More Reviews, Happy New Years, and Hopeful YGG News

Hi Everyone,

First of all, Happy New Year! I enjoyed getting away from town, and getting away from the computer and counseling for a week. Of course, the deluge of to-do's is here and I am diligently getting at them.

To all those who have sent in their websites for review (over 15 now) - be patient, but know you are on the list.

Finally, I may have a new web designer on the horizon - someone to do custom therapist websites. I'll leave it at that for now, but from what I've seen, I am excited.

Now back to the emails! All the best for a healthy, happy, abundant 2009! Peter

Wow! A Dozen More Reviews to Come!

It's Saturday, and I'm about to get snowed in here in Seattle (again). And, I'm not really in a work mood, so no reviews tonight, but my call for websites to review (on the Forums at PsychologyToday.com) garnered over 10 sites to reviews. They'll be coming up in next 2-3 weeks.

Happy holidays everyone! Drive (and fly) safely!

Peter

Website Review #2 (by Request)

Today, for your viewing pleasure, I present the website of Samuel Rainey, MA.

(click on the image to visit his site)


I think I'll go in reverse order of how I did the last review - starting with overall impressions and what I like and then "what I'd change".

OVERALL, a pleasant, relaxing site to look at. This is partly due to the clean and sparse design (note how crisp every element is, how nicely laid out and spaced it all is). I love the matching of the shirt color to the overall color! The photo is direct and yet relaxed. It's not busy, and is pretty clear to see how to navigate around it.

HOW I'D IMPROVE IT: If this were my site I would....

• Eliminate the horizontal scrolling on the home page
  
• Not use italics for the word "Therapist" on the home page
  
• Mention my city/area somewhere on the home page
  
• Have my phone number & email address more visible and persistent
  
• Fix weird font-style shift in first paragraph of "About Me" page
  
• Beef up content about the therapy services offered.
  
• Consider whether all clip-art makes sense for my geographic area (I am looking at the FAQ page). I have a pet peeve about clip art that seems from a different geography (like an ocean beach on a site in Nebraska).

That's it! Good job Samuel!

Best, Peter
Your Google Guy - Always Ready With An Opinion :-)

First Website Review (That's By Request)

Hi Googlers,

Well, two people have requested reviews, and tonight I am getting to the first one. So, without further ado, here are my thoughts on mckinziecounseling.com.

I'll take this on in my new-found way, which is by saying is this were my website I would...

• Not have the headshot fade out - I'd have it all strong
  
• Not have the "search the web" box on top - why send people off your site?
  
• Have something about my geographic location visible (maybe in the top banner, like adding "in Frisco and Plano, TX")
  
• Have contact info (phone & email) on every page (at the bottom is a great way to do it, or under the menu system on the left).
  
• Clean up the pronoun usage in "About Cheryl" (it says "I" and "my" and then "she" in the next sentence).
  

Those are my quick to-dos. Overall, I like the site. It's got a nice feel to it. My reaction is it's professional, I get a feel for who this person is, it's easy to navigate, the menu is laid out clearly, the colors soothing (and they do together - this has been designed not just thrown together). It looks to be a Microsoft product (so much nicer than the old FrontPage crap).

I could find things to critique in the text but these would be nits (other than the pronoun consistancy, as noted).

Good job Cheryl!

Best, Peter
YourGoogleGuy - All the Web Marketing a Good Therapist Needs

Website Review - Well-done & Straightforward

Hi folks,

I was doing a weekly thing, Googling therapists in my area to see who shows up, and who is new. I ran into a new ad (a Content Network ad) and pasted the link (I never cost my colleagues money by clicking their ads!), and voila, a site that was concise, and I thought really well done.

I present for your perusal, Bellevue Therapist Kim Gilliland.

I like straightforward sites, and this is one of them. From the URL (her last name + "therapy") on, it's all direct and done right.

On her home page, she presents herself (in photo and words), where she is located, and what she does (both generally and specialties) in a pithy manner.

The design is compact, professional looking and attractive. This site does an interesting job of bringing much of the information from an "About Me" page onto the home page, which works here very well.

If you were looking for an example to go from, it wouldn't hurt to use this one.

Best, Peter

Website Review #1 - A Bushel of Pet Peeves

OK folks, I've been pondering this idea. I am going to try it here and see what happens. It might hurt feelings (and being a recovering Nice Guy that might be hard), but I learned so much back in the 1990's about web design from a site called WebSitesThatSuck. This guy would find poorly designed sites, and use them as teaching tools. That's what I am going to try here.

So tonight's victim, er, I mean example, came while I was Googling "Seattle Counseling" (I do this about every day, to see who is new, who is offline, etc.) There are a flood of newbies tonight, which is odd. One is Christian Counseling in Lynnwood, WA. (Editor's note - I have nothing against Christian Counselors, Christians, Jesus himself, or God).

I could spend several hours on this - but will just hit the overall points:

• *The blinking "Call" makes me want to scratch my eyes out. Or, it could be that it's 1997 all over again. Woo hoo! I'm young again!
  
• *For a text-only site, it's text design is....just bad. Different sizes of fonts, odd justifying of text, etc.
  
• *Lacking in content - so very little info to go on here.
  

Perhaps I should have just let this one go, but knowing that this guy is spending $2-$3 a click to get people to visit this site makes me feel sad. FYI, when I do this, I never click the ads - I just type in the URL on a fresh browser screen.

If you'd like your website reviewed (both the good and the bad) - send me an email!

Best, Peter