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The number of coaches and trainers in the Netherlands is growing. Over the past years we have had various coaches and trainers as customers and have advised them on how to set up their websites. In this article we’ll give you our take on websites for coaches and trainers and how coaches can make optimal use of WordPress.
A number of links in this article are embedded with an affiliate code.
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Website tips
Tip 1. Tell your story
You could look at many of today’s trainers and coaches as modern ministers. They help customers with spiritual and practical questions. Questions you used to take to a minister you now take to a coach. The minister has his pulpit. Trainers and coaches have a blog. In the blog trainers and coaches can elaborate on issues they come across and the answers they have. There is room to go into the philosophy behind their coaching methods.
Tip 2. Stop the sales, go help people!
Services make up a prominent part of many coach’s and trainer’s websites. What are you selling your clients? This is useful when people already know the coach and want to know what they can do for them. We’ve noticed that many trainers and coaches expect that a product website will also attract new customers. Often this isn’t very realistic. There are many trainers and coaches. There aren’t many people who want to be coached by an unknown coach or hire an unknown trainer. A website visitor needs to come to trust that the trainer/coach has the right answers to the questions the they are asking.
So trainers and coaches, use your website to win your client’s trust. Use your blog to share your knowledge so that you can engage your client and help them. Once they feel like you’ve helped them, they will feel connected and commercial transactions will come naturally.
Tip 3. Be patient
Most trainers and coaches probably want the same thing that our other customers want: fast results. They want new clients, now. That’s not how websites work. Most people and organisations that are successful online have been investing for years. They’ve built a faithful following after years of hard work. In the end, this is where your paid work comes from. We advise trainers and coaches to think in terms of a timespan of a few years. Use this time to share your knowledge and help your followers. Trust that the commercial work will come in time.
Rens Kroes’ website
Tip 4. Keep it simple 
Most Dutch people will have heard of Rens Kroes. And Karin from Koken met Karin (Cooking with Karin). These women have helped their readers eat better. They’ve been doing that for years. Often they started out selflessly, because they had a passion to help people eat good, healthy food. Typically these food blogs have a very simple aesthetic. The blogs almost look amateuristic. The focus is entirely on the content and this breeds trust.
Tip 5. Be personal
This is a tip we give everyone on the internet. Use pictures and video’s to tell who you are and what you stand for. This way the website visitor gets to know you and comes to trust you and your services.
Tip 6. Spread your services
Not everyone needs personal coaching or wants to hire a trainer. Training and coaching are specific ways to help. There are people who would rather read a book, listen to a lecture or take part in a workshop. We advise trainers and coacher to offer services that fit each budget.
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How can coaches use WordPress as CMS?
WordPress is perfect for blogging and coaches can use this platform to share their knowledge and insights.
Tip 1. WordPress.com as Software as a Service
WordPress.com is a Software as a Service (SaaS). That means you can set up a website yourself without having to consider hosting and maintenance. WordPress.com is fine to use when you want to set up a blog and it’s okay if it is simple. The advantage of a website via WordPress is that this solution is cheap (starting at $99 per year). You don’t have to be particularly handy and you can get your website online quickly. You don’t have to worry about hosting and maintenance. A disadvantage is that you cannot use all WordPress plugins and themes. And you are not the owner of the website code.
In the following tips we assume that you have used an open-source version of WordPress and that you have installed it via a hosting company on your own server.
Tip 2. Use a free theme
Because of the simplicity of the website you may choose to use a free WordPress theme from the WordPress theme catalogue. The free themes often have a freemium business model: the basics are free. You will pay via a Premium version if you want more functionalities. Advantage is that you can set up a professional website with little money. Disadvantage is that you are responsible for hosting and maintenance yourself.
Tip 3. Thrive Themes voor websites with conversion
Thrive Themes integrate themes with conversion driven functionalities, which gives you everything in one. With themes like Rise and Storied Thrive Themes has a number of themes that are suited to blogging for coaches. Read our blogreview over Thrive Themes.
Tip 4. Use a populair and flexible WordPress theme 
We buy many WordPress themes on ThemeForest. There are a number of beautiful, simple blog themes on ThemeForest. For example Voice and Simplemag.
Tip 5. Use Enfold
We are also very enthusiastic about the Enfold theme/framework. We use it for a great number of the websites we develop. There are various demo’s available for Enfold. One of them is a lifestyle blog that can be easily used for blogging by coaches.
Tip 6. Storytelling
A populair development coaches can make use of is storytelling. Storytelling is being used by more and more newspaper and magazine websites. Consider using the Aesop Story Engine for example.
Tip 7. Take care of good hosting 
You will need a good hosting company for any solution that involves installing WordPress on your own server.
- WP Engine; we work with the American company WP Engine. Advantage is that you have a professional environment at your disposal where you can make WordPress installations at the click or a button. WP Engine starts at $ 29 a month.
Tip 8. Skip WordPress use an alternative
WordPress is a fantastic systeem for a large community, but it’s not sacred. It has advantages and disadvantages. For a simple blog you could also consider an alternative like Ghost or Medium.
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