Website before and after: Go BTS of a life coach website copywriting transformation

If you’re a coach in any sphere — be it leadership, executive or life coaching — you’ll probably have felt the squeeze of operating in what is becoming an increasingly saturated industry. Add to that the influx of those without proper qualifications, just hoping to make a quick fortune and then start posting Instagram updates from some superyacht, and you’ll also be feeling a little bit of pressure to show that you’re not like that.

If you’re wondering how to make your website stand out when someone opens several tabs to do their research, you’re in luck.

My client Amy, of Let’s Get Back To You life coaching, was having the same problems. When she came to me for a Copy Clinic (my 60-minute website makeover that includes copious structural and content edits from me, to up to three pages of your existing website copy) she had a conversion problem.

She had recently stepped into running her life coaching business full time after building it as a side hustle, but her conversion rate was “not where I want or need it to be now that I'm going for it full time”. For a while, Amy thought it was a visibility issue, but after doing a lot of work to improve that, she was now seeing regular traffic across her website, socials and Life Coach Directory profile. This improvement in visibility and views wasn't translating into enquiries or sales, though, so she knew something was missing in her messaging. She needed a little life coach website copywriting transformation! To work with someone who could see the messaging gaps and create copy that felt authentic and converted.

Say no more! The fact that Amy’s site was getting a lot of traffic, particularly via her bio on the directory page, did indicate a messaging problem. And when I started taking a look, I could see why.

The most common trap most life coaches fall into when talking about their work? Website copy that’s speaking to other coaches, not their clients.

And Amy had fallen right into it. While her copy was warm and conversational, Amy was making a very common error I see ALL the time with coaches: she was using coaching speak — full of industry jargon, instead of speaking to the specifics of what her ideal people were currently experiencing day-to-day. I got to work switching this up, changing lines that spoke in generalities to sentences packed with very specific experiences — ones which would instantly speak to those in the same situation. Amy also mentioned that her current site was attracting people who actually needed to see a therapist, so getting more specific was also a key factor in helping guide readers to the correct outcome for their needs.

Speaking of outcomes, Amy was also missing a trick with her calls to action. Namely… there weren’t very many. Her Homepage had a CTA at the top that read simply: “Scroll on for more”. Now, the first rule of a CTA is that it needs to inspire action. So we needed to direct people somewhere when they clicked. On a Homepage, this is generally best used as a link to Ways to Work With You.

How to write a really great headline for your life coaching website

Next up, I looked at headlines across the board. Her existing ones were quite generic:

“Life and wellbeing coaching designed for YOU”

“Gentle holistic life coaching that meets you where you are and holds you gently as you deepen your relationship with SELF”

So far, so life-coachy. “Deepening your relationship with SELF” isn’t as impactful as talking to the specifics of what that entails: building better habits, keeping momentum, feeling in control of your own life.

So I rewrote it to balance SEO keywords with a more in-depth sentence that spoke to her ideal people.

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Before and after HOMEPAGE HEADLINE, LIFE COACHING WEBSITE COPYWRITING transformation

Amy’s Homepage before the session

Amy’s homepage copy after the session

We had the same headline issue on your Services page. “1:1 Holistic Life Coaching designed for YOU.” Lovely (and at least there are some SEO keywords in there!) but not at all differentiated vs all those other holistic life coaches out there. “Designed for you” is not a differentiator. Nor is it speaking to a specific person.

Here’s how we changed things up on her Services page headline, using much more laser-focused language that called in her ideal client:

I spent a lot of time rewriting her other copy, taking it from kind but generic to compassionate and insightful. Words so sharply articulated to describe her ideal woman’s situation that they would instantly feel seen and understood.

Structurally, Amy’s Homepage was also a bit off. After her headline, she launched straight into her own bio. However, a reader needs to understand “what’s in it for them” before they start to care about credentials. You’d typically want to see a bio no higher then section three of a landing page (and even that can be a little premature in most cases).

I added in a logo bar beneath the fold, and then some additional copy to keep helping readers “wayfind” — showing that she understood where they were currently at. The language is still super compassionate, using Amy’s warm tone of voice, but it’s now more focused. I also tightened up the bio, asking Amy for specific examples that her people would really see themselves in. During the call, we landed on “starting every week with Inbox Dread” and struggling to fill rare pockets of free time because they didn’t know what they actually wanted to do with it.

(If you’ve ever wondered how a Copy Clinic works, here’s a little screenshot of a working document. My comments are along the side and my edits are in green.)

The main copywriting changes I made to Amy’s life coaching website (and would likely recommend to you!)

Before every Copy Clinic, I spend 2-3 hours simply editing your existing copy, cross-referencing with your answers to the questions in my onboarding questionnaire and making sure that the website copy is reaching your goals (and speaking to your ideal client). When you book, you’re getting far more than a generic audit. I edit and rewrite multiple pages before we even meet for our collaborative call.

All that means things change. A lot. In a nutshell, the biggest changes we made to Amy’s site (and those I’d recommend you check for in yours) were:

• Replacing coaching jargon with more human language

• Signalling authority earlier and more consistently with a logo bar under the homepage headline, and testimonials spread across the site (never let them all sit on one page).

• Making sure CTAs were actually initiating action (“scroll for more” was doing nada)

• Writing compelling headlines that spoke to a real human need, rather than catch-all industry phrasing

As soon as the session was over, I shared my Google doc of copywriting edits with Amy and she got to work adding it into her own website. Within seven days, she contacted me to let me know the new updates were live!

When it came to the experience of working together, she had this to say:

From start to finish the process was easy, relaxed and yet really powerful. Emma just understood what I needed immediately, and I left with a completely reworked homepage and services page, that now not only has great copy, but is structured in a way that really takes my potential clients on a journey or self recognition and support.

The call itself was so much fun, and by the time we were finished I had everything I needed to change my website (and much more) with total confidence. Now the copy is working for me and sharing my work with clarity and specificity.

I’m so grateful to Emma for helping me move past a block I’ve been butting up against for a while now. If you’re considering booking a call, go for it. You’ll be amazed at what you can do in an hour!

Intrigued about what a 60-minute session could do for you? Book your Copy Clinic here. Or, click here to read more case studies.