You’ve just finished your yoga teacher training and are eager to get your name out there! You know you need an online presence, but creating a website can be daunting. It doesn't have to be scary!

start small: Make sure to include these 4 ultra-important items on your homepage before you publish.

After mastering these 4, you should keep adding to your site over time. Let’s get to it:

1. About You / Your Education

When someone comes to your website for the first time, they should know your name immediately.

This can be done by using your name in your logo (which should be at the top of each page), and also perhaps in your main H1 (header) on your homepage.
Consider using your full name for your URL (like KimberlyStabenow.com). Even better, use your name + yoga (like KimberlyStabenowYoga.com). This provides clear insight to where users landed and what the site is about.

Once visitors know who’s site they’re on, let them know a little bit about you. I’ll be clear - please do not write 3 paragraphs about you at the top of your homepage. Save that for the ‘About Me’ page.

Instead, carefully craft 1-2 sentences that sum you up as a person (not just as a yogi).
Examples: “Hi, I’m Kim! I love days at the beach, running with my golden retriever, and anything yoga. Catch me on the mat (link to schedule)”.
“Welcome! I’m Kim - a yoga teacher, student, and foodie. If you want to talk arm-balances, yoga playlists, or local restuarants, reach out! (link to contact)”

Now that you’ve briefly introduced yourself, state your yoga education. How are you supposed to get new yoga teaching jobs if website visitors don’t know you’re qualified?

I would suggest adding a button directly under your 1-2 about me sentences on your homepage that reads, “MORE ABOUT KIM” in a bright color. This will link to your “about me” page, which at the top will list your credentials.
Extra credit: work your credentials right into those 1-2 sentences, “Hello! I’m Kim - I’m an Ashtanga enthusiast with 200 hours of yoga school under my belt.” Or something like that. Be creative!

2. Call-to-action

This is probably the most important part of your homepage: give users something to do, like clicking a button or filling out a form.

Think about your main goal of the site:

Do you want to inform people more about you?
Do you want to direct potential students to your schedule?
Do you want studio owners to see your credentials and hire you?
Do you want to attract attention to your blog?
Whatever you do, pick one.

Make this your sole purpose of the top half of your homepage. Direct user’s eyes to this call-to-action, like a bright pink button with CONTACT ME or LEARN MORE or something...

If you’re using a form as your main action point, be clear what the form is for. Write a sentence above the form, like “if you’d like to speak to me about private lessons or teaching opportunities, please fill out my form!” Again, make the “submit” button a bright contrasting color.

To sum it up: give people a reason to be on your site and a reason to click through to (at least) 1 more page.

3. Contact Information

How are potential students and employers supposed to reach out to you if you don’t have a super duper easy way to contact you?

Clear this up right away.

Put “Contact Me” in your main navigation. Just do it. It’s where people will look for contact information. Trust me. :)
I would also suggest adding a permanent contact form to your footer. This means it would be on every single page.
- It could simply be “Contact Me” with “Name” “Email” “Message” and “Submit”. You can link the form directly to your email. Viola.

In the end: put your contact information on it’s own page (linked in the navigation) and also in a form. Don’t let an opportunity pass with this simple mistake.

4. Personality → branding, photos, blog, etc.

My personal favorite part of building websites: branding and personality!

Why this is important: your website is a reflection of you and your business. Yes, it should be professional, but it should also visibly show a little bit about who you are as a yoga instructor and as a human.

Decide what you want your overall look and feel to involve:

Are you funky, upbeat, and outgoing? Maybe opt for a bright color palette with a clean white background.
Are you earthy, calm, and genuine? Perhaps you’d like to use one brighter color paired with colors found in nature.
Do some searching on Pinterest for “blue color palette” or "bright color palette" or "earthy color palette", etc. and see what you find.

Come up with a logo. Or let me help you create one! Either way, establish an emblem or symbol for yourself and use it wherever appropriate - on your site, social media posts, business cards, and more.

The more people see your logo, the more they will identify it with you. It should match your color palette and overall look and feel.

Don’t forget about your verbiage. Yes, you can have personality in your writing too. While I’m all for a professional website, please write as if you’re speaking to someone in person. No one wants to hire a robotic yoga teacher ;)

Extra credit: start a blog. Choose a topic you are deeply interested in and start writing.

My biggest tips for your yoga teacher website homepage? 1) make it easy to use and 2) make it yours. Own it, just like you’d own your classes and your own practice.

Any questions or feedback? Let me know in the comments below!

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4 Things You Absolutely Need on a Yoga Website Homepage