Laurie Beebe is The Diet Coach. There are likely many others in this niche, but I’ve not seen them and am impressed with Laurie’s focus and approach. The content in the site is instructive and helpful. You feel like you can successfully get control of your eating and exercise when you dwell in the content.
She’s had a lot of input for her site: Three times from copyrighters, webdesigners, and SEO consultants over the past year, and she’s looking for constructive design criticism and suggestions from fresh eyes.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I appreciate and value your focus. My sense is that you really serve your customers/clients and care about helping them navigate a healthier lifestyle. I liked the articles you’ve listed and found them full of ideas. It increased my trust in you and that raises your credibility, of course.
As I said above, the content is there. Laurie, I know you’ve spent a lot of time on the design and structure, but my recommendation would be to switch to a more robust blog platform like Wordpress or Moveable Type. I don’t hide my passion for Thesis as a theme (see footer), but you need something that fits your professional image and the current site doesn’t come close to what I know is there, buried in the site.
I realize you may need a shopping cart, too, so the person who is convinced they want to start TODAY can just hit Buy Now…
On the home page, I don’t know where to go next. I think you would benefit from having a simple landing page with a video of you explaining what you do and where to go next in the site. I like the newsletter sign up box. That’s clear. If I could put only three things on the home page, I would make it a video, the email newsletter box, and a link to one of your more helpful articles.
Laurie,
TJ is spot on. Here are a few other thoughts from my review:
- I’d add something on the home page outlining in just a few bullets (or a graphic) exactly what you provide to help people achieve their goals. I can’t figure out if it’s information, products, counseling or all of the above without diving in. My eyes do not know where to go on the home page and it took me several minutes to note the “products” tab – wow, what a wealth of information there.
- I see pictures of three folks on the home page and cannot tell easily which one (or more) is you. The before/after picture further into the site, though, is compelling.
- Finally, as TJ pointed out, I think you need to step up to a site design that positions you as a larger company with few things on the home page, a clean navigation scheme, the video(s) TJ mentions and an overall less cluttered look throughout the site. I don’t think you can get there from tweaking the current site.
You’ve got some a nicely structured product/service line – let’s get this across quickly and offer folks some guide on how to navigate your “buffet.”
Jeff