Website Study: Rainbow Academy

In this article I’ll take you through my feedback on the website of Rainbow Academy, founded by soul purpose coach Lizz Mears. It is her mission to help people finally realise their dreams, their desires and their passions in life.

Read through this study asking yourself: ‘How is this applicable to me? How can I use this to improve MY website?’

And as always, only do something with the advice that makes your heart sing! Don’t be bothered by anything that doesn’t resonate with you :)

The Header

Strong point

Your header describes very clearly what your service is about, and sets the tone for your brand.

Weak point

The image you used can be perceived as childish, and might not give the professional look you are aiming for.

How to improve

Take a look at your header and ask yourself: ‘What first impression will this give? If a visitor didn’t know anything about my website and couldn’t read, what would they think my business is about if they saw this header?’ Than see if it matches with what your business is about, and if not what you need to change in order to get a match.

Try to find a balance in the joyful look you want your brand to have, and giving people the first impression of a coach who is very serious about the value and professionalism of her work.

The About Lizz page

Strong point

You show a lot of your personality, which makes it easy to connect to you. The colourful style matches with your brand.

Weak point

I wouldn’t start your about page with ‘I’m Just A Girl, With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder & Depression.’ Is that the first thing you want people to know about you? Is that most important regarding your service? If so, tell your audience why! You do continue your story with inspiring your visitors to live the life of their dreams, but the connection with what you said in that first sentence isn’t very clear.

How to improve

Rewrite your ‘About Lizz’ page while constantly asking yourself: ‘How is this useful for my visitors?’ Your ‘About Lizz’ page is actually also about them ;).

Share your story so people can connect to you and use it as a way to show why you are the perfect person to teach about creating a dream life.

I would consider redoing the image with words about you. It’s a really great image, but because OCD is the largest word in the picture, it seems as if that is the most important thing about you. What is the first thing you want people to associate you with? Is it OCD or something else? And if it is OCD, is it really OCD or the fact that you embraced this about yourself?

The Footer

Strong point

You give your visitor the opportunity to do something after reading your post or page; it’s not a dead end and that’s awesome. I think you offer some great options: subscribe, social media links, recent posts, your pages, and subjects the visitor can continue reading about. ‘Where would you like to go next?’ is a great question that softly guides the visitor in continuing to explore your website.

Weak point

It is a bit messy without a clear focus point. It has so much different stuff, which is all pink, that it’s hard for a visitor to take action upon it.

How to improve

Ask yourself: ‘What do I want my visitors to do when they reach the footer of my website? What is the #1 thing?’

Then let this reflect in your design by creating hierarchy. Make the #1 thing stand out the most with size and colour, and put it in the top of your footer. Don’t put anything next to it, so a visitor can only do two things: take the action you want them to take, or scroll down to the other items in your footer.

Besides that, I would consider to not show the recent comments section – at least not until you have new comments on your blog every day. What is your goal with having it there, and is it worth taking away the attention from your other footer items?

Make a difference in YOUR biz!

• If you've read through this article with the question 'How is this applicable to my website?' in mind, you probably have found some actions to take. Go plan them in, or do them immediately!
• Ask a friend or biz buddy to go through your website and take notes of their experience. No matter how experienced you are in building your website, the fresh perspective somebody else has, will always give you valuable information on how to improve your website.