I’m going to guess you’ve found yourself in this situation before: You’re working on your website, trying to set up a funnel or create a page for your new offer, and you suddenly realize you’re not entirely sure what kind of page you’re supposed to be making. Is this a landing page? Or is it a sales page? Wait, what’s an opt-in page again? And aren’t those all basically the same thing? You end up Googling “opt-in page vs landing page vs sales page” at midnight, reading conflicting explanations, and feeling more confused than when you started. So you either procrastinate on building the page altogether, or you create something that looks beautiful but doesn’t actually guide people toward working with you.

Here’s the truth: most coaches mix up these terms and end up with pages that might be visually stunning but don’t convert. They’re missing crucial elements because they don’t fully understand what each page type is supposed to accomplish.

As a wellness or spiritual coach, you want your online presence to feel effortless—a natural flow of clarity, confidence, and aligned conversions. But when you don’t understand how these different pages work together in your ecosystem, everything feels harder than it needs to be.

Today, I’m breaking down exactly what each page type is, how they work together in a coaching funnel, and most importantly, what you actually need right now based on your current stage of business.

Understanding the Complete Client Journey (Your Funnel)

Before we dive into the specific page types, let’s talk about what a funnel actually means for coaches.

A funnel isn’t some manipulative marketing tactic. It’s simply the intentional journey someone takes from first discovering you to becoming a paying client.

The basic flow looks like this:

Awareness (they discover you exist) → Connection (they start paying attention) → Nurture (they build trust in you) → Decision (they’re ready to invest) → Client (they work with you)

Your pages and your content need to support each stage of this journey. Not rushing people forward before they’re ready. Not creating unnecessary friction. Just guiding intentionally with clarity and care.

Each type of page serves a specific stage in this journey, which is why you can’t just use one type of page for everything and expect it to work.

If you want to learn more about funnel design and how to build one for your coaching business that actually converts, read this article here.

What Is a Landing Page? (And When Coaches Need One)

A landing page is any page designed with one single, focused action in mind.

That action could be signing up for a free challenge, joining a masterclass, downloading a resource, or scheduling a discovery call. The defining feature of a landing page is that there are no distractions pulling attention away from that one action.

What makes something a landing page:

No main navigation menu at the top (or it’s minimal), no links leading people away to other parts of your site, clear focus on one specific call-to-action, and streamlined design that guides the eye toward the conversion point.

The psychology behind this is simple: when you give people too many options, decision fatigue sets in and they choose nothing. A landing page keeps attention focused on one decision, making it easier for people to say yes.

Landing pages are perfect for:

• Promoting free resources or freebies
• Event signups like webinars or workshops
• Masterclass or challenge registrations
• Discovery call bookings
• Waitlist signups for upcoming programs

Landing pages are typically the gentlest “yes” in your funnel—the lowest commitment entry point. Someone doesn’t need to trust you deeply or invest money to take this action. They just need to be curious enough to say “okay, I’ll try this.”

This makes landing pages perfect for early in the relationship, when people are still getting to know you.

What Is an Opt-In Page? (The Foundation of Email List Growth)

Here’s where it gets slightly confusing: an opt-in page is actually a specific type of landing page.

While all opt-in pages are landing pages, not all landing pages are opt-in pages. The specific purpose of an opt-in page is to collect email addresses in exchange for something valuable.

Common opt-in page offerings for coaches:

• Guided meditation or breathwork audio download
• PDF workbook or journal prompts
• Quiz or assessment with personalized results
• Mini video course or training series
• Toolkit or resource bundle

The formula is simple: you give immediate value, and they join your email community. This becomes the beginning of your trust-building funnel.

Why opt-in pages matter so much for coaches:

Your email list is the only audience you truly own. Instagram could change the algorithm tomorrow and cut your reach in half. Your email list? That’s yours. You can reach those people whenever you want, without depending on any platform.

More importantly, your email list is where relationships deepen. Someone who follows you on Instagram sees maybe 10% of your posts if the algorithm is feeling generous. Someone on your email list receives everything you send them directly to their inbox.

This is where followers transform into subscribers, and subscribers eventually become clients.

The goal of an opt-in page:

Introduce people to your work through a transformation they can actually feel, not just information they read. When your freebie delivers real value, people think “If this is what she gives away for free, her paid work must be incredible.”

That’s the magic of a strategic opt-in page. It pre-qualifies leads and builds trust simultaneously.

What Is a Sales Page? (Where Transformation Gets Claimed)

A sales page is where a prospect becomes a paying client. This is the page that needs the most strategic depth and emotional intelligence.

While an opt-in page might be fairly simple and straightforward, a sales page needs to do significant psychological and emotional work. It’s guiding someone through a major decision that involves both financial investment and personal vulnerability.

What a coaching sales page must include:

• Emotional storytelling that creates resonance and recognition
• Clear messaging about who it’s for and what transformation you facilitate
• Social proof through testimonials and client results
• Structured explanation of what’s included and how it works
• Aligned invitations to take action (not pushy, but clear)

Just like landing pages, sales pages typically have no navigation menu. You don’t want people clicking away to read your about page or browse your blog in the middle of making a buying decision. You want them focused on whether this offer is right for them.

Sales pages are necessary for:

• Signature coaching programs and packages
• Retreats and immersive experiences
• 1:1 coaching enrollments
• Group programs and cohort-based offerings
• Memberships and ongoing containers

This is where transformation is promised and claimed. This is where someone moves from “I’m interested in this type of work” to “Yes, I’m investing in this specific container with this specific guide.”

The Core Differences Between These Page Types (At a Glance)

Let me break this down as simply as possible:

Opt-In Page

• Role in funnel: Awareness and initial connection
• Main goal: Get someone to join your email list
• What they give: Their email address
• What they get: Free valuable resource
• Level of trust required: Low (just curiosity)

Landing Page (General)

• Role in funnel: Connection and nurture
• Main goal: One specific micro-commitment
• What they give: Contact info, time, or attention
• What they get: Access to something specific (event, resource, call)
• Level of trust required: Low to medium

Sales Page

• Role in funnel: Decision and conversion
• Main goal: “Yes, I’m ready to invest and work with you”
• What they give: Financial investment and personal commitment
• What they get: Transformation through coaching
• Level of trust required: High

They serve completely different stages of the journey. They cannot replace each other. But when they work together? They create momentum that makes client attraction feel natural instead of forced.

What Coaches Actually Need (Based on Your Business Stage)

This is where strategy becomes personal. What you need depends entirely on where your business currently is.

If You’re in the Early Stages (Building Your First Clients)

What you need right now:

One really solid opt-in page that offers genuine value, a strategic email nurture sequence (5-7 emails) that builds trust and introduces your work, and one clean sales page for your signature offer.

What you don’t need yet:

Multiple funnels, complex automation, a dozen different lead magnets, or fancy tech integrations.

Your focus: One funnel, one offer, one clear path from stranger to client. Master this before you expand.

At this stage, you’re learning what messaging resonates, what objections people have, and how to guide someone from curiosity to conversion. Keep it simple and focused so you can actually see what’s working.

If You’re in Growth Mode (Getting Consistent Inquiries)

What you need now:

A complete landing page strategy with multiple entry points into your world, several opt-in pages for different audience segments or pain points, a high-converting sales page with refined messaging and social proof, and strategic nurture sequences tailored to different lead magnets.

Your focus: Optimize your client journey, not just the visual design. You’re refining conversion rates, testing different messaging, and creating a more sophisticated ecosystem.

At this stage, you might have different freebies that speak to different aspects of your work, and each one leads into a tailored email sequence. You’re getting more sophisticated about meeting people where they are.

If You’re Ready to Scale (Group Programs, Passive Income)

What you need:

Advanced funnel mapping with multiple pathways and decision points, automation and systems that work while you sleep, evergreen sales pages that convert without live launches, refined messaging based on data and audience insights, and integration between all your platforms and tools.

Your focus: Creating leverage so you can serve more people without working more hours. You’re building sustainable systems that support growth.

This is when your website becomes a genuine business asset that generates clients consistently, not just a pretty online brochure.

Why These Pages Matter Even More for Wellness Coaches

Here’s something important to understand about the coaching space, particularly wellness and spiritual coaching: your clients aren’t making a purely logical decision.

They’re investing based on trust, emotional safety, energetic resonance, and intuitive timing. These are deeply personal factors that take time to develop.

This is why your pages need to be more thoughtful than a typical service provider’s pages:

• Your opt-in page isn’t just collecting emails—it’s creating a first experience of safety and support.
• Your sales page isn’t just listing features—it’s inviting someone into a transformational relationship.
• Your landing page isn’t just a random page on your website – it’s the gateway to your business, the first impression.

Therefore, your opt-in page, landing page and sales page all work hand in hand.

What this means for your page design:

Your pages must reduce overwhelm, not create more of it. Every element should create a sense of calm clarity, not anxiety or pressure.

They need to provide genuine clarity about what happens next. Because confusion kills conversions for coaches more than almost anything else.

They should honor the human behind the decision. Your ideal clients are people with fears, hopes, past disappointments, and deep desires. Your pages need to hold space for all of that.

A soulful, well-structured funnel gives potential clients the space and support they need to choose transformation at their own pace.

The Most Common Page Mistakes Coaches Make (And How to Avoid Them)

After working with hundreds of wellness and spiritual coaches, I’ve seen the same mistakes over and over again. The good news is they’re all fixable.

Mistake 1: Too many links and options
When your opt-in page has links to your blog, your about page, your Instagram, and three other offers, people get distracted and leave. Keep it focused.

Mistake 2: Prioritizing aesthetics over message clarity
Yes, your pages should be beautiful—that matters for wellness coaches. But if someone can’t quickly understand what you’re offering or why it matters to them, design won’t save you.

Mistake 3: Hiding your pricing
On sales pages, being vague about pricing triggers mistrust. You don’t have to plaster it at the top, but it needs to be clearly stated somewhere. Requiring a call to even learn basic pricing information frustrates people.

Mistake 4: No follow-up email sequence
Getting someone to opt in is just the beginning. If you don’t have emails that continue building the relationship, you’ve wasted that opportunity. The money is in the follow-up.

Mistake 5: Trying to sell too early
If someone just discovered you five minutes ago and you’re already pushing your $3,000 coaching package, that’s misaligned pressure. Trust takes time. Give value first.

What to do instead:

Create one primary pathway for new followers that takes them from discovery to your email list to your offer. Build belief step by step through valuable content and genuine connection. Always give value before extending an invitation to invest. Make saying yes feel grounded, aligned, and supportive—never pressured or rushed.

Your funnel should feel like a supportive experience, not a sales pitch.

The Perfect Page Pathway for Coaches (Your Simple Funnel Map)

If you’re just getting started or feeling overwhelmed by all of this, here’s the simplest, most effective funnel structure for coaches:

The beginner-friendly coaching funnel:

1. Someone discovers you on Instagram, Pinterest, Google, or through a referral
2. They click a link to your opt-in page and download your freebie
3. They receive your email welcome sequence (5-7 emails) that builds trust and introduces your approach
4. Your final emails invite them to your sales page
5. Your sales page clearly explains your offer and invites them to book a discovery call or enroll directly

Every step supports the one after it. That’s what makes conversion feel easeful instead of forced.

You’re not asking someone to go from “Who is this person?” to “I’m investing $2,000” in one interaction. You’re creating a natural progression where each step deepens the relationship and builds toward the next.

Quick Self-Audit: What Does Your Funnel Actually Need?

Take a moment right now to honestly assess where you are. Ask yourself these questions:

Do I have one clear pathway for a new follower to connect with me more deeply? Not five different random options, but one primary path that most people follow.

Do I have an opt-in page that offers genuine value and grows my email list? Or are you just hoping people will somehow find their way to your sales page?

Do I have a sales page that clearly communicates my offer and the transformation I facilitate? Can someone read it and know exactly what they’re getting, what it costs, and how to move forward?

Do I have email sequences that build trust and nurture the relationship while I sleep? Or do people opt in and then never hear from you again?

If you answered no to any of these questions, that’s your next step. You don’t need to build everything at once, but you do need these fundamental pieces eventually.

Your Website Should Do More Than Just Exist

Here’s what I want you to walk away understanding:

Your website isn’t a passive online brochure that just sits there looking pretty. It should be an active part of your business that guides people, supports their decision-making process, and converts ideal clients even when you’re not actively working.

When each page in your ecosystem plays its specific role in the journey—opt-in pages building your email community, landing pages facilitating micro-commitments, sales pages converting ready clients—everything starts working together.

The result?

Clients feel genuinely connected to you before they ever book a call. Buying decisions feel aligned and supportive instead of pressured. Your business feels easier to run because your systems are doing the heavy lifting.

This doesn’t happen because you’re selling harder. It happens because you’re inviting people with clarity, meeting them where they are, and creating a pathway that honors their pace and process.

Ready to Build Your Aligned Client Journey?

If you’re ready to stop guessing about what pages you need and start building a funnel that actually reflects the depth and value of your coaching work, you have options depending on where you are.

If you want to launch quickly with professional design: Showit templates designed specifically for coaches give you all the essential pages—opt-in page, sales page, homepage, about page—already built with conversion strategy baked in. You just customize them with your content and branding.

If you’re ready for a complete custom ecosystem: Full-funnel website design creates your entire client journey from scratch—strategic opt-in pages, compelling sales pages, automated email sequences, and a cohesive website that positions you as the guide your ideal clients are searching for.

If you just need strategic clarity: Sometimes you don’t need a whole new website. You just need someone to look at what you have and tell you exactly what’s missing or what’s not working. Strategic consulting can give you that roadmap.

Your next aligned client is already out there looking for exactly what you offer. Make sure your website gives them a clear, supportive path to find you.

Explore Showit templates for coaches here or apply for custom website design here.