The way people are consuming content online is changing. And yes, we chose to use the word “consuming” on purpose—because that’s how most people engage with websites, including yours.
When someone lands on a website in 2025, they aren’t there to read. Your website visitors want information, and they want it fast. Here are the stats:
- 80% of people skim, rather than read, websites.
- Only 28% of the content on a webpage actually gets read by visitors.
- If someone spends a mere 50-60 seconds on a webpage, that’s considered a lot of time.
In other words, you have a very short window—and very few words—to communicate with potential clients who land on your website.
Let’s talk about HOW to use those few words and precious seconds as well as possible.
What Is the Goal of Your Business Website?
At its baseline, having a website for your consulting business is like creating a digital business card. It demonstrates your professionalism, explains what you do, and helps interested clients contact you.
Many nonprofit consultants build successful businesses with a barebones website: a one-page website with a list of services, a brief bio, and contact information. Other consultants jump right into building more complex websites, adding blog posts and creating lead magnets, free downloads, online stores, and more.
But whether your business website is one page or 100 pages, it still needs to accomplish three key things:
1) Clearly communicate the services you provide. This is one of the biggest mistakes we see on consultant websites. Do NOT make potential clients dig around and scratch their heads trying to figure out exactly what you do.
2) Demonstrate that you are the expert in providing these services. This doesn’t mean saying you are an expert. The way you communicate about the services you provide and the problems you solve for clients will SHOW your expertise.
3) Show prospective clients that you’re the one to solve their problems. This is where your expertise, services, personality, and design elements all come together to make clients feel that they are working with a professional whose approach aligns with their needs.
Yes, these goals are big—especially if you’re just getting started in your consulting business and nailing down your services. But with the right approach, they are also surprisingly easy to accomplish.
Spend Your Website Time, Energy, and Budget Wisely
As a consultant, your time and energy are limited. That’s why it’s important to know what to prioritize when building or updating your website.
If you look at user behavior across websites (as our copywriter and SEO strategist does on a weekly basis), people consistently engage with your website’s:
- Navigation menu
- Text that is “above the fold” (meaning webpage text you see without having to scroll)
- Headers
- Graphic and design elements
Because this is what people are most likely to read on your website, it’s also what you should spend the most time writing or otherwise creating. If you are working with a website writer and/or designer, be sure they are thinking about these elements strategically too!
Three Website Takeaways to Improve Your Consulting Website
We know that websites and website guidance can feel overwhelming and technical. Here are three takeaways you can use to evaluate your current website, share with a web designer, or start mapping out a new website.
When looking at my website, I want to be sure that:
- Users who go to my website can immediately understand what I do without having to scroll down (this is about text above the fold and navigation menu).
- My website is skimmable and uses informative and easy-to-read headers throughout each page.
- My website includes graphic and design elements that further communicate my services and expertise.
More Support for Your Consulting Business
Regardless of how flashy your website design may be, your consulting business website still has to reflect YOUR BUSINESS. If you aren’t clear on your services or value-add, then prospective clients won’t be either. Getting to that kind of clarity on your services, pitch, and pricing is one of the core areas we coach consultants on. If you’re looking for more support, guidance, and clients for your consulting business, check out our one-on-one business coaching program designed exclusively for nonprofit consultants.
