Colin Crooks MBE
Full Audit Report
LinkedIn, website SEO, local geo-optimisation, and conversion analysis - with a prioritised action plan to turn your digital presence into a lead generation engine.
Where You Are Today
Five dimensions that drive digital ROI for a business coach. Each scored against a realistic 90-day target.
LinkedIn Profile Checklist
| Element | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | ✓ Good | Professional, warm, recognisable |
| Banner image | ⚠ Weak | "Prosper With Purpose" book brand - not a coaching value proposition |
| Headline | ⚠ Too long | Cramming 3 ideas into one headline - the 3P tool description dilutes the lead message |
| About section | ⚠ Unfocused | Extraordinary material buried in a wall of text with no structure or clear CTA |
| Follower count | ⚠ 3,081 | Low for someone with this profile and credibility |
| Content niche | ✗ Absent | Posts span leadership, networking, hiring, podcasts, webinars - no identifiable focus |
| Engagement rate | ✗ 4–25 reactions | Very low - driven by content and audience misalignment |
| Video content | ✗ Missing | No native video - highest-reach format left unused |
| CTA in posts | ✗ Inconsistent | Most posts have no call to action or lead capture |
| Creator Mode | ✗ Not confirmed | Should be active - unlocks newsletter and analytics |
| LinkedIn Newsletter | ✗ Not used | Major missed opportunity for a business coach with this audience |
| Featured section | ✗ Not leveraged | No pinned posts, resources, or lead capture visible |
Why Engagement Is Low
Colin has genuine authority - MBE, 35 years, Queen's Award, 400+ LSBU alumni. None of it is translating into LinkedIn traction. Here are the six reasons why.
No Content Niche
Scrolling the feed in the past month: leadership programme completion at LSBU, networking events in Brixton, hiring strategy for small businesses, a podcast interview, a Help to Grow webinar, a company culture repost. These are all valid activities - but they serve different audiences with different needs.
LinkedIn rewards accounts that own a specific space. Colin's feed signals "busy person" not "the person to follow for X." The algorithm doesn't know who to show this content to - so it shows it to very few people.
Posts Are Diary Entries, Not Value Posts
Many of the highest-effort posts are event recaps: "It was a delight to host Renata Kaminska at FSB Lambeth…", "Well it took a few minutes to put together but the Cohort of 26 now proudly display the banner…". These are meaningful personally but deliver almost no value to a small business owner scrolling their feed.
These posts generate "polite likes" from people who were there or know Colin personally - not engagement from prospective clients.
Long-Form Text With No Visual Hook
The hiring post (Image 7) is a perfect example - a genuinely well-written, useful piece of content, structured as a continuous wall of text with headers like "The Bottom Line" and "Making It Work: My Three Principles" but no visual break, no pull quote, no bold opening hook, no image that creates curiosity before the "See more" click.
On LinkedIn, the first 2–3 lines before "See more" are everything. They determine whether anyone reads on. Most of Colin's posts bury the value inside the body.
The Headline Doesn't Land
Current: "Business adviser and coach to small business owners. My unique business analysis tool focuses on 3P's: Plan, People & Profit and identifies key issues quickly and cost-effectively. Speaker, author, facilitator & trainer"
This is 5 different value propositions competing for attention. The 3P tool description is too technical for a first impression. "Facilitator & trainer" at the end undermines the coaching premium positioning. And it doesn't tell a small business owner what problem Colin solves for them.
The About Section Is a Wall of Gold, Buried
The LinkedIn About section contains extraordinary material: Queen's Award, 47,000 tonnes diverted from landfill, 850 jobs created, 50%+ annual growth. This is remarkable proof. But it is presented as a continuous block of dense text with no structure, no bold lines, no clear opening hook and no direct CTA at the end.
Most visitors will read the first 3 lines (which start with broad statements) and move on without discovering the compelling specifics.
Credentials Are Under-Leveraged
"MBE HonDSc" appears in the name - but the story behind those credentials never surfaces in content. Most followers don't know why Colin received an MBE (services to disadvantaged people and the environment), or what the Honorary Doctorate from Greenwich University represents. These are remarkable credibility signals - they need to be contextualised, not just abbreviated.
SEO - What's Working, What Isn't
The site has reasonable bones but multiple technical and structural gaps that are suppressing organic search visibility for the most commercially valuable terms.
No Schema / Structured Data
The site has no LocalBusiness, Person, Service, or Review schema markup. This means Google cannot surface rich results (star ratings, contact info, service listings) for Colin's pages in search. For a local business coach, this is a significant missed opportunity - competitors with schema will rank with enhanced snippets while Colin's results appear plain.
Service Pages Are Thin
The Business Coaching service page is approximately 250 words of content plus 3 testimonials. Google's ranking algorithms reward depth - a page this thin will struggle to rank for competitive terms like "business coach London." Each service page should be 800–1,200 words minimum, with FAQs, process explanations, client outcomes, and location signals.
Shopping Cart in Navigation
A "Cart - £0.00 - 0 items" link appears in the navigation. This is almost certainly a WooCommerce leftover from the book sales setup. For a business coaching site, this creates a jarring, unprofessional impression and confuses visitors about what they're buying. It also sends mixed signals to Google about the site's purpose.
Meta Descriptions Not Optimised
The homepage meta description appears to default to the first lines of page content rather than a crafted search snippet. Meta descriptions don't directly affect rankings but significantly affect click-through rate from search results. A compelling, keyword-rich meta description for "business coach London" could increase organic clicks by 15–30%.
Blog Underperforming Its Potential
The blog exists but content appears sporadic and not systematically targeting high-value search queries. For a business coach, blog posts targeting "how to grow a small business London," "business planning tips for SMEs," "when to hire a business coach" are valuable organic traffic drivers - but only if optimised with proper keyword research, internal linking, and consistent publishing.
Page Speed - WordPress Overhead
WordPress sites with multiple plugins typically carry significant page speed overhead. Google Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS) are ranking factors. Heavy images, unminified scripts, and slow hosting can drop rankings - particularly for mobile searches, which now represent the majority of local business searches.
Page Titles - Good Foundation
The homepage title "Business Coach London | Intentionality – Purposeful Growth" and the coaching page title "Business Coaching London | Clarity & Focus For Small Business Owners" are well-structured. London is correctly included. The brand name Intentionality is correctly placed after the primary keyword. This is a solid SEO foundation to build on.
About Page - Credibility Not SEO-Optimised
The About page title is "Colin Crooks MBE - Social Entrepreneur, Author & Business Coach" - good for branding but missing a geo-modifier. The environmental commitment section (renewable energy, recycled paper etc) is admirable but occupies significant page space that could be used for client-relevant content or converting copy.
Local Search - Significant Gap
Colin is London-based and serves London/South London SMEs - but the local SEO infrastructure to capture "near me" and borough-level searches is almost entirely absent.
Google Business Profile
No Google Business Profile is confirmed for Intentionality. This is the single most impactful local SEO action available. A verified GBP means Colin's business appears in the Local Pack - the map listings that appear above organic results for "business coach London" searches. Without it, Colin is invisible in the most visible search placement available to local businesses.
No Borough-Level Pages
Colin is demonstrably active in Lambeth, Brixton, Greenwich, and South London broadly. Yet the website has no location-specific landing pages for these areas. A page titled "Business Coach Lambeth" or "Business Coaching South London" would capture searches that the generic London pages miss - and they're far less competitive.
Help to Grow - Missed SEO Asset
The Help to Grow Management programme is a government-backed initiative that small business owners actively search for. Colin is a certified facilitator at LSBU - this is a significant credibility and traffic opportunity. There is no dedicated page on the site capturing "Help to Grow London" searches or explaining Colin's role in the programme.
No NAP Consistency Signals
NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency across the web is a core local SEO signal. The contact page has no phone number, no physical address, and no map embed. Local directories (Yell, Yelp UK, Bing Places, FreeIndex) either won't have Colin listed or will have inconsistent information - all of which suppresses local rankings.
Why the Website Isn't Converting
Traffic arriving at intentionality.co.uk is facing a series of friction points before it can become a booking. These are the 8 most impactful conversion issues.
CTA Goes to a Contact Form, Not a Calendar
"Book a free call now" links to a basic contact form - name, email, subject, context. The visitor fills it in, submits, then waits for a response. Every step of that process is an opportunity to drop off. A live calendar booking (Calendly, TidyCal, etc.) removes every layer of friction and converts at significantly higher rates.
No Phone Number Anywhere on the Site
The contact page has a form and nothing else. No phone number, no email address, no physical location. For a business owner who needs quick reassurance that a real person is available - this creates doubt. The absence of contact details is a trust signal working against the site.
Seven Services Listed - Analysis Paralysis
Business Coaching, Business Consultant, Business Adviser, Business Workshops, Team Coaching, Teaching Business, Speaking and Lectures. For a small business owner arriving with a specific problem, being presented with seven nearly-identical-sounding options creates confusion rather than clarity. They're more likely to leave than to choose.
Credentials Are Buried Below the Fold
MBE, Queen's Award, Honorary Doctorate, 35 years of experience, 1,000+ people employed, 50,000 tonnes diverted from landfill - none of this appears on the homepage hero. A visitor scrolling quickly sees a generic headline and a stock image before they see any of the extraordinary credibility that would make them want to book a call.
No Pricing or Investment Indicator
There is no indication anywhere on the site of what working with Colin costs. While many coaches don't list prices, having no signal at all means visitors can't self-qualify - leading to enquiries that waste Colin's time, or visitors who assume the cost is beyond them and leave. Even a "from £X per session" or a "what's included" section helps.
No Lead Magnet - Every Visitor Must Book or Leave
The only conversion option on the site is "Book a free call." There's no email opt-in, no downloadable resource, no free assessment tool, no newsletter. Visitors who aren't ready to book immediately have nowhere to go - and no reason to give their contact details. The result: a one-shot conversion with no ability to nurture undecided visitors.
WooCommerce Cart Visible in Navigation
The shopping cart (£0.00, 0 items) appears in the main navigation. This is confusing for a visitor who came for business coaching, signals an unclear business model, and creates a jarring UX. It almost certainly increases bounce rates among prospects who aren't expecting an ecommerce interface.
Testimonials Are Long and Unstructured
The testimonials are genuine and warm but each runs to 3–5 sentences without a headline or outcome summary. Visitors scanning quickly need a headline that captures the result: "Got my weekends back in 3 months" then the detail below. The current format requires reading to find the payoff - and most visitors won't read them.
10 Quick Wins
These changes require minimal time or budget and each one has an immediate positive impact on either search visibility, trust, or conversion rate.
Set up Google Business Profile
business.google.com - free, verified in 5 days. Most impactful local SEO action available.
Remove the WooCommerce cart from nav
2-minute WordPress fix. Immediately improves first impressions for coaching prospects.
Replace contact form CTA with a live calendar
Install Calendly (free) and link "Book a free call" to a live booking page. Removes all friction.
Add phone number to header and footer
Trust signal. Takes 5 minutes. Immediately improves conversion rate and local SEO signals.
Rewrite LinkedIn headline
"Helping small business owners grow without burning out | Business coach & adviser | MBE | 35 years"
Add credentials to homepage hero
MBE, Queen's Award, 35 years - these belong above the fold, not 3 scrolls down on the About page.
Rewrite testimonial headlines
Add a 6–8 word outcome headline to each testimonial: "Cut my working week from 70 to 45 hours."
Choose one LinkedIn content niche
"Practical growth for small business owners" - publish 80% of content in this lane for 30 days straight.
Write the MBE story as a LinkedIn post
The human story behind the honour. Why you got it, what it meant. This will be one of your highest-performing posts ever.
Submit to 5 UK local directories
Yell.com, Bing Places, FreeIndex, Thomson Local, Bark.com - consistent NAP improves local search rankings.
Ready to Turn This Into a Client Attraction System?
This audit maps every gap. We provide the strategy, the content, and the execution to close them - from LinkedIn to local SEO to conversion architecture. Book a 30-minute call to talk through our full solution.
Book Your Strategy Call30 minutes · No commitment · We'll show you exactly what we'd do and how