Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

What do you guys think about my business website www.2busy4errands.com?

Any opinion and suggestion would be really appreciated it.

http://www.2busy4errands.com

Oh my...

I hope you didn`t spend a lot of money on this.

I`d have to think that if they`re too busy for errands, then they`re most likely to busy to #1) wait for the site to load up, #2)  move their mouse across the icons so they`ll know what they`re clicking on, and #3) trying to read what you have to offer, while being forced to listen to that music in the background with no way of turning it off.

I`m sorry, but the usability of this site is not good. While it may look fancy and impressive to you, chances are, your "prospects" are likely to be turned off by it.

There`s no navigation structure at all after you click thru to a page...I`m having to `go back to the menu` to see my options, when I should be able to see my options on each and every page.

The font size in combination with the colors of the site make it difficult to read.

And then when I`m finally given the option to "read more", I have to wait for a PDF file to load up (it`s irritating because I don`t know it`s a pdf file until it`s too late, which if I knew it was in a pdf format to begin with, I`d probably never would have clicked on it). But, when I do read the pdf file, you have a bunch of graphics and the text is broken up into columns making it difficult for me to read.

Your site should be made with the end-user in mind. They want information so they can make an educated decision as to whether or not they should use your services. I feel you don`t provide enough information for somone to come to a conclusion.

I`d say scrap it and start from scratch...I`m not trying to be cruel, but I see these types of mistakes often and I want to see you get off to an excellent start.

Remember your customers! And design for `them`. Your site name indicates your service is for people who are too busy, and quite frankly...the site itself is too busy.

Cartess

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Website Startup Coach: Step-by-Step Coaching to Help You Build a Profitable Business Online!

I dig the concept.  The animation is great (though it moves too slow and I`m running a pretty good DSL connection).

First, the music should not be there and I know I won`t be the only one to tell you that.  Background music in general is a no-no with web design.

I found it difficult to understand the navigation.  I`d like to see the section titles on the windows with the character, not in a thought balloon that slowly pops up after the window opens, after I put the cursor over the character.  You also need to have some cross navigation, meaning one can access the rates page from the services page and so on, without having to go back and forth to the homepage each time.

The Services section should be your top windows because that should be your most important selling area.

There is nothing on the home page that tells me that this is a San Francisco area service only.  If I stumbled upon the site from here in Colorado and was interested, browsing the site and happened to click on the map section last, then I would have wasted a bunch of time.  Your target market is partially geographical so let that be known right away.

It`s a start and I don`t mind the homespun feel of it.  I like animated Flash sites, like my own, but you need to optimize the technology.  Maybe break up the animation into different pages instead of loading up one page.  Each one will then load faster.

Mainly I think you need to get some of your message on the homepage and make sure it speaks to your market.  At first glance, I don`t really know what you do, except that the URL (good one by the way) is somewhat explanatory.

Thanks Guys!

Great Input.

How funny that someone else posted on the same day asking for advice about their errand service website.  Check it out.

2Busy, they have a really simple to use site which you might take some ideas from.  You can still have fun animations but check out how easy their navigation is set up.  Animation should come secondary to getting your message out clearly.

The animations are cute .. if what you are selling is animations.

I agree with Cartess - you need less cute and more effectively spelling it out in the least number of words possible. Busy people don`t have time to try to figure out what your site does. I can`t even "read more" because apparently it`s a pop-up and my browser is blocking you. So consider that when you are building a site ... if a good portion of the browsers now use pop-up blockers, they aren`t even seeing your content!

(My sound is off, as a default. So I don`t know if you have sound or what sound it makes. But it`s wasted on me.)

And hey there, btw! I see you`re not far from me ...

CampSteve & nhgnikole,

Thank you for the suggestions. This website is only temporary right now I`m working on another one so this is only the trial version you might say. All your suggestions are really helpful.

CampSteve, I like your website it`s simple and easy to navigate.

Thanks all.