Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi all,

What a terrific idea (having our website critiqued). I am eager to hear your opinions. I am not going to go into detail about my business, because I want to make sure it comes across on the website. I`ll just say..

We get quite a few hits on our website but, not as many calls as I had hoped. Am I just impatient or have I overlooked something important?

BTW - we don`t mention prices because we custom tailor everything to meet the clients needs instead of making them pay for a package they can`t take full advantage of.

Thanks,

Vickie

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Vickie Andersen

Director, Administrative Services
Admin and Beyond, LLC
www.adminandbeyond.com

This is more on the layout and overall feel of the site rather than the content, as that is what struck me first when viewing your pages.

Your layout seems to change slightly on each page. Some have color, while others are white backgrounds. Some pages seem wider than others. Some have tables with borders while others don`t. I would work on the consistency, each page the same size, and utilizing the same colors, fonts, etc. The use of a template to build all your pages from would be beneficial. The right side column seems too wide in context with the content on the left of the page. The ladies image on the left, does it really need that large blue box around it?

In Internet Explorer, I see the whole page; in Firefox, the right column is closer to the center of the page, the middle image is literally cut in half, and the blue box with the emails does not even appear.

There are some typos/misspellings in a couple of the pages.

The FAQ page .... in the lower section, the answers are all underlined links, not a small link to more information. Full paragraphs/lines that are underlined are not attractive, in my opinion. I would make each paragraph/link a shorter description of what the link leads to, or just put the resulting link text here instead of even going to another page.




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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

Vickie,

There is WAY too much information crammed into this website. It is hard to tell the difference between your services and the ads that are on the site.

Your title and meta tags also need help. The keywords are too broad, and the description is too vague,


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Anita Cohen-Williams
Organic SEO and Social Media Management
http://mysearchguru.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mysearchguru

I don`t know what browser you are using, but in Firefox for Mac the text overlaps each other and you can`t see half of the information on the front page.

So my first suggestion, as I am assuming you are using IE, download Firefox and see how the other 40% of the population is seeing your site. If you want just a screenshot of what it looks like on my screen, I`d be happy to email you a screenshot.

Wow! Great feedback. I wasn`t expecting to hear back so quickly. I have been planning to revamp the site anyway, and it sounds like it is long overdue. 

I am using IE currently, but I can access Firefox, too. I never gave it a thought that they might view differently.

Keywords, hmmmm. I have revised those several times, but it seems I still don`t have the right formula. I will do some more keyword research.

Thanks. I really value your feedback. Please keep the information coming.  

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Vickie Andersen

Director, Administrative Services
Admin and Beyond, LLC
www.adminandbeyond.com

Hi Vicki,

I would agree with what Webline said above. Consistency is key to creating an aethetically pleasing site so that your visitor can get down to business and not be distracted.

My first impression when visiting is my eye couldn`t find a resting place. It traveled all around your landing page not resting for a second or two because I wasn`t sure why I was visiting and what to focus on first. That might be because you purposely didn`t tell us what the site was about. The one thing I do know about web site design is we have about 2 seconds to hold our audience captive. The best way to hold them captive is by providing a solution to their problem... in big bold letters. Keep links to a minimum and organize peripheral stuff in a nice neat fashion, and support your visitor to stay with your primary call-to-action in the body of the web page.  Have a single call-to-action or, as I`m doing with my current landing page design, organized buckets of information with call-to-actions so at a quick glance they can click through onto more information or sign up for something.

My other big aha is around conversion. I hear over and over and see it also with my own site... if I could only convert 1% of my traffic, man, business would be good. However, the truth is it`s a very small percentage of visitors that will convert with one single exposure. They typically need a minimum of 3 exposures through several different channels. So what I`ve done is make my primary call-to-action a high value giveaway so I can capture their name and then continue cultivating the relationship with them via email campaigns and blogs showing that prospect more of who I am, building trust and credibility.

I hope this supported you!

Mynde

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Mynde supports people to recognize, understand and master the fears that often block us from realizing our full potential and living our most authentic and fully self-expressed life. She offers a free 30-minute coaching consultation to anyone interested in experiencing the power of working with a professional certified life coach. Please visit http://www.FreeFromFear.net for more information.

Wow! You offer many many services! And I realize all of it`s important. But is there a way you can organize the info so the pages aren`t so cluttered with information?

It`s often much easier to remember a business and what they offer when the web pages are a quick read and memorable.  Don`t forget, once someone goes to your site you want them to contact you to use your services, and if they can`t see or find the one service they want quickly they may blast off to another admin site.

I do like your logo and color scheme. And some of the inspirational quotes are a nice touch!

Oh yeah... Keywords...very important. Good Keys will move your site rank upward... check out some other sites like yours and see which ones have top ranking...find out why!

Best to your success!