Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I've just created a new site and would love some feedback.

I used a template from Hostgator, which wasn't as easy to use as it sounds! The goal of the site is to attract business owners who have an interest in creating their own information products, or who are overwhelmed by the thought of doing it themselves.

Do you have any advice on what I might do better to get people to sign up for the free tips? I do know it would be better if the sign-up box was 'above the fold', but there's already a lot on the Home page and I'm not sure how to get it any higher up.

I want it to be clear on the site what I do and who can benefit. Should I have the prices on there? Some say yes, some say no. Personally I always like to know how much something costs, which is why I put the prices there.

The web site address is: http://www.FastStartInformationProducts.com - I appreciate any and all feedback.

Thank you!

Hi Linda,

Yes, you're absolutely right that there's way too much going on at the top. I know that using templates limits your ability to do things that you want on your website. Is there any way you can replace the "Save your Time" banner with your red one? That will give you more space to work with.

I definitely agree that you need to move up your sign up, at least place it below the navigation like you have it on the services page.

Also, currently your homepage has that image of you, just looking at that it gives me an impression that you're offering personal assistant services. The copy that you have next to the image is just "pretty text". People don't have time to read that information, let them know what you're offering upfront.

I think you can keep the prices, unless you're offering something custom than having prices doesn't make sense. But your services page is too cluttered, way too many columns. It's best to have a clean design where your information is easy to read. Perhaps have your services one after the other instead of squishing them all next to each other.

Having a blog is great, but you should keep it consistent. Currently there's no way to get back to your main site where you offer your services from your blog. You need to create that connection because you want to sell your services not just write in your blog.

I hope this helps, I also do Video Website Critiques for small businesses, stop by and leave some comments to help other people out.

- Yiana

Hi Yiana,

Thank you very much for your feedback. I will see if I can make some of the changes you've suggested. I'm also happy to look at your video website critiques and leave some comments.

I appreciate you taking the time to review my web site.

Linda

If you add chat box in your site then it is very good and online chat helps the users.

The header image(s) are confusing... like having two headers, becuase of the white space between them.

Also the three tiny icons on the left are too small. Not sure the value the search box.

As far as the layout - the section seem to be placed on the page without any planned organization. It would be better to guide the viewer to read your page's content by having a more logical and  intuative layout.

The headers of each section seem to be a little distorted. Maybe they have been resized.

Purpose - "If you're an author, speaker, small business owner or expert in any field, you need to have Information Products." 

I'm not sure what that means  - plus it does not convince me I need something you're telling me I do. You need to convey what your service(s) do for me, how I benefit.

As far a SEO - the site has many problems. The title of each of your pages is "home", our srvices, etc... These are not great keywords that will help your site get found via a search.

While using a template or web base site creator may seem good, simple. or save you time or money... usually there are trade-offs. You usually get what you pay for, and if the person creating the site is not familiar with web design or search engines, the resulting web site can be ineffective.

~Roland

Please add a site map to your site it really helps to visitor and search engine both.