Try it right now by clicking "Run Voltmeter" forces me to join. No thanks.
I think having the search bar on the homepage is a great idea since it tells me exactly what to do right when I get there. Maybe put a URL in there explicitly (like http://www.mysite.com ) that auto-clears onfocus so it's ridiculously obvious.
Some quick thoughts:
* Provide a "top tip" that is the #1 thing someone should do to improve their page. The tips offered are good, but aren't ranked, even though some are obviously more important than others. * Give the option to have the report emailed to you. I'd like to pass mine off to my business partners. * Possible premium upgrade: Live chat/advice on how to improve your site. People pay for SEO, right?
Final verdict: I liked it, but I don't think I'll come back a lot. There's already a lot of DIY SEO advice out there and I didn't find anything here I didn't already know. I'm a wannabe expert, though, so maybe it's vitally helpful for others.
What would you say if they instead used some form of OpenID system (RPX Now or something) so you didn't have to give them your password? Would that help?
You don't have to give them your email address to try it out - you could easily make a throwaway username and password.
It's just funny that if they said "please tell us a name you'd like to use to come back to these results later" then it probably wouldn't have been a big deal at all.
I suppose the tricky part about doing that would be giving the customer something that they would value while leaving them compelled to want more.