Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I like it. The clinking wine glasses are a nice touch.


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All the best,
Julie Barnes
Certified Virtual Author`s Assistant

Let`s Coordinate, LLC
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Just a few quick notes, but I`ll come back and add more a little later:

I like the look - it`s well designed...
And the use of alt tags for the menu is very wise (although often overlooked)

however there are a few things to worry about...

1) flash: not everyone has flash installed but you don`t have a replacement image or text incase they don`t have it... also can you optimize the flash?  it takes a long time to load for what is in it

2) size: even on a 1024x768 screen the page doesn`t fit (which probably means you`re using a big screen, a wide screen, or you like small icons because you`ve got your screen resolution maxed)

Also, it might look a little neater if your menu buttons were touching each other


There are some coding issues with the site -- but I`m not sure if you`ve coded it or are able to fix the code yourself.  The use of javascript for rollovers for example (instead of using CSS)...

From a visual perspective it`s very appealing and well done... from a coding perspective it`s very good, but there are a few things you could improve.  The biggest concern would be the size of the page - you might want to turn it into one column, or make the right column narrower. 


If you can too, edit the picture of the happy guy... his face is shaded out... since it`s your front page it`ll make it more appealing -- but it`s definitely not an issue (just an easy fix if you have the software).



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A spin-off from my company, now undergoing funding. A real-time, live-event polling program. Engage your audience at your next conference, seminar, talk or retreat! http://www.indiegogo.com/ballotboxes

Jeff:

1) Hum, good catch on the replacement thing.  Let me take a look at that.  As for optimizing the flash, I can try and figure it out, but it took me a long time to figure out how to customize that flash image to show my winery name.  I am new to flash.

2) I am not sure I undertand the screen size thing.  Should I reset my screen to 800x600 so that I can see what you are commenting on?

Hi robcool,

I like wine and wineries :) by the way.

What`s the call to action do you want when someone hits your home page?

I see your keywords in the meta tag; what`s the aggregate traffic you are currently getting from those keywords you are targeting? Are you happy with that amount of traffic?

Is this an info site or a money-making site?

What ways do you want visitors -- organic search engine traffic, pay per click, banner ads, social media traffic?

You`ll want to take a look at your duplicate content issues.

If you want this site to be a serious lead generation / sales site, let me know, and I can help you work through that.

Best,
Eve


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We work with established small to medium size businesses that are in the position to invest in improving the results of their online presence.

Let me ask you three questions.
1) What is your cost per online visitor?
2) What is your revenue per visitor?
3) What is the lifetime value of your customer?

I will cut to the chase on the SEO/SEM efforts to focus on increasing your bottom line.

Robcool,

Ya, try resizing your screen to 800x600 and revisiting your site.  You can get away with a slightly larger sized screen as monitor sizes are increasing (but there are still 800x600 users).  But some major websites have opted for websites that look best on 1024x768 so you wouldn`t be alone.  Because you`ve done it in FrontPage (I though you had used a CMS - Content Management System) I`d concentrate first on changing columns.  It`ll probably take some time because you`ll need to edit each page one at a time.

I also agree with Eve in that you need to have a call to action on your main page.  Set aside some time to think about what you want your web site to accomplish or ideally what you want a visitor to your site to do.  And that can change over time too.  Very generally you want to make more money.  But be specific.  Are you wanting more customers outside your city?  Or are you wanting to get retailers to pick it up?  Or are you wanting to be used at more weddings?  And maybe this goal changes from time to time (but not too frequently!).  But you need to focus the traffic to accomplish what you want.

Of course you probably do want ALL of these goals, and so your website should be able to assist anyone who might fall into it -- but if you find that a majority of your site visitors are from in-town, cater to them (and maybe provide a highly visible area for people living outside the area).  Or maybe you`re finding that because of an online advertising campaign you`re getting a lot of visitors from around the country -- then maybe the focus on the front page should be on them.

While making changes to the columns, you might pare down the information on the front page and instead use it as a "gateway".  Think of it as a hallway with doors to other areas of the site.  You want to prominently display the areas that will make you money!



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A spin-off from my company, now undergoing funding. A real-time, live-event polling program. Engage your audience at your next conference, seminar, talk or retreat! http://www.indiegogo.com/ballotboxes

Often people forget that the internet is an advertising medium for businesses more than an information gateway.  Most people don`t really want to know more about your business out of curiosity.  You`d never put a radio ad that was 15 minutes describing all your services and products, changes in the industry, recent events at the store, the history of the company and all about your pets.  On the web, don`t expect that people will spend 15 minutes sifting through that information either.  Be quick and concise.  You can also offer that information, but don`t make them wade through it in order to make a buy.



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A spin-off from my company, now undergoing funding. A real-time, live-event polling program. Engage your audience at your next conference, seminar, talk or retreat! http://www.indiegogo.com/ballotboxes