The problem
Claire Cross runs Make Positive Changes, a hypnotherapy practice in Nottingham competing in a crowded market. Her old website looked professional but did little else – visitors weren't converting into enquiries, and her practice had no clear position to set it apart. Rather than asking for a redesign, Claire asked me to audit her marketing first.
Hypnotherapy audit
The audit began by looking into the shape of the UK hypnotherapy market. It’s mostly made up of independent practitioners working from home studios and rented rooms. This setup keeps the service accessible and prices low – but also keeps every practitioner competing on the same terms. The market is growing, with online sessions and self-help apps forecast to grow quickly in the next few years, adding price pressure from below.
During our discovery conversations, Claire mentioned an idea for a specialised "Breakthrough Transformation Day" – an intensive one-day service for executives dealing with stress, burnout and associated issues. But there was no plan – it was just a thought she'd been carrying around.
Creating the strategy
Researching Claire's local competitors turned that thought into the centre of the audit. A niche serving working professionals offered an opportunity for premium pricing and thinner competition. Almost nobody locally was positioned in that space.
The audit brought the two findings together. The existing website was the main obstacle between Claire and that opportunity – engaging enough on the surface, but with inconsistent personal branding and weak search visibility underneath, and no way of presenting a premium service to a professional audience. My recommendation was a complete rebuild, designed around this new positioning. Claire gave me the go-ahead for the site and writing all the copy.
Designing a personal brand
Hypnotherapy is a trust purchase. Before an executive hands over their money and a day of their time, they need to feel confident in the person across the room – which makes the practitioner the brand. Claire had already invested in professional personal branding photography, but it was mostly unused. My new design put her photography at the heart of every page, so the site introduces the person a client will meet rather than a generic list of services.
The copy came from structured input from Claire, the usable parts of her existing site and my own research into how stressed professionals describe what they're going through. Each service page was written to be client-focused and to carry search intent for the specific problems people type in, with the Breakthrough Transformation Day given premium billing.
The result
Make Positive Changes now has a website built around a specific service rather than general hypnotherapy. Claire now has a premium flagship service with her face highly visible throughout.
The audit also handed Claire a roadmap beyond the site itself, from her Google Business profile to a structured approach to testimonials and referrals.
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