Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hey guys, I am a mobile auto detailer and my first site was "myspace-ish", so in exchange for a detail, I had a web designer redo the site. Problem is, I wasn't completely happy with it so I tweaked it a bit. Now I am less happy.

I am a one man show and am only doing this part time but still want it to look like I'm bigger than I really am.

The purpose, or intent, of the site is to pique interest and convert visitors into potential customers by calling and setting up an appointment. Problem is, it's not working and I don't know why. ANY and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Link to the site is here: www.kittredgecustomdetailing.com

Robert Kittredge

Kittredgecustomdetailing.com

You say it's "broke", meaning what? That the site itself isn't working, or it isn't getting you any customers?

Your post says you're a mobile detailer, but you don't make that a prominent point on your home page. If that is one of the things that makes your service convenient and helpful to a customer, you need to make that point stand out right away. Get across the idea that you come to them and save them time, money, whatever.

It isn't just a matter of telling people what you do, it's telling them the benefits they get from your service.

Create a call to action to prompt them to contact you.

Thank you for your response. What i meant was that there are a lot of visitors, just not many customers. My bounce rate is extremely high. I have tweaked it to the point I am lost. I will make the point that I am mobile more prominant. The call to action is on the right column. Maybe I need to move it or make it more obvious?

Any thought about the rest of the site?

Call to action - There really is no effective call to action... an effective call to action should induce the viewer to do something AND make it easy for them to do it.

So, if you want them to contact you, the call to action should be a link to a contact form or a prominently displayed phone #.... maybe with some sort of limited time discount.

The call to action should stick out, your content contains a lot of text, your call to action should look different so it stands out.

Bounce rate - analyze your web stats.... people may be bouncing from your site because let found it, but by searching on a term/phrase that doesn't match your services.

Where are they bouncing from? your home page, or other pages?

Web site - the structure/layout of your site ok, but is very text driven. Plus, when you go to your "services" page... the main part of the page is essentailly blank. If you need to have our services listed as links..then put those links in the main part of the page.

Gallery - may be it's my imagination but a couple of the before and afte pics do not seem like the same vehicle or not a picture of the same part of the vehicle.

The second before and after example -  (black vehicle) the before is a photo of the rigth side of the car and the after photo is of the left side of the car.

The third before and after example - before is a black van, the after is a grey van.

~Roland 

Your site does not really pull me in too much. It looks like it was put together very quickly with not a lot of work put into it. The before and after gallery is impressive but could be presented better.

Did a professional company do this? if so I would look into finding another company. You could get a site that is better looking and make people want to check it out

Thanks for the input guys, it is appreciated. I did have it done by a "professional", but I bartered a detail for the site as my previous site was "myspace-ish"

Most of my customers are Realtors, Lawyers,doctors and bank employees. I wanted something that can easily viewed on a phone. Maybe I was wrong? 

As for finding another designer, I do this part time and the funds just aren't there. Any ideas on a prefab template site?

The pictures are of the same vehicle (van interior) and I flipped the pic with the black car because it looked cool that way (both facing eachother). I will fix.

People are bouncing mostly from the first page, second from the services page. Next to zero visit the "contact" page, but I do get a lot of calls....... Maybe the form itself?

So, things to fix this weekend.....

Call to action

Fix that annoying services page

Add more pics

Present a problem, then offer solutions

@Omniflux: Could you elaborate on the presentation of the gallery?

OH!, BTW, any thoughts on the logo on the top left? Made it myself.

Robert

If you are set on doing it yourself and dont want to pay the big bucks for a pro site. Then I would suggest using some kind of template from a site like Wordpress.

The logo is "OK" Its nothing special to be honest but when you have minimum funds then there isnt a lot you can do.

You could get a fancy little display slide show using java script that would be clean and look nice.

if you want a web site to be viewed/used with cell phones and iphone like devices, then the site still needs a revision.

Typically you would create a speical "mobile" version of the site. Cell phones do not have the capacity to view wider websites or to scroll left and right. But do scroll up and down. iPhones and other web cmpabable devices are more friendly with more "standard" websites, but still there are some desin issues.

~Roland

Honest is all I ask.

I am looking at a local web guru as I now think that this web stuff is out of my realm of expertise.

Thanks for the help guys, I have a better understanding on what I need to do.

Hey great post! Thanks for sharing such interesting information!