My Website critique please

[mooncat]

This is still a work in progress, but I'm liking how it looks thus far (at least for being on tight budget). Some pages still need to be finished.

www.mooncatrepair.com

I'm aiming towards simple, but with some energy to it. I plan on doing much more with it, like adding a you tube video introduction (where user has to push play, not one that plays automatically) and a picture of me on the front page. Let me know what you think.

 

[sjlplat]

Well, I don't want to be offensive so please don't take this the wrong way. Coming from a web development background, I have to say that I would not publish this site to promote a business.

Depending on your webhost, you may have access to a CMS (content management system) like Joomla, Drupal, or Wordpress. These all support themes and plugins, and can be used to quickly publish a professional-looking website. If you are set on designing your site yourself, these are probably your best bet.

If you are interested in hiring someone to do the design, you might consider a freelancer. There are quite a few sites that support the freelance community, and you can take bids for your site development. A couple of mention are http://www.freelancer.com/ and http://www.rentacoder.com

 

[mooncat]

Thanks for the reply sjlplat...no offense taken. I have downloaded joomla and when I get some time will play with it. I just needed to get something up there for now. I have a web designer that I refer people to, but really can't afford to pay for my own design right now.

Can you be a little more specific on what you don't like about it? I don't mind the constructive criticism, and you can pm me if you want.

 

[sjlplat]

Thanks for the reply sjlplat...no offense taken. I have downloaded joomla and when I get some time will play with it. I just needed to get something up there for now. I have a web designer that I refer people to, but really can't afford to pay for my own design right now.

Can you be a little more specific on what you don't like about it? I don't mind the constructive criticism, and you can pm me if you want.

I think that it all looks more like a personal homepage than a professional business site. The background is cartoonish, the text is plain, the site structure is out of proportion, and there is no real flow to the content. The footer states that the site is valid XHTML 1.0 Strict, but I'm seeing 17 XHTML errors. The Idavista site in the link at the bottom appears to be a personal page with no relative content.

I feel a sense of pride in every site I develop, and I can appreciate the work and effort you have put into your site. However, I really feel that in its current state it will do more harm than good.

Just to give you an idea about where I'm coming from, I will say that your site looks a lot like my first personal homepage that I developed in 1995. Very basic in nature, and not ideal for promoting a business; particularly if you have competition. Customers will base their purchases on the presentation of your website. If a competitor's site looks more professional, then an informed consumer is probably going to buy from the competitor.

 

[L-CSteve]

Personally i would never add a picture of myself on my business website, i dont want to scare my customers off before i speak to them, lol.

Please take no offence, It also doesnt seem to be business like website, looks more like a personal page.

Kind Regards

 

[cmonova]

I don't get it. If you are actually going to go into business then it cost a few dollars and the "I don't have the money now" thing does not fly. You are not the only one so don't take it that way. But, starting a business cost money besides just a website. I actually believe people should not start unless they are really prepared.

But, you mention that you have a web person that you refer people to. But, you are telling me that person will not hook you up with a small professional site for now till you get things going? What kind of business person are they if you are sending referrals and they don't take care of you?

I would not waste my time with Joomla because I don't think you will end up with anything better. Best case is user Wordpress for a simple profesisonal design and go with that if you must.

$100 you can get someone to get you a simple one pager to get up and going and look professional.

 

[mooncat]

points taken...took it down and shot an email to my web designer friend. Thank you.