Introduction
Having a Website for your massage business is one of the most important things you need to do to market your massage business. A website done like this will get you a steady stream of massage clients coming in the door. It will be a Website that Works. A Website that Works will be on the top of the first page of results at Google and Bing AND will also get the searcher/potential client to click on the listing and go to your website AND then on top of it all the reader will make the call for the appointment and to take it even a step farther – they will most likely be regular weekly or every other week or monthly clients. Then your website will also make you money while you are doing massage! How does it do all that? Well, you are about to learn how to create a Website that Works.
It takes time to learn how to do this and create such a site to make that happen. But it is worth taking the time to create a website that works because once you do, it will help you ‘attract’ Your Ideal Client – the client who already understands the benefits of massage and is willing to pay for that service. It will let you focus on what you do best – doing massage.
When people are searching online for something, they are searching to solve a problem that they have which is usually help for stress or pain. They are looking for information or someone to help them solve that problem. They actually are not looking for you but, when your website shows up at the top of the search engines when they are searching for ‘massage your city’ and someone finds YOU, that means that you are already building trust with potential clients. When they find you on their own, they know that you are not advertising or trying to get the ‘sale’. When they find you through a search using the main keywords – massage your city, you are also getting a client that understands massage and is already looking for massage! I’ll repeat that because you really need to get that – They are already looking for massage! That is one of the most important parts of having a website. Having people that are already looking for massage and understands the value of a massage is your Ideal Client! Your ideal client is much more likely to come often, always show up for their appointments and will already respect massage! An ideal client is more likely to refer all of their friends, family members and coworkers to you without expecting any rewards or free massages!
That basically is why you need a website that works and why I am writing this.
Websites are my passion. I would have never thought that I’d be writing about websites. You see I am a massage therapist and an introvert at that. I love the one on one in person situation that being a massage therapist allows me to be. Personally, I don’t like marketing and having to put myself out there in front of people. I was always struggling to come up with ideas for flyers, free promotions and doing free events that got little in return. A website that works, has allowed me to promote myself without leaving my office or home. People come to me and find me when they are searching for massage. They are already looking for a massage therapist so that makes my work to get them to become a client even less. When people find me through my website, they usually say things like “I came in mainly because of your website” or “I want YOU for my massage therapist”. They already know me more than some of my regular old timers if they read my website.
Once I did the work of setting up my clinic website and getting traffic to it, I could focus on what I do best – doing massage. I don’t do any other advertising or marketing. I do take insurance and am on some insurance provider lists but people who come through insurance are still comparing massage therapists to decide who to go to. I do also focus on word of mouth marketing and networking which is also helpful in getting clients. Even with word of mouth or networking, your website will often help make an impression on people and help firm up the connection. My clinic website is content rich and tells them most everything they need to know about various conditions and they types of massage that I do. They already come to me informed about massage and wanting to get a massage. This also cuts my marketing time down significantly, allowing me to do more work with people.
So taking the time to create a website that works to do all this is so worth your time and money. Once it is set up you will connect it to other things like a newsletter, Facebook fan page and Twitter accounts, keeping you in front of your clients and all of their friends and family members. That will be a part of building repeat clients.
Throughout this book, I refer to massage therapists because that is the group that I have worked with the most but all of this information really applies to any type of healthcare provider or even can be applied to other services such as hair salons, accountants, lawyers, doctors, and just about any service provider.
It does take a bit of learning and practicing and tweaking to get it all put together and working. It will take some patience in learning and doing because this is something so new and probably out of your comfort zone. If and when you feel overwhelmed, just know that it is an old part of you that is telling you that you can not do this. Just take a step back and let the information digest and come back to it the next day. Each day it will sink in more and more. Yes I know you just want to do massage or whatever type of work that you practice. You will be soon after you create your website that works.
And yes this is going to be frustrating because most of you are not tech oriented or good with computers or don’t think that you are a good writer. It is new territory and confusing information. I know, I was there too at one time. The first time I uploaded a website, I remember thinking that I would break the internet! Read this in little pieces – a paragraph at a time if you need to and then just take a small action step. Do something. Little by little it will happen and you will have yourself – A website that works!
Off we go!
Julie Onofrio, LMP
Visit : www.massagepracticebuilder.com to get the full details!
Table of Contents
Introduction
1.How the Internet Works
2. Web Hosting Basics
Website Software
Finding a Hosting Company
Search Engines
Free Websites
Domain Names
3. Site Design and Navigation
4. Meta tags : Tell the search engines what is on your pages!
5. Let the Content Begin!
6. The Home Page, About Me and Massage Services Pages
7. Build More Content for Search Engines and Potential Clients
8. Building traffic: Getting your site found Submit Your Site to Search Engines
Back Links
Local Search
Citations
Go Mobile
Google Authorship
9. Social Media : Facebook, Google Plus
10. Newsletters, Online Scheduling, Blogging
11. Making extra money from your website
12. Creating additional online businesses
13. Resources