Holistic Health Kalamazoo – Prosper Health Clinics

Dramatic Design welcomes Prosper Health Clinics to our network of Website Design Clients!  Dr. Ryan Ball is a Holistic Health and Functional Medicine Doctor.  Here are a few notes about how we created his new website.

Case Study and Thought Processes

Choosing a Domain Name

Prosper Health ClinicsDr. Ryan Ball decided to open a new practice in Portage, which is near Kalamazoo, Michigan.  His practice is in the area of functional medicine – and while that term is a fairly common term worldwide, in West Michigan it isn’t very common.  People in this area are more likely to search for holistic.  These are some of the things that are discussed with clients when choosing the best domain name for a website.  What are people going to type into the search bar when trying to find the service that you provide?  Having a good domain name is just one way that we can be the answer to their search.  The domain that we chose to build his website on was HOLISTICHEALTHKALAMAZOO.COM for these reasons:

  1. Our research showed that the local area would be more likely to search for the term “holistic” than the term “functional medicine”
  2. Dr. Ball preferred to use the term “health” over the term “medicine” as it more accurately described his practice, and
  3. In general, people will add their location when searching for something in their area.  While the office is in Portage, Kalamazoo is the large city to which Portage is a suburb.

So, the domain is descriptive and very search-friendly.  It will serve Dr. Ball well with Search Engine Optimization.

Website Name

Now, Dr. Ball’s practice is named Prosper Health Clinics, so we were sure to buy PROSPERHEALTHCLINICS.COM and redirect that to his main website domain, so as not to confuse his patients.  Anyone looking for Prosper Health can easily type in prosperhealthclinics.com and find his website.  Additionally, his email addresses use this domain, which is important.  Your email addresses should always match your business name.

Dr. BallBonus Domain

Dr. Ball is an up-and-coming professional with many years left in his career.  It is possible that he could become a published author, come up with a new medical breakthrough or technique, or something else equally noteworthy.  So, as he is starting out, we chose to purchase DRRYANBALL.COM and start establishing credibility and longevity on his “name domain” with the search engines as soon as possible.  For now, this domain redirects to the About page on his website, which is his biography.

Other Website Elements

  1. Online Forms  Because of the unique nature of Dr. Ball’s practice, he is able to do a pre-evaluation of patients before they come to see him in person with some very detailed questionnaires.  We were able to put these on his website, so the patients can conveniently fill out “paperwork” right on their computer.  There is no paper to be transported, faxed or mailed, saving time, expense, and possibly some trees.  If, after this pre-evaluation process, Dr. Ball feels that he cannot benefit the patient, he tells them and refers them out accordingly, thus saving the patient time and expense.
  2. Article Directory of Health Conditions  Dr. Ball has a growing list of Health-Specific articles that explain how holistic health techniques can successfully treat conditions that have typically been thought of as conditions only treatable by medications.
  3. Blog  Blogging is a wonderful tool for business owners to connect with their readers.  Dr. Ball is using his blog to educate and inform his readers about treatment options, causes behind health conditions, and truths behind commonly believed health myths.  He hopes that his readers will engage with his blog posts by asking questions or emailing him for more information.
  4. Newsletter  Dr. Ball will send periodic updates about the practice to those who sign up for his newsletter, which is another way for him to connect with patients and the surrounding community.
  5. Skype Appointments  Until his office opens, Dr. Ball is seeing patients via Skype calls.  If you visit his website, you will see a pop-up message informing you of that fact.  That message is also shown on the New Patient Information page.  He plans to continue to see patients via Skype even after his office in Portage is open, which will allow him to extend his reach to those not in the immediate proximity.

Google Review From Dr. Ball:

Dr. Ryan BallI am not a computer savvy person. That is one of my weak points. The great thing is that I just worked with Kimberlee Smith from Dramatic Design and I didn’t have to worry about anything. She is always available if things need to be changed or edited. She understands that it’s not just “build a website and see you later”. She treats it like a process that is continuously evolving. So when new things have come up, I didn’t have to worry if she would help me with them or not. I am very happy with my experience and will continue to work with Dramatic Design to make sure my website is maintained optimally.  Thanks Kim!

RE Wellness Health – Featured Client

Ruth-Ellen WiersmaI’m excited to tell you about my new client, Ruth-Ellen Wiersma. She is a health coach and the owner of RE Wellness Health, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan most of the year. She also works out of Tampa, Florida for about 4 months each year. She can work with clients in either location–or around the world, for that matter, thanks to the use of technology! She uses Skype, email, and phone calls to assist her non-local clients.

Ruth-Ellen had a previous website through the Integrative Health and Nutrition Institute, where she received her training, but it wasn’t meeting all of her needs and didn’t have the functionality that she wanted from her website. By moving her to a WordPress website, I was able to create a site that she can truly love. The redesign also gave us the opportunity to customize the look and feel of the site to reflect her personality, which a website should always do. Why? Great question! By allowing your visitors to see your personality, you are giving them the opportunity to get to know you–and people do business with people they KNOW, like, and trust!

In addition to the static content that Ruth-Ellen had on her previous website, I was able to suggest some more dynamic content ideas after learning about her business and goals for her business. She has enthusiastically embraced these dynamic suggestions and I’ve been really proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone to learn and implement new technology and skills.

Ruth-Ellen had a section on her old website with healthy recipes–an auto-feed from Integrative Health and Nutrition over which she had minimal control. On her redesign, we implemented a blog that she could use for education, news, thoughts, and yes, recipes. By assigning the category tag of “Recipe” to each recipe, she now has an archive of all of her recipes, searchable on-site, as well as a category page in her navigation menu. Anyone reading a recipe in her blog can also click on the “Recipe” link to see the most recent recipes that have been added and page through just the recipes if that is their interest. Ruth-Ellen has also written several educational articles and articles about her personal experiences in her blog. I taught Ruth-Ellen how to blog with WordPress and how to add recipes through the specialized plugin for this purpose during a phone call of less than an hour of time. She now feels that she has a lot more control over the content on her website.

 

Another recommendation that I gave to Ruth-Ellen, after our initial consultation, was that she start podcasting. This sounded kind of scary at first, but after talking it through, she decided that she wanted to give it a try. She recorded a conversation/interview with a friend of hers who is a book author and did a very nice job with it. She sent it to me via email. I uploaded the file to her site, added some content about the author and her book, and put an MP3 player in the article on the Podcast page. Once that was done, I set up her account in iTunes. Anyone in the world can now automatically download her podcasts to their computers, iPods, and mobile devices by simply subscribing to the podcast on their iTunes account.

One more notable thing that I was able to change for Ruth-Ellen was the way her email subscription list was set up. I changed her from one provider to another with the same capabilities and save her $20 per month! As a small business owner, myself, I understand the importance of keeping costs low and how small expenses can add up and eat away at your bottom line, so I try to pass my experience along to my clients and save them a little money with free or low-cost tools whenever I can.

I hope you’ll take a minute to visit RE Wellness Heath and give me your feedback! If you know of someone, like Ruth-Ellen, who might need to redesign their website to give them more control or functionality, I would love warm introduction to talk with them to see how I can help.

Kim Smith

All-Natural Pet Food Delights Pets & Their Owners

Pet Chef MIPet Chef – Michigan

Pet Chef Express is the cooperative under which my client, Jeff Schulze operates his business, Pet Chef of Michigan.  This is a very unique company and if you are concerned about the fillers and preservatives in your pet’s food, you’ll want to take a look at Jeff’s website.  Just a few things about Pet Chef foods and treats:

  • All Natural
  • Human-Grade Ingredients
  • NO Chemical Preservatives
  • NO Fillers
  • Low temp cooking process to preserve vitamins and minerals
  • Pre and Probiotics for healthy digestion, optimum nutrient absorption and immune function
  • Fruits and vegetables for vitamins, minerals, and a healthy source of fiber
  • Always fresh and made to order

Pet Chef NationalThe Pet Chef of Michigan website was intentionally designed to have a similar feel to the cooperative’s website, as you will see to the right.  When a visitor comes from the national site to the Michigan site, there is a smooth transition and the visitor feels secure that they are in the right location.  When there is a harsh transition in this type of situation, a visitor may not turn into a buyer simply because of an uneasy or unsafe feeling.  Continuity and consistency are important factors–especially when designing an e-commerce site.

We didn’t want to duplicate the national site completely for several reasons:

  • Copyright Laws
  • Each site should have its own unique personality
  • We were distracted by the grassy background, so we thought others might be also
  • Personal preference

One of the great things about building a custom website is that it can be anything you want–and nothing that you don’t want!  Jeff is very pleased with his website and has already received his first online order!  Way to go, Jeff!

I’ve never been a “computer person” so the thought of a website for my business was overwhelming.  I don’t have the desire to get online and try to run my website.  I like the fact that Kim will take care of changes when I need them and I can be “hands off,” leaving me the time to focus on my customers and my business.  I’m very happy with my website; it is just what I wanted–simple, easy to navigate, and similar in design to the parent company’s site.

Kim made the whole process of getting my website up and running very painless for me, for which I’m extremely thankful!  She was able to explain what she was doing with my site in terms that I could understand, without all the technical jargon.  I would highly recommend Kim Smith of Dramatic Design for any small business owner who is looking for a website!  If that’s you, pick up the phone and call her–you’ll be glad you did!

Jeff Schulze

Pet Chef of Michigan

www.petchefmi.com

Beauty is Only Skin Deep…Sometimes!

Denise Michaels Excellent AdventureDenise Michaels’ Excellent Adventure

Denise had a wonderful blog going–lots of great information, regular blog posts, images to enhance her posts…she was doing a LOT of things right!  She wasn’t happy with the look of her site, though.  It was boring and really didn’t depict the tone of being and “Excellent Adventure.”

She needed a beautiful skin (fresh WordPress theme) that would be as visually beautiful to her readers as her words were fun to read.  Denise knew what she wanted, but needed someone with the design skills to make it come alive.  Being a Marketing Coach, she had some great ideas and was able to communicate those ideas well.

She wanted to carry over some of the look from her other sites, Mentoring With Denise and Testosterone-Free Marketing (which is Denise’s best selling book), just to name a couple.  We were able to do this by carrying over several elements and yet, make it fresh and exciting.

I desperately needed help making my blog look custom and special. It also had to be easy and encourage visitors to stick around and share with others. I’m pretty good at using the Internet – but not so hot at bending it to my will.  I needed an expert and Kim was the perfect person to make my blog dreams come true.  She’s knowledgeable, patient, highly skilled and open to fresh ideas.  If you want a website that creates the look and feel of your business’ or organization’s brand – you can’t go wrong with Kim Smith of Dramatic Design.  Contact her today!

Denise Michaels

Author, Testosterone-Free Marketing

www.denisemichaels.com

To take things up a notch, I also added some sharing buttons, following capabilities, and cleaned up the sidebar (the archives are now a drop-down menu and take up less room).  As with all good websites, I’m sure there will be tweaks and changes down the road, as a website is an ever-evolving, ever-growing thing.

It’s been great working with Denise!  I can highly recommend her book, Testosterone-Free Marketing and have come to appreciate her as a coach and as a friend.  Be sure to visit her blog for some great reading!

Buckeye V.A.

I recently had the pleasure of working with Stephanie Fish of Buckeye V.A. on her new website design for her Virtual Assistant business.  Her previous design was very dark with a black background and a bright white contrast.  It wasn’t portraying the look and feel that she wanted for her business.

I suggested that we try to soften things up with Stephanie’s new custom WordPress Theme and make it pretty while keeping it very professional-looking.  The gray pinstripes of the background is a symbol of a suit (professional) with pink accents (pretty), throwing a few swirls in just for fun.  Stephanie was very pleased with the result.  She wrote:

It’s taken many website designs and designers, but finally, I have a website that I’m thrilled about! It’s so nice to start the new year off with a great looking website (it makes a world of difference as a business owner when you are thrilled about your web presence) 🙂

Stephanie Fish of Buckeye V.A.