Gibsonguy Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Hi Guys Don't want to piggyback this, but my new website is up, for anyone that might want to give some critique... it's greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Note: Mod split the topic from a different thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Ian, nothing shows in post or your profile! Looks like mod split topic. Edit: guess I need glasses - right under your signature! First time I'm wrong in 2013! I don't like dark backgrounds, but I do like your layout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Kienitz Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Ian, I like it. Flows pretty good and the highlights to the selected line is most helpful for my aging eyes. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 It's appearance is better than most sites I've seen. That drives the stake that keeps readers around for a few seconds more, enough for them to read some text. Visitors want to learn if you are their inspector and I don't see anything that would convince them. All I see is the same boilerplate most every other site has. The road stops there. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hspinnler Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 I will critique the background a little. My curiosity centers around the classic? car that your text box is blocking. The color of the house is a bit unusual for my neck of the woods and the day looks blah. I would want a better example taken on a sunny blue sky day. Consider a link to a sample report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibsonguy Posted January 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Cool.. all great ideas guys. The web designer is a graphic artist and he likes bold colours... Blacks and reds together, something that grabs the eye. My business cards are dark and I gave him a free reign. The site was very cheap. Most people, I believe, don't want mountains of text to sift through so I tried to keep it short. I like the sample report idea. I would also maybe like a standards of practice download and a service agreement button too... but I want to change my report a bit too first. (I need a sample report in French and English) I am kinda new to this, (4yrs) so I don't think pasting a huge "Who Am I" would be beneficial. Most people will spend 1 minute or less on the site most probably so easy navigation & short pages is key for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtblum Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Consider a link to a sample report. Make that part of your sales presentation over the phone. That way, you can get an email address from the prospect and send a copy of a sample along with your contract for review. The longer you have them on the phone, the more information you can get. You're taking an interest in the client, and giving yourself the opportunity to close your deal with them. Same thing goes for posting a pricing schedule on the site. I didn't notice if you had one. If you do, get rid of it. Make them call for a price. You'll likely find you can book more gigs if you don't lay it all out on the site. Being better on the phone will separate you from the rest of your competitors, and increase your sales. But, you need to give them a reason to call. Edit; I just saw the "get a quote" link. You really should consider dumping that. Those things are about as impersonal as is gets. IMHO they're useless as a sales tool. Get a quote for what? The same thing as the next site? What makes you different? Why should they choose you over the others? What chance do they have to express their expectations and for you to understand what they're looking for? People's buying decisions are based on emotion. That should include the inspector as well. Who are you and what can you do for me? Those quick quote links might be the best reason in the world for an excuse to not call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 I like the picture. It looks like a real house, and the Falcon in similar color gives it some personality. The popup is annoying to me, but someone surfing on an iPhone might like it. Put it down on the lawn, maybe? We have to be flexible as the technologies keep changing. Paragraphs of text on an iPhone? Forget it. Gary doesn't like 'get a quote' so change it to 'get more info', or 'email me'? I've got a new site in the works. My old site has good SEO, bad index page, so I need to meld them somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtblum Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Gary doesn't like 'get a quote' so change it to 'get more info', or 'email me'? No, John. Call for a quote is fine. Email is junk. The idea is to have a one on one with them on the phone so you can sell your service. Please understand, this isn't about what Gary likes. It's about eleven years of GM spending stupid amounts of money to drive this point into Gary's head, because it works. My phone skills might the the biggest reason I'm able to do any business around here. What's the first thing they say when they call? How much? Why? Because, they don't know what else to ask. This is pretty much your only shot at earning their business, so you have to ignore the question and go right into congratulating them on their purchase, find out who they are, where their new home is, how big is it, how old it is, and have they been through the process before? Then, you find out what they want. It's about them and if you want their business, you need to understand that. From there you can move on to who you are, your experience, what you offer, and what day should we set the appointment for. Friday or Saturday? What works better for you? The point is, you're in this to make money. Letting your website control your sales department is a bad idea. Get them on the phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Brown Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 I really like the look, menus etc. but... no text content on the front page for SEO or clients, and no title tags for SEO. SEO is not very good at all. Maybe you don't need new clients in your area? I would also switch out the get a quote with a book an inspection now form and call to action button. And now I want to see the whole car ... LOL! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 I like the format of the "Defects-What We See" page. I like it a lot. I also like the car in the driveway; what year is it? I know my own home page is entirely deficient in SEO stuff, and am not sure how to proceed to make it better. I've had plenty of work, but ignoring the SEO stuff is stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 Kurt, I think it's a '61, but they didn't change for a couple of years. For SEO, your site needs keywords or "keys", in several locations on the page. Some are placed in the actual text, some are placed in html you can't see. A geek can copy your index page and add the keys to it, Then you republish it, probably the best way. In the text, place words used in searching for your business. Spiders pick up those words and store them until a search matches them. It takes a while for changes to show results. You can use Google software to scan your page and see the keywords highlighted. That's all I know, but the pros are very good at it. The radio jingle went like this "Ford Falcon keep your eye on the Falcons goin by.. A new new car is here today and it's full of oats and it's full of hay, a new new car is here to stay, Most experienced new car the world has ever known!" [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Booth Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 .....the Falcon is a '60 to '63 - can't tell without seeing the grill. In '64 the design changed to the "square" body. My first car was a '61 2 door wagon, with 170 cubic inch 6 and 3 speed on the column. ......Greg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibsonguy Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Wow, thanks guys.. I'm glad this is still being tossed around. I do appreciate everything you have said so far. The SEO is in the works by a guy here in Mtl. I am not pretending to be good at it, so I am leaving it to someone who knows what they are doing. I just wanted to know about the look and feel of the site. Proper SEO takes time as I'm told so check back in a while on that. As far as the get a quote, I find that in this day & age people are taking less and less time to talk one on one. It's always the first thing out of their mouth on the phone and I have gotten requests like that with my old website, most of them after 10pm when they wouldn't dare call. The form is a way of getting in touch with potential "price surfers" and as the fields that need to be entered show, there are many facets to obtaining a price. Kurt, the site is easily customizable so I can add other things as I want (ie: defects) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Raymond Posted January 12, 2013 Report Share Posted January 12, 2013 I like it. What did it cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibsonguy Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 $800 Tom. He was an amicable fellow who lives nearby. At the end of it all with all pages in english and in french I think he may have under quoted. He is a graphic designer also. It helps to find local people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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