You might not realize it, but as human beings, we inherently judge people and businesses by things associated with them. And when it comes to running an online business, one of the big things people associate with that business is your website.
Good design reflects your business. Get design wrong, and it can seriously affect how people see you — and that good reputation is essential to every life coach.
If you’re looking for inspiration to give your designer a clear brief or just looking for some great design examples to help you create a credible, trust-building website, you’re going to love this article.
What is web design?
Web design is the actual layout of your site. The headlines, the copy, the colors, fonts, and photos.
Or for a more visual explanation, here is a prototype (undesigned) website:
As you’d expect, it’s pretty bland in color and has placeholder text. Now, with a little bit of design work and the content added in, it looks like this:
The finished design includes:
- Tasteful fonts
- Colorful buttons
- Engaging imagery
- Accenting background colors
- Visual interest with a gold line divider
Your brand design can make or break your website, so before you even start creating yours, make sure you have a solid style guide with your chosen colors, fonts, and logo ready to go.
Start the process with brand design
Before you create your website, you need to create your brand design, which is where you choose your logo, fonts, colors, etc. (basically everything listed in the bullet points above).
Without a well-thought-through branding strategy, you’re designing a site on the fly without any real idea of how it fits together. And that’s when you end up with a website that feels nothing like your branding on social media.
Whether you’re handy with design or not, working with a brand designer is definitely worth considering. And one I’d recommend is Deena Rutter.
I’ve worked with Deena many times, and she’s crazy talented. You can work with her on a one-to-one basis, or use her Brand in a Box service which is full of pre-made branding templates you can upload and tweak in Canva.
So if creating brand design just isn’t your thing, visit Deena’s website to see what she can do to help
For more on brand design, read my article, Why you need visual branding before building your website.
How to find great web design inspiration.
Once your style guide is ready, your next step is to get lots of design inspiration. And you can do that in a few ways:
1. Look at other coaching websites
Seeing how other coaching websites are laid out will give you lots of food for thought when designing yours. Below, I’ve included a few articles that include some awesome website designs:
- 11 great coaching websites to get you inspired
- 20 great coaching websites
- The 35 Best Coaching Websites Of 2022, Organized By Niche
2. Look at design conglomerate websites
A conglomerate website is a directory showcasing great website designs that you can filter by type and industry. The ones I’d recommend are:
Not every website is related to coaching, but honestly, that doesn’t matter too much. At this stage, you’re simply gathering lots of different ideas to help your site stand out.
Your site doesn’t have to look like every other coaching page. So, taking design inspiration from a construction company, pet store, or copywriter might fit your brand perfectly.
3. Don’t look at websites, look at other things
Erm… what?
Sounds crazy, right?
This option is probably more for those of you with a design background.
Okay, so, how best to explain this?
I love makeup, and I’ve followed a makeup artist for years called Lisa Eldridge. And she once shared that she looks at anything except makeup when looking for inspiration for her editorial work.
Why?
Because it helps her be original and creative in her makeup concepts. And she does this by drawing inspiration from:
- Landscapes
- Architecture
- Paintings
- Fabrics
- Interior design
- Nature
Open your eyes and look at the shapes, colors, and textures around you. When you do, it’s incredible how this affects your mindset regarding web design.
Don’t make this mistake
Even though this article is about design, great content will always beat great design. Design is essential, but even if it’s the most beautiful website in the world, it won’t make a difference if the content is poor.
Don’t sacrifice content for good design, the two should go hand in hand.
Need help with your web design?
If you’re looking for a skilled designer who can make your content sing and create a beautiful website from your vision, get in touch to see how I can help.
Until next time,
Jennie
