Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

My wife and I recently decided to pool our talents and activities under the "KME Web Design" banner, and start advertising for low-key, small business website and Internet Marketing management....we`ve started responding to various freelance boards, craigslist ads, etc., for very low-price opportunities (trying to avoid those opportunities where 50 low-cost Asian website shops all climb onboard).  Not too much interest in the responses, and part of that may be due to the small number of actual portfolio examples we have (obviously, as a start-up).

How does our website look?  Does it convey the right degree of professionalism for small businesses, without the label of a "big company"? What`s missing in the sale?

Thanks for any contribution.

Well, you are right it is not `convincing` the information is there just lacks that Je ne sais pas ce qui that makes a site appear trustworthy. Take a look at this site http://www.morevisibility.com/ I don`t know them and I`m not recommending them, I`m only putting them there because they portray that aura of trustworthiness your site lacks. This is a pretty good article on the subject.

Wow - that`s some site....certainly something to strive for, as our business is but a tiny speck in the sea of opportunity morevisibility seems to have mastered.

Woohoo my first post!

I agree with ElidS.  One other thing I noticed as I went to your clients sites is that three of the top five listings were just a template you used for your page.  Your clients may have liked it but looking at these makes me feel you are in a rut of some sort.  I would suggest listing your clients on another page and listing your unique designs up front. 

Good luck,

Kevin

Hi

I had a very quick look at your web site, I am not a Techie, to my eye this seems like your design work is a generation behind current, an older model if you will.

Now if you are working with ultra conservative business’ that want a retro look great, this will appeal nicely.

However your website is your primary marketing piece, what you do for yourself is an indicator of what you will do for me.

In art school they teach painting by making you learn to reproduce the masters stroke by stroke.

A great tip I heard on a Canadian marketing podcast (the “effective edge” from memory but I’m not too sure about that) was that the high profile consumer micro sites for cars and electronics are the undisputed masters of web design trends.

Their reasoning was that these sites roll out with each new model and are never left to stagnate.

Big businesses will have big budgets to get their sites "just right" to give the exact modern look they are after.

They set the trends in what’s new in website design in much the same way as the fashion magazines work in setting clothing trends.

What I am thinking is that if you learn from and apply what is new at these sites you will always be in the “Current Style” when you are developing your own and customer sites.

Apply this approach to web design and presto you now are filling a Niche of “Big Company looks on a small company budget”. 

After all “Mr site” can do the low budget site in a box look better than the rest of us and still get the customer to do all the work themselves to boot.

Regards

J

PS: if you are short of Portfolio clients make some up (no not like that), buy some cheap domain names like Savethedolphinsofthenorthwest.org and code them as social responsibility sites.

This will show off your latest design concepts and after all, will the client really complain about it?

To maintain ethical standards your links for those seeking to donate, request further information and contacts would then be a click through to local charities, government contacts and support groups.

You may even get to quote costs as tax deductible while highlighting important social issues.

Not to mention the Kudos with your clients for your charity work.

That`s a pretty good idea, I like that.

Web design is a holistic discipline. Ideally it integrates work from designers, artists, copywriters, marketing people, etc. As a small shop I would focus completely on one aspect of web design. Trying to do everything is really hard unless you`re extremely well-versed in numerous disciplines.

It`s sort of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none concept at present. I really think you should reconfigure your site to talk about one thing that you do really well. Sure you have additional capabilities but why not let the prospect discover those later.

I noticed that your site does not use CSS very well. This is part of the reason that it looks a bit dated. You need to learn CSS a little more and use it to impart a more modern feel in your work. Using the <FONT> element is a sure and absolute sign of dated work. [Nothing wrong with the <FONT> element except it`s deprecated. It will be removed from a future version of HTML. What happens then?]

There isn`t even a DTD? The site source code is pretty amateurish in my opinion. It`s very messy and not properly written. There are lots of improperly nested elements? How can you revise the site with so much hard coding? Do you write code by hand? Or do you use visual tool like FrontPage? I think the concern here is that anyone can look at the source and draw some unflattering conclusions about your ability as a web designer.

I have to concur - I view the source on your site and the things that leap out at me:

• No CSS (the link to your style sheet kicks up a 404)
• Table layout for the design
• No DTD, deprecated tags, not XHTML

And that`s from looking at the header - and I`m not a designer.  Granted most individuals won`t take the steps we`re taking, but the end result - the on-page design - flows out of these things, and doesn`t convey the image you want to portray as a capable design and development house.

One other item - your prices seem too low (and fixed) - while I applaud openness and accessibility, the fact that you quote prices leads me to believe the services are cookie-cutter.  Even if you do have fixed rates, I`d leave them off the site and invite prospective clients to contact you for a consultation - as with everyone, simply my $0.02.


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chuck fuller

Thanks for your very open response and advice....as a startup, we`re obviously in the position of the "cobbler`s children", i.e., we don`t really spend ANY time on our own site, just the bare minimum (we spend time with the clients!)  - though it`s apparent the "bare minimum" needs to be elevated as basic price to the game.

--Update, 12/10: I took a few hours and re-did the site, so it should be more "up to spec" per the good comments I received, and per the experience we have!

My concern as a potential customer is that you are offering bookkeeping service along with webdesign.  Unfortunately it appears like you don`t take either service seriously enough to specialize in it.  I`m not saying that`s the case....that would be my perception as a potential customer.  They are vastly different service types and I just don`t think I would expect my website management company to be proficient at bookkeeping too.

I suggest removing any service offerings not directly related to website design, website management, etc. and placing that in a different website - another division of KME perhaps, KMEofficeservices.com