The most common mistake I see when teachers build their first website is building too much of it. Twelve pages, a blog with no posts, a shop with no products, and an "our philosophy" page written at midnight.
Students are not reading any of that. They want to know four things, and they want to know them in about eight seconds.
1. What you teach, in plain words
Not "a somatic-informed vinyasa practice rooted in embodied inquiry." Write the version you would say to someone at a bus stop: "Slow, strong vinyasa. Lots of breath. No chanting."
Style names are useful as a filter, but only after the plain-language version.
2. When and where your classes are
This is the single most-visited thing on a teacher's site, and it is the thing most often out of date. A schedule that is three weeks stale is worse than no schedule at all — it teaches people not to trust the page.
If you can only keep one thing current, keep this one.
3. How to book
One button. One. If a student has to email you to ask how to book, you have already lost most of them.
4. What it costs
Teachers hide pricing more than almost any other profession, usually out of a worry that it will put people off. In practice the opposite happens: unclear pricing makes people assume the worst and leave.
Drop-in rate, class pass, and anything you offer for people who cannot afford the standard rate. Three lines is enough.
5. Proof that you are real
One photograph of you actually teaching, and two or three sentences from students. Not fifteen testimonials — two good ones beat fifteen generic ones.
What you can leave out for now
- A blog, until you have something you actually want to write
- A shop, until you have something to sell
- A newsletter signup, until you know what you would send
- Your full training history — one line is plenty
You can add all of these later. Almost nobody regrets launching with five sections; plenty of people never launch at all because they were building fifteen.
Start with what a student needs to make one decision: whether to come to your next class.