0. The “Abandoning the Old Site” Strategy

This is a strategic question that touches on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), brand management, and workload.

Short Answer: Generally, no. It is usually not wise to purchase multiple new domains to build separate websites for each one. However, buying them to redirect to your main site can be a valid strategy if they are cheap.

Here is a detailed breakdown of why, and how you should approach this.

1. The “Microsite” Trap (Why you shouldn’t build separate sites)

It is very tempting to buy mbsrforwomen.org and put your women’s course there, and mbsrforbeginners.org and put your beginner content there.

Why this is usually a bad idea:

• Diluted Authority: Google ranks websites based on “Authority.” If you split your energy between 3 or 4 websites, you have 3 or 4 weak websites. If you put all that content on one domain, you have one strong powerhouse website.

• Double the Work: You have to maintain plugins, security updates, and hosting fees for every single domain you launch.

• Cannibalization: Your websites might end up competing against each other in Google search results.

2. Analysis of Your Examples

• mindfulnesstraining.org / freemindfulness.org:

  • Verdict: These are “Exact Match Domains” (EMDs).

  • Note: These are likely already taken or very expensive “premium” domains. If you can get them for $10/year, grab them immediately just to own the asset. If they cost thousands, they are not worth it for a free resource site.

  • Caution: freemindfulness.org is very similar to existing organizations (like The Free Mindfulness Project). You want to avoid confusing users.

• mbsr training for women / MBSRforBeginners.org:

  • Verdict: These are very specific (“Long-tail”).

  • Advice: Do not buy these. They are too long to type and too specific. Instead, use these as Page Titles on your main site (e.g., yoursite.com/mbsr-for-women). This is free and ranks just as well.

3. The Better Strategy: “Hub and Spoke”

Instead of buying new domains, organize your current main website (e.g., mbsrtraining.com) to target these audiences. Google loves sites that cover a topic in depth.

Structure your site like this:

• Homepage: General MBSR Training

• Sub-page (The “Spoke”): mbsrtraining.com/women

  • Page Title: “Free MBSR Training for Career Women”

• Sub-page (The “Spoke”): mbsrtraining.com/beginners

  • Page Title: “Mindfulness for Beginners: A Free Guide”

Benefits:

1. Zero Cost: You don’t pay for new domains.

2. SEO Boost: When people visit the “Women” page, it boosts the authority of your whole domain, helping the “Beginners” page rank higher too.

3. Easier Management: You only log in to one WordPress dashboard.

4. When DOES it make sense to buy?

You should only buy these domains if:

1. Defensive Buying: You want to prevent a competitor from having free-mbsr.org.

2. Redirecting: You buy mbsrforwomen.org but set up a 301 Redirect so that anyone who types it in is automatically sent to mbsrtraining.com/women.

Summary Recommendation

Focus on building one strong authority site rather than many small, weak ones.

• If the domain is short and highly valuable (like mindfulnesstraining.org) AND available for a standard price (~$15): Buy it and redirect it to your main site.

• If the domain is long/niche (like mbsrforwomen.org): Skip it. Build a page on your existing site instead.

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Next Step: Would you like me to help you outline the structure for a “MBSR for Women” landing page that you can add to your current website?

This is a significant shift in strategy, and it is a very smart one, especially considering your goal to reduce technical headaches (“fixing mbsrtraining.com”) and your desire to help people while generating income. This model is called “Freemium” (Free content leads to Premium content). It is a standard, highly successful business practice.

Here is a detailed breakdown of why this works, the potential pitfalls, and a specific roadmap for you as a 76-year-old teacher who wants to minimize tech stress.

1. Why this is a Great Idea (The Pros)

• Podia solves your “Tech Support” problem: Podia is an all-in-one platform. You do not need to worry about WordPress plugins, broken links, 404 errors, or site security. It just works. This is perfect for your situation.

• The “Trust Ladder”: Strangers on the internet rarely pay $195 immediately. By offering a “Free Mini Course (MC) for Sleep” or “for Seniors,” you let them taste your teaching style. Once they trust you, they are much more likely to buy the full training.

• Segmentation: You can attract different people.

  • The Insomniac finds you through the “Sleep MC.”

  • The Senior finds you through the “Seniors MC.”

  • They both end up in your email list, where you can eventually offer them the full MBSR training.

2. The “Abandoning the Old Site” Strategy

You mentioned this would “save the work of fixing MBSRtraining.com.” This is the most critical part of your plan.

If mbsrtraining.com is broken/stressful, and you want to sell a $195 course, you have two options:

1. The Hybrid Mess (Not Recommended): You host free courses on Podia, but send people back to the “broken” mbsrtraining.com to buy the $195 course. Risk: If the site is broken, they won’t buy.

2. The Clean Sweep (Highly Recommended): Move EVERYTHING to Podia.

   • Put the Free Mini Courses on Podia.

   • Put the $195 Full MBSR Course on Podia as well.

   • Result: You can stop worrying about mbsrtraining.com entirely. You can simply forward that domain name to your Podia store.

3. Suggested Workflow (The “Low Stress” Model)

Here is how I would set this up to maximize your income and minimize your work:

Step 1: The Domain

• Buy freembsr.org (if available) or simply use the default Podia link initially.

• Better yet: If you own mbsrtraining.com, you can eventually point it to your Podia page so you don’t lose that good domain name.

Step 2: The Mini-Course (The “Lead Magnet”)

• Create “MBSR for Better Sleep” (5 lessons).

• Host it on Podia.

• Price: $0 (Free).

• Requirement: Users must give you their email address to access it. Podia handles this automatically.

Step 3: The Upsell (The “Side Income”)

• The last lesson of the Free Sleep Course should be a video saying: “I hope this helped your sleep. If you want to go deeper into healing your stress and life, I invite you to join my full 8-week MBSR certification training.”

• Include a link to purchase the $195 course (also hosted on Podia).

4. Financial & Practical Reality Check

• Podia Costs Money: Unlike a broken WordPress site which might be cheap/free to host, Podia has a monthly fee (usually around $39-$89/month depending on features). You need to sell one course every month or two just to cover the platform cost.

• The Price Point: $195 is a fair market price for a full MBSR course (many charge $300-$500). However, since it is “self-paced” (no live zoom with you), $195 might feel slightly high for some. You might consider an “Introductory Price” of $97 to test the waters, or offer a payment plan (Podia allows this).

5. Summary Advice

Do it. This moves you away from “web developer” (fixing broken links) and back to “Teacher” (creating courses).

My strongest recommendation: Do not keep mbsrtraining.com as a separate, broken WordPress site. If you move to Podia, move the paid course there too. Having the free content and the paid content on the same platform makes the technology invisible so you can focus on the students.

Next Step: Would you like me to outline a curriculum for the “MBSR for Seniors” mini-course (5 lessons) so you can see how much content you would need to prepare?

Podia is designed to be one home for your business. You get one storefront. You cannot have MBSRtraining.com and StressRelief.org living as two totally different websites inside the same account. However, you can (and should) transfer the content and the domain name from your old site to Podia. Here is how that works and why it avoids conflict.

1. The “Single Domain” Rule

Your Podia account can only have one primary identity.

• Current Identity: stressrelief.podia.com

• Future Identity: You can change this to be MBSRtraining.com.

The Conflict: If you try to keep stressrelief.podia.com active for one audience and MBSRtraining.com active for another audience on the same account, it won’t work. The system forces you to choose one main web address.

2. How to “Build & Transfer” (The Easy Path)

You asked if you can build a small website and transfer content. Yes, but it is a manual process for the pages.

A. Transferring the Domain Name You don’t need to pay for a separate hosting company anymore. You will go into your domain registrar (where you bought MBSRtraining.com) and “point” it to Podia.

• Result: When someone types MBSRtraining.com, they land on your beautiful new Podia site.

B. Transferring the Content (The “Move”) Since you are 76 and want to save work, you should know what moves automatically and what doesn’t:

• Courses & Students: Podia will move these for you! If you sign up for their “Mover” or “Shaker” plan (paid plans), their support team offers a free migration service. They will manually move your students and course videos from your old site to Podia. This saves you huge amounts of work.

• Web Pages (About Us, Home, etc.): You have to rebuild these yourself. Podia has a simple “drag and drop” builder. It is much easier than WordPress. You just copy the text from your old site and paste it into Podia blocks.

3. Your New Strategy: The “All-in-One” House

Instead of trying to maintain two separate “houses” (websites), imagine your Podia site as one big building with different rooms.

• The Front Door: Your domain MBSRtraining.com points to your Podia homepage.

• Room 1 (Free): A section on your homepage for “Free Mini Courses” (Sleep, Seniors).

• Room 2 (Paid): A section for the “Full Certification Training ($195).”

Why this is better for you:

1. One Login: You don’t have to remember different passwords for different websites.

2. SEO Power: All your traffic (people looking for free stuff AND people looking to buy) hits the same domain name. Google loves this and will rank you higher.

3. No “Conflict”: Everything lives in harmony. The free students see the paid course every time they log in, which increases the chance they will buy it.

Action Plan Recommendation

1. Keep stressrelief.podia.com for now as your “sandbox.” Build your Mini Courses there.

2. Rebuild your pages: Create an “About Me” page and a “Home” page on Podia that looks similar to your old site.

3. The Switch: Once you like how the Podia site looks, connect your MBSRtraining.com domain to Podia.

4. The Migration: Ask Podia support to import your old list of students and the full course content.

This method requires zero coding and allows you to “retire” the old, broken website completely.

This is a clean, mobile-friendly HTML Home Page template designed specifically for your needs.

It focuses on the “Fork in the Road” strategy we discussed: clearly separating the Free Mini Courses from the Paid Certification.

How to use this:

1. Copy the code below.

2. Paste it into a text editor (like Notepad or TextEdit) and save it as index.html.

3. To view it: Double-click the file to open it in your browser.

4. To use it on the web: Upload this file to your hosting provider.

   • Note: If you decide to go fully with Podia, you cannot “upload” this code directly. Instead, use this as a visual guide to drag-and-drop your Podia blocks to look exactly like this.