You can have a beautiful design to your website, but if you do the following with content - you might have a website that has gone bad.
The following is a list of common mistakes. Berin Iwlew (co-owner and chief software architect of Bodywork Buddy) has also weighed in on this article, as he is the web expert. Me? I'm no web expert, but the following are annoying at best - for any visitor to a website.
- Each page is a "wall of text". Especially the home page. There's so much text that after one glance, visitors are instantly overwhelmed and don't bother reading any of it.
- There are no pictures or anything visually pleasing.
- Stolen pictures or content from other sites.
- Not only someone else's pictures, they're hot-linked. Don't think this will go unnoticed.
- No call to action to visitors.
- 50 different fonts. And font sizes. And colors.
- Talking flash graphics, pop-ups, or the windows that pop-up behind the browser. Or pop-ups that prevent visitors from leaving the site.
- Same content and look since 2008. The site is never updated.
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| Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Unfortunately, with the popularity of CMS sites (content management systems) it's waaaaay too easy for people to turn a basic site into a train wreck. But you don't need to be a web designer to avoid these common mistakes.
Stay tuned for part 2 of this post which will detail how to remedy these mistakes and get the most out of your massage business website.
Stay tuned for part 2 of this post which will detail how to remedy these mistakes and get the most out of your massage business website.
What other traits do you think make a less-than-effective (ahem...Bad) website?
Cindy Iwlew is co-founder of Bodywork Buddy Massage Software, a complete online management solution for independent massage therapists that includes online scheduling. She continues to operate her own private massage practice of 13 years, and has been an associate instructor for Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy since 2007. www.BodyworkBuddy.com
I think you pretty much covered the bases here... I can't thinknof anything else that really irks me more that pop ups. One- and im gone.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a call to action for visitors? I'm not aware of what this is?
I'll delve more in it in part 2 of this post, but a call to action tells your visitors what you want them to do. (i.e. Schedule an appointment now!) :-)
DeleteOh I got one! Not being able to navigate easily. Go here to go here to go here..... Hmm maybe in need to look at my site again...
ReplyDeleteoh good one, Justine. Easy navigation is pretty important! I'll add that one in to part 2 of this post as well - thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteI hate my website :(
ReplyDeleteGinger - what about your site do you not like? The above can be easily fixed, and in the 2nd post we'll detail other things you can do to make your site even better. We'd be happy to work with you to make your site one you love!
DeleteIt's just ugly- I went the cheapest/easiest route for my situation and I use a godaddy template. Easy to change/update- but very standard looking and ugly.
DeleteI'm pretty texty - I don't have any of my own pictures on the site, just the ones that came with the template. Blarggghhhh
I am so tech challenged! lol But somehow I did build my website from a templete. Would anyone mind taking a look and give your thoughts?
ReplyDeletewww.shannonbarrlmt.com.
Thanks,
Shannon
Shannon - it's beautiful! Nicely done!
DeleteLooks really nice to me. Easy to navigate.
DeleteThank you! Now I just have to figure out how to get my online scheduling to work, and how to get it higher on the search engines.
ReplyDeleteWe can help you with that, Shannon. I've already emailed you, just let me know when you have a minute and we'll go over some things!
DeleteHmmm.. I know my website is wordy. I've even gone in to edit with the idea of cutting much of it down but I've had a number of new clients tell me they greatly appreciated all the info on my website. So I tried to make it easier to read with spacing and pictures. I read somewhere that it is great to have a website with a lot of pages so maybe I should separate the home page into more pages. ...things to think about...
ReplyDeletePictures are great, Kathy! Info is great, too... it's just a matter of how it's presented. As long as it's not a wall of text, you're good to go. Sounds like you're on the right track!
Delete