A consulting website does not need many pages. It needs the ones that let a stranger work out who you help, what you do, whether you are credible, and how to reach you. This article covers the five pages most independent consultants need, the three to add next, and two more for consultants who are further along. In truth, you do not need a site to be a consultant, but it is much more difficult to land high ticket work, sell products like ebooks, or be discovered by possible clients without one. If you are still deciding whether to have a site at all, start with what a website can do for a consultant.
The five pages most consultants need
Home
The home page has to sell. Selling in writing is copywriting, and it is a skill. You are writing for a busy, skeptical reader who has never heard of you, in their words rather than yours. A well-built page with vague words does not sell. If you cannot write it yourself, learn the craft or hire someone who studied it. Say who you help and what you help with. Say what changes for them when they work with you, and give one clear call to action, usually contacting you or reading your work.
Services
Describe what you do, who it is for, and how you work. Referrals rarely describe your work the way you would, so this page lets the person arriving from an introduction understand the offer before they write to you.
About
People hire people. Say who you are, what you have done, and why you do this work. Keep it factual and in your own voice.
Proof of your work
A work page. Describe the problem, what you did, and what changed, and publish only what the client has agreed to. Be specific, don’t just talk about the outcomes but the value for the client as a result of reaching those outcomes.
Contact
Make it obvious and easy: an email address or a short form, and what happens after someone writes. Link to it from every page.
The next three pages
- Content. Articles and short answers to clients’ questions help you be found by people who have never heard of you. Use a search engine optimization keyword discovery tool to find the questions and topics people are searching for within your niche or domain.
- Pricing. Useful if you sell fixed-scope work. If every engagement is scoped separately, say how you price and invite a conversation. Value-based pricing is best. Hourly pricing almost always means you will be underpaid and opens the question of what exactly you are being paid for. The hours you’ve worked are less relevant than the actual value delivered, and you should charge based on the outputs, not your inputs.
- Legal. A privacy statement is worth having as soon as you collect any information, including through a contact form. Most website builders are going to need you to put in a privacy policy and terms of service because of all the data they collect. Review this with a lawyer. Incidentally, my site does not have one because I don’t collect data, set cookies, or do anything besides give you information.
For consultants further along
- Testimonials and referrals. Testimonials help every prospect who looks you up. Short, specific quotes with a name and role read better than a wall of praise. A simple form that asks past clients for a testimonial, and a page that explains how to refer someone to you, make both easier to collect.
- Products. Books, guides, templates, and courses need pages each once you have them, with a description and a link to the checkout.
Start with five
Home, services, about, proof, and contact are enough to launch. If you don’t have proof yet, then wait until you’ve had 5-10 clients to add it.