Online Nutrition Business 101: How To Create A Website That Works For YOU!
The following is a guest blog post from Erin Chmelik, Founder/Designer @ Tribe Creative Co.
Having a website is an essential part of having a Nutrition business, especially if you are focusing on being location-independent and seeing clients virtually. Think of your website as your online home: you’re inviting people in and serving them some great content in the hopes that they will connect with you, look to you as an “expert” in your field, and eventually sign up (i.e. pay you!!) for your offerings.
So it’s no surprise that putting together a great website comes with a lot of planning, strategic content creation and creativity - but this can be SUPER overwhelming when starting your business, so this blog post is going to break down everything you need to know ;).
It's important to note that while website design does have a lot to do with creating a beautiful online home for your business, it is even more important to focus on your ideal client.
Identify your ideal client:
What does their journey look like when they land on your website? Where do you want them to go, what do you want them to do? What information are they seeking out? Anytime you approach your online presence, be it social media, your website, or any other online platform - you should always have your ideal client top of mind.
When creating the website for your online nutrition business, start with asking yourself these 5 questions:
List 3-5 goals you want to accomplish by designing your website? (i.e. increase sales, have more course signups, gain more organic traffic through SEO, etc)
If you currently have a website, what do you like and what do you dislike about your site?
When a potential client visits your site, what do you want them to do? (I.e. Book an appointment, sign up for a newsletter, learn about your course)
When a potential client visits your site, how do you want them to feel? (I.e. excited, relaxed, happy, calm, informed)
List 2-3 websites you like and what you like/dislike about them.
With these questions in mind, let’s get into the basics. These are the foundational steps you need to take before your website design gets underway.
Time to make it official!
Purchase your domain: Purchasing a domain is the very first step. By purchasing a domain you are reserving the rights to www.yourbusinessname.com and at point of purchase, no one else can take that domain. I always suggest buying a domain even if you’re not 100% sure that’s the one you want. (You can always change it!)
Domains can cost anywhere from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. If the domain you want isn’t available or in your price range try playing around with the wording by adding “the” or “my” to the beginning. You can also try changing the “.com” to “.co”.
Domains can be registered many different ways. The most popular would be GoDaddy.com. One thing I do suggest is that if you know you want to use SquareSpace as your website platform (more on this in step #2) purchase your domain through SquareSpace instead of using something like GoDaddy.
2. Choose a Website Platform: SquareSpace, Wordpress, Wix, Weebly. There are quite a few choices when it comes to website platforms - but the industry standards (as well as Amie’s recommendations!) are SquareSpace & Wordpress. So how do you know which one is best for your business? Let us break it down for you:
Squarespace VS. Wordpress:
SquareSpace:
More cost effective
No extra hosting costs
Great customer service
Offers a lot of integrations to automate email campaigns, newsletter signup, photo optimization, SEO
Very easy-to-use
Mobile responsive
Everything is readily available within the platform - no need for “plugins”
Wordpress:
More technical to use but more functional (IF you are a website expert and know what you’re doing!)
Hosting is an additional cost (anywhere from $15-$30/month, we recommend Flywheel)
Offers a lot of integrations to automate email campaigns, newsletter signup, photo optimization, SEO
You will have to add + update “plugins” in order to add certain features like SEO, e-commerce, podcasting, social media integrations
Amie’s website is hosted on Squarespace, just FYI
Now that you’ve purchased your domain and decided which website platform best suits your needs and expertise, it’s time to get into the fun stuff (and some more technical stuff).
A great website starts with a solid foundation. That foundation is a clear, coherent brand. The first step is to become super clear on your brand style (did someone say Pinterest?), ideal client, and brand values (what does your brand stand for?). From this foundation you can start to create your brand assets which is our first checklist item when it comes to designing a website.
Branding your nutrition website to fit your online business
Brand Assets: Logo, Color Palette, Typography
Imagery: People aren’t too keen on reading a whole lot of content so if you can draw them in with beautiful imagery you’re off to a great start! Professional photographs are great to use but if you don’t have those yet you can also source great stock imagery on sites like unsplash.com and pexels.com
Content: Now you’ve got their attention, your content needs to be engaging and straight to the point. Take a moment to think about what information your ideal client is looking for when they come to your site. Now, make sure they can find that information in as little as 10 seconds (that’s generally how long you’ve got once they land on your site). Content must-haves: Clear and concise brand statement (quick - elevator pitch), a great bio (tell your story!), services (what do you offer?), testimonials (why people love you!).
Want to know the MOST viewed page of your website is?
(Hint, hint, it’s NOT your services page!)
Join Amie’s free training that will show you exactly how to craft your “About Me” page so that your ideal client will immediately connect with you, trust you, and buy from you :)
4. Call-to-action (CTA): You’re not creating a website just so people can come have a look around, right? What is it that you want them to do while they are on your site? You should always have at least one clear call-to-action or “freebie”,. whether its signing up for your newsletter, joining a free training, booking an appointment, or learning more about your course. Make it clear, consistent, timely and valuable to your client and most importantly: make sure you are CAPTURING their emails so you can continue to stay in contact with your viewers even if they don’t purchase anything from you right off the bat.
Those 4 items are absolutely necessary when designing a great nutrition business - website that not only looks good but works FOR you.
Last but not least, there are a few technical steps that should be taken after your website has gone live.
The technical Sh*t
1. Secure Your Site: Now that you’ve designed your website we also suggest making sure your site is secure. Your site is secured when you have what is called an SSL Certificate which allows your website to communicate securely with the server that it is hosted on. This means your website is less likely to get hacked and more likely to be favored in Google Searches. If you are on SquareSpace you can enable your SSL in Settings>Security & SSL>Select “Secured.” A website is secured when it has “https://” before the URL.
If you are using Wordpress you will need to get an SSL Certificate from your hosting company and enable it using a plugin like Really Simple SSL.
2. Index Your Site: Once your site is complete, you’ve created all the pages, you’ve added the content and images, you will want to make sure that Google knows your site exists.
If you are using SquareSpace you do this by going to Settings>Connected Accounts>Connect Account>Search Console and connecting Google Search Console using your gmail account.
If you are using Wordpress you can do this by downloading the Yoast SEO plugin. Go to your side panel SEO>Search Console>Authenticate with Google, enter the code and you’re done!
That’s it! We know it sounds overwhelming, so don’t try and tackle this all in one day! Remember, taking a little bit of action every single day can add up to A LOT in just a few months. Soon enough, you will have a beautiful, effective online home for your nutrition business in no time.
Want the step-by-step tech walkthrough for starting your nutrition website?
This was a guest blog post from Erin Chmelik, Founder/Designer @ Tribe Creative Co.
Hello! I'm Erin. I'm the Founder and Tribe Cultivator over at Tribe Creative Co. We are a Creative Collective specializing in website design, branding and content. We work with soulful entrepreneurs to help them create a message and craft an online space where they can connect, inspire and engage with their Tribe. We know that designing and building a website can be overwhelming and we live by the sentiment that your time is best spent on things that light you up. So if you're struggling with a website design or redesign, branding or content creation we are here to help. You can view our portfolio and services here and reach me directly at erin@tribecreative.co