Some website critique would be awesome!

[npinc]

I'm constantly revisiting my website, looking to get more out of it. Push it further, get more conversions, etc. I'm at a point now where I'd like to reach out to others, especially people that don't know me. I'd like to know a few things:

Does it get the message across quickly?
Does it answer the questions you have or you see your clients bringing up?
Can you immediately see the value in my products and services?
What IS the value in using my products/services. Why would you choose me in a theoretical world where you're not the awesome geeks that you are?
Is it easy to get the info you want?
Are there areas to improve and where are they?
Is there anything that you've seen somewhere and went "wow! I wish I had that on my site"?
As a fellow computer geek, can you see something that makes you think "that's stupid"?
Am I selling? Educating? Neither? Both?

Anything else that pops in your head? Thanks!

http://www.npinc.ca

[trevm999]

Does it get the message across quickly?
Yes

Does it answer the questions you have or you see your clients bringing up?
"What are your shop rates?" I don't see them anywhere. "Do you fix iPad's?" Check

What IS the value in using my products/services. Why would you choose me in a theoretical world where you're not the awesome geeks that you are?
Seems like a legit operation that provides where best buy falls short, however I think you try to push that point too much on your website.

Is it easy to get the info you want?
Yeah, the menus are pretty straight forward

Are there areas to improve and where are they?
Make the laptops page more about the laptops, and less about the cheap laptops box stores sell and why you are better. A postable testimonal site where anyone can add a testimonal using the website. I know it's probably a lot to ask though.

Is there anything that you've seen somewhere and went "wow! I wish I had that on my site"? Repair status button, then I found out it didn't work

As a fellow computer geek, can you see something that makes you think "that's stupid"?
“we fix it or it’s free!” I think just a free diagnosis is a better way to put this. It seems like a "get your pizza in 30 min or it's free" kind of thing but in the end you still get a pizza with that. All you get with yours is someone checked out your computer for free, it's not like it was fixed for free or anything

Am I selling? Educating? Neither? Both?
Yeah, I would go to you. I didn't find the education and tutorial section really browsing friendly though, maybe more point form would be nice

[npinc]

Thanks so much! You noticed the repair link didn't work? It used to.. Dumb thing. I'll check that tomorrow when I look at the other changes. That laptop suggestion is top on my list.

[300DDR]

One thing I dislike about most computer repair websites is their use of stock photos. Not only are they cheesy, lazy, and "fake," but if you had ALL real photos of your techs/clients/shop it lends more realism and authenticity to your business and website. If I see stock photos on any site I'm looking to do business with, I usually don't go with them right off the bat.

Another reason to not use them… people won't know which are "stock" and which are real. **After seeing your "meet the staff" page with photos of your employees, I'm not sure now if all your photos are indeed real. I was thinking stock because they look so "professional" --> but that is how your head shots look also… so maybe they are all real!

IMO, it's best to have ALL real photos so there is no confusion. Maybe get some shots with your company logo in the background or if you have company t-shirts, make sure they are in the photo. I see them in some photos, but not all photos.

I don't see this guy in the "meet the staff" page or pics of your shop with server racks:


This image looks stock:


But this one is PERFECT with the logo on the car:


Sooooo… if you have stock photos, replace with real photos. If they are all real, prove it with company logos (or just don't make them look so professional ).

The "community involvement" page is great and unique to you guys! Shows that you are 1) successful (since you can afford to sponsor these things) and 2) caring about your community.

Overall, the site is very good (for "corporate" feel, which I personal don't like but most companies use). May be too much info, but that's good for SEO, so I'd keep it as is. Compared to most other computer repair websites, it's really good!

One more thing… I also dislike testimonial pages filled with quotes. I much prefer to see links to rating/review sites so people know these are REAL testimonials and not just made up. If you want to keep the quotes there, link to the site where they came from (yelp, google, etc).

Hope this helps!

[npinc]

Ok. Working on this now. I really loved your feedback about the box stores and feeling it was pushed too much. A great observation. Anywhere you found that, other than laptop sales (which I'm cleaning up right now) let me know.

The we fix it or it's free. That's a very interesting observation. The intent of it was that if we couldn't fix it, couldn't tell you what's wrong with it, or it was a write off, it would be free. It also meant that if we fixed it and didn't fix it right, the follow up was also free..that we would stick with it until you're satisfied, at no additional cost.

The first thing I got from your comment was that I wasn't making that clear. Are there any suggestions how I COULD make that clearer?

Thanks again!

EDIT: One more thing.. Your observation of picking up where Best Buy leaves off.. BRILLIANT! I love it. That hit the nail right on the head. I'm going to figure out a way to run with that in my marketing. Great stuff.

[300DDR]

Also, be sure to check your page in sites like http://www.woorank.com/ (page rank is 58.6, which I believe is already quite good!) and WDC validity checkers.

[npinc]

Originally Posted by 300DDR

One thing I dislike about most computer repair websites is their use of stock photos. Not only are they cheesy, lazy, and "fake," but if you had ALL real photos of your techs/clients/shop it lends more realism and authenticity to your business and website. If I see stock photos on any site I'm looking to do business with, I usually don't go with them right off the bat.

Another reason to not use them… people won't know which are "stock" and which are real. **After seeing your "meet the staff" page with photos of your employees, I'm not sure now if all your photos are indeed real. I was thinking stock because they look so "professional" --> but that is how your head shots look also… so maybe they are all real!

IMO, it's best to have ALL real photos so there is no confusion. Maybe get some shots with your company logo in the background or if you have company t-shirts, make sure they are in the photo. I see them in some photos, but not all photos.

I don't see this guy in the "meet the staff" page or pics of your shop with server racks:
Attachment 2431

This image looks stock:
Attachment 2432

But this one is PERFECT with the logo on the car:
Attachment 2433

Sooooo… if you have stock photos, replace with real photos. If they are all real, prove it with company logos (or just don't make them look so professional ).

The "community involvement" page is great and unique to you guys! Shows that you are 1) successful (since you can afford to sponsor these things) and 2) caring about your community.

Overall, the site is very good (for "corporate" feel, which I personal don't like but most companies use). May be too much info, but that's good for SEO, so I'd keep it as is. Compared to most other computer repair websites, it's really good!

One more thing… I also dislike testimonial pages filled with quotes. I much prefer to see links to rating/review sites so people know these are REAL testimonials and not just made up. If you want to keep the quotes there, link to the site where they came from (yelp, google, etc).

Hope this helps!

Awesome feedback! It helps immensely.

Your take on the lack of distinction is excellent. I never thought of it that way and now that I hear you say that it makes total sense! There are a few stock photos although most are real. To be frank I ran out of material. We do use two professional photographers though. They're actually newspaper photographers which may explain the caliber of the shots and the blur between the two. I can call them back in and get them to take more.

The testimonials.. I could use more feedback on this. Those ones on the page are either emailed to us or written by hand (I have quite a few of them framed on the wall at the office). Would you suggest scanning them all in and uploading them? What about the email ones? Would you think it would suffice to just have some of them?

Virtually none of them are on websites like Yelp and stuff. I think maybe 5 or 6 of them are. What if I linked to Google reviews as well? Maybe a link in the sidebar or at the top of the first page or something? Would that help? Thoughts on this?

Thanks so much for the feedback.

[npinc]

Originally Posted by trevm999

As a fellow computer geek, can you see something that makes you think "that's stupid"?
“we fix it or it’s free!” I think just a free diagnosis is a better way to put this. It seems like a "get your pizza in 30 min or it's free" kind of thing but in the end you still get a pizza with that. All you get with yours is someone checked out your computer for free, it's not like it was fixed for free or anything

Trev, I just made this page about our guarantee. Does that help things, or just make it worse/more confusing?

http://www.npinc.ca/company/we-fix-it-or-its-free

[npinc]

Originally Posted by 300DDR

Also, be sure to check your page in sites like http://www.woorank.com/ (page rank is 58.6, which I believe is already quite good!) and WDC validity checkers.

That woorank site is awesome! Never seen that before. I'm going to have to dig through all that information to perfect my game. Thanks a mil for that.

[300DDR]

Originally Posted by npinc

I can call them back in and get them to take more.

That's ideal… if you can't get them again (or not worth the cost) you could alternatively use a different camera (iphone, digital camera, smartphone with decent len), they won't look as "sharp" and professional, but they will add some variety.

Originally Posted by npinc

Would you suggest scanning them all in and uploading them? What about the email ones? Would you think it would suffice to just have some of them?

Virtually none of them are on websites like Yelp and stuff. I think maybe 5 or 6 of them are. What if I linked to Google reviews as well? Maybe a link in the sidebar or at the top of the first page or something? Would that help? Thoughts on this?

Definitely put some scanned ones up there. Forget emailed ones. Definitely point to yelp, google, anywhere else even if just one review. The reason -- it shows reviews from real people (in theory) and then your clients will know where to leave you reviews in the future (this works better if YOU do it I've noticed, as my receptionist doesn't remember as often as I did, since it's SO important for business… just realized I need to start offering her $5 for every review she gets a client to leave .

I've been asking clients to leave reviews since about day one. But always online. An emailed review is nice, but no one sees it. So kindly ask everyone who leaves your shop to leave one. We send an email with the various sites we are on with every final invoice. I also single out particularly happy/impressed clients and send them a single message asking to leave a review on one specific site.

I used to give clients a printed out list of urls (snipurl) with printed invoice (and later included as part of the invoice), and this was possibly most beneficial (it could just be people don't see much need to leave us reviews anymore since we have so many, but in the past when I was handing out the paper we didn't have as much)… but we are paperless now.