Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Please take a look at my website (www.starpointemarketing.com) and tell me what you think.  I`d like to hear your suggestions for easier use, content organization, etc.

Thanks,
Ryan
www.StarPointeMarketing.com
Custom Website Development, Hosting, and Marketing Consulting


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Ryan J StarPointe Marketing Website Development, Hosting & Marketing Consulting

One area where SuN has been a tremendous education to me, has been these requests for critique of a Web site. Not only have I learned a great deal more about what I want on my own eventual site, I`ve also learned a great deal reading posts about how to sell, write, talk, and so on. All that comes into play on this site, as I know you`re also a strong developer.

Two things bother me, the one being technical, the other conceptual. The use of the flash (I assume) boxes on the Services page is annoying. I landed on the main page, then didn`t bother with the tabs at the top, and went right to the "Learn More." I think most people would do that, other than perhaps returning customers.

In "Learn More," I expected to....learn more. :-D Obvious, right? I didn`t learn a damn thing! That`s just not right!

When I hovered over the 1995 Design problem, I expected first to know what the heck has 1995 got to do with anything, and then a *solution!* Not so...I didn`t hear or see anything that would educate me as to what a `95 site would look like, or how a 2007 site would look like. Nor did I read anything about it.

I`d like to just click on the "problem" and either go to another page that explains it, or maybe a window that opens...something. But as I was reading the "second" half of the box information, I forgot what the first half was saying. It was almost okay on the "1995" thing, `cause that stuck in my mind. But the others? I`d read some rhetoric about a solution, but forgot the problem! LOL! You should have it so I can remember what I was reading about in the first place.

As for conceptual, I have to say the site did no more for me than sites that promise me infinite wealth and riches beyond my wildest dreams. Nowadays, Web site developers ALL tell me I can have no effort, easy access, simple maintenance, and not lift a finger. Yeah, right!

I think your site is coming across like some big Web design conglomerate, yet you`re trying to sell the idea that you`re a personally involved, personally interested solution provider. It`s a contradiction.

I`m building a dictionary. First, I want every page of the dictionary to look the same, work the same, and be easy to read. I want to write something on my own, push some buttons and upload it to the right place. Then I want to be able to peruse the writing and put in links to whatever else, as easily as I can do it posting to this thread.

I also want to be able to write a rant, call it an article, push some buttons, and upload that to some other template area designed to store, search, find, and archive articles. I want to be able to link to any word in the dictionary thing, just by copy/paste, highlight, and click.

How does your site meet my needs? Where does it describe HOW I`m going to do this simple, easy maintenance from my home, much less anywhere else?

Under the "Why choose Star Pointe Marketing," you don`t have any compelling reason for me to do so. You say you`ll understand my needs. How? You say you`ll understand my customers. I don`t have any, other than those who want informative reading. I`ll be able to "easily update my site on my own." So? How would that work?

Where are the pictures that show me the editor? Where`s the explicit content that walks me through how a typical person would use your services to solve a site update problem? Where`s the "story," in other words?

Yah, it looks professional. Good. I expect that. But so does CaboBill`s Cafe Press site. I`ve learned I can put up a site myself that looks similar to yours. So? I don`t want that...I want some heavy-duty expertise I can call on, where all that I`m learning about CSS is clearly accessible from you, with a reassuring "sense" of confidence.

Doctors can approach a new patient as "God," and scare the patient into believing they`re going to get cured. They make pronouncements, and "dare" the patient to disagree. But a better doctor has a personality that`s so totally confident, yet not condescending, that neither the doctor nor the patient really believe the disease stands a chance.

Your site is making pronouncements, sort of like the "God" doctor. Personally, I`d rather go to a physician who`s upfront about the chances, confident about what they can do, and who seems to be able to differentiate me from the hundreds of other patients he`s seeing.

The portfolio is good, from a graphics design and layout perspective. Fine, I need that..and want to know I`ve got someone who knows how to do layouts. But "Services" is what`s a problem. Having looked over the site now, I still don`t know how your services apply to Me..! Y`know?

I`d at least put the "Why Choose" as a menu item, main tab, or some huge headline! That`s all anyone`s going to care about, since there are a bazillion other Web designers out there. Where`s the comparison between a 1995 site "they" did, and the 2007 site "you" did?

Where`s the argument in favor of you? ALL the other sites day all the same bullet points as you have, but the horror stories persist. What guarantee do you offer that not only you won`t abandon work on my site for unknown reasons, or that some other developer can carry on if you get hit by a bus? What if I need something in three days, but you`re busy? :-)

I believe in today`s expanded market, you have to "fight for" what you want. It`s not good enough anymore to just roll out a site and wait for customers to fall into place. There are too many choices for that to work anymore. Don`t just highlight what YOU can do, explain why you do it better, and also explain why other developers can leave a client high and dry, with nothing.

To add a minor point, this code is rendering as a broken image:

<p><center class="ez-reseller-banner">
<a href="/cgi-bin/banner_link.cgi?X378750">
<img src="/cgi-bin/banner.cgi?X378750" border=0></a>
</center>
</p>

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chuck fuller

Thanks guys.  Great input.  Keep it coming.  

Ryan
www.starpointemarketing.com
Web development, hosting, and marketing consulting.


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Ryan J StarPointe Marketing Website Development, Hosting & Marketing Consulting

Ryan,

I browsed through your site and tried to play the "I am going to buy something role".

I went to:  Learn More, to Hosting, to "get started".

I got a 404 error here:

http://www.starpointemarketing.com/contact_starpointe_market ing.html

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_____________________________________________ Mike

Sidebar:
My favorite 404 error message comes in the form of Haiku poetry:

Hi all!

I like the "critique" word, it`s French...

Would you want to have a look at my company`s website?

www.p2pconsultants.com

All comments welcome!

I`m not generally a big fan of a completely flash splash page to start with - but there are plenty of other discussions about Flash in other topics, so I won`t rehash that.  Beyond that fact, there`s a load of unnecessary meta tags in your code; stick to the description, the rest are just mucking up the code.

One thing I noted was that your biography requires a download or popup - why not simply include the information within the site itself; I`d imagine many would be disinclined to proceed at that point (as I was).

Typo on the P2P in India section - I`m guessing the first bullet should say "CEOs from large and medium companies"

I couldn`t open Case Study #5-8.


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chuck fuller

I visited it, and it did not take for ever to load. I liked the website, but you stand a chance of decreasing your search results for your page. Bots read information in html, and with flash, it is like taking a photo. What is your goal with this site?

I agree about the flash comments, you`re management consultants. You
don`t need to make your site look like a you`re design consultants.

Also, and I may be the only one on the site, but I think P2P means peer-to-
peer, i.e. filesharing systems like napster and bittorrent.

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CEO, CrowdVine
www.crowdvine.com