Critique my website please

[jmatt]

www.Valley-Computer-Service.com

My concern is that it seems too... homemade; that the "voice" of the website is too much "I" and "We" and not corporate or commercial enough. And maybe not enough graphics and partner logos, etc.

I'm also trying to figure out how to change my wordpress text color from gray to black. Do I need to change the template?

If you think it looks okay, please say so. If you think it needs work or a total revamp, please don't hold back.

 

[jmatt]

Hey, 26 of you peeked today. Somebody say something...

 

[rsarceno]

I like the header!

The menu doesn't look balance.

The grey text on white is hard to read

Menu Laptop Issue. If you only have one item, I don't think you need a drop down.

Contact. You might want to consider using a form. Some user don't use desktop email. You also might get spam if you advertise the email address.

 

[ac1]

First, I think the navigation panel is ok, but maybe try and get the "Contact" on the same line. Or you could just group "About Us" and "Contact" with a dropdown.

Maybe try and use dotpoints to convey your info on the homepage. Having a mix of a paragaph and dotpoints might make it easier to read. At the moment it just feels like a group of text. However its up to you.

Overall not bad

Hope this helps

 

[jmatt]

Thanks for the input. I figured out how to change the text color to black, I think it reads much better now.

I'm gonna try to work in bullet points on the home page; the only reason I hadn't done it is that I read that SEO prefers natural verbiage as opposed to bullet points. Who knows.

 

[16k_zx81]

www.Valley-Computer-Service.com

If you think it looks okay, please say so. If you think it needs work or a total revamp, please don't hold back.

There's a lot you can do. The header logo is nice, but the site content needs work.

Consider reading some of the threads here. There's actually lots of information on how to build a killer computer repairs website if you take the time to look.

For your site the main problems are

1. poor use of home page
2. lack of pricing information on services pages
3. no calls to action
4. lack of graphics on services pages

http://www.valley-computer-service.com/most-bang-buck/

- is it new, or recon? (not clear from the ad text)
- what is the after-sales warranty?
- what are the components in the machine? - yes even end-users can compare specs and there are none in your ad copy
- what do they get for their money?
- call to action?

---> for examples of killer pre-build ads, check some ebay sellers

--

Jim

 

[Rosco]

2. lack of pricing information on services pages

this is the one thing i disagree with i had pricing on my site for 3 years. took pricicng down becuase of the wisetechnician videos and get a lot more calls which i can turn into sales.

 

[tim fitzgerald]

I like your web site. You don't come off looking like a big corp that has no time for the client, but is professional and knows how to do exactly what he say's they can do. Bravo!!
My only concern is more photos and graphs and such.Nice Robot Logo!!

 

[jmatt]

1. poor use of home page

Can you be more specific? Bullet points?

2. lack of pricing information on services pages

I go back and forth about listing prices. As others have noted, I'd rather initiate a conversation than look for some guy that wants the cheapest cheapest cheapest service. But I also agree that when people don't see pricing, they will sometimes just leave the site.

3. no calls to action

Well, on each page I do say "You've found the solution. Call now!"

4. lack of graphics on services pages

Agreed.

- is it new, or recon? (not clear from the ad text)

I will address that more clearly. These are factory sealed boxes.

Thanks for your input!

 

[jmatt]

People seem to like the robot logo. I'm a huge comic book guy and had that done by a comic book artist I know. My opinion is that people recognize and empathize more with a character than a swirly techy logo.

If anyone wants the number for my guy, please let me know. He did that character for me for $400.

I also have a graphics guy that is ridiculously underpriced, he does all my promotional stuff (business cards, postcards, etc) at $40 an hour and only charges by the quarter hour. I swear, he's done a thousand bucks worth of promotional material for peanuts. He's more of a production guy than a design guy, so it helps if you already know exactly what you want.

Which is why I'm about to solicit for help in a B2B piece in another thread. I see no need to re-invent the wheel, I'd just like to take a proven piece and hack it into something with my own branding...

Let me know if I can help you or if you can help me with promotional stuff.

 

[16k_zx81]

Originally Posted by 16k_zx81
1. poor use of home page

Can you be more specific? Bullet points?

2. lack of pricing information on services pages

I go back and forth about listing prices. As others have noted, I'd rather initiate a conversation than look for some guy that wants the cheapest cheapest cheapest service. But I also agree that when people don't see pricing, they will sometimes just leave the site.

3. no calls to action

Well, on each page I do say "You've found the solution. Call now!"

4. lack of graphics on services pages

Agreed.

- is it new, or recon? (not clear from the ad text)

I will address that more clearly. These are factory sealed boxes.

1. Well Ive written about this numerous times and dont really feel inclined to go over it all again, hence the reference to reading this section of the Forum in more depth.

2. Its a personal choice, but personally I dont deal with companies who advertise on the web but dont provide pricing information - just because I dont have the time for conversations that may lead nowhere. I think a lot of people feel like this these days - pressed for time and just want to know (a) how much it will cost and (b) how long it will take.

You risk losing out to competitors that do provide this information by omitting it, if you are competitively priced. However, if you are expensive, then yes, correct call - you wont sell based on price.

3. Nope. You would benefit from doing some reading on what constitutes an effective call to action. I wrote an article for TN awhile back (the newsletter) which went into this. Its in the archives somewhere "turbo charge your website's selling potential" or something like that. Also, there are plenty of posts about it in this section of the Forum.

 

[jmatt]

2. Its a personal choice, but personally I dont deal with companies who advertise on the web but dont provide pricing information

You risk losing out to competitors that do provide this information by omitting it, if you are competitively priced.

I get a lot of traffic from CL, where I do specify prices. But I don't want price to be the deciding factor. On CL, you're up against "I fix any problem for $30" guys; I'm trying to stand apart from that where I can. But advice taken.

.

And thanks again for your input. I'll search the forum for Home Page advice.

 

[16k_zx81]

And thanks again for your input. I'll search the forum for Home Page advice.

NP. Use "root" as search term

 

[jmatt]

Yes. A thousand times Yes! I've wanted this since day 1 but I'm not sure how to do it in Wordpress. I will figure it out or hire someone to write it in another language.

Thanks, Jim. I've know I've neede this all along, I'm going tostop putting it off.

Wisdom:

3. 'about' page information on root page. If the site has any potential for conversion you almost completely kill it by doing this. Your customers are not interested in reading 'about' you. They are interested in reading what they can 'get' from you. To find out how to achieve this, look at how this industry prices and sells its services, confer with your client and put a mutually designed promotion on that first page. "Personal bodyguarding from $249 per day... PHONE NOW" or whatever.

You want to generate the effect in a customers mind "I WANT THAT!!!!" (so that they pick up the phone to book the service). If you're not generating that effect, your website is not working in a commercial sense.

That is the task pf your first page. If you dont hook them in there, they wont go any further.

4. Services. more images that depict IMMEDIATELY what is on offer. '5 second rule' is good. Design for '2 second rule' and you will do better. In other words, state your message FIRST with images, SECOND with headings and THIRD with text. The less TEXT you can use to get the message across, the better. No one wants to have to spend time reading any more than they have to, to find out what they need to know from your site. The more you make them read, the more likely they are to buy from the next guy.

YES have the information available, but prioritise the efficiency of how its delivered.

5. Show TRUST SYMBOLS. Everywhere.

6. Show TESTIMONIALS. Everywhere.

7. Pictures of the ACTUAL TEAM (real, not stock pictures)

 

[16k_zx81]

Yes. A thousand times Yes! I've wanted this since day 1 but I'm not sure how to do it in Wordpress. I will figure it out or hire someone to write it in another language.

Thanks, Jim. I've know I've neede this all along, I'm going tostop putting it off.

Im glad it was a helpful exercise.

Please bear in mind that this was written prior to the recent Google algorythm changes. The comments about text minimisation are still valid, but now there's the added concern that pages should be several hundred words long (300+) of quality writing, incorporating your target keywords. Dont keyword-stuff, but make sure the important words are there, and in the right places. Ensure you have a reasonable word-count on every page.

To put this in context with what I said above, get the message across fast, at the top of the page, using headings, brief text and depictive image/s, then add detail once its clear what it is you are offering, and why the consumer should buy it (ie, "below the fold") - more text, and images to make it all come together.

In other words, focus on 'quality content' in the way you build each sales pitch. You are in other words, writing for two audiences. One of them is human, the other is not, but all of it should appear as though it was written for humans.

Jim

 

[jmatt]

I had read about those changes as well, which is why I made my home page very "wordy". Honestly, it's not helping me much, I'd rather have a site that engages the user once they find it via my adwords express campaign than one that is perpetually trying to read the Google tea leaves and land on page one, organically.

I thinking perhaps of just shoving all the text far down on the page and using imagery or icons so the user can find the page he wants.