What does a website for your coaching practice need?

People book a coach they trust. And a lot of that trust starts on your website, before the first call. Someone hears your name from a friend, sees a post, or searches "life coach Utrecht", and then they look you up. In a few minutes on your site, they decide whether you're someone they could open up to.

That's a lot to ask of a website, and it's why a coaching site is different from most business sites. You're not selling a product someone can hold. You're selling a conversation that hasn't happened yet. So your site should sound like you do in a session: clear, warm, without long explanations.

I'm a woman entrepreneur too, building a business with my name on it, so I know how personal this gets. When your name is the business, every word on the site feels like it's about you, and it's hard to see it from the outside. This guide is the outside view: what a coaching website needs, in what order, and what the Dutch rules ask of you.

What pages does a coaching website need?

Fewer than you'd think. A coaching website works best when every page has one clear job, and nothing is there just because other sites have it.

A blog, a podcast page or a free guide can come later. They help you get found, but they don't replace any of the pages above.

Your homepage, in the order a client reads it

Think of your homepage as the first five minutes of an intro call. You wouldn't start with your training history. You'd start by listening. The homepage does the same, in this order:

• Who you help, and what changes for them. One line, in plain words. "I help women founders lead without burning out" tells the right person they're in the right place, and tells everyone else, kindly, that they're not.

• Their situation, in their words. Two or three sentences that describe what it feels like before they work with you. If a reader thinks "that's me", the rest of the page gets read.

• How you work. Your offers, each with one sentence on who it's for. Details live on the Work with me page.

• Proof. A few short stories or reviews, and your memberships or accreditations if you have them.

• You. A real photo and a few lines about why you do this work.

• One first step. The same button at the top and at the bottom of the page.

The most common thing I see on coaching homepages is a beautiful photo with a line like "Find your inner strength". It sounds nice, and it could be any coach. The fix isn't a better slogan. It's naming the person you help, so the person who needs you recognizes themselves.

TOOL: HOMEPAGE IN 4 ANSWERS

Show how to work with you

Most coaches offer more than one thing: one-to-one sessions, a program, sometimes workshops for companies. That's good, as long as the reader can tell them apart in a few seconds. For every offer, say:

• Who it's for, in one sentence.

• How it works: how many sessions, how long, online or in person, in which language.

• What it costs, or at least where it starts.

• The next step for that offer, which is often the same intro call.

Showing a price is a personal choice, and both ways can work. A starting price saves you and the client a call that was never going to fit. If you'd rather talk about it first, say so, and explain what happens on the call instead, so "price on request" doesn't feel like a door that's closed.

Coaching for companies

If you also work with teams, give that its own page. An HR manager reads differently from a private client: they look for the topics you cover, the formats, who you've worked with and how to get a proposal. Mixing both on one page makes it harder for each of them.

Proof, the honest way

Coaching is private, and many clients don't want their name on your site. That's fine. Proof doesn't need a full name to be believable. It needs context:

• A first name or initials, plus who they are: "Marieke, founder of a design studio" says more than a full name with no story.

• What changed, in their words. Ask for it at the end of your work together, while it's fresh.

• Permission in writing, every time, for every quote you use.

• Your memberships and accreditations, if you have them, such as NOBCO, NOLOC or ICF. Show them near the end, as reassurance, not as the opening.

Never write reviews yourself, and never make them up "for now". People can tell, and in the Netherlands, fake reviews count as misleading under consumer law.

Let people book the first call from your site

Every extra step between "I'd like to talk to her" and a booked call is a moment where someone puts it off. An email address means they have to write to you, wait for your reply and agree on a time. A booking page lets them pick a time while the feeling is still there.

• Use a booking tool on your Book page, connected to your calendar, so people only see the times you're free.

• Ask only what you need to prepare: a name, an email and one or two questions. A long form at this point stops people.

• Send a reminder the day before, with the link or the address. It's the simplest way to have fewer no-shows.

• For paid sessions, let people pay when they book, with iDEAL, so there's no invoice to chase.

Prices from calendly.com/pricing and cal.com/pricing, checked October 2026. Calendly's price is per person, billed yearly. Many website builders also have a booking feature of their own.

What does a coaching website cost to run?

Keeping a coaching website online costs less than most people expect. These are the usual running costs:

The bigger cost is the one-time part: designing and building the site, and writing it. That goes from your own evenings to a few thousand euros, depending on who builds it and how much thinking goes into it. We compared every option in How much does a website cost in 2026?

Good to know in the Netherlands

A coaching website is also where a few Dutch rules show up. None of them are hard, but they're easy to forget:

• Who's behind the site. Your website should show your name or business name, an address, an email address, your KVK number and, if you charge BTW, your BTW number.

• BTW on coaching. Coaching usually has the standard rate of 21%. Some vocational training is exempt when the provider is registered in the CRKBO, but personal coaching usually isn't. Under €20,000 turnover a year, you can choose the kleineondernemersregeling (KOR) and not charge BTW at all. Check your own situation with the Belastingdienst or an accountant.

• The 14-day right to cancel. When a private client books coaching online, they can usually cancel within 14 days. If they want to start sooner, ask them to agree to that before they book, and explain that they pay for the sessions they've already had if they cancel. Clients who book as a business don't have this right.

• Privacy (AVG). People tell a coach personal things. Ask only what you need on your forms, keep notes safe, and add a privacy statement that says what you collect and why. Information about someone's health is extra sensitive under the AVG, so don't ask for it in a booking form.

Coaching from Belgium?

The website is the same, but you register in the KBO through an ondernemingsloket, and the vrijstellingsregeling goes up to €25,000 turnover a year instead of €20,000. Coaching has 21% BTW there too, and Belgian clients will look for Bancontact if you take payments when they book.

How do coaches get found on Google?

Most of your first clients will come from people who already know you, or know someone who does. Your website makes those introductions easier. Google adds the people who don't know you yet, and they usually search in one of two ways: by the kind of coach ("loopbaancoach", "life coach", "relatiecoach") and by place ("coach Rotterdam", "life coach Utrecht").

• Give each offer its own page, with the words people search for in the title: "Career coaching for expats in Rotterdam".

• Say where you work, online and in person. If you see clients in a city, name it on the page.

• Set up your Google Business Profile, with the same name, address and website as on your site, and ask happy clients for a review there.

• Consider Dutch and English. Many people in the Netherlands look for a coach in English, and many only in Dutch. If you coach in both, a page in each language is better than a translate button.

• Put your website in every bio, on Instagram and LinkedIn, and link to the right page, not only the homepage.

Build it yourself, use a template, or work with a designer?

There's no wrong answer here. A simple site you made yourself, that clearly says who you help, works better than an expensive one that doesn't. If you're thinking about building it with AI, we wrote about that too, in A website built with AI or by a designer?

NOT A TOOL