In this new episode entitled Attract Conscious Clients with Your Website, we welcome Uta Demontis, an branding and web design expert for conscious customer attraction. Uta shares invaluable insights on how to create a digital presence that resonates with discerning, values-driven clients.
From authentic storytelling techniques to essential website maintenance practices, this conversation covers practical strategies for conscious entrepreneurs looking to align their online presence with their mission.
Whether you’re refining your existing site or building from scratch, Uta’s guidance will help you craft a website that not only attracts your ideal clients but also reflects your deepest values and commitment to positive impact.
In this episode, we discussed:
- What conscious consumers really look for when they land on your website and how they think differently from traditional customers
- Ways to showcase your values and mission authentically online without coming across as preachy or fake
- Real examples of websites that nail it with conscious consumers and what makes them so special
- How to tell your impact story in a way that genuinely connects with conscious clients (and doesn’t put them to sleep)
- The key info conscious consumers dig for when researching your business and how to make it easy to find
- Why site speed matters more than you might think when it comes to showing you care about user experience
- Essential website maintenance tasks you shouldn’t ignore if you want to keep things running smoothly
- Common website mistakes that could be scaring away conscious clients (even if your business is perfect for them)
If after listening to this episode you’d love to implement then please join us in our community for this new Collab Workshop on March 5th. You can sign up for a small donation at humane.marketing/workshop
Uta’s Resources
Sarah’s Resources
(FREE) Sarah’s One Page Marketing Plan
(FREE) The Humane Business Manifesto
(FREE) Gentle Confidence Mini-Course
Marketing Like We’re Human – Sarah’s book
Authentic & Fair Pricing Mini-Course
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Email Sarah at sarah@sarahsantacroce.com
Thanks for listening!
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Warmly,
Sarah
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Attract Conscious Clients with Your Website
Speaker 1: hello, humane marketers. welcome back to the humane marketing podcast. the place to be for the generation that cares. this is a show where we talk about running your business in a way that feels good to you, is aligned with your values, and also resonates with today’s conscious customers because it’s humane, ethical, and non pushy. i’m sarah senecroce, your hippie turned conscious business coach for quietly rebellious entrepreneurs and change makers, mama bear of the humane marketing circle, and renegade author of marketing like we’re human, selling like we’re human, and soon also my third book, business like we’re human. if after listening to the show for a while, you’re ready to move on to the next level and start implementing and would welcome a community of like minded, quietly rebellious entrepreneurs who discuss with transparency what works and what doesn’t work in business, then we’d love to welcome you in our humane marketing circle. if you’re picturing your typical facebook group, let me paint a new picture for you. this is a closed community of like minded entrepreneurs from all over the world who come together in two meetups per month to hold each other accountable and build their business in a conscious and sustainable way. we all share with transparency and vulnerability what works and what doesn’t work in our business so that you can figure out what works for you, instead of keep throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks. find out more at humane dot marketing forward slash circle. twice per year, i host my signature program, the marketing like we’re human, aka the client resonator program live. in a deep dive into the seven p’s of the humane marketing mandala, you will learn to market from within. this program is for you if you want and need to get more clients, but want to share your message in an ethical and humane way. if you want to make a difference with your work. if you are just starting out, or if you have been in business for a while, but haven’t really found the marketing activities that work for you. or also, if you are pivoting your business from business as usual to your life’s work and want to radically change the way you get clients. find out more at humane dot marketing forward slash program. and finally, if you prefer one on one support from me, my humane business coaching could be just what you need, whether it’s for your marketing, sales, general business building, or help with your big idea like writing a book. i’d love to share my brain and my heart with you together with my almost twenty years business experience and help you grow a sustainable business that is joyful and sustainable. if you love this podcast, wait until i show you my mama bear qualities as my one on one client. find out more at humane dot marketing forward slash coaching.
Speaker 2: hello, friends. welcome back to the humane marketing podcast. today’s conversation fits best under the p of product and promotion as well as people because we talk about your website and how it can attract conscious clients. if you’re a regular here, you know that i’m organizing the conversations around the seven p’s of the humane marketing mandala. and if you’re new here and don’t know what i’m talking about, you can download your one page marketing plan with the humane marketing version of the seven p’s of marketing at humane dot marketing forward slash one page. that’s the number one and the word page. and it comes with seven email prompts to really help you reflect on these different pieces for your business. so it’s not prescriptive but reflective. today, i’m talking to jutta demontis, an austrian based in england. jutta is a web designer and specializing in creating effective wordpress websites for coaches, solopreneurs, and small businesses. she designs websites that are strategically crafted to serve as powerful marketing tools that attract clients and drive business growth. ootah is passionate about helping small businesses and solopreneurs thrive in the digital world, providing them with the support they need to succeed online. in this episode, we discussed what conscious consumers really look for when they land on your website, and how they think differently from traditional customers. ways to showcase your values and mission authentically without coming across as preachy or fake. how to tell your story in a way that genuinely connects with conscious clients and doesn’t put them asleep. but also how to create a sustainability page, for example, where you tell your story and your connection to sustainability. the key info conscious consumers dig for when researching your business and how to make it easy to find. why site speed matters more than you might think when it comes to showing that you care about your user experience. essential website maintenance tasks you shouldn’t ignore if you want to keep things running smoothly. and then also common website mistakes that could be scaring away conscious clients. if after listening to this episode you’d love to implement, then please join us in our community for this new collab workshop on march fifth. you can sign up for a small donation at humane dot marketing forward slash workshop. so let’s dive in.
Sarah: Uta how are you today?
Uta: hi, sarah. yes. i’m very well. thank you.
Sarah: so good to have you on the humane marketing podcast. welcome.
Uta: great. thank you.
Sarah: super excited, also to have you in the community to talk to us about this topic of website care and maintenance for conscious business owners. so looking forward to march fifth. but before, let’s have a conversation about this topic, which i think is very relevant. and, it combines like we said, we it combines kinda two topics. on one hand, it’s focused on the business owner, because we’re talking about the maintenance and the care that goes into a website. but then it also, concerns the the the conscious client because that’s the person who visits our website. so maybe let’s start with the with the conscious client. like, if you think about a a a website, what do you feel today that are the main key elements that a conscious client, looks for when landing on a website? like, what are they paying attention to?
Uta: yes. so conscious clients, of course, it depends whether it’s a service or a product. so, you know, they’re slightly different. but generally, in addition to for to any client wanting to know that the service or the product is right for them, they also want to know the background of the company. so, if it’s a product, they want to know where is the material from, where has it been sourced, how has it been manufactured, how is the packaging provided, how is the transport, everything around. whether this is as green as it possibly can be, whether it’s sourced in an ethical way, and everything that is, really caring for the environment and people. services, there’s, the since they’re not offering a product, they don’t have, any sourcing material in in that way. but even the website itself is also how, a website is being how the business itself that is having the website is, conducting business. so for example, are they if they’re a smaller or bigger company, how they are, you know, with the employees, are they giving back to the community, do they have certain programs that help the community, also make it more, inclusive. so there’s a whole lot that different businesses can do to really show and demonstrate that they are a conscious business, that they’re inclusive, that they take responsibility socially and, environmentally, and that they’re doing the best that they can, in providing, a good service and product that is, also really, provided in a conscious way.
Sarah: yeah. so good. thanks for giving those examples. now in our case, there we mainly have solopreneurs. right? so these are not most of my listeners don’t have a product. they there are coaches, consultants, trainers, etcetera. and so where, like, on the website, would you mention any of these engagements that you mentioned that, you know, for example, you give back to the community or that that you’re supporting a cause or something like that? where do people usually mention that?
Uta: yeah. so one page, which is great, is, for example, the about page. or alternatively, they could even create in, separate pages, sustainability page or how we contribute page. but, so the about page, everything on the website is about the consumer rather than the business itself. in the about page, there’s more, sort of freedom tools to really talk about the company in a way, that really shows, who they are. so in the in the case of a one person business, a one person, that person is the business. we are the reflection of the company. so we can, share our values of, also share what we’re doing. so for example, if the website is hosted, by a green hosting company, then that would be a great place to also show that on the website. because i think sometimes people, they do they support a lot of be it, you know, growing trees or, supporting charities and doing quite a lot. but sometimes they’re even hesitant of putting that on the website out of fear that perhaps, it it comes across in the way that they want to show off that we are doing all these, you know, activities to help others. but i think it is, i think it’s really good to show if this is authentically and truthfully what the company or the one person is doing, then to show that on the on the website, for example, if they’re supporting a charity, perhaps they’re having a blog where they could write about a recent, you know, event where they were involved, when they were raising money for charity, for example. so all of these, inform i think all of that information is really great to share because, really, it shows of who that person, that business is.
Sarah: yeah. those are great, great places. obviously, i think the about page, besides the homepage, is actually the most visited page of of a website. right? because people are just curious. and you said it’s so, yeah, eloquently. it’s not so much about the owner or not only about the owner of the website. yes. people are curious about the owner of the website, but i always explaining explain it like a a mirror almost. like, they come to the about page to find out whether they’re looking at themselves and whether they see themselves in the the owner of this website or in my case, since i i work a lot with with solopreneurs specifically. but even even on a product or a company website, we are looking whether we are aligned with this company, and that’s what happens on the about page. so, yeah, i totally agree with you that that’s a good place. i think i have actually a few, like, logos of, you know, collaborations, that i have at the bottom, like, in the footer of of, one of the pages or or maybe even on can’t remember. should i look that up? but but that’s other another way to, you know, have certain, logos that you, want to highlight and put them in the footer of of the website. what do you think about that?
Uta: yes. absolutely. or any certifications or, you know, organizations that you’re a member of, absolutely, to place those in the footer is a great place.
Sarah: yeah. so conscious clients, they’re not just conscious, but they also i feel like they’re more thorough in their research, and they’re, you know, they they really come to your website to get a lot of information. so what is some of the information that you want to make sure that they have access to besides, you know, these collaborations that we we just mentioned? and and how does storytelling have a role in that?
Uta: mhmm. yes. so when you, think of a website, there are really two parts of the website. so there are the main pages, which are, you know, the home, the about, the individual service pages, the contact page. this is which makes up the basic structure of the website. and within that, you’re also sharing your story, or the story, that is speaking to the client, to help them understand what you’re offering and whether that is the right thing. and then you have, i suggest, people to have a blog because the blog serves several purposes. on the one hand, a blog is the place where you can really write and go deeper into certain aspects of your work, all the values, and what is important to you because that doesn’t all fit onto one page. it would be overwhelm for a client to to read everything. but so this is really good where it’s where you have a blog because it can demonstrate, you know, that you’re an expert in what you’re in the service that you’re providing. you can share more about you, your values. you can demonstrate that more. and, it’s also great for seo. so for seo, you need to have more content, highly valuable content. and so you can share more about that in the various blog posts.
Sarah: yeah. so true. and it’s funny because it’s actually just today that we’re having the the seo, workshop, collab workshop with, kelly druid. and in that combination of content and and and then also kinda tricking the algorithm to show up for the right people. right? for those conscious clients that i i find that fascinating that we can play the game, but play it in a humane way so that it it benefits us. and and, yes, you’re so right. the blog helps us go beyond just the about page. right? so even if we’re not just aiming for seo, it just gives us extra space that we can use to to expand on on those topics. yeah.
Uta: yes. absolutely. so for this, a blog is really the perfect, solution instead of cramming it all into one page.
Sarah: right. i i, i think it was a contact on linkedin, trying to remember her name. she’s from the philippines. i think her first name is chek or or dulio or something like that. i’ll have to look her up and and quote her in the show notes. but she’s really into sustainability, and, she had this kind of template, how to create a sustainability page for for your small business, which i, really loved. and what i loved about it is that she invited us to tell our story with sustainability. because, again, we’re not a huge corporation where we have a sustainability department and everything is perfect, and, you know, we’re you’re we’re totally we taught totally bought into sustainability, and we’re now an expert in sustainability. we’re not. so, i, followed that that template that she shared and really just with transparency shared my story of of how sustainability has, become more and more important to me. so if listeners are curious, you can go to humane dot marketing forward slash sustainability and just kinda see how i share that story. i think that’s important in the small business field because it can feel overwhelming. this whole sustainability thing can feel totally overwhelming, and we can feel like, who are we to want to even try to make an impact here as, you know, solopreneurs? but we actually can make a small impact, and all all of the small impacts make a big impact as we know. so, yeah, really, really like this idea of transparency and just saying, hey, you know, yes, i take flights, because because that’s important to me. but i have many other things where i feel like i’m doing a good job. i think that that’s another topic. it’s kind of like this shaming that goes around, around the sustainability topic, and that’s difficult, to to deal with. so, yeah.
Uta: yes. i agree. i think that is also partly tying into what i was sharing before that people then are hesitant about sharing anything on the website because somehow it could perhaps have a drawback even though the intention was coming from a good place. but i think i like to think that we’re all on a journey. so it’s not that we are the completed end product in a conscious business that does everything correctly. because it is a process. we’re just becoming better and better and becoming more sustainable and more conscious. so i, you know, we are all in different places, and i’m just encouraged that everyone is on that journey, and we are all getting better and better. and that’s, you know, what we can do.
Sarah: yeah. exactly. let’s switch topics and now go to the business owner, part and more of the website maintenance. so, yeah, what what role does website maintenance have to play in this whole field of being a conscious entrepreneur? what matters there?
Uta: yeah. so i see a website like the shop window, to a shop or a restaurant. and, you know, when you go past the shop window, the shop window should really be a great reflection of what the shop is actually offering, being clean, up to date, appealing to that type of client or customer that they want to attract, and being taken well taken care of and so for me the website is exactly the same and especially for solopreneur, the business is a reflection of who we are and i see that the website is really a reflection of that business. so to make sure that it’s really up to date with the offerings that we’re having, that, we’re keeping that fresh, that we are updating, you know, if you’ve got, any new certifications, for example, or client, reviews, that we’re adding them to the website. so the website isn’t a a one you know, a once it’s done, it’s done kind of project. it’s an ongoing project. and i also find it actually helps me to look at myself and my business when i look at my website because it gives me an a reflection back of, okay, that’s where i’m at now. so i like it actually as a kind of a journey of business and personal development. that’s the way i see the the website. so, it depends whether you have a wordpress website, a wix, or squarespace, or something else, in terms of what you actually need to do. so i’m gonna focus on wordpress websites because this is where you as the business owner have to do, the more, tasks than somebody who has a wix or squarespace or some other website. what’s really important is that you keep an eye on with updating wordpress, the plugins, and the themes. because what happens if that isn’t done regularly is that hackers could hack, one’s website and the website owner might not even be aware that they’ve been hacked, and that could go on for a really, really long time. they couldn’t realize that at all. then the website could also be infected with malware. and then from then on, it’s just, you know, you need to basically try to either review, remove the malware and sometimes just start again with a fresh website. so you don’t want to have that happen, and this is why it’s really important to keep an eye and keep always software updated, and that’s actually also quite an easy thing to do. it’s not a very complicated thing to do.
Sarah: yeah. it happened to me twice. and i can’t like, even though i updated the the plugins, so i was just super, super happy that i had a backup. actually, i had a backup from the the host, but then an additional backup that i pay for annually. so, yeah, it’s just such a pain when you get hacked. and oftentimes, you don’t, yeah, you don’t notice it unless you’re on your website, like, daily and or, of course, you have, clients tell you that, you know, something’s wrong there. so yeah.
Uta: yeah. and thank you for mentioning. that is the other really important task to do is to have regular backups. very often, the hosting companies offer that as part of the package, but it’s good to have an additional set of backups, for yourself that you can also automate, have that backed up every, you know, week or however you want to choose to, to a a drive. and, yes, always good to have a backup and to be able to restore the website.
Sarah: yeah. what about, you know, from the visitor’s perspective, i always hear that speed, is a big deal. i think it’s a big deal for seo, but it’s obviously also kind of important for the the visitor. so maybe the question is, well, what makes a website fast or on the other hand slow? and how can we prevent that or or keep up with maintenance to not have that happen?
Uta: yeah. so one of the major, reasons why websites are slow are because there could be very large images or media files, a lot of animations, that just make the website slow load quite slowly. so whenever, you know, somebody uploads a new blog post or any other image to always optimize the images is really important. it’s also important from a sustainability point of view because the it’s smaller in data, so it takes less storage space. so, optimizing images is really important. and, also clearing out, you know, your media, folder once a week, you know, so often to, delete any images that, you know, one doesn’t need. sometimes, you know, people upload several versions of the same image because the sizing wasn’t quite correct, but then they leave all the old versions on there. so good housekeeping really helps with that.
Sarah: yeah. yeah. that’s so true. like and and informing everybody who’s working on your website, because i had that happen where i was very diligent, but i hadn’t thought of, oh, i need to inform my virtual assistant who’s actually doing all the podcast show notes. and and so we have these mega big files, image files, and i couldn’t understand why this was happening. so yeah. like, every anybody who touches your website needs to understand, a, how you minimize the images and b, why we’re doing it. so so so true. yeah.
Uta: yeah. so and, mhmm.
Sarah: yeah. so explain to us you mentioned, you know, it also matters from a sustainability perspective. like, explain that to us because i remember just a few years back, i i’m working with, with the company called pond foundation where i do, measure my emissions and and buy, credits every year. but before that, i well, i actually while i was talking to them, i was like, well, i don’t really have i don’t really create any emissions because i’m a digital business, and so, you know, there’s nothing there. and then they were explaining to me how this works. so please do explain it to our listeners as well.
Uta: yes. i mean, it’s so easy to forget or to not even think about that actually everything that we’re doing online, every single email that we send, every website that we load, every youtube video that we watch, that everything that all takes electricity, it takes energy, and it takes storage space to show all of that to us. and, so that is, where energy is being used up, and it accumulates quite a bit because there is just so much data, you know, going back and forth all the time. so, this is why just be becoming being conscious of that or being aware that just because we live having a digital business and we don’t take drive the car and we don’t take flights to visit clients doesn’t mean that we don’t use our resources and energy. we do. so this is where it’s really, important to be mindful of. and, in the, green website field or sustainability field, there are several, agencies now that actually specifically focus on building low carbon websites because that is important to, you know, the the the world consumers and businesses.
Sarah: yeah. thank you. thanks so much. i have actually a specific question, that is gonna help me, but hopefully also others. what about videos? i think when we embed videos in our website, that’s that’s really bad, even worse than than pictures. right? is that correct? and and if it is, well, what do we do instead? like, it’s very awkward to just include the link and then have people have to go to youtube. so what what do you recommend to clients who want to embed a video on not on a home page. i think that’s kind of passe. it’s but but maybe on a replay page or, you know, something like that.
Uta: well, they’re embedding the the video. you’re actually just creating the link. you’re not uploading the video and the, you know, the huge file to your website. so it’s not being stored on the website. so whether it’s being watched, you know, via your website or on youtube directly isn’t really going to make much of a difference in that sense because it’s just displaying it for your website, but it’s not stored in any way on your website.
Sarah: okay. so it’s the storage part that would be bad, that would yeah. slow down my website and and be, yeah, create more. okay. so so the embedding part doesn’t is not the problem. okay.
Uta: no.
Sarah: good. so you host it on youtube and then you just get the the embed code.
Uta: exactly.
Sarah: okay. great. wonderful. what other maintenance tasks did we did we not mention yet any anything else that comes to mind before we wrap up here and you give us a little sneak peek?
Uta: i mean, you’re going to hear, i’m sure, a lot about that, you know, tonight in your workshop about seo. the website maintenance, is also really important for seo. so, you know, keeping checking, for example, that you don’t have any dead links, for example, on the website. so this is also something can be done automatically. there are loads of websites that offer that, to remove any of the links. and then adding content monthly to really update your website, which is good for seo. searching engines love it that you have new content. if you don’t really keep your website up to date and refresh it with content and information, then that doesn’t send a good signal to the search engines. so that is another really key aspect of website maintenance is to continue to adding content, valuable content that, you know, your clients want to want to read.
Sarah: that’s a good point. because i kinda stopped blogging for a few months now. we need to go back there. because, yeah, i do have a few keywords that do really well. but what you’re saying is, like, if i slow down and that i don’t add new content, then that might slow down as well because the basically, the the the search crawls are gonna be like, well, this website is not active anymore.
Uta: exactly.
Sarah: okay. wow. interesting. well, give us a sneak preview of the workshop and what we’re gonna go into there.
Uta: yes. so in the workshop, we’re going to go through more, all the activities of how to actually do the backup of the of the website, going to also share, a very easy process of how to add an accessibility wizard widget to your website, which is, of course, really important for websites in general, but also specifically for conscious businesses to make it really accessible to everyone. how to back up your website, your wordpress website, if, if you don’t know how to do that. also, that’s, a free backup plugin, so you don’t need to pay any fees for that. same with the accessibility widget. also, that’s also for free. so there’s more hands on, activities looking at, you know, one’s websites. i’m also there, of course, to answer any questions, that people might have regarding to the back end workings of the wordpress website.
Sarah: yeah. i love that. and as always, on these collab workshops, we’re gonna be putting people into breakout rooms. and i can i just thought of this now is, like, have them as accountability buddies going forward? so after the workshop, maybe they can check-in with each other and say, hey, did you upload that plug in and and and give each other feedback on their websites? i think it’s so valuable to have this peer collaboration going on as well.
Uta: absolutely. yes. definitely.
Sarah: well, thanks so much for, being here, uta. and and please let people know where they can find you, and then i’ll tell them how to get to the workshop as well. but go ahead and please share your website and any resources.
Uta: right. yeah. well, thank you so much, sarah, for having me, and i’m really looking forward to the workshop. and, yes. so people can find me on carrot and karma dot com. and my name is ute de montes, and i’m also on linkedin.
Sarah: love that that website name, carrot and karma. very easy to remember because it just, yeah, stands out. yeah. it’s wonderful. and and so if you feel like, yes, i definitely would like to, come to the workshop and and learn more and then actually roll back your sleeves and do some of these things that that just mentioned, go to humane dot marketing forward slash workshop. and as always, these workshops are held in our community, the humane marketing circle. and so you can join just for this session for a small donation. and, yeah, it would be lovely to see you. so this is on march fifth. and, again, you go to humane dot marketing forward slash workshop, and we look forward to seeing you there. mhmm. so much for being here, hoota.
Uta: thank you.
Speaker 3: i hope you got some great value from listening to this episode. please find out more about yuta and her work at carrot and karma dot com. and again, we’d love to have you join us in our community for this collab workshop with utah. you can sign up for a small donation at humane dot marketing forward slash workshop. you find the show notes of this at humane dot marketing forward slash h m two zero four. and on this beautiful page, you’ll also find a series of offers such as the humane business manifesto, as well as my two books, marketing like we’re human and selling like we’re human, and soon my third book, business like we’re human. thanks so much for listening and being part of a generation of marketers who cares for yourself, your clients, and the planet. we are change makers before we are marketers. so go be the change you want to see in the world. speak soon.
