Hello Everyone.. Aaron's PC Support asking for critique please!

phaZed

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Hi,

I did a total redesign of my website. Please, if you could give it a look and tell me what you think.

http://www.AaronsPCSupport.com

I had another site up with too little content, and not enough appeal to keep people on the site for more than 30 seconds according to google :( ... so this is an attempt to rectify the situation, and google is now reporting better stats, but still too new to tell.

Thanks in advance,
 
On the header of the contact us page, your logo is broken, the i in Images isn't capitalized and isn't resolving.

Other than that, bravo!
 
First off, just 'cause I've come with a bunch of things does not mean the site looks like crap. It's a lot slicker than mine. I know what I want but lack the web skills (and time/patience) to get it :)

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I'd recommend reconsidering some of your links (e.g. Squareup). Consider every link on your page that goes away from your site to be an opportunity to lose a customer's attention. If they, for example, follow that Squareup link ... they might get distracted and not come back.

At the very least, make sure they open in a new tab/window.

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You've got yourself a domain. Take 10 minutes and set up Google Apps so you can have email that doesn't go to a gmail address.

Aaron@AaronsPCSupport.com looks 10x better than AaronsPCSupport@gmail.com

(And set up the gmail account to forward to the new one)


Personally, I'd ditch the comparisons to "Box stores". Maybe keep the first, top one but I'd lose the one farther down with rates and a link away to Best Buy. Don't try to build yourself up by making them look worse.

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Your 'text me' box has a link to the company providing the service. At the bottom of their page is an ad shown below (in case it goes dead, it's "Find One Night Stand Chicks..."):
dating.jpg

That might put off a lot of folks.
Don't know if you have no choice but to have that link there. All cell phones have an email attached to them. Mine is "##########@txt.bell.ca". Could you have a plain contact form that sends the text to that email address which arrives as a text?

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Terms of Service:
First paragraph is unimportant and not really a "term", if you know what I mean. You might want to put it on the contact page but it seems out of place there.

Second paragraph: I think you mean "by contracting" and not "by contacting". If they simply call or email you, that's not very binding.

Third: Belongs on a "Services" page, not terms. "Can't wait around"..? Sure you can! I'll twiddle my thumbs at $XX/hour. If someone wants to pay you to wait, let them; that's why most places charge more for on-sites.

I'll stop there -- examine which are actual "terms of service" and which are "just the way you do some things".

Last paragraph: Don't Need To Capitalize Every Word.

 
eHousecalls,

Great suggestions.. all valid points that I will need to address.

I was wondering if anyone would mention the email address. I will get right on that too.

I appreciate the time you took to make a great evaluation!
 
I just think the design work requires a lot of work. It looks like a site out of the 90's it needs more of a web 2.0 feel in my opinion.
 
I was only able to skim it as I am kinda busy at the moment, but I love the site. Actually its one of the best sites Ive seen on here for critique in ages. The layout is good, the information's all there, theres no verbiage that I could see... nice job. Its a really well-thought out and presented site IMO! (in fact, Ive bookmarked it to come back to and read again.)
 
I like it. Not sure if it's just me or not but the paypal box does not look like the shape is centerned. Other than that the content is very well written and laid out.

If anything I'd get a real nice banner done and replace the black and white lettering...I think that will make it look real sharp.
 
Still busy so dont have time to read thread, but had another look and suggest changing url names to better keyword optimise. Use google keyword tool and match names to "computer repair" (replace PC repair)

consider 'computer repair' in H1 and in bold
consider 'laptop repair' in H1 and in bold

Increase keyword density on relevant pages.

'computer services' is also a high-ranking keyword, if you can incorporate

Not sure about the wisdom of having your email address printed on the site. seems like a good way to attract spam.

FREE Diagnosis included with all repairs

When you have your personal computer or laptop serviced at Aaron's PC Support, you will receive a FREE diagnosis. Aaron's PC Support will be able to tell you what is wrong and what will need to be fixed. A flat rate quote will be given and it is then up to YOU to decide if service is carried out!

consider substituting 'diagnosis' (infers you plan to find something wrong, or that there is already, with 'diagnostics' which infers seeking information. I think the wording here needs to be changed as it sounds like you plan on finding something wrong and offering to charge more for it. Could put customers off.

'free tune up', maybe?
 
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Thanks Guys

BryanVest:
Noted.. I will try to learn more :)

Appletax:
Ya, that's it.. Got a new ad circulating on there too that looks more like the website. Not just a picture post, but HTML.

16k_zx81:
Thanks! I appreciate it!

cmonova:
Could you tell me which browser you are using? Looks centered over here on firefox.. what isn't centered are those darned Paypal and Facebook Javascript "Like" buttons! I tried everything to get those centered.

If anyone could help me get those centered it would be much appreciated.

I tried DIVs, Tables, nesting the Javaq in P tags, and then centering to no avail!

Sincerely,
Aaron Heidlebaugh
 
Possible solution

Aaron:
I took a look at your site and I think I may have a solution for you. Inside the frame you gave an absolute position and only set the top attribute. Try either to center the whole frame or play around with a setting for centering the box. Just put it next to your top attribute like this, right=xx px.

Also since you are using FF (I am too) you may want to download this addon for FF:

http://users.skynet.be/mgueury/mozilla/index.html

It's called the HTML Validator and it checks your site against the W3C. It's an easy way to make sure your site looks very similar in every browser. BTW the addon is free ;)

Hope this helps,

Guillermo
 
Hi GeekPCSupport,

A appreciate the help, but I don't follow. I have been keeping the site as liquid as possible and I am using divs with percentages. It is set for min and max sizes (for different monitors).

If you are referring to the menu bar ".container" div; if I align="center" the facebook and tweet icons are still to the far right of the menu bar.

I have tried to put the icons in tables, and divs... center them, they still float to the far right.

I use firebug at the moment with FF, but havn't been using it yet.. just wanted to get the site up. I checked it once and there was nothing too serious.
 
This is among my favorite site I have seen. It's kept simple, easy to navigate, and sticks to a simple plan.

On the other hand I feel that you have a couple of things to improve on.

1. You state a flat price for virus removal!!! Also this price is WAY TO LOW in my opinion. I can understand your basic price but the way you word it on your home page it makes me think. OH they will remove my virus for $XX.XX and that it no matter how many I have or how bad they are.

2. Second you repeat things more then needed. You say hard drive replacement in 3 spots, and so forth. Now this may not be bad its just something that I saw and didn't like.

Again I really like the site and might need permitted to copy the basic set up if that's ok. Also I am hopping to still the picture of the broken laptop screen ;). A+ on the site and pictures.
 
Hi Desert,

Thanks for the feedback! I don't mind if you use the laptop screen picture, just please host it yourself.. don't leech it off of my server, that's my only request. The pic came off of google, and many copies of it exist. I simply added the shadow effect to it.

The basic setup came from a Dreamweaver template.

In response to your critique:
1.Virus removal - I do offer a flat-rate service for virus removal, regardless of how long or how many. I will admit most of the work performed is by using automated tools, and 9 times out of 10 the automated tools do a fine job. This is why I thought to offer a flat rate; 1 virus, or 30 viruses, the tools don't really take any longer. I usually figure 6-8 hours, and generally have 2-3 systems on the bench per day.. so the money is there. I am going to increase my price to $89, from $79. I have local "real shops" (not home-based) that charge $99.. so I feel I must beat that price?

2. Repetition - I did this mostly for the search engines. Secondly, I thought about the way people will use my site. Most are not going to read entire pages, rather, they will skip to the section they "need." By skipping to the requested section the customer wouldn't experience the repetitive words per say.

Please, if you have found a "strange" sentence/paragraph, let me know! There were many 2 am nights spent typing all that stuff. :)

Sincerely,
 
Hi Desert,

Thanks for the feedback! I don't mind if you use the laptop screen picture, just please host it yourself.. don't leech it off of my server, that's my only request. The pic came off of google, and many copies of it exist. I simply added the shadow effect to it.

The basic setup came from a Dreamweaver template.

In response to your critique:
1.Virus removal - I do offer a flat-rate service for virus removal, regardless of how long or how many. I will admit most of the work performed is by using automated tools, and 9 times out of 10 the automated tools do a fine job. This is why I thought to offer a flat rate; 1 virus, or 30 viruses, the tools don't really take any longer. I usually figure 6-8 hours, and generally have 2-3 systems on the bench per day.. so the money is there. I am going to increase my price to $89, from $79. I have local "real shops" (not home-based) that charge $99.. so I feel I must beat that price?

2. Repetition - I did this mostly for the search engines. Secondly, I thought about the way people will use my site. Most are not going to read entire pages, rather, they will skip to the section they "need." By skipping to the requested section the customer wouldn't experience the repetitive words per say.

Please, if you have found a "strange" sentence/paragraph, let me know! There were many 2 am nights spent typing all that stuff. :)

Sincerely,

Your welcome and I wont leach off your site.

Makes sense on charge and also makes sense on repetition so you stick with that.
 
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