Best Practices for Consulting Websites
Updated January 17, 2023
As a consultant, you want a professional site that builds legitimacy and clearly communicates what you provide. But it’s easy to get stuck with all the options when creating your site.
We’ve had the pleasure of building over 200 websites for consultants, so we decided to compile a list of commonly asked questions (and answers) to help you get you started!
What website platform is best for consultants?
We find that Squarespace is a great fit for most consultants. It’s drag-and-drop platform is intuitive and user-friendly, which means you’ll be able to easily edit your site yourself. It’s also an all-in-one platform which means you won’t have to worry about plugins breaking or expiring.
A common question we get asked is why we recommend Squarespace over Wordpress. In short, we find Squarespace’s ease of use and smoother learning curve is better for our clients. If you’re curious to know more, here’s an in-depth comparison from Site Builder Report.
What pages should consultant website have?
Here’s a sample sitemap that includes pages commonly used on successful consulting websites. Most consultants won’t need all of these pages, but we included them to spark some ideas!
Homepage
Your homepage should clearly and quickly communicate what you do, who you serve, how you make your client’s lives better, and how to hire you.
Services
For your services page, you’ll want to break down what’s included with each of your services and how they help your client. It’s also good idea to provide a clear call-to-action for each service to encourage visitors to take the next step.
Workshops
A lot of consultants use online or in-person workshops as a way to generate leads or provide a less expensive option than one-on-one consulting. If you offer this, you may want to provide the details and a sign-up form on this page.
Online Courses
Offering an online course is a great way to build authority with your potential clients, generate semi-passive income, and offer a lower-cost entry point for clients. On this page you can talk about what’s included in your course and link out to your online course platform (e.g. Teachable).
Blog
Writing blog posts that answer common questions related to your expertise can improve SEO, drive more traffic to your site, and build trust with potential clients. Your blog can be a simple grid of posts with a title and thumbnail image for each.
Podcast
Podcasting can be a lot of work, but it can also be a fun way to build your authority on a specific topic. Your podcast page can simply be a list of the latest episodes, an embedded player, and a link to subscribe.
About
Use your about page to explain why you’re a consultant, your philosophy or approach, and share your values. This is a great spot for a headshot or other photos of you to add some personality.
Contact
Your contact page needs to provide a clear next step, whether that’s “schedule a call” or “book a consultation”, we recommend providing a call-to-action you want people to take. This can be achieved through a form on the page, an email address, or even a phone number to call.
Should I use stock photos?
Professional, custom photography of you working with your clients will always be better than stock photos, but we know that hiring a photographer isn’t always in the budget.
At Knapsack, we often use stock photos from Adobe Stock or Unsplash to add imagery to our client’s websites.
Here are a few do’s and don’ts to follow when choosing stock photos:
Don’t use obviously posed photos
Do choose photos of things that could happen in real life
Don’t use busy or complex photos behind text
Do use photos with simple, clean composition
Don’t use the first photo that comes up in your search
Do take the time to find a photo off the beaten path
What functionality do consultants need on their website?
Beyond displaying text, images, and videos, some consultants will need additional functionality built into their website.
Online Scheduling
Calendly is an awesome scheduling app which lets people choose a date/time, so you don’t have to email back and forth. The calendar can be embedded right onto your contact page. Koalendar is another great option to consider especially if you need to create multiple calendars for additional services. The benefit of either of these options is that they both have free and paid pricing plans.
Email List Signup
Another type of functionality we recommend is MailChimp, a tool for email marketing, if you’re wanting to grow your email list. You can connect a form on your site to MailChimp, then easily create email campaigns and manage your list. Another easy to use tool that integrates into your workflow is Squarespace’s Email Campaigns. It’s already built into the site and converts products and blog posts into newsletters with a click of a button.
Online Courses
If you are offering an online course, you may want to consider using a platform like Teachable to host it. You can also build and host courses through Squarespace’s Member Areas. This is an excellent built-in tool to use that allows you to host locked content to subscribers. Member Area’s are great for online courses and classes, videos, paid newsletters, communities and more.
Podcasting
If you are going to host a podcast, you can use Squarespace’s built-in podcast hosting. Or if you’re looking for something more robust with additional analytics, try Transistor.
Should I build my website myself?
The short answer: Not unless you’re on a very tight budget.
While doing it yourself would save you money up front, you’ll likely be outside of your area of expertise, which can ultimately deliver a subpar product and cost you money later on.
If your budget allows, we recommend that you hire an expert to build a website that does you justice.
However, if you’re up for a challenge, and have some extra time, then start a new Squarespace site and go for it. We hope these best practices help guide you on your journey!
Well there you have it, consultants!
If you’re looking for more inspiration, you can see some of our favorite consulting sites in the gallery below.
If you’re interested in hiring an expert to build your site, feel free to contact us and we’ll talk with you soon!