Massage is a good thing and sorely needed. At Massage on the Web, we want all massage therapists to succeed. The following information will help you get the most from your web site. If you have the knowledge, inclination and time to do it yourself, you will be helped by this information. If not, we hope you will give us a call.

Table of Contents

Web Site Marketing Tips

1. Put your web address on all your newsletters, stationery, business cards, ads, flyers, etc.

Think of your web site as a brochure holder in everyone's house. It holds brochures which you can update as frequently as you like with any information or pictures. Make sure everyone you talk to knows he/she can find all they want to know about you and/or massage just by looking at your brochure in their house, office, library, or hotel room any time, day or night.

A web site is only a part of your marketing campaign. The more elements you add to your campaign (consistent client newsletters — 4 to 6 times a year, talks to local groups, flyers, joining the chamber of commerce, passing out business cards, ads in local health food magazines,etc.) the more potential clients will know about you. Marketing professionals know that it takes repetition for people to remember your name when they want massage or bodywork. That's why a monthly newsletter is so effective.

2. Put valuable (useful, educational, entertaining) content on your site.

If you have meaningless information that adds nothing new and is boring to read, no one will want to look at your brochure for long and no one will look at it again except to remember your address or phone number. However, if you put useful, educational and/or entertaining information in it, they will read more of it when they do look at it and show it to others. This is especially valuable when you put all your services and products in it. (See 4 below.)

Another great way to add valuable content is to include a web site-only discount or special.

3. Change your information frequently.

Once you have entertained someone or given them some useful information, they will look forward to seeing you again. However, if the next time you are together you tell the same jokes and stories, they will not want to come see you again. Change your web site-only special and you'll have more repeat visitors to your site and a good method to track how many of your clients are visiting your site regularly.

4. Include all your services and products.

Many years ago as a new marketing director, I learned that adding all our services and products to our price list increased sales. Your client may not mention that his wife is always asking to have her feet massaged, but when she sees reflexology/foot massage in his copy of your brochure, she'll make an appointment herself.

5. Avoid making your web site annoying to the eye.

Notice I did not say make your web site a work of art. People will visit your web site primarily because you told them to look at it; they need your address, phone number, or a map; or they are searching for a particular type of bodywork in your city. In other words, it is content that drives people to your site. Do not prevent them from finding and reading your content easily. Do not squeeze so much information on the page that the main points are hard to find. Do not use blinking, jumping animation that becomes annoying after 10 seconds. Avoid color combinations that are uncomfortable to look at. (I learned that the hard way when I moved off-campus at college and painted my bedroom orange with a yellow ceiling. Try waking up to that!)

6. Always include your phone number, address, and an email link.

Never, never, never do promotion without telling people how to find you. That is the whole purpose of promotion. When someone is looking at your web site, giving them the ability to reach you with only a click is vital. They are already thinking about you. On other forms of advertising, it is recommended, but not as crucial.

7. Include a good photo and ensure it displays well.

Ads with personal photos generally are more effective than those without. This is true in print advertising as well. However, ensure it displays well on the web. The colors should be lifelike. The size should be pleasing without overwhelming. The degree of detail (resolution) should look like a photo, not like a fax. However, if all you have are bad photos, skip the photo. Better no photo than a bad or poorly presented one.

8. Exchange links with other relevant web sites.

Some examples are: your local chamber of commerce(s), local business groups (offer a discount on their first massage to a company's employee), your local school district (or any group with high stress), Touch Research Institute, and alternative health sites. Look through paper and online directories for others.

9. Submit your web site to search engines.

Some people are replacing the yellow pages and 411 (telephone) information with the web. When my wife wants to know the hours of a store near us, I never look up the number, call them and ask. I just search the web for the store name, my home town and state. If that fails (maybe one out of fifteen times), I use the yellow pages and call.

Now, granted I am not the average person. I am a "techie" with a fancy connection to the web and lots of experience. However, I am not different, just ahead of the crowd. In three years, you will see everyone using the web to find what they want — and you want to be found.

MSN, Google, Yahoo and Altavista are the most important ones. On our support page, you can submit your site to search engines. [Note: Beware of submitting your web site to more than ten or twenty search engines. The hundreds more will only get you ten or twenty unwanted emails a day!]