[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.

Speaker: You paid for a website. Maybe you hired a designer or a copywriter, and you're still not getting clients from it. Most coaches and consultants I talk to have websites that look perfectly fine, but those sites aren't actually bringing in business. Here's the frustrating part. It's not because you're bad at marketing and it's not because you're not good at what you do.

Your website has fallen into one of the five invisible traps, and these traps push potential clients away before they even reach out to you. These traps cost you real money. Every week. People who need what you offer land on your site, they get confused, they feel disconnected, they get overwhelmed. They click away to a [00:01:00] competitor. Not because the competitor is better, but because their website made it easier to move forward.

In this video, I'm breaking down the five website traps that kill a coaching business every single day. And I'm gonna show you exactly how to fix each one. By the end, you'll audit your own website. You'll identify which traps you've fallen into, and you'll know exactly what to change so your site can do its job. Sell for you.

Let's get into it. Okay. The big question is why does this matter so much?

Your website is usually the first impression a potential client has of you. You might crush it at networking events. You might nail discovery calls. You might even get great referrals, but if somebody Googles you afterward and lands on a confusing or generic website,

trust evaporates.

I've seen coaches lose five figure clients because their website made them look less credible than they actually were. Here's the truth. Your website either works for [00:02:00] you 24 7, or it works against you 24 7. There is no neutral. So let's make sure yours is working for you and here are the five traps.

The first trap is the Brochure Trap. It's when your website is a digital business card. It exists, it has your info, but it's not actually converting visitors. It's just sitting there online, like a bump on a log. You may have built it using Squarespace or Wix. You picked a pretty template.

You uploaded your headshot, You filled in the blanks and called it done. The problem. Website builders create online brochures, not client converting machines. Here's why this is dangerous. It feels like you've checked the box. I have a website. But having a website and having a website that that's working for you are two completely different things.

The real cost isn't your monthly subscription. It's the revenue you leave on the table every day your brochure [00:03:00] website fails to connect with ideal clients. How do you know you're in this trap? You know, because your website hasn't been updated in over a year.

You built it quickly to have something up. You've never thought about the strategy behind what goes where. And you secretly hope people don't visit your website before talking to you.

So here's the fix stop thinking of your website as a place to store information online. Start thinking of it as your hardest working sales employee. One, needing a clear script, a specific audience, and a job to do. Your website should work while you sleep. It should build trust and book calls without you lifting one finger.

Okay, let's get into trap number two. Trap number two. I call the Copy Struggle Trap. You know,

what you do is valuable, but you have a hard time putting it into simple and clear words when you're talking to potential clients. You've spent hours staring at a blank screen trying to [00:04:00] write your homepage.

You've rewritten your about page 17 times. It still just doesn't feel right. So why does this happen? There are two forces at work against you, what I call the bottle effect and the curse of knowledge,For the bottle effect, I want you to picture trying to read a label of the bottle while you're inside it. You can't see it clearly. No matter how hard you try. Writing about your own business can feel the same way. You're just too close. You're literally. In the bottle trying to read that label. That can only be read from outside.

And then you've got the curse of knowledge also working against you. Once you become an expert. You know, you've been doing this work for quite a while. You've forgotten what it's like to not know what you know. So you end up using industry jargon. You overexplain or you skip the basics because they just seem really obvious to you.

So what does this look like in the real world? Your copy sounds like everyone else in your industry. You use words like transformation, [00:05:00] holistic, empower words, meaning, everything, and nothing at the same time. Potential clients read your website and still don't understand what you do.

In fact, they might even feel stupid because they don't understand the industry lingo that you're using.

It's just not simpleand clear. So here's the fix. Stop trying to write about yourself by yourself. Your story needs to be mined out of you Not manufactured or created by somebody else. It's inside of you. It's in your head, it's in your heart, and you need somebody to help you pull that story out of you. Mining for that gold of your story always requires an outside perspective and ideally an expert in storytelling.

Find someone who can ask the right question and see the gold you've been sitting on without realizing it. Even if you don't work with me, find somebody outside of the bottle for you, a colleague, a coach, a strategist. The words are already [00:06:00] in there.

They're already inside of you. You just need help getting them out. You need help clearing the clutter, clearing the noise, and honing in on the golden thread that is your story. Okay. Trap number three is The Hero Trap. This might be the deadliest trap of all. You try to impress potential clients by making your website all about you, your credentials, your certifications, your methodology, your years of experience, your background story.

You become the hero of your own website. Now, why is this a problem? Your potential clients aren't looking for a hero. They're looking for a guide. Think about Star Wars. Luke is the hero. Yoda is the guide. Yoda never talks about how many Jedi he's trained. He never talks about his credentials. He focuses entirely on Luke's journey.

Luke's transformation is his top priority. And your website should work the same way your client is luke, you are Yoda. [00:07:00] How do you know you've fallen into this trap? Your homepage starts with Welcome to, or I am Kris Jones. And I, so that's a, a hint to kinda let you know you're probably the hero of your own story.

Your about page is a chronological history of your career. You lead with credentials before addressing what your clients are struggling with. There's more I and me language than you language. So here is the fix. We're gonna flip that script. We're gonna open with their problem, not your bio.

Show them you understand what they're going through before you talk about yourself. When you do talk about yourself, frame it as I understand because, and that's empathy, right? When you say, I understand because fill in the blank, your empathy comes through and I've helped others like you. That's your authority. Empathy, and authority

are The two key ways that you can show up as the guide. Your experience does [00:08:00] matter, but only in the context of how it helps them succeed. Remember your Yoda, they are Luke. The story is about their transformation, not your resume.

Trap number four, I call. The More is More Trap. This happens when you believe a professional website needs a lot of pages. The more pages, the more credible you are. This is not true anymore. I'm a big believer in the one page website. I can't tell you how many websites I go to that have eight different pages in the upper navigation menu and their dropdown menus.

What this does is it sends your visitors on a scavenger hunt. They have to go from page to page to page to figure out if you're the right one for them. For example, you might have an about page, a services page, a resources page, a blog page, an FAQ page, a testimonials page, a contact page.

More pages does not mean more credibility, and here's why. This actually ends up hurting you. Every additional [00:09:00] page is a hurdle between somebody landing on your site and somebody booking a call with you.

There's a psychological phenomenon called decision fatigue. Our brains have limited decision making energy each day.When a visitor decides which page to click, which service to read about which blog posts might be relevant, they burn mental energy. Energy meant for one decision whether to book a call with you or whether to not book a call with you.

Confused people don't buy. They think I'll come back when I have more brain space, when I have more time to read this blog article. But ultimately they never come back. So what's the fix? You don't need more pages. You need one clear story that converts visitors. And this entire story happens on your homepage.

It all belongs right there on your homepage. A single scrollable experience, building trust, and guiding them to action as they scroll down the page. Think about how you scroll when you're on your phone. It's [00:10:00] natural, it's effortless. You hold your phone and you just do this motion with your finger.

Now think about clicking to another page. You have to go up to that upper right hand little menu. There are three lines there. You click on that you, there's a dropdown menu. You find the page, you move to that page. Oops. You wanna go back a page? You can't figure out how to go back. It's clunky. It is friction.

People will end up bailing before they go on a scavenger hunt on your website. The easier you make it to learn about you, the faster they begin to trust you. So simplify one page, one story, one clear path to working with you. Now, this does not mean you only have to have one page, but keep your upper navigation to a minimum.

A minimum. I mean one, two, or three pages tops. If you have any other pages, move them into the footer navigation menu. Get them out of the way so the visitor has a very clear path through the website. Okay, trap number five. This is the [00:11:00] final trap. I call it the Weak Proof Trap. This happens when you have testimonials on your website, but they're not doing their job. They say things like, "Jane's amazing. So professional and knowledgeable. I loved working with her." Praise. Doesn't sell. Transformation sells.

So why don't these testimonials work? Potential clients aren't asking. If a person is kind, they're asking, will this work for me? A testimonial saying she's so great to work with, tells them nothing about what's possible for them. But a testimonial saying, "Before working with her, I was drowning in financial stress.

Now I have complete clarity about my numbersAnd peace of mind knowing I'm on track to retire early." That kind of testimonial tells a story. I'm gonna repeat it one more time. So this is really for a financial coach or a financial consultant, right? This is an example, testimonial.

"Before working with Jane, I was drowning in financial stress. Now I have complete clarity about my numbers [00:12:00] and peace of mind knowing that I'm on track to retire early."

That tells the story that they can actually see themselves in. So what makes a good testimonial convert? It needs a clear before, what were they struggling with before they worked with you? And it needs a clear after what changed for them after working with you. It needs to be short and scannable, about three sentences max and it needs to have a real photo of your client with their permission of course.

So three sentences. Make sure the font is big enough to read. I can't tell you how many long paragraph testimonials I see. And in order for them to fit on the page, the font has to be reduced down to like an eight point font. Nobody can read a tiny font on the web, so shorten them. One to three sentences max.

Make the font big enough and include a photo of your client that will make it way more believable. So where should your testimonials go? Don't bury them on a [00:13:00] testimonial page that nobody will visit.

Integrate them onto your homepage. Sprinkle them throughout the site so you can be sure they don't get missed.

You can be strategic about this. Ifthey're about to click on your call to action, they're gonna have a little hesitation, and you wanna pair that with a strong testimonial that reassures them that you have solved this problem before.

Testimonials are proof. Proof should show up exactly when someone decides whether to trust you. So integrate those testimonials throughout the page. Okay. Let's bring it all together with a recap. What are the five traps? trap number one, the brochure trap, treating your website like a business card instead of a sales person. Trap number two, the copy struggle trap, trying to write about yourself while stuck inside the bottle.

Trap number three, the hero trap. Making your story all about you instead of about your hero. A k, a, your client

Trap number four, the more is more trap. Overwhelming [00:14:00] people with multiple pages than your upper navigation instead of guiding them through one clear journey. Trap number five, the weak proof trap,

using praise instead of transformation in your testimonials. So what should you do if you're stuck in one of these traps? First, don't panic. Almost every coach and consultant I work with has fallen into at least two or three of these.

You are not behind. You are not alone, and you didn't know it's no big deal. We can fix it. All of these are fixable once you're aware of them.

If you want help identifying exactly which trap your website has fallen into, book a free money making messaging call with me.

We will look at your website together and map out a plan.I would love to help you turn your website into something that actually works for you.

Remember, your website should be your hardest working sales employee. It should be attracting the right clients. It should be building trust before you even get on a call. It should be doing the selling for you [00:15:00] so you can focus on the work that you love.If your website isn't doing this right now, it's not because you're not good at what you do, it's just because nobody has taught you this stuff. You're a great coach and you deserve to find the right clients.

So now, you know, go check your website, find out what trap you're falling into and if you want help getting it back on track, I'm here

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 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.

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