutions. They buy the feeling of being understood, and when they feel like you get them. They automatically think that you're of course the best one to solve it for them. So there's a lot of psychology that goes on in this section that is incredibly powerful.

[00:15:00] so what do most coaches get wrong on the problem section?The most common mistake I see is naming only the external problem, and then stopping there.A coach will write something like, are you struggling to grow your business? And yes, technically that is a problem and, but it's an external problem, meaning that's something that somebody could identify on the outside. struggling to grow your business, describes really. Half of the internet, so it's very broad and it just doesn't resonate as,

You really understanding things on a deeper level. We want them to really feel like, oh my gosh, she is in my head. How does she know that I wake up at 3:00 AM in the middle of the night and think about this stuff? So what's missing with this problem that I'm talking about here? Are you struggling to grow your business?

Is that It's not paired with an internal problem. So in StoryBrand, there are really three levels of every [00:16:00] problem. There's the external, the internal problem, and the philosophical problem. The external problem is really the situation, the external situation. It's the thing you can describe factually, the internal problem is really how that situation makes you feel.

It's the emotion underneath it. And then the philosophical problem is the deeper, it's just not right or you deserve something better. It's the injustice of it, and most coaches name that. Sternal and then they skip straight to their solution. But your visitor doesn't need you to name their situation. it's okay to name it, but you always really wanna parro it with that internal problem because.

People really make decisions based on emotion, and when you really tap into their emotions around this problem, they are more likely to just justify it after the fact with, with their head. but it's because you've tapped into that internal [00:17:00] problem. so what they need you to name is really how it feels to be in that situation.

That's what, that's really what creates that. Oh my gosh, she really gets me moment. Now let me walk you through some real life, real world websites that I have created and I'm gonna show you the problem section of each of them, and don't worry if you're listening, I'm gonna talk you through each one, so you're not gonna miss anything. Okay, now we're gonna start with Krista's website. So the overarching problem is many widows get stuck in survival mode. I like to lead into this section with the external problem, and then I like to get into the internal problem in bullets below. So Krista actually has two different audiences.

They're, they're both widows, but some of them are in the early stages of grief, and some of them are in the later stages of grief. So a few problems for that first audience is. Soon [00:18:00] after loss. Are you wondering if you're grieving the right way? Battling brain fog and emotional exhaustion, feeling alone because no one really understands, barely keeping it together for those around you, uncertain about what comes next.

Notice all the emotions that come up in those bullet points. We're really like looking under the hood of the problem and naming the emotions that come along with that problem. And then for her other group of clients who are widows, who have, who, have been grieving for a while, we say, if you've been grieving for a while.

Are you wishing you were farther along? Are you afraid your best days are behind you? Are you feeling guilty about wanting more from life again, are you trying everything but still feeling lost day to day? Are you unsure who you are now and how to rebuild? So this is where really we ensure that the visitor.

Feels seen, feels heard, feels not alone in their struggle. And [00:19:00] again, when you, when you really articulate this well, they feel like you're obviously the best one to solve it. So now we're gonna move on to a parenting coach example, Julie, overarching problem, Mainstream parenting strategies often don't work on kids with difficult behaviors, external problem.

This is really great. This is the overarching external problem. Then in the bullets below, we've got. Are you struggling with walking on eggshells, dreading the next meltdown, avoiding social situations due to your child's unpredictable behaviors, everyday tasks and transitions that feel impossible to navigate with your child Parenting techniques that are no longer working, disconnection and isolation due to strained relationships.

So notice again, we're. We're popping open that hood and we're articulating the internal problem. And I love to pair this section with a, an image of what this looks like, an image [00:20:00] of your hero struggling. We wanna bring to life the bullets that we're working through.

Andrea's problem section. Remember, she works with, uh, she helps people navigate in infidelity and emerge stronger than ever. So her problem section says that overarching problem is. Beta betrayed women often lose trust in their intuition because they were intentionally deceived. Are you struggling with intense emotions that cycle between anger, blame, embarrassment, and shame, indecision about your relationship in its future, the inability to trust your own judgment or intuition?

The inability to find peace because everything feels chaotic and unstable. And then we wanna pair those bullets with an image of what that actually looks like. Often, like this would be a woman in, in distress, feeling uncertain, and out of touch with herself. For Molly's problem section, we've got, [00:21:00] you've tried to build the life that you thought would make you happy, but you often feel exhausted, anxious, and disconnected.

Are you fed up with a life that checks all the boxes, but you still feel dissatisfied? Constant pressure to keep it all together while running on empty. Feeling desperate to feel like yourself again, the chaos of life and never ending responsibilities. So notice we're just really articulating the problem and we want the visitor to be nodding their head yes.

Finally, someone who gets it and they don't have to nod their head at every bullet, but at least a few. And then the final example that I wanna share with you for the problem section is Megan's. The overarching problem is many working moms carry an invisible mental load that no amount of productivity hacks will fix.

Are you fed up with mental fatigue and internal buzz that never shuts off losing yourself between the to-do list and, and bedtime routines. People [00:22:00] pleasing and perfectionism that leave you completely depleted, promising yourself, you'll do better than feeling guilty when you don't. So these are really great examples of articulating that problem and her working mom clients are gonna be feeling just so relieved, so seen, so heard in their struggle.

Okay, so how do you know if your hero and your problem sections are actually working? So here's what I want you to do right now. If you can go to your website, pull up your homepage, and I want you to audit two sections back to back. Start with your hero section, the very top of the page.

Read the headline out loud, and then ask yourself, does this name a specific person and a specific result, or is it vague that it could apply to almost everyone? Then ask, am I the subject of this sentence, or is my client the main focus of this headline?

if your headline starts with I help women fill in the blank, that's [00:23:00] totally okay. As long as the rest of this sentence is entirely about them. If it starts with, hi, I am Jamie, we should probably talk about revamping those words. Then count the words.

If your headline is more than 12 or 15 words, it's probably trying to carry too much. See if you can cut it down and still say the same thing. I want you to edit, edit, edit. Then I want you to scroll down to your problem section. Read your problem bullets out loud and slowly for each one ask, is this describing the situation, the external situation, or is it describing how it feels to be in that situation?

It's okay to have your headline in the problem section be about the external problem. I like to have my headline name, the external problem. Then I really like the bullets underneath them to name the internal problem. And here's the question that will tell you everything. If your ideal client reads this right now, [00:24:00] would they think that's so of me, or would they think.

How does she know exactly what I'm going through? How is she in my head? if you answered sort of, you've got a little bit of work to do and if you answered Yeah, exactly. They can name themselves. You are definitely on the right track. So here's what I want you to remember from today. The hero section and the problem section are the gatekeepers of your entire website.

Get them right, be clear, client focused, be specific. And you really buy more time with your client. Your visitor will say, oh, I, I trust them enough to keep reading. When you get these wrong, if they're wordy, if they're vague, if they're nuanced. They're gonna bail and they're gonna bail before they get ever

get a chance to spend time with you and understand what you do and what you offer. So all the coaches we looked at today. They were able to earn trust in a handful of seconds. Not because they have beautiful websites, which they do, [00:25:00] but because they led with clarity and they named the internal experience of their client, that's the work.

It's very doable. It's not hard.

Part two, we're gonna come back to a handful of these same wire frames and we're gonna work our way down the page. We're gonna work our way through the next two sections, so stick with me, come back and we'll keep going through the page.

Speaker 3: If you're listening today and thinking, I need someone to look at my website and tell me exactly what's going on, that's what my money making messaging call is for. We'll look at your messaging together, find the gaps, and you'll leave knowing exactly what you need to change. The link is in the show notes, so go look at your hero section and if it starts with, hi, I am Jackie, you'll know what to do, I will see you in part two. Is your website turning away Potential clients? I can help you turn that around. Book a moneymaking messaging call with me today and we'll transform your story into your most [00:26:00] powerful sales tool. That's all for this episode of From Click to Client. Don't forget to subscribe and follow. I'm Chris Jones and I'll see you next.