3 common website mistakes (+ how you can fix them!)

Are you "guilty" of any of these common website mistakes? (I was!) In this post, you'll learn 3 mistakes that could be keeping your site from reaching more of your dream clients, patients, and customers! From writing your Home page copy and sharing a clear call-to-action to speaking to your audience and making it easy to work with you, these tips are perfect for health and wellness professionals looking to market their solo private practice, group practice, or other wellness business.  

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Mistake #1: Burying the lead
3. Mistake #2: Ignoring part of your audience
4. Mistake #3: Making it too hard to work with you
5. Live Q+A Replay
6. Recommended resources
7. Let's take action
8. Share this post

Ever look back on your path as a business owner and marvel at how far you've come

(Same, friend.)

Wouldn't it be nice if someone had pulled us aside back then and warned us:

"Heads up: The path of business growth is paved with cringey mistakes."

Reflecting back on the earliest versions of my online presence as a therapist, I'm truly humbled by the number of times I straight-up ignored the website advice I was enthusiastically dishing out to you!

(Ohhh, the irony.) 

No shade to Past Me, but on the chance you're making some of the same mistakes I have... I'd like to smooth out that learning curve for you.

Read on for 3 common website mistakes (i.e., 3 mistakes I’ve made on my own website!) + how you can avoid (or fix) them:

Mistake #1: Burying the lead

Back in the early days of my therapy practice, I was definitely guilty of burying the lead.

As in, I took the most important part of my entire site... and I buried it (deep) in the body of my Home page.

I'm talking about my primary call-to-action.

Even though everything I teach about website copy leads back to offering visitors a clear invitation to take the next step toward something helpful…

And even though I eventually built my entire therapy practice strategy around a strong call-to-action…

And even though I've spent untold hours since then planning, implementing, testing, and tweaking the calls-to-action that I use on my copy coaching website…

…back in the day, visitors to my therapy site would land there and be greeted with: 

MICHAELA BUCCHIANERI, PhD, LP

That’s it. Just a headline. (And not exactly a compelling one either, sheesh...)

But nowhere to be found?

My call-to-action!

Friend, I’m speaking to both of us when I say this:

If you do nothing else on your site, PLEASE make sure you have a clear call-to-action (ideally, a link to your email opt-in or Work with Me page) “above the fold” (i.e., no scrolling required to find it)!

NEED HELP?

• Check out this post on 5 tips to a killer call-to-action

Mistake #2: Ignoring part of your audience

When I started my therapy practice, I had a clear list of "dreamy" client values + characteristics in mind that helped guide my marketing efforts.

And over time, as I created content to reach + serve them, a cool thing happened:

My pool of prospective dream clients grew!

As my schedule filled with therapy clients I loved working with, I created new content based on the topics + themes that emerged from our work together.

But, this also meant I gradually moved away from posting on more of the “fundamentals” (e.g., basic questions, terms, and concepts).

And the fundamentals are precisely what brand new dream clients were looking for when they first landed on my site.

Think of your own audience for a minute:

I'm guessing they're all equally dreamy in your eyes.

So, you need to be sure you're speaking to every last one of them.

NEED HELP?

• Review your content strategy to incorporate topics that meet the needs of your dream clients before, during, and after their work with you… with a particular focus on those who are just finding you.  

Mistake #3: Making it too hard to work with you

Awhile back, I was chatting with a copy coaching client, who sheepishly admitted she’d been running her yoga business “like a secret society.”

In other words, she wasn’t selling her offer nearly enough. To the people she KNEW could benefit from it.

Friend, if selling = helping, then we’re not just in the “helping” business.

We’re in the selling business, too.

(We’ve gotta be!)

So, when she made her confession, I was like lolollll.

Because I was guilty of the same when I first started my therapy practice. I was so focused on building a valuable content marketing strategy that I temporarily lost sight of what that content was meant to be marketing.

If the actual bridge to working with you has become an afterthought, it's worth hitting pause on everything else until you make that link supremely clear for your people. 

NEED HELP?

• Review your site + make sure it points to 1 clear Work with Me (or Services) page where prospective dream clients can learn more about how you can support them.  

Live Q+A Replay 

*Coming soon!*                     

Recommended resources 

Want to explore more ways to sharpen your copy skills so you can grow your health and wellness business? Check out these blog posts:

• Worst health & wellness website mistakes (2021)
• Super-simple copywriting tips for beginners
• How to write great private practice website copy
• Professional jargon on your wellness website?
• 3 sneaky places to find website copy inspiration
• Back to basics: 3 conversational copy tips

Let's take action!

Ready to implement what you learned in this post? I like your style!

1. Review your site and make a plan to correct any of these mistakes ASAP!
2. Keep the momentum going by signing up for my (FREE) #5DayAboutPageChallenge!
3. Want more actionable tips + real-life examples to help you reach more of your dream clients? Join my Close Friends list over on Instagram! 

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Share it with a health/wellness professional in your community!