Let me tell you about a website audit I did last month.
Gorgeous site. I’m talking beautiful brand photography, perfect color palette, elegant fonts, the whole aesthetic package. The designer did an incredible job making it visually stunning.
But it was converting at maybe 5% of what it should have been.
The owner was confused and frustrated. She’d invested in professional photos, hired a designer, done everything “right.” So why wasn’t her dream client booking discovery calls?
This is the conversation I have at least once a week, and here’s what I’ve learned: pretty and effective are not the same thing.
Your website isn’t telling people what to do next. I can’t tell you how many beautiful wellness websites I visit where I have no idea what action I’m supposed to take. Do you want me to book a call? Download something? Join a waitlist? If there’s no clear, obvious next step on every page, you’re leaving money and connections on the table. Your calls-to-action shouldn’t be subtle design elements. They should be unmissable.
You’re writing for you, not for them. This is a big one. Your website talks about your certifications, your journey, your methodology, your philosophy. But your ideal client is visiting your site with one question: “Can you help me with my problem?” If your homepage doesn’t address their specific struggle in their language within the first few seconds, they’re gone. Beauty can’t compensate for irrelevance.
Your website is making people think too hard. Every extra click, every buried piece of information, every moment of “wait, where do I find…” is a conversion killer. Pretty websites that don’t convert usually have beautiful, complex navigation that sounds poetic but doesn’t actually help people find what they need. Simple almost always wins.
You don’t have enough proof. Gorgeous branding is wonderful, but trust is what converts. Where are your testimonials? Your before-and-after stories (even non-visual ones)? Your client results? If your website is all aesthetic and no evidence that you actually help people transform, you’re asking visitors to take a leap of faith most people aren’t ready for.
Your website feels like a brochure, not a conversation. The wellness sites that convert feel like someone is actually talking to you, understanding you, meeting you where you are. If your copy is polished to the point of feeling generic or impersonal, it doesn’t matter how beautiful the design is. People book with people, not with aesthetics.
You’re hiding your offers. Sometimes in pursuit of a “clean” design, wellness entrepreneurs make it genuinely hard to figure out what they actually offer and how much it costs. If I have to hunt for your services page or click through three layers to understand what working with you looks like, I’m probably not going to. Make it easy.
Your website doesn’t match the experience. Maybe your in-person energy is warm, intuitive, and deeply grounded. But your website feels corporate and distant. That disconnect means people can’t tell if you’re actually the right fit, so they keep looking. Your website should feel like a preview of what it’s like to work with you.
Here’s what I’ve realized after designing for dozens of wellness businesses: a converting website isn’t about being the prettiest. It’s about being the clearest, the most trustworthy, and the most aligned with who you actually are and who you serve.
Pretty can actually work against you if it gets in the way of connection.
So if your website looks amazing but isn’t booking you clients, it’s not time to panic or throw everything out. It’s time to look past the surface and ask: is this actually designed for conversion, or just for aesthetics?
Because you can have both. You just have to be intentional about it.
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