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Hypnotherapy Website Critique for Chad (Are you making the same mistakes?)
In a previous post, Chad Schultz requested feedback on his website, infinitme.com. I've started a new thread because I want to be sure that other members of HypnoThoughts who are developing do-it-yourself websites can benefit from the advice I'm about to give Chad. Some of this has been mentioned by others.
Hi Chad!
We're not friends, so I can't inform you of this privately, but you've just received my first HypnoThoughts birthday present. HappyHypnoBirthday to you!
And I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to give you your gift publicly so everyone can benefit from it. Because I suspect that most home-grown hypnotherapy websites are making the exact same mistakes that you've made.
I hope your shoulders feel broad and your ego feels strong, because I'm not going to pull any punches, Chad! :) This may be tough to hear, but this advice is potentially worth thousands of dollars, and I'd certainly charge you several hundred for this if you were a client.
Problem: The site is entirely you-centered.
Chad, I'm sure you're a lovely person, but as a visitor to your website, I don't give a rip about you or why you decided to put up a website. It's like explaining to me why you have a front door. "I decided it was important to have a front door, because without a door in the front of my business, it's more of a challenge for customers to get inside from the outside. Therefore, I have cut a hole in the wall, and framed it out, and..."
AAArrgh! Tell me how to hire you to help me STOP SMOKING! (or whatever it is that I've come to your site to do.) I've come to your website to accomplish a specific goal. Do not make it hard for me to accomplish my goal, or I'll go elsewhere.
And remember: you have TWO SECONDS to tell me (the visitor) that I have 1) come to the right place and 2) you can solve my problem. If I can't see that immediately, I'm gone.
Problem: The site is not optimized for search engines.
Most of the people you could help with hypnosis don't know they can be helped with hypnosis. They aren't looking for a hypnotherapist. They're searching Google for phrases like "stop smoking Des Moines" or "Seattle weight loss." Your ideal clients (depending on your specialty) want to get over a phobia, or do better on tests, or improve a relationship, etc., and they're looking to do it where they live. Yet on your home page I see not a single word about what hypnosis could do for me, or why I should care, or where you're located.
Your page titles and descriptions are not SEO friendly, nor is your page content (except for the FAQ.)
Problem: The URL is meaningless and SEO-hostile.
The URL is not geographically specific, nor is it related to any of the pains that your ideal clients will have. And, it looks like a mistake. Cutesy misspellings aren't recognized by Google as keywords. People don't search on Google using cutesy misspellings. There's no reason to choose a name like that except to massage your own ego, and generally, other people aren't going to pay you to massage your own ego (believe me, I've tried to get people to pay me for this, to no avail!) This is also why naming your business after yourself isn't a good idea unless you're already famous. Your friends and family already know your name--your ideal clients don't.
It may seem boring and un-sexy, but a URL like www.stop-smoking-cleveland.com would be a lot more meaningful, for both Google and your ideal clients (assuming they're smokers in Cleveland who want to stop smoking.)
And what if you offer a bunch of different services? Easy. Buy a URL specific to each of your top search terms and redirect those URLs to landing pages on your main site.
There is literally no point in having a website if it can't be found on Google by your ideal clients.
Problem: The site isn't targeted to your ideal clients.
Who is your ideal client? What pain are they in? What keeps them up at night? What other things have they tried to get over their problems? How much money do they have to spend? At what point are they in the sales process? How much does their problem cost them in time or money or heartache? I literally have no idea who your ideal client is after reading your site. And believe me, your ideal client will NEVER spend as much time reading your site as I have.
Problem: Confusing and weird fee structure.
I don't want to buy "challenges." I especially don't want to buy "advanced challenges!" I want SOLUTIONS to my PROBLEMS like smoking or weight loss or whatever it is you specialize in. Please rename your fee structure! And unless you never want to work for money again, remove the copy about hardship cases. If you want to work with hardship cases, go do some work at your local domestic violence shelter. The point of your website is to attract paying clients.
And please don't intermingle the fine print within your fee structure. You come across as wimpy and unprofessional. Put all that stuff on a Terms of Service page.
Problems: Other picky details.
I hope you find my perspective useful, and I hope my gift to you will also help other folks who are struggling to market themselves online and capture their share of search engine traffic.
Happy Birthday,
Kathleen
Hi Chad!
We're not friends, so I can't inform you of this privately, but you've just received my first HypnoThoughts birthday present. HappyHypnoBirthday to you!
And I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to give you your gift publicly so everyone can benefit from it. Because I suspect that most home-grown hypnotherapy websites are making the exact same mistakes that you've made.
I hope your shoulders feel broad and your ego feels strong, because I'm not going to pull any punches, Chad! :) This may be tough to hear, but this advice is potentially worth thousands of dollars, and I'd certainly charge you several hundred for this if you were a client.
Problem: The site is entirely you-centered.
Chad, I'm sure you're a lovely person, but as a visitor to your website, I don't give a rip about you or why you decided to put up a website. It's like explaining to me why you have a front door. "I decided it was important to have a front door, because without a door in the front of my business, it's more of a challenge for customers to get inside from the outside. Therefore, I have cut a hole in the wall, and framed it out, and..."
AAArrgh! Tell me how to hire you to help me STOP SMOKING! (or whatever it is that I've come to your site to do.) I've come to your website to accomplish a specific goal. Do not make it hard for me to accomplish my goal, or I'll go elsewhere.
And remember: you have TWO SECONDS to tell me (the visitor) that I have 1) come to the right place and 2) you can solve my problem. If I can't see that immediately, I'm gone.
Problem: The site is not optimized for search engines.
Most of the people you could help with hypnosis don't know they can be helped with hypnosis. They aren't looking for a hypnotherapist. They're searching Google for phrases like "stop smoking Des Moines" or "Seattle weight loss." Your ideal clients (depending on your specialty) want to get over a phobia, or do better on tests, or improve a relationship, etc., and they're looking to do it where they live. Yet on your home page I see not a single word about what hypnosis could do for me, or why I should care, or where you're located.
Your page titles and descriptions are not SEO friendly, nor is your page content (except for the FAQ.)
Problem: The URL is meaningless and SEO-hostile.
The URL is not geographically specific, nor is it related to any of the pains that your ideal clients will have. And, it looks like a mistake. Cutesy misspellings aren't recognized by Google as keywords. People don't search on Google using cutesy misspellings. There's no reason to choose a name like that except to massage your own ego, and generally, other people aren't going to pay you to massage your own ego (believe me, I've tried to get people to pay me for this, to no avail!) This is also why naming your business after yourself isn't a good idea unless you're already famous. Your friends and family already know your name--your ideal clients don't.
It may seem boring and un-sexy, but a URL like www.stop-smoking-cleveland.com would be a lot more meaningful, for both Google and your ideal clients (assuming they're smokers in Cleveland who want to stop smoking.)
And what if you offer a bunch of different services? Easy. Buy a URL specific to each of your top search terms and redirect those URLs to landing pages on your main site.
There is literally no point in having a website if it can't be found on Google by your ideal clients.
Problem: The site isn't targeted to your ideal clients.
Who is your ideal client? What pain are they in? What keeps them up at night? What other things have they tried to get over their problems? How much money do they have to spend? At what point are they in the sales process? How much does their problem cost them in time or money or heartache? I literally have no idea who your ideal client is after reading your site. And believe me, your ideal client will NEVER spend as much time reading your site as I have.
Problem: Confusing and weird fee structure.
I don't want to buy "challenges." I especially don't want to buy "advanced challenges!" I want SOLUTIONS to my PROBLEMS like smoking or weight loss or whatever it is you specialize in. Please rename your fee structure! And unless you never want to work for money again, remove the copy about hardship cases. If you want to work with hardship cases, go do some work at your local domestic violence shelter. The point of your website is to attract paying clients.
And please don't intermingle the fine print within your fee structure. You come across as wimpy and unprofessional. Put all that stuff on a Terms of Service page.
Problems: Other picky details.
- Don't mention IMDHA without first spelling out the full title that you've abbreviated.
- Make sure your logo is high-res (it reads as pixelated to me).
- If you specialize in medical or dental hypnotherapy, use the "medical" color, blue, for your website.
- If you specialize in medical or dental hypnotherapy, your website should resemble that of a doctor's office. You may even want to incorporate the cross icon that symbolizes medical stuff.
- Get a professional head shot. It should make you look like a physician (highly educated and very competent).
- If you specialize in medical or dental hypnotherapy, you may want to add a page for medical professionals and ask for referrals.
- Get a glowing testimonial for each area of practice you specialize in. Get a head shot of the person giving the testimonial, and their full name, if they'll let you use them.
- Create a separate page for every area you specialize in (stop smoking, pain control, whatever) and optimize that page for search engines.
- Include more calls to action. The point of your website is to get people to hire you. You must tell them to hire you. Not contact you, hire you or schedule an appointment or schedule a 15-minute consultation or whatever you do to get people in the door.
I hope you find my perspective useful, and I hope my gift to you will also help other folks who are struggling to market themselves online and capture their share of search engine traffic.
Happy Birthday,
Kathleen
Tags: Hanover, HypnoThoughts, Kathleen, birthday, chad, critique, marketing, schultz, website
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Christine Scott on -
Kathleen, thank you for sharing the Customer Focus Calculator Tool.
I am currently re writing my web content and tested it. I came up 100%. I have to admit I was truely amazed.
It takes time to write content but it is worth it.
Thank you again , you are pure gold Kathleen!
Christine
Kathleen Hanover said:The Customer Focus Calculator will tell you how you rate. I think the higher your customer focus, the more likely you are to build rapport.
For example, you expect people to talk about themselves in their LinkedIn profile. But the first half of my summary is targeted directly at my ideal clients. Here's what that looks like:
• Are you fed up with greenhorn copywriters who just don't "get" direct response...or B2B...or public relations 2.0?
• Are you tired of watching your budget evaporate on marketing and PR that goes nowhere?
• Do you struggle to tell your own story in a way that drives prospects to take action?
• Are you afraid you're too close to your marketing or PR project to see any potential campaign-killing landmines?
• Are you bewildered by the ever-changing social media landscape...and afraid to jump in?
There's not a single word in here about who I am or what I do. But when my LinkedIn profile generates a phone call from a prospect, they will invariably start the call by saying, "I just HAD to call you. It's like you were inside my head and knew exactly what I was going through."
Talking about your customers 4 times as often as you talk about yourself is a great ratio, I think. :)
Doc Regal said:Is there a ratio that is ideal?
These are the Customer Focus Calculator results:
For the copy you submitted:
Your Customer Focus Rate: 78.48% (62 customer-focused words)
Your Self Focus Rate: 21.52% (9 self-focused words, and 8 mentions of the Company Name)
You speak about your customers about 4 times as often as you speak about yourself. Excellent!
Amount of Content submitted: 10.0k
Persuasive Copy to be analyzed: 9.7k
Free WeWe Analysis performed on: 1,495 words
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Permalink Reply by Christine Scott on
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Chad .. it took real courage to put your website out there for critique, you have allowed so many of us
to learn and benefit. I look forward to seeing your site once you have revised it.
thanks again.
Christine
Chad Schultz said:Thank you very much for your enthusiasm and all the time you spent examining my site and writing me that feedback! I can tell I'm going to have a busy weekend doing my homework and revamping the site... but I appreciate hearing this in time to make changes before I have lot of people looking at it.
I'm not sure how comfortable I am serving as an object lesson to the site, but I guess that just means I need to work more on an attitude of open-minded humbleness. :) I love having HypnoThoughts as a resource, as I know there's a community of active, experienced hypnotists I can always turn to when I'm in need of encouragement or expert guidance!
So thank you again for all the detailed feedback. I can clearly see many areas I should have put more time and effort into. After all, "if you keep cutting corners, you'll lose your edge." Thanks again, I'll get cracking on it!
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Cole-NLPTrainingQuest.com on -
Hey Jason... How long have you been using your old URL?
Keep in mind a new one with your local area CAN be beneficial, but you will be starting from scratch...
If you've had your old one for more than a year, I'd seriously think twice (or at least speak with an SEO expert to find out whether or not you could work with both URL's and be OK. I can ask my guy if you like. I'm rated #1 and #2 for the areas I train and am currently #7 as a whole for the search term NLP Training)...
It's not very difficult to get up in your local search engines (just few know how to do it) with a url that at least has your major keywords...
Best,
Kevin
Jason Swart said:Kathleen,
I went ahead and got a better url. I ultimately figured if there's an opportunity for improvement I should take it! Your knowledge and your time are most valuable and appreciated. Thanks again for your help!
Jason
Kathleen Hanover said:Hi Jason,
Please don't go to all that hassle on my account. If you're getting the number of hits and conversions that you want, then stick with what works. But if someone hasn't registered a domain name yet, or has a site that isn't performing at all, or Google Analytics tells them that most of their traffic is coming from Botswana (and their office is in Burbank) then perhaps localizing their URL would make sense. Keep in mind, I'm not the authority...your visitors are. They are totally in charge. They will tell you if something is working for you or not. You have to test, test, test, and keep optimizing. SEO is a process, not an event.
Kathleen
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Permalink Reply by hYpnoTiki on -
Hi Kathleen,
That's fine. I just thought you had reviewed and approved some other HT members site in the past, as I have only joined the community a few weeks ago.
But it's ok, I found happiness in the advices you may or may not have given to the personal website of HT member #0001/7000 : Scott. :-)
Thank you.
Kathleen Hanover said:Hi hYpnoTiki,
I appreciate the thinking behind your request, but I'm really hesitant to critique other HypnoThoughts members' websites without being invited to (or, ahem, paid) to do so. :) And with nearly 7,000 members on here, it could literally take me years to just look at all the sites, much less critique them.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Keen on -
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your help! Btw - thanks for your reply on the coaching question I posted. I'll reply to that soon too.
I had just moved from another state a couple of months ago. The old url had a regional keyword in it, so I changed it to something more generic (without a regional word in it) thinking the regional word wasn't so important - but convenient.
Since that was only two months ago I'm guessing now is as good a time as any to get the right one in there.
Also, I'm presently starting the project of rewriting everything on the site with SEO in mind, so again, it's probably a good time to change the url also.
I'm opening my new office in a couple of weeks. I'd hoped to get the organic search results up by then but I'm a little behind schedule :)
Thanks for your help!
Jason
Kevin Cole-NLPTrainingQuest.com said:Hey Jason... How long have you been using your old URL?
Keep in mind a new one with your local area CAN be beneficial, but you will be starting from scratch...
If you've had your old one for more than a year, I'd seriously think twice (or at least speak with an SEO expert to find out whether or not you could work with both URL's and be OK. I can ask my guy if you like. I'm rated #1 and #2 for the areas I train and am currently #7 as a whole for the search term NLP Training)...
It's not very difficult to get up in your local search engines (just few know how to do it) with a url that at least has your major keywords...
Best,
Kevin
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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Hanover on
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Hi hYpnoTiki,
Actually, I haven't touched Scott Sandland's website, with the exception of writing some product descriptions for him. Please don't use it as a model--it breaks many of the rules I've laid out here. :-)
But with Scott, it doesn't matter. He has built himself a referral-generating machine by working with medical professionals and dentists, so his schedule is fully booked. He doesn't need a website to generate business.
Kathleen
Marketing and PR Opinionist
hYpnoTiki said:Hi Kathleen,
That's fine. I just thought you had reviewed and approved some other HT members site in the past, as I have only joined the community a few weeks ago.
But it's ok, I found happiness in the advices you may or may not have given to the personal website of HT member #0001/7000 : Scott. :-)
Thank you.
Kathleen Hanover said:Hi hYpnoTiki,
I appreciate the thinking behind your request, but I'm really hesitant to critique other HypnoThoughts members' websites without being invited to (or, ahem, paid) to do so. :) And with nearly 7,000 members on here, it could literally take me years to just look at all the sites, much less critique them.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Cole-NLPTrainingQuest.com on
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My pleasure, Jason.
BTW, I'd highly recommend a Word Press site for SEO purposes. There's pros/cons to it (just like everything else), but at this point in time at least, Google loves Word Press sites in regards to rankings. I use a different format, but if I had to start all over again, I would have chosen WP. There's countless themes out there that you can purchase at very nominal fees and many of them are very simple to customize. Of course as I'm sure Kathleen would confirm, simple, direct, and client centered is the way to go...
People know what their problems are and just want help...
***Here's a great tip I tell all of my students:
Once you've figured out your specific niche, go to Amazon.com and search for books on the topic. Then read all of the reviews and write your copy around that! It's the best market research you can do and it's totally Free!
The reviewers will tell you what their problem was (As Kathleen would say, Their Pain) and then they will tell you where they wanted to be and where they ended up. When you write copy around that, it will feel as if you are speaking directly to your target market...
That said, if you can swing the cash, you could just higher Kathleen to do it for you and get it right the first time...
Oh and as far as WP sites, I believe FAQ Mark (Scott's web guy) offers very reasonable rates to build sites for members of HT. Could definitely be worth dropping him an email. I believe it's faqmark@hypnothoughts.com but I could be mistaken... I've seen his work and it's very good...
Best,
Kevin
Live NLP, Life Coach & Hypnosis Certification Training
Jason Swart said:Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your help! Btw - thanks for your reply on the coaching question I posted. I'll reply to that soon too.
I had just moved from another state a couple of months ago. The old url had a regional keyword in it, so I changed it to something more generic (without a regional word in it) thinking the regional word wasn't so important - but convenient.
Since that was only two months ago I'm guessing now is as good a time as any to get the right one in there.
Also, I'm presently starting the project of rewriting everything on the site with SEO in mind, so again, it's probably a good time to change the url also.
I'm opening my new office in a couple of weeks. I'd hoped to get the organic search results up by then but I'm a little behind schedule :)
Thanks for your help!
Jason
Kevin Cole-NLPTrainingQuest.com said:Hey Jason... How long have you been using your old URL?
Keep in mind a new one with your local area CAN be beneficial, but you will be starting from scratch... If you've had your old one for more than a year, I'd seriously think twice (or at least speak with an SEO expert to find out whether or not you could work with both URL's and be OK. I can ask my guy if you like. I'm rated #1 and #2 for the areas I train and am currently #7 as a whole for the search term NLP Training)...
It's not very difficult to get up in your local search engines (just few know how to do it) with a url that at least has your major keywords...
Best,
Kevin
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Permalink Reply by Dr. Tom Virden on -
Hmrn...I was just wondering what I would do with my website....
Currently, I'm not at a loss for clientele (underpopulated niche and a high demand). However, some of these words of wisdom is just too delicious to turn away (especially the idea of localized, redirected URLs). Besides, it never really pays to stop marketing, and I like having a waitlist.
I'm not looking forward to rewriting my homepage, but I'm scoring fairly low on the Customer focus tool (only in the 40's customer focus), and judging by the looks of things, it will be well worth it!
So thanks, Chad and Kathleen! Your efforts are extroardinarily valuable!
Tom
www.creativepsychological.com
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First off, thank you to Kevin for trying to throw some business my way. ;)
And I agree with Kevin 100%--there are very few instances in which I'd recommend anything other than WordPress. I LOVE WordPress.
And "you're welcome" to everyone who has said that they benefited from Chad's generosity in asking for help, and from my opinionated nature. :) It's my pleasure.
Kathleen
Marketing and PR Opinionist
Dr. Tom Virden said:Hmrn...I was just wondering what I would do with my website....
Currently, I'm not at a loss for clientele (underpopulated niche and a high demand). However, some of these words of wisdom is just too delicious to turn away (especially the idea of localized, redirected URLs). Besides, it never really pays to stop marketing, and I like having a waitlist. I'm not looking forward to rewriting my homepage, but I'm scoring fairly low on the Customer focus tool (only in the 40's customer focus), and judging by the looks of things, it will be well worth it!
So thanks, Chad and Kathleen! Your efforts are extroardinarily valuable!
Tom
www.creativepsychological.com
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Permalink Reply by Paul Ridden on -
Thanks for you valuable insights :-)
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Hi Tom,
In addition to registering localized domain names and redirecting them to a main website, you can also use these URLs to generate leads and build your mailing list. Simply set up a landing page on that URL!
For example, if you happened to buy "stop-smoking-cleveland.com," your landing page might offer a quiz the visitor can take to see how ready they are to stop smoking, or offer a free report on the best ways to stop smoking, or a free relaxation MP3 (which will help the person get used to the idea of hypnosis), etc. You can also sell product on a landing page. Of course, the copy on the landing page should include your keywords related to Cleveland (such as the names and zip codes of Cleveland's suburbs) and smoking cessation.
Not sure what a "landing page" is? Here's an example I set up earlier this year to sell an MP3:
Social Media Teleseminar Sale Page
This page was very simple to set up--especially if you are using Wordpress. This is a Wordpress theme that is nothing but landing page styles. And there are Wordpress plugins you can use to create forms and autoresponders if you want to give away a free report or MP3.
Kathleen
Marketing and PR Opinionist
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Permalink Reply by Joshua Johnston on
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What's the name of the theme? And regarding the Customer Focus Calculator Tool, what would you suggest is a good minimum percentage to hit? I ran my front page through it and got a result of 65% them, 35% me (or 2 times them as me) and am wondering if I should try to get a higher ratio.
Thanks!
Joshua Johnston
Kathleen Hanover said:Hi Tom,
In addition to registering localized domain names and redirecting them to a main website, you can also use these URLs to generate leads and build your mailing list. Simply set up a landing page on that URL!
For example, if you happened to buy "stop-smoking-cleveland.com," your landing page might offer a quiz the visitor can take to see how ready they are to stop smoking, or offer a free report on the best ways to stop smoking, or a free relaxation MP3 (which will help the person get used to the idea of hypnosis), etc. You can also sell product on a landing page. Of course, the copy on the landing page should include your keywords related to Cleveland (such as the names and zip codes of Cleveland's suburbs) and smoking cessation.
Not sure what a "landing page" is? Here's an example I set up earlier this year to sell an MP3:
Social Media Teleseminar Sale Page
This page was very simple to set up--especially if you are using Wordpress. This is a Wordpress theme that is nothing but landing page styles. And there are Wordpress plugins you can use to create forms and autoresponders if you want to give away a free report or MP3.
Kathleen
Marketing and PR Opinionist
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