Sinntechnologies Website Feedback

[Tech bud]

http://sinntechnologies.net/ In my defense, I would rather learn to code as I think the future holds more money in it. Just got to practice and get it down.

 

[GTP]

http://sinntechnologies.net/ In my defense, I would rather learn to code as I think the future holds more money in it. Just got to practice and get it down.

I know "Jack" about web design or SEO or coding but, I like it!
It took about 15 seconds to load for me.
There is no phone number or address being prominently displayed at the top.
Personally I never look to the footer for an address or phone number.
I especially like the fact I can scroll to the bottom of the page with one roll of the wheel though!
I loathe scrolling on webpages and if I have to do any more than one scroll of the wheel - I'm gone!
When the "Pack" arrive they'll give it a proper mauling for you! Lol

 

[glennd]

Now I'm afraid to post my site, I hand coded it newb style haha

Looks good. I see you do housework too!? Does that include the dishes? "Flat Rates only includes in housework and labor costs."

I can see the perfect spot above the menu for a nice big phone number!!

 

[Tech bud]

Ya, I should probably put in house work or sop work haha

 

[Your PCMD]

Now I'm afraid to post my site, I hand coded it newb style haha

Put it up and face "The Pack!" lol

Did @Barcelona call me? Why yes, I think he did.

Hello @Tech bud I am here to as part of the "pack" to review your site. You should already hear the whimpers in the distance.

First, its clean and minimal, I like that. Also, you "hand coded it", a positive in my book as others here will tell you how I feel about web design. But please, add some color. The all gray and white theme brings a mood of depression.

Also, spacing. Use line-height, its your friend. Also, use margins, they are your friend too. Don't use margin_top or margin-bottom, etc. but instead use margins like this: margin: 1px 1px 1px 1px (top, right, bottom, left).

In your css, your using things like:

p {
   padding-left: 20px;
   padding-right: 20px;
}

Instead use this:

p {
    padding: 0 1.2em 0 1.2em;
    line-height: 1em;
}

The normal pixel size for text is 16px, or 1em. You would use em instead of px because monitors of today are bigger then the 17-19 inch monitors that px was suited for so you want you text to display correctly for different size monitors.

Also in your Content/MyStyleSheet.css you use Rockwell font which is very boxy. Try using Open Sans. Add the following to the very top of your CSS:

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans');

Then use this:

body {
    background-image: url("../Assets/crossword.png");
    font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif, serif;
    color: #fff;
}

Notice that I use the hex for the color instead of the name, in your case, white. Always use the hex number for colors. Heres a link for reference.

Your menu is off by a fare amount in your dropdown-menu. Even though your using bootstrap, you NEED to define dropdown-menu in your CSS stylesheet, not just the navBTN or navbar.

When in mobile view, your menu text including the dropdown should be pushed to the left, not centered. Although thats a personal choice, I find it much more professional than centered. Use text-align: left but dont forget padding-left: .85em;

Other than that, there are a few more quirks and I'd be happy to go over them later today.

To add, there is a huge issue with your site. You have no SEO. Just add this to the top of your pages.

<meta property="og:site_name" content="Sinn Technologies"/>
<meta property="og:url" content="http://sinntechnologies.net"/>
<meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" />
<meta property="og:title" content="Sinn Technologies" />
<meta property="og:type" content="website" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Sinn Technologies provides computer services to the local residents and businesses of Middleton, WI and surrounding areas. Quality services at affordable prices."/>
<meta property="og:image" content="http://sinntechnologies.net/Assets/SinnTechnologiesLogo.png"/>

Your welcome!

Also, keywords in your meta tags are not needed anymore as top search engines (Google, Bing, etc) pull "keywords" from the actual site text in the <body></body> now-a-days. But if you must use keywords, limit to 5 or 6 for those who "may" use antiquated browsers like IE8, IE9, etc.

Also, get a facebook page for your company. Even if you never use it, get one. You would be surprised at how it will boost you in rankings in search engines. Make sure you get your facebook page ID number and add this under your SEO above.

<meta property="fb:app_id" content="your facebook ID number" />

 

[Tech bud]

Thanks will have to check it out when home. I'm also adding a contact form in the footer.

 

[Your PCMD]

Thanks will have to check it out when home. I'm also adding a contact form in the footer.

No, dont do that. Instead add a button to your existing contact form. Why have it twice?

 

[Tech bud]

I wasn't going to add it to the contact page, but it will be in the footer on every page, just a quick input box for email and a message. I was reading that the odds are that people will contact you more if you do that. *shrug* I get good hits, I got 122 sessions in a month and a half, got to convert though.

 

[Tech bud]

Update:I got what I was talking about done for the footer section, just a quick contact. That's enough for this guy tonight haha

 

[Bryce W]

Update:I got what I was talking about done for the footer section, just a quick contact. That's enough for this guy tonight haha

What if they've got a problem with their email and want you to fix it? Your form only asks for the email address as the way to get back to them. Ask for a phone number too.

 

[Tech bud]

A phone number would be a good idea, I know a lot of people don't like giving it out though, I just want make it required. An PCMD, not ignoring your suggestions, just that one will take some time. But I do have a Facebook, Twitter and Google+ page. I still have to add Twitter in my footer as I made an account as an after thought, but surprisingly I get a lot of traffic from there.

 

[Bryce W]

An PCMD, not ignoring your suggestions, just that one will take some time.

This is why I always recommend using something like Wordpress to get up and running quickly. It can be done in a few minutes on Wordpress.

Having coding knowledge is important, and I too took the time to learn it all back in the day. But as I become wiser in business, I find it becomes less and less of a good idea. Sure, its helpful, but you are in the business of fixing computers and making money. If you are losing hours coding you are not fixing computers and making money.

The site is coming along, but its still not even close to what most Wordpress themes offer out of the box. There are other factors that pro web devs know, build the theme appropriately and you probably never even see it. Optimal mobile structure, built in SEO etc..

Just spend $15, load up a theme and get it all running TODAY. No customer is going to right click, view source and go "damn, thats some nice clean code. Im gonna hire this guy to fix my computer"

 

[glennd]

No customer is going to right click, view source and go "damn, thats some nice clean code. Im gonna hire this guy to fix my computer"

fair point!

 

[Tech bud]

I guess for me normally I have the time to do it. I got six repairs last month on top of my full time job. But I see it as a money maker too. Get good at it on my free time and make my own templates and charge as a managed service on top of the rest of service. Later when I have less time, hire a really good designer to do it full time.

thinking once I have a couple templates done I can probably have a site up in a couple hours hand coded, find some keywords. Charge $20 a month for server space and give a discount for a couple hours of work.

I guess that is why I kept my name Broad, I want to do more than just repair. I figure my name fills an umbrella of things.

 

[Bryce W]

I guess for me normally I have the time to do it. I got six repairs last month on top of my full time job. But I see it as a money maker too.

If you are using it as a way to upskill because you will be offering those services, then fair enough. Techs learn by tinkering, devs learn by building stuff. I used to offer both myself.

From a BUSINESS perspective though, there can be a trap with "Ive got time to do it" which you might have to watch out for.

It can be "Ive got time to focus on this thing which keeps me from getting clients now, because I dont have clients". Thats a trap.
When its better to just get something up quickly (like Wordpress + theme) and start bringing the money in. Which is why I unsually recommend going down that path.

To be honest, even if you are doing dev work, I would still focus on learning Wordpress instead. People want to update their own sites these days. They want to blog, they want to content market etc.. They see these beautiful sites in their niches and they are nearly all Wordpress powered.

I know hand coding gets you nerd cred, but clients would be happier with you setting up Wordpress, setting up a theme and customizing with their logo/images/colors, and you showing them how to update it. Its easy for you, something you can charge for and they'll be super happy.

 

[GTP]

No customer is going to right click, view source and go "damn, thats some nice clean code. Im gonna hire this guy to fix my computer"

Thanks for the laugh @Bryce W
I needed that...

 

[Diggs]

This is why I always recommend using something like Wordpress to get up and running quickly. It can be done in a few minutes on Wordpress.

Wordpress pages and themes are so slick and over-developed that it puts some customers off. When I tested my web site with a slick Wordpress theme against my clunker hand-hewed HTML template my old crappy HTML site won hands down with more the a 2:1 preference. Seems people in my market did not like that slick presentation and thought it was from a big (read expensive) company that they didn't want to do business with. They wanted local, small and hometown which is the feel of my current hand-done site. I still want to get back to a Wordpress site some day (makes mobile easier too) but will be very careful on how it is presented.

 

[Tech bud]

I just find it hard to pass up when I see people offering $3000 or my months pay for a website I feel I could make in a couple days. Or argue with the guy about how I charge too much for the $100 data recovery he never made a back up of.

But I do think you're right to only push for repairs, as that is my only focus on marketing right now. I just wanted to get my site up and going so its there. Now I'm reading a marketing book so I can push the more profitable repairs. I want to entice the residential customers to sign up for days that I had preset up for a big discount. That way I can get them all done in one hit, free up the rest of the month for the big cash jobs, for deve work.

As I get buzzier, I can hire help to do some of the repairs as it's easier to show some one else to repair then it is to develop. I already have a strong grasp on C#. I'm going to build templates that I can showcase and have them choose, charge a cheap price if I can reuse the template, if not more expensive. But don't offer custom stuff at first. I guess to keep things short, I'm going to progress into that.

May even do TV repair, as I get a lot of hits into that.