2024 BEST WEBSITES of Keynote & Conference Speakers
How to Build the BEST WEBSITE for a Speaker or Expert – with examples
by David Staughton CSP CCEO, Specialist Practice Consultant and Speaker
Is your WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA helping you attract and convert more clients?
Would you like to see examples of some of the BEST WEBSITES for Speakers & Experts in the World?
Do you want to know the BEST WEBSITE DESIGNERS working for Speakers or Consultants?
Well you have found the blog that can HELP you sort out your Speaker Website.
As a speaker, thought leader, consultant, coach, expert or other specialist you need a GREAT WEBSITE that attracts, qualifies and converts the right prospective clients.
Your website is your HOME on the internet and it needs to be professional and up-to-date. A Daggy Old Broken Website will damage your brand.
It MUST offer VISUAL PROOF that you are the BEST candidate for presenting at an event, a conference or a big project.
Why does a Speaker need a GREAT WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA?
Conference speaking is mostly a “Word of Mouth” business.
You have audiences full of potential buyers and they will tell their friends and colleagues about you.
Audience members and referees will then search for you on Google and visit your Website and your Social media when they are checking you out. (usually from their mobile phone). They will also search for your Videos, Showreel or your Youtube Video Channel.
Additionally, Speaker Bureau Consultants will recommend you directly to buyers and their bureau clients will look at your WEBSITE and your SOCIAL MEDIA & VIDEOS.
What does a basic Google Search of ‘your name’ or ‘your name’ with the word “Speaker” reveal?
Would you CHOOSE YOU if you Google searched your name and visited your SPEAKER WEBSITE?
Would looking at your SOCIAL MEDIA show that you are the topic expert and prove you can deliver on stage?
Anybody can claim to be anything on a Website – you need to demonstrate PROOF on your Website & Social Media.
Are you a Celebrity Speaker or Content Speaker?
There are TWO main types of conference speakers – famous CELEBRITY speakers and amazing CONTENT speakers.
CELEBRITY Speakers typically attract, energise and entertain an Audience. They help fill the event and sell tickets.
CONTENT Speakers are less well-known but usually provide edu-tainment – education & entertainment.
Content speakers websites just have to be more AWESOME because they usually lack brand name recognition.
BEST SPEAKER WEBSITES of Keynote & Conference Speakers in Australia
Which CONTENT based Keynote Conference Speakers have the BEST Websites?
Amanda Stevens – Best Conference Speaker Website in Australia
These websites have been judged to be the Best Content Speaker Websites in Australia. Based on having style & content that CONVERTS based on the criteria below (NOT just for ability to rank well in Google or use SEO to attract traffic)
FAST – Loads really FAST < 2sec – don’t keep visitors waiting (Right sized images and probably hosted on AWS or Cloudflare)
MOBILE UX – Looks and Works great on a MOBILE PHONE – on a Small Screen, Menu design etc – more scrolling than buttoning
VISUAL APPEAL – It looks professionally designed – clean, colours, logos, design elements
VIDEO – A Video beats photos and words – Show me Don’t tell me
BENEFITS – Opens with BENEFITS to the Buyer – WIIFM – What’s in it for me (the buyer) – not just the speaker’s ego
ABOVE THE FOLD – The right WORDS are seen above the fold (no scrolling down to find the best bits)
HOMEPAGE that has deep info – NOT too many clicks or clicking around
ENGAGING – It is ENGAGING not boring for prospects. Not too much “ME ME ME”
RESOURCES – Has Essentials for conference organisers – downloadable headshots, AV requirements, Bio etc
CTA – Calls to action are clear – Making Offers to connect at the right stage (Not too early – e.g. BOOK ME on home page)
CHECKLIST FOR A SPEAKER WEBSITE THAT CONVERTS VISITORS
Here are some things you need to CONVERT more website visitors into enquiries and bookings
ON BRAND – Your WEBSITE is consistently on BRAND for you – name, tagline etc
VIDEO – Your BEST VIDEO showreel footage is on the home page and its not too long
EXPERTISE – Demonstrate NICHE TOPIC expertise? – PROVE you have credibility by offering a range of support – books, videos, online training program, social media proof
CLIENT LOGO WALL – lots of logos that prove your experience
TESTIMONIALS from big name buyers – written and videos
GREAT MEDIA profile – wall of Media PR logos – Found on TV, Radio & Print
TOPIC TITLES that are relevant and show your range – but not too many
UNIQUE PROFOUND QUOTES – Your Positioning statements (tweetables)
YOUR BOOKS & E-BOOKS – Your Best seller BOOKS, Products and E-books
RESOURCES – Offer Free Useful RESOURCES to download
BLOG articles that answer your prospects problems
SOCIAL PROOF – Big followers and fans – Youtube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter
BUREAUS – Awesome enough to be represented by the best BUREAUS …
LIVE CHAT support – podium, zopim or livechat
E-NEWSLETTER Sign up as a popup
HOW DO YOU GET THE WEBSITE TO RANK IN GOOGLE? – SEO & TECH TIPS FOR SPEAKERS
There are Hundreds of Ranking Signals for Google. Here are some useful ones.
NAMES – Use the right DOMAIN NAMES (.com and/or .com.au) and URLs for page names
SPEED – Have it hosted on a FAST SERVER or at least a Cloud Distributed Network (AWS/Cloudflare)
ON PAGE SEO – Right ONPAGE SEO with emphasis on YOUR most important Keyword Search terms (Yoast can help)
TAGS – Decide Your BEST KEYWORDS and include in METATAGS like Page Title, Descriptions, Alt Tags, on pages etc
FB PIXEL – Make sure you have the FACEBOOK PIXEL tracker installed (Can then run FB Ads in future)
PHOTO TAGS – Add ‘alt text’ tags and useful titles/descriptions to all the PHOTOs on your website
ANALYTICS – Make sure you have GOOGLE ANALYTICS installed on your website and the app on your phoneto check
LINKS TO SOCIAL – Correctly connected to your SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS (the links work)
CONTACT US FORM – Put a better CONTACT US FORM on all pages (keep it short)
BLOG – Add a BLOG AND LONG STICKY ARTICLES written or edited by YOU (Your Voice)
INTERNAL LINKS Website INTERNAL CROSS LINKING – Embedded links to other pages/blogs
GUEST POST BACKLINKS – Write useful ARTICLES and submit to online websites and bloggers – backlink to your website
BASICS – Have a PRIVACY POLICY on the homepage and a SITEMAP
BACKLINK – Get Website BACKLINKING from directories, associations and suppliers and any awards you entered
BIGGEST MISTAKES MADE ON A CONFERENCE SPEAKER WEBSITE
NOT SECURE – Not a Secure Site – Needs to be a https:// site – NOT unsecure – http://
AMATEURISH looking Website design (Cheap or DIY?)
SLOW – Too SLOW to load (files too big, host server too cheap)
COPYWRITING – Poor use of ENGLISH – outsourced poorly written pages or poor SEO tags (or none)
WORDY – Too many WORDS not enough PHOTOS – SHOW me don’t tell me!
STOCK PICS – Overuse of STOCK photos or clipart – use your own REAL photos where possible (Show your PROOF)
WRONG TESTIMONIALS are from random audience members NOT big names or buyers
BAD PICS/VIDEO – Amateur looking, Talking on a FLAT FLOOR not a big stage, Audience members look BORED
VIDEO is slow to get started, really dull and not well made
CLIENTS logo collection needs work
UNFOCUSSED – Poor POSITIONING – Too MANY offers, roles or speaking themes or topics (not an expert)
OFFBRAND – Not ON BRAND – inconsistent – colours, font, voice, styles etc
OLD – Copyright date is OLD – it’s 2024 now
SLIDERS – Using SLIDERS on the homepage – too slow to load!
3 months ago
David Staughton CSP CEO B.Sc(Hons)
David Staughton is a Speaker and Business Consultant. He is an Award-winning Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) with over 15 years of professional speaking & consulting experience. David is on the board of E-Speakers, is a past board member of Professional Speakers Australia and was an advisor to a large Australian Speakers Bureau.
Speaker Advisor is a useful resource website for Speakers and Event Organisers. If you have ideas for things to add to this website – please contact me