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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: 1393
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ruth M. Schopper-Hughes on
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Permalink Reply by Angela Lind on
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Hi Ruth, you can set up your gift certificates page with www.spaboom.com. :0)
Ruth M. Schopper-Hughes said:
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Permalink Reply by Crystal Dawn Suovanen on
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Okay. There is an amazing site out there called WIX.
You can create a STUNNING flash website for FREE.
Here is mine: http://www.crystalsmassage.com
To have your own url linked to your WIX site, just have your web hosting service forward the url. Easy.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa on
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Hey J. Arnaldo...
ok...this one is a bit of a challenge for me since I don't speak spanish so bare with me.
it looks to be more of a blog than a website correct? one thought i had was that there seems to be a lot of social networking on your site. in as much as it can help in advertising, always keep in mind that your communication with friends can be seen by clients and so you need to ask if you want the two...personal vs. professional...seeing each other.
with that said...
the top bar is a nice image. and i love the color tones on the whole page. however the text that's in the image you can't really read. since you already have Sagesse Du Massage in the body of the page I don't think it's necessary to put it in the header. if it has to be there then you may want to stack Sagesse on top of Du Massage. Put it in a black box that's the same height as the image and then crop the image width wise. so basically that top header would have to the left a black box with gold type in it and the to the right the remainder of that image. make sense?
the other idea is if you can do away with the Sagesse Du Massage in the top image then put the tag line below the photo so it's still there but not competing with the image.
i would also try to have your actual contact info higher up on the screen so that it is seen on any monitor from the first view. not where it is now, which on my monitor i had to scroll down before i got to it.
make sure in the montage image below you picture, to not have any of the text overlaping images. one line is overlaping into the foot image. and as much as i like the montage of photos and then the services you offer...the whole image really doesn't go with the look of the rest of the page. i would pick A photo from it and then put the services next to the one image.
otherwise it looks nice.
J. Arnaldo Pabon said:Hi! I'm not a webmaster but here post one of my pages.
http://sagessedumassage.blogspot.com/
Take care everyone!
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Permalink Reply by Jorge Arnaldo Pabón Acevedo on
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Ok, thank you for bring your tome to see the page, i'm really appreciate it, because your like a person with a kind of knowledge of thinks we need. Your awsome
The page is a Blog, like I say, I have different kind of pages, like myspace, facebook, and other, just to have more accesibility to different client. The text is in spanish 'cause ir my native language :0p
But I will take in mind your suggestion.
I post here another link, Im not will post all the pages, but just to bring you a example of different pages I have.
www.wix.com/J_Arnaldo/Sagesse-du-Massage
I'm not have a domain yet, but It's in my plans.
Have a beautiful week end, and thanx for your time.
JPA.
Lisa said:Hey J. Arnaldo...
ok...this one is a bit of a challenge for me since I don't speak spanish so bare with me.
it looks to be more of a blog than a website correct? one thought i had was that there seems to be a lot of social networking on your site. in as much as it can help in advertising, always keep in mind that your communication with friends can be seen by clients and so you need to ask if you want the two...personal vs. professional...seeing each other.
with that said...
the top bar is a nice image. and i love the color tones on the whole page. however the text that's in the image you can't really read. since you already have Sagesse Du Massage in the body of the page I don't think it's necessary to put it in the header. if it has to be there then you may want to stack Sagesse on top of Du Massage. Put it in a black box that's the same height as the image and then crop the image width wise. so basically that top header would have to the left a black box with gold type in it and the to the right the remainder of that image. make sense?
the other idea is if you can do away with the Sagesse Du Massage in the top image then put the tag line below the photo so it's still there but not competing with the image.
i would also try to have your actual contact info higher up on the screen so that it is seen on any monitor from the first view. not where it is now, which on my monitor i had to scroll down before i got to it.
make sure in the montage image below you picture, to not have any of the text overlaping images. one line is overlaping into the foot image. and as much as i like the montage of photos and then the services you offer...the whole image really doesn't go with the look of the rest of the page. i would pick A photo from it and then put the services next to the one image.
otherwise it looks nice.
J. Arnaldo Pabon said:Hi! I'm not a webmaster but here post one of my pages.
http://sagessedumassage.blogspot.com/
Take care everyone!
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I see each one of the sites, and i see a lot of beautiful pages, But tha Angela's page is my favorite, she have it in English and Spanish, :oD I Love It. I don't want to make feel bad to anyone, but I want to express my feeling, because the page is.. Impresionante!
( www.therapeutic-hands.com )
Well.. Happy weekend
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Permalink Reply by Hillary Kate Arrieta on
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Okay, Lisa... Changed my website to match my printed marketing tools like gift certs and business cards. Hope it's not TOO bright. I'll be adding online gift certs and appointment booking soon.
http://www.crystalsmassage.com
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Permalink Reply by Laura Allen on
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Just revamped mine, took your advice about the frames around the pics, and I'm very pleased with it. Thanks:)
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Permalink Reply by Mike Hinkle on
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Me too!
Laura Allen said:Just revamped mine, took your advice about the frames around the pics, and I'm very pleased with it. Thanks:)
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Permalink Reply by Erica Olson on
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Wow, Mike! That looks so much better and so much more professional!
I'm still not a huge fan of the blinky text and some of the colors are a little, ah, vivid, but it looks SO much better! Easier to navigate, too.
Mike Hinkle said:
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Hey Rick...
Just takin a look. it's been a little while since i checked into here. after reading your post i wondered what it would look like. at first thought it seemed that you were downplaying your visuals but i agreed on the content. i was just talking to another MT about it the other day. we sometimes want to tell the "story" all on the first page when in fact it's the first page that has to be eye catching, easy to navigate and convey emotion with information to give the visitor a completely balanced experience that keeps them engaged. once you DO have that...then you have them and they will explore in their own time.
with that said...i think your site's great!! :)
the first page is calming, visually appealing, balanced. i love the logo and the font styles and the color scheme. really the only thing i see on the first page is maybe limiting the content even more. just a suggestion, maybe put the 2nd paragraph under the gold seal, small and white. and if need be you can always drop a transparent box behind that area of the photo to have dark or white text depending on what looks best. make sense?
if you do that, then it frees up some room for you to open up the text a bit more. so it has a little more air between thoughts so it's easier to read. and maybe try to simplify some of the verbage like "Stay Up to Date on Massage Trends (incl. Q & A)...Visit Our Blog"
on you're gift certificate page i got a little distracted with the photo. i liked the use of a package bow but i couldn't make out what the picture was. but it's late and i've had a LONG week. :)
one overall suggestion would be to bring in the margin of the text on all the pages. they seem to be really close to the edges which makes it harder to read. and on the pricing it would be easier to read if you could line the session descriptions under the session times instead of the bullet. little things like that help add a little air within the text and (at least for me) make it easier to read. and well...i'm getting old and my eyes are not what they used to be. :)
little things like outlines around the photos would help to give them a little contrast against the background. white on the darker backgrounds and a darker color on the lighter backgrounds.
other than that i really like it. it was easy to get around and i love the colors.
Rick Morgan said:website is www.RejuvenationsMassage.com
My wife is a writer and has her own graphic design firm but they specialize in Print. She does have decent web skills and put ours together. My take on a website: It must convince people to take action and book with you- period- done. If they get lost in the visuals,navigation or you gone on and on about your life before massage your potential clients will have moved on. People make a decision to stay or leave your website in 6 seconds. I agree with Laura- keep it clean and easy.
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