Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Good morning all,

This is the first time I’ve posted in this forum. It’s also the first time I’ve had a web page. I designed the page and would appreciate any feed back on the site. The address is www.spcfreelance.com.

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The older we get, the more excuses we make for not chasing after our dreams. But truth is, goals are attainable at any age.

The main page is good, but the rest of the site needs improvement.  There is no consistent feel to the site.  The format that you have on the main page is good and clean.  You’ve got a menu along the left, but that goes away when I click on any of the links.  I don’t want to press “back” on my browser to get back to the main page.  Maybe you should use the main page as a template as base the rest of the site.

The writing samples are a good idea, but there is no format to the samples.  A suggestion would be to list the article title, publication name and date of publication with a link to the article.  Aside from the JPEG article image, you should also reproduce the actual text.  This way the search engines will be able to index then content of the articles for your site.

I don’t see any META tags containing keywords for your site.  Put some in!  This information will also be indexed when the search engines hit your site.

Good information, but you need more structure.

Good luck and post another review request when you make some changes.

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Daniel the Denim Doctor

:-) Hi Patrick, welcome to the Startup Nation (SuN).

I agree with the above, that your secondary pages should have a consistent look and feel. Leave the background color white, as it offers the best contrast for your content. And that content, after all, is the key focus, right? So it should be easy to read above all else.

I`d like to actually be able to read your writing samples, not have only scanned images that are too small and blurred to read. If you must do them as JPGs, scan them at very high resolution, the allow them to be fairly large-sized JPG files. On the site page, shrink them to 400x400 pizel  thumbnails, but make them links to a full-size image.

You did this, but the scans aren`t very good. Clean them up in Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photoshop. You can use the "unsharp mask" and "clarify" tools, as well as contrast adjustments. But they should be scanned clearly in the first place.

I believe that if someone is really looking for a writer, being one myself, that they`ll look at the overall visual layout of the large-ish thumbnails, and allow for the slight slowness of loading a full-size, 1000 x (whatever) JPG they can read. Visit Amazon.com, and look at how they`ve organized their "Read the first pages of this book" feature.

Actually, a better option would be to use the 400x400 "thumbnail" to link to a PDF file for each of your samples, if you can do it. If your samples only exist as final-published, then you`ll have to go with the full-size JPG. Again...those who are interested will accept the transfer time for the large image, as long as it opens in its own window.

I`d like your paragraphs on the home page to be smaller, easier to read rapidly online. It`s not the same as written material on a piece of actual paper. Arial 12-pt ordinarily appears as if it`s bold, where 10-pt seems more typical.

My workaround has been to increase the line-height to around 22px, and in more cases than not, just use Verdana. Your other option might be to colorize the text to a gray color, to offset the bolded look of the plain black? Your option, but it just seems a bit too "heavy and dark" for the cool way you`ve got those pictures around the outer edge. :-)

I`d also like you to put the "Let`s sit down over coffee and discuss your training needs" differently. Granted, it`s a metaphorical cup of coffee, but it`s just too folksy I think. You`re offering online courseware, CBT, and other forms of training material. That should be much more highlighted.

For example, you have about 4 seconds to capture your visitor`s attention. Use headings and layout to instantly say, "I`m a training writer!" Then, below that, explain what kind of training. Only after all that`s been accomplished would you then introduce yourself.

Personally, and it`s only my personal opinion, I look at a site like this as a resume, expanded into something more interactive. As such, I wouldn`t expect a "folksy" voice in a résumé and don`t expect it on this type of Web site. So things like "Allow me to introduce myself" just don`t work well for my own expectations.

I`d put all that on the "Author Bio" tab (not Writine-Bio, which is too confusing). Having thought about this type of site for myself, I looked at some medical CVs (curriculum vitae, the doctor form of résumé).

I also think you`ll want to list yourself on places like elance and other freelancing sites, and have links there to your site, as well as links on your site to your listing on the directories.

On my browser (Safari on a Mac) I am seeing strange formatting of the
text on the home page. Lines of text are various lengths with some only
two words long. The whole text doesn`t fit the space well and I also see
overlapping lines. Just letting you know there is some sort of technical
error though it sounds like others are not seeing it as it wasn`t pointed
out before.

• Keep it consistant layout, fonts colors, styles
• Menu should on every page
• Regular text should not be bold

Take a look at my site as an example http://www.graphicdesign-s.com

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Ernie GD Solutions www.graphicdesign-s.com

I thank you all for your comments.  I`ve re-done the web site and still makeing changes.  But, I`ve incorpeorated the ideas you all provided.  Thanks.

Oh, to see the changes, you will have to use  http://spcfreelance.com.

 

 

 

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The older we get, the more excuses we make for not chasing after our dreams. But truth is, goals are attainable at any age.

Okay, this is way better, but it still has some fundamental issues. The easier to fix will be the main font. I`m supposing you have style sheets, so it`s only a matter  of changing the style.

All your text should have a bette line height. Personally, I favor Ariel text, but even with the Times Roman, you should have about a 20px line spacing--that line height. Right now, it looks cramped.

The more difficult, but also most important is you need to have a navigation menu on ALL the pages. Few people nowadays are going to be willing to hit the "back" button on their browser, then explore your site page-by-page.

Finally, you`ve got a neat idea going with that photographic theme, and it`s extra cool how you allow for changes on each page. All the pages *except* the "Training Guides" tend to stay in the middle, not bouncing out and away from the theme you set on the landing page.

But that Training Guide page slams over to the left margin, and looks strange. At least make it conform with the general trend of the other pages. Then you`ll have room for the left-side menu bar.

It`s getting there, though ;-)

I also think I`d like to get away from the "folksy" discussion. You`ve got a company name, "SPC Freelance," so use it. Take some time to come up with a good tagline or slogan. "Freelance writing and employee training services" is just SO generic...! Put it under the logo at the top of each page.

Then, when you`ve got that, your first line can be something like, SPC Freelance. Expert help for your:

• Employee training materials
• Online courseware development
• Written procedure manuals
• Technical references
• Documentation and management needs

And so forth and so on. It`s fast on the eyes, easy to read, and lists what it is you`re writing about. As the site is now, it`s difficult to really see quickly (like, in 4 seconds) what it is your writing skills handle.