Website Analysis and Recommendations

COSTAL COUNSELINGWebsite Analysis

PREPARED FOR:Chris and Kelly Roberts of Costal Counseling

MIS 4153-601Web Application Development for Business

WRITTEN BY:Stephanie Maynard

October 18, 2016

Table of ContentsExecutive Summary..........................................................................................................3Recommendation One......................................................................................................4Recommendation Two......................................................................................................7Recommendation Three...................................................................................................8Appendices.....................................................................................................................10Business Goals Analysis..................................................................................................11

Business Overview......................................................................................................11Industry Analysis.........................................................................................................11Business Objectives.....................................................................................................13Website Goals.............................................................................................................13Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPI)...................................................................14Target KPI....................................................................................................................14Segmentation..............................................................................................................15Current Key Performance Metrics (KPM)......................................................................15

Marketing and Promotion Analysis.................................................................................15Online Marketing tools.................................................................................................16Marketing Behavior.....................................................................................................16In-bound link analysis..................................................................................................16SEO analysis................................................................................................................17Social Media Analysis..................................................................................................18

User Experience Analysis................................................................................................18User Profile and goals..................................................................................................18User Technology alignment.........................................................................................19User Experience..........................................................................................................19Cross-platform Analysis...............................................................................................20Link analysis................................................................................................................24

Platform and Architecture Analysis.................................................................................24Website Goals.............................................................................................................24Server Analysis............................................................................................................24Platform analysis.........................................................................................................24Security analysis.........................................................................................................25Management and Administration Analysis..................................................................25

Executive SummaryCompleting this project has given me a good look into the usage of web tools by small businesses and has given me ideas of possible career paths in the future. Completing the project for my chosen business as well as viewing the work of others in the class gave me a great new perspective on the use of and attitudes toward e-commerce. My hope is that Costal Counselling finds this report and the recommendations useful and considers implementing them in their live site.

Completion of this project required analysis of the website for Coastal Counseling from numerous perspectives to make recommendations to grow the business and improve the website for people seeking mental health and DWI services. Cultivation of recommendations for this business was not an easy task due to the nature of this business; Coastal Counseling provides medical and legal services so the online operations are not quite like many other business and while ecommerce is not being conducted the website can still become a valuable tool for the business.

Upon review of the website there were three recommendations:1) Add additional content and update regularly2) Increase offering of online services and tools3) Create and use website metrics

Outside of some short comings with the website it must be stated that the website is very good compared to other websites for similar businesses; the design and the fact that it exists. The website had a pleasant design, contained useful information and was complete while many similar businesses had not website at all or had an incomplete website.

Recommendation OneAdd Additional Content and Update Regularly

Why? Users visit websites to accomplish goals and/or find information so an effective website helps users accomplish these two things and increase traffic to the website and maintain that increased rate of traffic the website. To maintain the increased traffic the website must give users a reason to return to both the website and the practice for as long as necessary (some patients will only require short term treatment or services but some could require years of treatment) and recommend the site (since the sponsors states word of mouth is the main source of advertisement). Since Coastal Counseling does not offer a service that can be provided online other types of content should be provided on the site and updated regularly. This type of content can include: -Blogs - to educate people seeking services as well as the family of people seeking these services and the general public. There is often a level of stigma attached to mental health issues and a blog maintained by professionals in the field could serve as a source of education for people to help lift the stigmas that are very strong in many minority communities as well as less affluent and poorly educated communities. People who are well educated on mental health are more likely to seek treatment and provide support to others seeking treatment if it is seen as an actual illness and not the blues that can be overcome alone. Below are some social statistics taken directly from the national alliance on mental illness that illustrate the need to open communication regarding mental health:Social Stats

An estimated 26% of homeless adults staying in shelters live with serious mental illness and an estimated 46% live with severe mental illness and/or substance use disorders.9

Approximately 20% of state prisoners and 21% of local jail prisoners have “a recent history” of a mental health condition.10

70% of youth in juvenile justice systems have at least one mental health condition and at least 20% live with a serious mental illness.11

Only 41% of adults in the U.S. with a mental health condition received mental health services in the past year. Among adults with a serious mental illness, 62.9% received mental health services in the past year.8

Just over half (50.6%) of children aged 8-15 received mental health services in the previous year.12

African Americans and Hispanic Americans used mental health services at about one-half the rate of Caucasian Americans in the past year and Asian Americans at about one-third the rate.13

Half of all chronic mental illness begins by age 14; three-quarters by age 24. Despite effective treatment, there are long delays—sometimes decades—between the first appearance of symptoms and when people get help.14

-Articles - articles can serve a similar purpose to blogs; educating people on mental health issues. While the primary goal is to get patients in the door but there are barriers to people seeking treatment for mental health issues and sometimes they don’t understand that they should. -Other interactive items (such as polls or quizzes) - interactive items can serve a purpose beyond encouraging traffic by encouraging users to interact with the site and provide information about themselves. While users coming to this site are not looking for fun entertaining quizzes, questionnaires can provide insight and help the decision making process as well as provide demographic information for the business and an insight into the community. A simple poll could be a question regarding views on mental health and use of substances. An example of a poll could be a single question like “how old were you when you started using alcohol?” to determine attitudes and opinions. Gathering this kind of information as well as helping people determine if they should seek help is important due to the prevalence of mental illness.Prevalence of Mental Illness (taken directly from national alliance on mental health)

Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.—43.8 million, or 18.5%—experiences mental illness in a given year.1 

Approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S.—10 million, or 4.2%—experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.2

Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13%.3

1.1% of adults in the U.S. live with schizophrenia.4

2.6% of adults in the U.S. live with bipolar disorder.5

6.9% of adults in the U.S.—16 million—had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.6

18.1% of adults in the U.S. experienced an anxiety disorder such as posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and specific phobias.7

Among the 20.2 million adults in the U.S. who experienced a substance use disorder, 50.5%—10.2 million adults—had a co-occurring mental illness.

An example of questionnaires with the types of questions that could compose polls and quizzes can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/GSHS/questionnaire/ .-Up to date social media - While there is a social media page that is updated the updates are sporadic and infrequent. Not only that, social media should show snippets of things happening with the business and encourage traffic to the website by providing links for full stories or articles. The reason this would benefit the business is it would bring awareness not only the business itself but to mental health and the services offered by the business. Mental health education in general is lacking and there are stigmas associated with it. Becoming a source of education for the community could be a noble cause as well as help people determine if they actually need the services offered by Coastal Counseling and encourage them to make contact. Below are some reasons to consider becoming a source of information in addition to a business to provide treatment, taken directly from the national alliance on mental health: Consequences of Lack of Treatment

Serious mental illness costs America $193.2 billion in lost earnings per year.15

Mood disorders, including major depression, dysthymic disorder and bipolar disorder, are the third most common cause of hospitalization in the U.S. for both youth and adults aged 18–44.16

Individuals living with serious mental illness face an increased risk of having chronic medical conditions.17 Adults in the U.S. living with serious mental illness die on average 25 years earlier than others, largely due to treatable medical conditions.18

Over one-third (37%) of students with a mental health condition age 14–21 and older who are served by special education drop out—the highest dropout rate of any disability group.19

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S.,20 the 3rd leading cause of death for people aged 10–2421 and the 2nd leading cause of death for people aged 15–24.22

More than 90% of children who die by suicide have a mental health condition.23

Each day an estimated 18-22 veterans die by suicide.24

How? There are four steps to put this recommendation into practice. They are detailed below:

1) Decide on the type of content – before beginning the process of adding content to the website the type of content should be determined. I recommend the following: A collection of mental health concerns, conditions, and

treatments with details, sort of like a small encyclopedia specifically for mental health information. While it should be explicitly stated that this website is not intended to replace medical help this could help patients form questions for the doctor or find answers to questions they forgot to ask

A blog written by the providers to offer insight and knowledge from the providers

A collection of useful articles regarding relevant materials Feeds from social media Interactive contentThese items can help patients get to know the providers as well as showcase their knowledge; anonymous polls can help users see that they aren’t alone in dealing with specific issues as well as help the providers collect information; interactive quizzes can help users decide if they should seek help as sometimes when you have a mental health issue it is hard to see it and know when to seek help.

2) Create a plan to maintain and update content – before putting this recommendation into play a plan to maintain this should be created. Decide on who will maintain what sections and when content will be updated to keep the site current and interesting so users will return.

3) Prepare the website to host the content – in order to add content additional webpages will need to be added to the site where the information will go. The structure of the site will have to be updated.

4) Add the content – the final step is to add initial content. Considering a large amount of content will be added and some should be updated over time, initial information should be added but all content does not have to be added at the start of this process.

The process of implementing this recommendation should take one to two months to allow time for structural changes to the website as well as starter content to be written and posted. The purpose of this recommendation is to keep things fresh on the website and encourage people to visit for information so initially the bulk of the information should not be added.

Recommendation TwoIncrease Online Services and Tools

Why? Today the internet plays a huge role in the everyday life of most people. From shopping, to ordering food, to banking and even some medical

care/advice, the worldwide web is truly worldwide. Many people often look for business to offer some services online to simplify their interactions. As stated above in the previous section, Coastal Counseling does not offer a good or service that can be offered online but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some online tools and services that can be offered. Some online tools frequently offered by medical offices include: Access to printable forms; the option to complete and submit forms online; the ability to schedule, change, and cancel appointments; a secure way to message providers for non-emergency situations; options to make payments; and view test results and summaries of care. While some of these options can require monetary investments such as added security for health information, a patient portal service, or transaction processing service some options are free such as links to email the business and providers as well as necessary forms that can be completed and printed.My suggestion for Coastal Counseling would be to go with printable forms to save patients time when arriving to the office and adding a contact form to allow patients to easily send non-emergency questions and messages to the office. These two options add some value to the website and allow it to become a tool for patients while requiring the least investment from Costal Counseling. Other more complex tools that require more of an investment can be added later if desired.

How? The four steps to implement this recommendation are as follows:1) Decide on the type of content and tools to be offered – Decide if

paid services, such as transaction processing and patient portal services will be used or if simple static resources such as printable forms will be offered. The recommendation is to start with simple resources like basic intake forms (pretty similar and used by most doctors’ offices) and a contact form that allows users to easily contact the practice directly from the website for non-emergency communications. If some of the more complex paid services will be used select a provider and set up necessary accounts and memberships. If only forms will be offered create forms in formats that can be opened by common software and prepare them to be added to the website. Create email addresses to be listed on the site to allow users to contact the business and providers with a simple click.

2) Create a plan to maintain and update content – before putting this recommendation into action a plan should be created to maintain and update content offered. All forms on the website should match the paper forms available in the office and if the forms in the office change the online forms should also change. This applies to all content offered on the website.

3) Prepare the website to host the content – update the structure of the website to support the new content. Add necessary new pages and links.

4) Add the content – The final step is to add the content. All content does not have to be added at once just as any services to be offered do not have to be launched at the same time.

If the suggested recommendations are used (printable forms and contact options) I suggest one to two months to create the extra webpages on the site to host the content, to type the forms and upload them to the site and set up an email account to be used for the contact form.

Recommendation ThreeCreate and Use Website Metrics

Why? In order to know if an operation is successful there must be guidelines to compare and to achieve success and improve there must be goals to work toward. Regardless of the purpose of a website there are metrics that can be measured and goals that can be set so despite Costal Counseling not selling a product or service the success of the site can be measured in ways other than conventional sales metrics. At the time of this report there were no defined metrics and no information regarding website metrics such as traffic or clicks per visit so currently the sponsor has no idea how useful the website is. Considering the other recommendations in this report require work and possibly monetary investment it would a good idea to set goals and to measure the effects of any changes made.

How?In order to determine valid metrics, the intended goals for the website and the business must be specified. According to Business Goals Analysis worksheet the goals for the business and website are as follows:

Grow the business Grow web presence Increase the offering of online services Increasing client education Optimize search engine results Online advertising

After determining the intended goals a method to measure progress toward these goals must be created, this is the process of creating key performance indicators (KPIs). Valid KPIs that could be used as metrics to monitor progress toward intended goals include the following:

Number of site visits – this can indicate growth in web presence. As the website becomes more prominent online we would expect an increase in traffic. This metric can also determine if search engine optimization has been successful and is one measure of advertisement success.

People using online services and tools – The percentage of people who are using online services and tools offered versus the percentage using in office options (for example online forms versus paper forms) can determine if these tools are useful and reaching a large number of people. This can be determined by examining what number of forms are completed in the office verses the number completed or printed from the website. Online forms divided by total forms would give the percentage of online forms. For example 50 online forms divided by 100 total forms would be 50%. A similar formula could be used for all online tools offered that have an in office or alternate method. A higher percentage of online tool usage signifies that the tools are effective and reaching a large number of users and thus a good idea to expand on.

Web traffic/time spent on blogs, articles and interactive content - this metric can help determine if resources and educational materials are being used by visitors to the site to determine if the goal of educating users is being met and if this is an effort worth continuing to invest in. The number of views and time spend on these specific pages can be compared to time spent on other pages (the home page or contact page for example) to determine if people are really viewing and using these materials.

Advertisement clicks – this metric is useful in determining if online advertisements are useful and are being seen by the intended audience

Because there are currently no metrics in place the first step to establish specific metrics is to gather information before making any changes to the site. I would suggest that during the one to two month planning period required to implement the other recommendations (before any changes are made) to begin becoming familiar with the tools provided to monitor metrics and establish a baseline so that changes can be accurately determined. Once valid key performance indicator baselines have been determined website analytic tools (usually included with webs hosting services or available for a fee) would be used to monitor progress.

AppendicesThe following sections contain the documents used to gather data on the Coastal Counseling website in order to gain insight into the website operation and to formulate recommendations. There is a business analysis, marketing analysis, user analysis, and IT platform analysis and there worksheets contain the data used for the report.

Business Goals AnalysisWith this analysis, try to view the website from the perspective of an executive or business owner. The purpose of this analysis is to determine “Does the website help the business achieve its goals?” To accomplish this, you must identify the industry the business is in, the business goals, and the web site’s role in accomplishing those goals. Furthermore, identify what measure(s) would help determine if the website is a success in achieving those goals. Analyze how the website effectively achieves those goals by how the site transforms visitors into paying or prospective customers (if selling product), engaged users (if community based), or other major goals.

Business name

Costal Counseling

Analysis date:

9/6/20169/6/20169/6/20169/6/2016 –

12/1/201612/1/201612/1/201612/1/2016

Sponsor’s name

Chris and Kelly Roberts

Your name:

Stephanie Maynard

Business OverviewDescribe the company or organization. Include specific business and revenue models in the discussion. Costal Counseling is a small private practice that provides mental health services to all ages and DWI services and is located in Manteo NC. This business uses the Business to Consumer (B2C) model as it offers a service directly to consumers and offers services that follow a recurring revenue model as most counseling and substance abuse programs require multiple sessions so multiple visits by the client will occur and multiple payments will be made at set increments of time.

Industry AnalysisIdentify and describe the industry of this company or organization. Then identify 5 websites of competitors in the same industry, preferably the top companies/organizations in the industry. Write a comparison between this site and the 5 competitors.

This business in in the health care industry providing mental health and substance abuse counseling services. This industry is growing as people are beginning to understand the importance of mental health care and the impact that mental health has on society. More insurance carriers are beginning to cover mental health costs and more people have health

insurance and are able to seek mental health care. This growth of the industry is slowed by a few factors including: over saturation of nonprofit providers, high fragmentation, educational requirements, licensure requirements, and other legal barriers intended to limit the number of providers in an area.

Five competitors for Costal Counseling and website comparisons:

In general I found that there were not many mental health facilities that had websites. I used a general search phrase, “mental health services in Manteo NC,” to find a listing of mental health providers in the same geographical area as Costal Counseling. The reason that specific search term was used is because often times facilities that provide mental health services include treatment for substance abuse and usually a DUI (or even a failed drug test on a job in some instances) result in treatment for substance abuse. A google search for “DUI services in Manteo NC” generated results that were mostly general counseling/mental health providers.

Upon searching for “mental health services in Manteo NC” I was directed to a site called “Beach Book” which appeared to be a listing of business near the coast. I performed a google search of the first five business names to pop up and the only mental health center other than Costal Counseling to have a website was Albemarle Psychological Services. This was surprising because all business can benefit from a web presence but this helpful for Costal

Counseling as they are ahead of other business in this aspect. The lack of websites for similar businesses made this comparison very hard but there were a few reasons to go with these search results instead of expanding the geographic area or type of practice, and those reasons were as follows:

Typically mental health or substance abuse treatment requires more than one visit. A typical user and patient of Costal Counseling would likely look for local businesses and it made sense to search in the same fashion as a real user.

Other businesses (outside of the area) that had websites were not exactly comparable. It didn’t seem fair to compare a small private practice to a hospital or large practice with stakeholders. These businesses have more resources for web services than a small business.

-Albemarle Mental Health Center- http://www.beachbook.com/b/kitty-hawk-nc/albemarle-mental-health-center-4 (no website found with google search)-Children & Family Counseling Services- http://www.beachbook.com/b/nags-head-nc/children-and-family-counseling-services-2 (No website found with google search)-East Carolina Behavioral Health- http://www.beachbook.com/b/nags-head-nc/east-carolina-behavioral-health-10 (No website found with google search)-Recovery Innovations- http://www.beachbook.com/b/kill-devil-hills-nc/recovery-innovations-2 (No website found with google search)-Albemarle Psychological Services- http://www.beachbook.com/b/kill-devil-hills-nc/5454ca7ae4b0ae3aa2ba3688 ( http://www.albemarlepsychological.com/ )

The first thing I noticed about this website is the graphical design, its lacking. It is not appealing to the eye and while one wouldn’t expect to see lively images and bright colors for such a somber business the website could benefit from some graphical interest. Although this website isn’t very visually appealing it does provide quite a bit of helpful information that Costal Counseling is missing. The first thing I notice is biographical information on the doctors. During the recorded interview, Chris mentioned wanting patients to feel at home in the practice and comfortable. Providing biographical information can help prospective patients get a feel for the providers, their interests, experience level, passion, and reasons for doing this etcetera. This information is hidden under the “Counseling” tab on Costal Counseling’s website which leads to the next point. This website does a good job of compartmentalizing information using tabs. This is important due to the nature of the business as some mental health disorders can make it difficult to focus on information. The final useful link I see on this website that Costal Counseling does not have is a link for “Forms.” This tab does not actually contain any information but it is a good idea that Costal Counseling

could consider. Providing the forms necessary for patients to fill out or request necessary information (like driving records and tickets) helps the patient have everything they need in one place instead of visiting multiple places and searching the web for forms. It also saves time as the patient walks into the office with forms filled out and ready for their appointment.

Business Objectives What are the business objectives? Identify the broad business objectives.

The business objective is to grow the business and the web presence as well as increase the offering of online services like DWI education and mental health education in general. The business owners would like to optimize search engine results and some online advertising wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Website Goals For each business objective, identify specific website goals that will help

achieve the objectives. -Grow the business- in order to grow the business more services must be provided to more clients, increase the amount of business will increase revenue.-Grow web presence- Currently this industry is not about having a large web presence which is good for Costal Counseling as this gives them a way to have an advantage. Improving the website and making it more useful as well as speaking on accomplishments and telling potential clients why they should choose this provider is a great start. Also making sure all information is presented in a clear manner is very important. -Increase the offering of online services- While this isn’t really a service that can be provided online things like alcohol education and traffic school can be offered online and could possibly be offered on this site depending on legal requirements. Forms and registration could be offered online to save time when the patient visits the office and to save time when it comes to entering data from the forms into the system in the office.-Increasing client education-educating clients about DWI and mental health issues could be done through a blog maintained by the providers in which they periodically write articled relating to mental health. Personality assessments could be offered just as a guideline to help potential clients decide if they need services as sometime it can be hard to decide if what you are feeling is normal.-Optimize search engine results- currently when searching for mental health providers in Manteo NC Costal Counseling does not appear in the results. Keywords need to be added so this business is easy to find. While word of mouth is the primary method of advertising more and more people are using the internet to find what they need. Also, mental health care still carries a

stigma so allowing people to find providers and make choices privately is important. -Online advertising- as mentioned above, word of mouth is the primary method of advertisement but as more people use the internet for services online advertisement becomes more important. Offering an advertisement on a related website would help increase traffic.

Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPI)Key performance indicators represent the metrics that will be used in the analysis. They could include things like # downloads, conversions, visitor loyalty, etc. Be sure each website goal has at least one KPI and every KPI is measures a website goal. -Growing the web presence could be measured by the number of site visits. As the website becomes more visible online we would expect the number of site visits to increase. Currently a specific measure to achieve can’t be accurately stated as there is not established baseline to compare.-Increasing the offering of online services would be measured by the number of people using those services for example how many people are signing up to take online classes, how many registration forms are submitted online versus on paper in the office. All of these metrics essentially assess the same goal and are just different items being used on the site. -Increasing client education- this could be measured by the number of blog or educational material views compared to the number of new clients. If the educational materials receive high traffic and there is an increase in clients it may be due to being educated and realizing the need for services as people who educated on mental health and understand that they need it are likely to come. To avoid making assumptions there could be a “how did you hear about us?” or “what made you choose our practice?” question on intake paperwork to further verify if the materials are useful. -Optimized search engine results would be measured by traffic to the website as people who are searching for this service are likely to visit the website if they see it.-Online advertising could be measured by the number of clicks on an ad as well as analyzing traffic generated by specific ads in specific locations

Target KPIResearch what would be a good target number for each KPI identified above. If data exists, targets should represent an improvement in some manner. It may be useful to look at industry averages for comparison. KPI data for this industry does not exist as in general web presence is not very strong for this industry. Small practices do not have much web presence. Large chain treatment centers and hospitals have the biggest web presence with regards to this type of service. Target data could be set by the

owners coming up with a percentage of growth they’d like to see. There are no industry averages as mental health seems to have a small presence online.

SegmentationWhat groups of visitors are important? What visitor behavior is important? What traffic sources are important? For each website goal above, identify any segmentation of the data to get a better idea of how certain types of people match up with KPIs.-Grow the business- for this website goal, there is no segmentation outside of clients that need the services offered. The only people who would seek out this business are people who need mental health services but that group can include people of all ages, backgrounds, and demographic groups.Grow the web presence- Younger clients and members of the African American community are more likely to impact this website goal. Younger people use the internet more frequently that older people and mental health carries a heavy stigma in the African American community so they are more likely to try to keep as much of this process private as possible. While this information would be kept private it would likely be gathered in the necessary demographic information collected on intake information. That could be combined with a question such as “how did you hear about us?” to help determine what demographic groups the website is reaching. While this information is not provided to the public and is confidential it can be used to analyze trends in the business and the community to assist in providing better service. -Increasing online services- as with the goal of growing web presence, offering of online services is likely to be impacted by younger more tech savvy users and members of demographic groups who encounter strong stigmas related to mental healthcare.-Optimized search engine results- This is also likely to be impacted by younger clients and clients who face stigma related to mental healthcare.-Online advertising would be impacted by younger clients that spend more time browsing the internet and would see the ads.

Current Key Performance Metrics (KPM)If current data is available, compare target KPI with current KPM. Every KPI should have a KPM. Currently KPI data is not available for this industry/website.

Marketing and Promotion AnalysisWith this analysis, try to view the online presence from the perspective of a marketing manager promoting the website and brands there-in. The major question is “How effectively do we market the company and its products/services through online tools?” To answer this question, you need to identify all promotion techniques and technologies as well as the effectiveness in changing the users’ behavior.

Business name

Costal Counseling

Analysis data: 9/22/20169/22/20169/22/20169/22/20

16 –

9/27/20169/27/20169/27/20169/27/2016

Sponsor name

Chris and Kelly Roberts

Your name:

Stephanie Maynard

Online Marketing toolsItemize all of the web marketing tools used for the business. Can include website, online ads, email lists, social media, CRM, third party platforms, etc.

The web marketing tools used by this business are the website and Facebook.

Marketing BehaviorIn as much detail as possible, describe the sales funnel (or behavioral change desired) that the site utilizes along with the expected consumer behavior at each step. First, fill out the matrix with technologies identified above. Then describe the process on narrative form. Also, identify any possible alternative consumer behaviors. Matrix

Promotion (communication)

Location of message

Acquisition1)One-time drivers2) Regular drivers3) Search drivers

Social mediaLocal Business DirectoriesSearch engines

2)User searches for counseling services in the Manteo area

Conversion1)Landing pages2) Email campaigns

Home PageContact us

1)User lands on the home page of the business

Retention1)Customer service

None

This company uses very little online marketing tools and while this is not a typical consumer service I do think they could utilize more. The only online marketing tools utilized by coastal counseling are local business directories like google maps and their website which doesn’t include any specific marketing. The landing page of the website is simply the home page and the search engine optimization is not strong as it is rather hard to find this business when searching google for counseling services in the eastern North Carolina area.

In-bound link analysisReview the site metrics (if available) to determine top 10 in-bound links. Identify all trends that you observe. Based on these observations, what would you recommend?There are no site metrics available.

SEO analysisIdentify the top 3-5 words/phrases visitors/customers will most likely type to solve the problem this site will help fix. Determine the search rankings for each of words/phrase in top search engines. Identify what specific things the site can do better to target those keywords.-DWI- Users have searched for this term an average of 18100 times per month over the past 12 months-Anxiety-Users have searched for this term an average of 301000 times per month over the last 12 months-Depression-Users have searched for this term an average of 301000 times per month over the last 12 months-Substance abuse-Users have searched for this term an average of 14800 times per month over the last 12 months

This site can add more content to receive more hits when users are searching for terms that relate to the services this business offers. Adding an informative aspect such as a blog or articles would increase search engine hits as well as adding some emphasis to other services offered by the business. Costal counseling focuses heavily on DWI treatment and help but they offer help for other mental health issues and some of those issues receive more attention on search engines.

Social Media AnalysisReview the use of social media. Describe the types of posts/tweets/announcements used on their social media accounts. On average, how effective are the posts at engaging the users (likes, shares, and comments). Are the posts with the most engagement in alignment with the company and marketing goals? Do they align with the user goals?

The only social media this business uses is Facebook and I immediately feel that they could benefit by adding other forms as people frequently use many other social media platforms. This is not a business in which most people would share details but a blog and a twitter account to notify people of new updates could be useful. That aside, the current use of social media doesn’t seem very effective. The last update was months ago (July) and usually there aren’t a lot of likes and commentary on posts. The goals of the posts are related to services offered by Costal Counseling (substance abuse) they aren’t varied and aren’t specific, they could be more engaging and more in line with user goals.

User Experience AnalysisWith this analysis, try to view the website from the perspective of a user. The primary question is “Are the users able to fully accomplish their goals in a pleasant manner?” To determine this answer, you need to identify the profile of typical user and their expectations. Analyze the user experiences the website in a variety of contexts from device, browser, and user goal.

Business name

Costal Counseling

Analysis data:

9/9/20169/9/20169/9/20169/9/2016 –

12/1/201612/1/201612/1/201612/1/2016

Sponsor name

Chris and Kelly Roberts

Your name:

Stephanie Maynard

User Profile and goalsDescribe the typical user of this website in as much detail as possible. Try to put yourself in their shoes and identify what their primary life, end, and experience goals would be in coming to this site.

Specific users for the website are people needing help with mental health uses or DWI counseling. Mental health problems can affect people of all demographics as can DWI convictions; noted in the interview with the sponsors DWIs can happen to anyone easily.

When users come to this website there are two primary goals: To receive mental healthcare or DUI services. The primary life goals of users seeking mental healthcare are to overcome mental health issues that may be causing problem in their lives and/or the lives of others around them, work through issue that are causing mental distress, and come out as better people and the end goals of users seeking DUI services are to receive treatment and/or complete legal requirements for DWI offenses, and find information. The experience goals of the user are to feel comfortable, encouraged, and have a better quality of life regardless of this involves

overcoming legal issues due to DUI or other problem requiring the services of Costal Counseling.

User Technology alignmentBased on the typical user described above, what types of online technologies do they regularly use or prefer to use? This may require some research to justify varies technologies.

The typical user for mental health services could be literally anyone, a member of any demographic group therefore they may use any and all technology available in both their personal and professional lives. This question cannot be answered specifically as the services this business offers is applicable to all people.

User ExperienceWalkthrough the website and identify any problems with the experience. Does the site make it easy for a user to accomplish those goals? Pay attention to your first impressions and its impact on your perceptions of the site. Also, look for any mistakes, oddities, difficult to read sections, or difficult to find sections. Refer to the 5 planes of user experience to help guide your discussion.

Strategy is how all the parts of the website fit together to help the user accomplish their end goal. There are no issues with user experience related to strategy. The purpose of the website is very clear; to help users obtain DUI services, mental health services, and information. Navigating around the site I was able to effectively find contact information and enough information to determine if Costal Counseling was a business that could provide what I may be looking for. The components of the website were well put together and related to the goals of the user.

Scope determines if the website contains the necessary information and functions to allow the user to accomplish the desired goals. The function of the website was adequate. While there were no real applications all links worked and social media was present and the website behaved as it should have. As far as content there is enough content to make the site useful but more information could add even more value to the site.

Structure consists of the flow and layout of the website and its data. There were no problems with the major layout of the site. The organization of the content was logical and well organized the correct information was on the correct pages and there were no blank or obviously incomplete pages.

Skeleton describes the figurative framework of the content on the individual pages and how well design and organization elements are

used to arrange the content in a functional way. The content is laid out in a very user friendly way that makes sense and is uniform throughout the entire site. When looking at the pages of the website there is no feeling that something should be elsewhere or that it is just wrong and navigation is intuitive. Pleasant, easy to use site.

Surface describes the general style of the website: colors, images, and style elements. The surface of the site is pleasant to look at; a very soothing color palette and background image was chosen as well as an easy to read font and the site is aesthetically pleasing and uniform.

The site does make it easy for the user to meet the end goals by providing information on DWI processes as well as how to schedule an appointment to get started with Costal Counseling. The first impression of the website is good despite the fact that it could be a bit more robust (more information). It is lacking in the amount of content but the website, while simple, looks well thought out and has an easy to use layout and pleasant aesthetic. Aesthetics are very important in the design of a website and the soothing watery background is a nice touch as the experience goal of this business is to make the user feel at ease.

Cross-platform AnalysisView this site in a variety of different technological platforms - different browsers, different operating systems, and different screen sizes. Take screen shots of each. Identify any problems with the viewing experience.Fire Fox

Chrome

Internet Explorer

Safari

13” Laptop screen

24” External Monitor

Safari (iOS)

Link analysisSystematically check each link on the website (there are tools that can automate this check). Identify any links that do not go to their expected page/site.All links on this website work correctly

Platform and Architecture AnalysisWith this analysis, try to view the website from the perspective of the web master, web developer, or IT professional. The primary focus should be on answering “How well does the web platform/architecture support the administration, maintenance, and enhancement of the website?” To answer this, you need to identity key web platform and architectural elements. Analyze the web platform and/or architecture (if any) used for constructing and maintaining the site. Look for elements that cause struggles or alleviate pains.

Business Coastal Counseling Analysis [Start date][Start date]

name data: [Start date][Start date] – [End date][End date][End date][End date]

Sponsor name

Chris and Kelly Roberts Your name: Stephanie Maynard

Website Goals Are there any relevant website goals associated with management of the web server? Write them below.There were no server management goals discussed. The user uses blue host, a hosting service that offers different packages and levels of service but the sponsor did not mention any specifics.

Server AnalysisDescribe the hardware and/or hosting used by the website. Identify what, if any, databases are used. Identify server storage space limitations. Compare with current storage usage. Identify the current bandwidth limitations. Compare with current average and peak bandwidth utilized by website. No hardware was mentioned but the sponsor stated that the website I hosted on blue host. No databases were mentioned as customer data of this nature (health information) is not stored on the website.

Platform analysisIdentify what version of HTML is used on the website. Describe the programming languages, software, frameworks, and/or platforms used to develop and manage the website and other Internet activities. If applicable, compare the current platform with alternative platforms. XHTML 1.0 Transitional is the version of HTML used on the website as well as CSS and JavaScript. WordPress was used to develop and manage this website. BlueHost and Google offer some analytic tools but the sponsor does not use them. WordPress is a widely used platform that can be easier for less technical people to use so I don’t think it’s a bad choice.

Security analysisIdentify the major security issues with the software, frameworks, and/or platforms used above. If processes are in place to minimize these security issues, identify them as well. Do they have a disaster recovery plan? If so, describe it. Are there opportunities for improvement?The website could be compromised if the sponsor loses his WordPress account password. In order to minimize security issues the WordPress password should be changed periodically and the plugins kept up to date. There was no disaster recovery plan mentioned but the sponsor could at least save the code used to build the website so if for any reason its lost it can easily be rebuilt.

Management and Administration AnalysisDescribe the current management and administrative processes utilized for the website. This can include processes for website changes, reviewing website metrics, and reviewing user comments. Describe how the platform facilitates this process. Identify any opportunities for improving these processes.

There is not currently a process to manage the website. The sponsor (owner of the website and its content as well as the business) logs into WordPress and Facebook and makes necessary updates. The sponsor does not currently check metrics. The user could start a blog and use the scheduled posts feature of WordPress and could monitor website metrics to see if new content is helping.

Works CitedNAMI. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2016, from http://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers