SEO for coaches

As a coach, whether you are a life coach, business coach or health coach, it is essential to be visible online to attract new clients. People often search online for guidance and coaching to achieve personal or professional goals, and as a coach, you want to make sure you appear at the top of search results when potential clients search for your expertise. In this article, I share how you can Use SEO to reach more clients and grow your coaching practice.
Why SEO is important for coaches
SEO is extremely important for coaches because it helps you reach your target audience organically. By optimizing your website and content for search engines such as Google, you can increase your visibility, build trust and attract potential clients who are actively seeking coaching. This makes SEO one of the most cost-effective ways to grow your coaching practice.

Especially for coaches, it is a nice idea to have a full schedule and in a predictable way keep it full in the future (not just today, also in 3 months). SEO is a good channel to ensure this permanently without too many peaks and valleys in requests.
Content creation for coaches: Teaching and persuading
The core of a good SEO strategy for coaches lies in valuable content creation. As a coach, you want to provide content that not only ranks well in search engines, but also attracts potential clients and convinces them of your expertise.
- Blogs focused on common questions: People considering coaching often have specific questions such as “How do I find the right coach for me?” or “What exactly does a business coach do?” By answering these questions in blog posts, you attract visitors looking for information about coaching and increase your chances of converting them into clients.
- Guides and manuals: Create comprehensive content such as guides and e-books that address specific coaching topics. For example, “The ultimate guide to personal growth in 10 steps” or “How can coaching help you accelerate your career?” This type of content builds your authority and attracts quality leads.
Writing blogs and guides that target keywords with volume will have the most effect on the number of visitors from SEO in the first phase. After that, you can write for keywords with less volume in Google.
Local SEO: Target clients in your area
Although coaching can often be offered online, many people like to find a coach in their own area, especially if they prefer face-to-face sessions. Local SEO can help you attract clients who specifically search for coaching in your area.
- Google My Business (GMB): Optimize your Google My Business profile by adding your business details, such as address, contact information and business hours. Also add photos of your practice space or coaching sessions. Reviews are essential for coaches, so encourage clients to leave positive reviews.
- Use local keywords: Be sure to incorporate local keywords into your content, such as “life coach in [stad]” or “business coach in [regio]”. This will help you rank higher in local search results and be more visible to potential clients in your area.
- Location-specific landing pages: Create separate landing pages for the different cities or regions in which you operate. This will help you rank better in local searches. For example, a page such as “Life coach in Rotterdam” can help attract local traffic.
In practice, I see many coaches getting started with about 10-15 location pages targeting different cities/villages nearby. This allows you to capture all search queries. The advantage of this is that these visitors are highly relevant.
My thinking is; even if I get 1-2 customers a year from something, it’s worth investing in a landing page. Then if you have 20 or so (landing pages), that’s another 20-40 customers a year. Nice touch!
SEO focused on intent: attracting quality leads
In SEO for coaches, it is important to optimize for keywords that not only generate traffic, but also bring in clients. This means targeting keywords that show someone is ready to take action, such as hiring a coach.
- Conversion-oriented keywords: Keywords such as “engage life coach,” “find personal coach” or “quote for business coaching” indicate that the user is already further along in their decision and is looking for a coach to guide them. It is important to optimize your content for these keywords so that you reach the right audience.
- Long-tail keywords: Specific keywords such as “life coach for stress management” or “business coach for small business” can help attract more targeted traffic. These long-tail keywords often have less competition, but attract visitors with a very specific need.
Also, do see the keywords below for a better picture on this. Of course, you can look for it broader than this and within other disciplines at the same time, but the volumes look good for bringing in a lot of traffic.

Quality over quantity
One tip from my experience is that it is important that you go for quality over quantity. You don’t want to spend a lot of time each doing sales for leads that are not qualified. You can already include this piece of lead qualification in the texts.
In the content on your website, already describe who your ideal client is and what kind of trajectories you usually do. It’s best to be assertive about this. I personally would rather have one less request through the website, but the right requests, than as many requests as possible.
Conversion-oriented landing pages
SEO for coaches is not just about attracting traffic, but converting that traffic into potential clients. This means your landing pages must be optimized to guide visitors to the next step, such as booking an introductory consultation.
- Clear Call-to-Actions (CTAs): Make sure every page on your website has clear CTAs. These could be “Schedule a free introductory consultation,” “Get a personalized coaching plan,” or “Book your first session now.” These CTAs should be prominent and inviting so that visitors can take immediate action.
- Offer free consultations or intake calls: For many coaches, a free intake consultation is a great way to generate leads. This gives potential clients a chance to get acquainted with your methods without obligation and discover if you are the right coach for them. Make sure your intake call is easy to book through your website.
- Testimonial section on your homepage: Place testimonials from satisfied clients on your homepage. This immediately builds trust with new visitors and increases the likelihood that they will contact you.
Technical SEO for coaches
A fast, secure and mobile-friendly website is essential to retain visitors and convert them to leads. Technical SEO helps ensure that your website is properly indexed by search engines and that potential clients have a positive experience.
- Mobile-friendly website: Many people search for coaches via their cell phones, so make sure your website is fully responsive and works smoothly on all devices. This means that forms, CTAs and navigation are easy to use regardless of whether someone visits your site on a desktop or smartphone.
- Fast load times: If your website is slow, it can cause visitors to drop out early. Use tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights to monitor loading speed and make improvements where necessary, such as optimizing images and reducing unnecessary scripts.
- Security and Trust (SSL): As a coach, you often work with sensitive personal information. Make sure your website is secure and that you have an SSL certificate (HTTPS) to build trust with potential clients.
Often coaches’ websites are relatively small and technical SEO does not need to play the biggest role. I usually find the link building and content components more important in my programs for coaches.
Conclusion
SEO for coaches is all about increasing your online visibility, attracting the right audience and converting visitors into potential clients. By focusing on valuable content creation, local SEO, conversion-oriented keywords and a well-optimized website, you can ensure that your coaching practice is more findable in search engines. This leads not only to more traffic, but also to more quality leads and new clients. Keep constantly evaluating and improving your SEO strategy to ensure your practice continues to grow.