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Share Your Website and Let's Discuss...
ok...i don't mean to be super critical here, but i'm gonna state it. WHY is it that so many MT's sites are visually appauling?????? i am a graphic designer and have been working in marketing for years. as an MT i have searched and searched the web for various massage sites. sites by an individual MT to small practices, from spas to corporate america massage sites. i have come across only a handful that visually keep me on the page.
might i make a suggestion? less is more.
one of the biggest issues i see on sites is that they are crammed with content expecting the visitor to read through. some sites have one page that just scrolls on indefinitely. other sites have poor navigation/organization. and then some just throw anything and everything on the home page. once you do this you risk losing your visitor's attention.
i'm not advocating having only pretty pictures. but a well thought out photo with minimal content which motivates the visitor to take action by either going to another page, calling you or emailing you will do far better than putting everything on your site and hoping your visitor finds what he/she is looking for.
i'd love nothing more than to see our profession become a powerhouse in the medical industry. and as such we need to make the most of the web. but to do so we need to present ourselves professionally and that means polished and organized.
do a search for yourself. compare some medical websites to your own and then decide...is your website really presenting you in the best way possible.
(sorry if this offends any...it is not directed at any one)
let's use our safe haven here to share our sites (i'm working on getting mine up and running) and brainstorm with constructive feedback.
might i make a suggestion? less is more.
one of the biggest issues i see on sites is that they are crammed with content expecting the visitor to read through. some sites have one page that just scrolls on indefinitely. other sites have poor navigation/organization. and then some just throw anything and everything on the home page. once you do this you risk losing your visitor's attention.
i'm not advocating having only pretty pictures. but a well thought out photo with minimal content which motivates the visitor to take action by either going to another page, calling you or emailing you will do far better than putting everything on your site and hoping your visitor finds what he/she is looking for.
i'd love nothing more than to see our profession become a powerhouse in the medical industry. and as such we need to make the most of the web. but to do so we need to present ourselves professionally and that means polished and organized.
do a search for yourself. compare some medical websites to your own and then decide...is your website really presenting you in the best way possible.
(sorry if this offends any...it is not directed at any one)
let's use our safe haven here to share our sites (i'm working on getting mine up and running) and brainstorm with constructive feedback.
Views: 1395
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lisa on
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Joanne,
I really like the look of yours. it's soft and clean. good color scheme. i love the little emblems to separate the bodies of content. might want to repeat that in the services page.
on the about you page i would have your name repeated by your photo so it's the first thing one sees. Also, you might want to just outline your photo. maybe crop the photo a little and put a block of color (of the same height) next to it and put your name in that. this way your photo and name are mimicing the photos/blocks pattern the way the other photos are displayed (make sense?)
i also really like the gallery of images of your room.
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Permalink Reply by Erica Olson on
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Okay, here goes. It's still needing some work (more photos, a link or two that needs fixing, etc.), but overall I'm pretty happy with it. Feedback would be lovely.
www.heartfiremassage.com
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Hey Erica,
REALLY NICE. some thoughts right off the bat...
i'm assuming the heart is part of your logo? if so it might be nice to incorporate it within the "heartfire" label. maybe all letters are cap but the i in which you could substitue the dot of the i to that same heart? I almost see the "h" "f" and "m" to be in a swirly type script to mimic the swirl around the heart. somehow i just want to combine the heart and the business name together more so. maybe not necessarily on the home page, but whenever you're using it as a stand alone logo.
i wouldn't script the first letter in each link on the left nav. Instead make it a little bigger and bold if anything. it might even be nice to use the heart for bullet points next to each but i'd have to see how that looked first. :)
as for the photo...ok...you're in my rowdy group so i'm just gonna say it...when i see that photo i think "cool chic drinking a beer". :) hehe but really...for that page i think it's important to have a face shot so clients are really seeing YOU and getting an instant connection.
other than that...looks great. impactful. love the color scheme. it's simple and clean but strong and vibrant. nice!
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Lisa, thanks for your feedback!
Yep, the heart, flame, and spiral are all vital components of my logo. My business card looks like this:
. . . so you can see how they all tie together. On my card, the flame is done in gold foil. I print on a heavy off-white paper, so the ecru is a bit more subtle and doesn't have /quite/ the same amount of contrast.
We looked at doing the heart as bullet points, but the flame shrank down too much. Using just a plain heart looked too cutesy, and only using the flame just looked weird.
I like the color scheme myself--I'm all about the fire and flame colors. Go root chakra! ;) My massage room has lovely textured walls in a light yellow with a white ceiling. I have two large abstract prints next to each other on my long wall--their dominant colors are rich reds with some yellows and whites as accents. (I picked the wall paint to match the dominant yellow in the prints.)
I've been told the same thing about having a photo on the front page for that level of connection. One of the things I need to do is put my name under it and probably move Dave's credit to the side (vertically) and lighten the color of the credit text. (It's really mead I'm drinking, but who cares?)
Lisa said:Hey Erica,
REALLY NICE. some thoughts right off the bat...
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i love the business card. well done. did you do all this yourself?
btw...i don't think you need your photo on the home page...i just think you need a different photo for the "about me" page.
Erica Olson said:Lisa, thanks for your feedback!
Yep, the heart, flame, and spiral are all vital components of my logo. My business card looks like this:
. . . so you can see how they all tie together. On my card, the flame is done in gold foil. I print on a heavy off-white paper, so the ecru is a bit more subtle and doesn't have /quite/ the same amount of contrast.
We looked at doing the heart as bullet points, but the flame shrank down too much. Using just a plain heart looked too cutesy, and only using the flame just looked weird.
I like the color scheme myself--I'm all about the fire and flame colors. Go root chakra! ;) My massage room has lovely textured walls in a light yellow with a white ceiling. I have two large abstract prints next to each other on my long wall--their dominant colors are rich reds with some yellows and whites as accents. (I picked the wall paint to match the dominant yellow in the prints.)
I've been told the same thing about having a photo on the front page for that level of connection. One of the things I need to do is put my name under it and probably move Dave's credit to the side (vertically) and lighten the color of the credit text. (It's really mead I'm drinking, but who cares?)
Lisa said:Hey Erica,
REALLY NICE. some thoughts right off the bat...
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Oh, no. We put together a mock portfolio in business class and I used the card I put together there as a jumping-off point, but I hired a friend of mine who's done graphic design and business package work to do the logo and card. Then I took that and went to another friend who does web design on the side and have been working with her on the website. I had a VERY temporary web page that another friend put up as kind of an emergency stop-gap measure before that.
Lisa said:i love the business card. well done. did you do all this yourself?
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Permalink Reply by Peter Bagwell on
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Wow! This was the most unexpected and exciting discussion I found on the forum. I look forward to your 'constructive feedback'.
Massusie Organic Healing Massage Therapy
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Hey Peter,
I think the site is really nice. it's easy to navigate. simple. nice subdued color scheme. easy to read with the content being well organized.
just a couple of minor things really...on the "Are You Feeling stressed?" line...you should make the "s" in stress cap like the rest.
the two photos in the righthand corner...i like how they are designed to look like photographs...however it's bugging me how the bottom photo is being covered up. i would either put them horizontally next to each other...or i would tilt them in opposite directions slightly so that you can see more of the bottom photo.
also...for that first shot of the MT in the room...you might want to choose a photo that is horizontal (i.e landscape) and have it the same width as the first column's content. it might balance better than the current photo. you might also want to mimic the photographic treatment to all your photos as is the home page's corner photos.
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Permalink Reply by carolinajones on
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My website is www.carolinashealingtouch.com
I too built it myself. It took me a couple of days to get i get it all done. What do ya think?
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Permalink Reply by Donna Whitton on
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I spent a good deal of time on my site so please be gentle:
http://reconnectingessentials.com
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Permalink Reply by Trevor Chisman on
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Hi Peter
I second all Lisa's points, its a great site though I hope its working for you. Does it do well in Google and the searches?
Peter Bagwell said:Wow! This was the most unexpected and exciting discussion I found on the forum. I look forward to your 'constructive feedback'.
Massusie Organic Healing Massage Therapy
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Hey Carolina...
here's a couple of suggestions.
i like the calming sense i get from your site. i think things need to just be adjusted for a better balance.
i would look into putting the " Rejuvenate~Revitalize~Refresh~Renew~Relax " in the water at the top right corner. i would think white text would work and you could stack and right justified the words. maybe even playing around with a large script R and then the other text for the words in a regular font next to the R. in that case though you'd want the words left justified against the R.
i feel the top is a little too blank which is why i'm making that suggestion.
then i would make the photo in the middle larger. don't be afraid to go big on photos. as long as the photo is a GOOD photo...creative, impactful, and good composition...than a large photo would work really nice.
i would put your locations on the left side and the hours to the right...so two columns of info...AND i would put that info below the body of content so that the visitor is forced to scroll down (and hopefully read the body of content) in order to get to the info. plus you have an info tab so that text is not as important on the first page.
mabye a little wavy line to separate the body of content from that info at the bottom just to add a little graphic element while organizing the two sections of info.
one thing in regards to the photos you've selected. they are a little dark and the majority of them are in a brown tone. the only photo that really works on the colorscheme of the site is the one that's on the FAQs page. you may want to search out photos that are lighter, airier and in the blue/green tones instead of the brown earthy tones.
one last thing...on the Request an Appointment page...i would reword that sentence of "We might be able to work something out". the first thing my brain said was...or maybe she won't. something more like "I look forward to hearing from you" is much more inviting.
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