Let’s rip the Band-Aid off. Business coaches are not digital marketers. Full stop.
Sure, a good coach can help you with mindset, accountability, and setting big goals. That’s valuable. But when they start tinkering with your SEO, your website structure, or your marketing strategy, it’s like asking your personal trainer to rewire your house. They might be great at squats, but you don’t hand them a set of live wires.
The Proof Is in the Wreckage
We’ve seen it too many times.
Client A hit his yearly revenue goal in June. SEO was humming. Phones were ringing. Then he hired a coach. Suddenly, we were told to make all these changes that had nothing to do with how search engines work. His rankings nosedived. So did his revenue.
Client B was dominating search. She brought in a coach who insisted her homepage needed to be more about her story. We warned her. We explained why gutting the homepage content would tank her visibility. The coach overruled, changes were made, and boom, rankings gone. Leads gone.
Both of these clients had thriving SEO strategies that were years in the making. Coaches dismantled them in weeks.
Why It Happens
Coaches are trained to think about business from a big-picture, motivational standpoint. They’re not trained in the mechanics of digital marketing, Google’s algorithm shifts, or how long-tail keywords quietly bring in leads while you sleep. They want quick wins and visible “improvements,” which often means throwing out the proven foundation for shiny new ideas.
The problem is, search engines don’t care about your pep talks. They care about relevance, authority, and consistency. When you rip out optimized content or force changes for the sake of branding, you’re basically handing your competitors your traffic on a silver platter.
The Fallout
Once SEO momentum is lost, it’s not a quick fix. It takes months, sometimes longer, to recover. Leads dry up. Cash flow tightens. Stress skyrockets. And by the time the coach has moved on to their next buzzword, the client is left wondering why the phone stopped ringing.
The Bottom Line
Stick to what people are actually experts in.
Let your coach keep you motivated, focused, and accountable.
Let your marketing team handle your marketing.
Mixing the two is not just unhelpful, it’s expensive. You wouldn’t let your dentist redo your kitchen countertops. Don’t let your business coach dismantle your SEO.
