New Website being made, give me your opinon

[Computers Fixed 4U]

Hi all
Ive got a new business website being made, its not live yet, and the guys have a lot of work still to do, but i just want to see what you think

http://computerfixed.sm4.biz/

The following are being changed as i speak

the site is being made thinner (so you dont scroll accross)
Facebook and twitter and you tube intergration (with 3 videos being made to welcome users to certain aspects of the site)
The bar at the top (website from...) is being moved to the bottom
The home button on home services is being moved to the right
The laptop repair page is having more text added
The flashing lines at the end of the phone number is being removed
The DPD image is being re worked
The contact us page is having some extra lines (customer name etc)
The remote page is having the login button being worked into the image

Quite a lot a know, But i just want to know what you think on the layout, and the design aspect (personally im rather chuffed) any thing you can see your not keen on or you like or dont like (remember its under development so it will look a little rought round the edges you have to look past that

 

[TopLevelComp]

I'd start over from scratch to be honest.

Yellow background is a bit loud.

I'd start off with a Wordpress or Joomla CMS system, and go from there.

I hope you didn't pay much for this layout.

Edit:
Found the MrWebCreator, sorry bud, I think you got ripped if he charged you the full 300 pounds.
These types of web designers are the pizza techs of the web design and graphic design industry.

 

[16k_zx81]

You are going to hate me for this. You asked for feedback and - sorry - this is my honest opinion. I hope its helpful to you.

Yellow too bright

aspect ratio of images on home page is incorrect.I assume they are just placeholders. If not, the warping needs attention.

blurb on home page is verbiage IMO. consider swapping it out for something that has actual marketing value. Consider words about customer-end benefits such as 'you, yours' instead of 'we, our' - customers as a rule dont actually want to know about you - they want to know what they will get by using your service.

telephone and mobile numbers difficult to read. dont like the flashing cursors - looks like a coding fault

home support - I would change "Put the kettle on" to "you can... put the kettle on". "put the kettle on(!)" sounds like a directive, not an offer.

laptop repair - Id hazard a guess that your customers dont want an essay about the value of a portable computer. They have already bought one, so that information is probably not something they are looking for, or which is of value to them. My suggestion would be to use this space to sell: (1) the things they can obtain from your service, and (2) the benefits to them of using your service specifically.

Business support - I think you have placed too much emphasis in fitting all of the info in the box. I understand the web design maxim that the Reader should ideally be able to access information without scrolling, but this maxim when used excessively can have negative results. In the case of your page, these results are that the links are ugly (plain hypertext - eew) and its difficult to navigate. and you're making the reader click a bunch of times to read basic information about business services. Its a lot of work, and would be easier to read on a single page.

Remote help - '30 mins gen advice' Font hard to read.

For a lot of customers, the term 'remote support' is mystifying. I think you would do better to lay out this section in plainer english and explain more about how RS works, so the customer has more opportunity to 'get' the concept in order to consider buying it. At the stage its in, I dont think its altogether clear to the average end-user what RS is.

Courier service - I would ditch the second paragraph and jump right to the Hook, which is the insurance, and the convenience of a door to door service. The protection offered by the Tote bag is also an important selling point. Black on white is hard on the eyes and inconsistent with other pages of the site.

I would take "mr web creator" out of the equation. That logo makes it look like a back-yard business, and associating your business with an image that shoddy isn't doing wonders for your profile. I expect there's some kickback arrangement for you promoting it but it looks shonky the way its currently presented.

A .com domain name will give your business additional credibility. .biz looks iffy

In a nutshell, I would vertically extend the page length of the site so the pages are scrollable, and there's more information per page without having to click for it.

Font consistency might be something to consider. IMO Ideally each page should have a uniform look. Different font sizes and colors on each page is a detraction from the information, and makes the reader readjust their vision each time they hit a new page.

Color scheme might also be something to attend to. Customers will stay on sites they like the look of and are more likely to leave if a site is an eyesore. You want them to stay and click through because they like being there. I think overall appearance is a very important factor FWIW, and the colors you are using are quite jarring.

Well you asked for a critique and I gave one. Not that it will be a lot of fun to read, but I hope at least some of the points Im making help to improve the site. At the stage its at, its pretty hard on the eye though, I guess thats my main criticism.

 

[Lothian PC Repair]

the site is being made thinner (so you dont scroll accross)
I don't need to scroll but my res is 1440*900

The bar at the top (website from...) is being moved to the bottom
Get rid of that if poss or make it very subtle

The flashing lines at the end of the phone number is being removed
Good!

The DPD image is being re worked
That'll be easy - just by going to the courier's web site and pinching pics

The contact us page is having some extra lines (customer name etc)
Thought that page looked ok to tell the truth

The remote page is having the login button being worked into the image
And a description to the customer what Remote Services are...

As others have said - the yellow makes the reader need sunglasses!
As 16k_zx81 (I had a RAM pack too <g>) said, the aspect ratio of images looks stretched on my widescreen monitor...

Personally, I find the flash text flying out of nowhere annoying... (but not as annoying as those blinking cursors on the phone numbers!)

No offence intented but 'Mr Web Creator' and his own web site looks very amateurish to me.

And I agree to everything 16k_zx81 said...

 

[Bryce W]

Pretty much what the other guys have said, but also never have any important elements on the site such as the navigation your phone number as Flash. The reason why is many people dont have flash installed and some devices such as the iPhone cant even use flash at all.

Additionally, since Google has trouble reading flash, that site will have almost no SEO value. (translation, you'll probably never get a decent ranking in Google with that site)

Many typos all over the site, on the Remote Help page "technical" and "access" has been spelled wrong. A few words are missing spaces as well.
Also, why does this guy have his URL at the TOP of your site AND have his own page pointing to his site. Unless you got this done for free and that is how you a repaying him.. I would delete both.

The web designer should have known about the width issue. Most people on a CRT monitor cant do the resolution that it needs to be viewed at.

Also ask the web dev where he got the pictures from. He may not have the license for him or you to use them. I know the stock photo companies chase this up and WILL sue you if you do not have the rights to use those stock pictures. A Technibble member here once bought a web template legitimately but it turns out the person selling the templates did not have the license to the pictures and the Technician got served to goto court. Not sure how it turned out in the end.

Im really sorry to tell you this, and I am not trying to be nasty, but this guy has broken just about every modern web design rule there is.

As others have mentioned, we are not hating on you or giving you a tear down. This is genuine help and that is our feedback that you asked for.

 

[Ccomp5950]

Pretty much what the other guys have said, but also never have any important elements on the site such as the navigation your phone number as Flash. The reason why is many people dont have flash installed and some devices such as the iPhone cant even use flash at all.

Additionally, since Google has trouble reading flash, that site will have almost no SEO value. (translation, you'll probably never get a decent ranking in Google with that site)

It defaults to a text version when flash or java aren't detected, should be fine for google.

What it looks like in a text only browser.

 

[puzz1ed1]

I'm a little reluctant to comment after all the other criticism

Picking up on the stock images issue - I've seen some of them on the sites of other TN members in the last few days,..... that may lead some people to think you are connected in some way (may be a good or bad thing!). I also began to wonder if you are MrWebCreator - again, may or may not be the impression you want to give.

Several typos and careless spelling errors throughout. Why do people want to insulate their printer, and what's a bottem line? Technicle support?!

MrWebCreator talks about unique sites and being accessible, but demonstrates neither.

The site is very vibrant, and there is something aesthetically exciting about it, but that can - and is - detracting from the key message(s)....

On a more positive note - I'd be interested in chatting some more as may be able to refer some business your way in time.

Steve

 

[Computers Fixed 4U]

Hi Guys
Thanks for the comments i do appreciate it, (althought some of you could have saved your time in writting, if you had read the origonal first post the changes you have said are already in progress lol) and the .biz name isnt real, this is just a dummy site for me to watch the update

I agree with the yellow its a little strong, so ill get that changed.

Regarding the typos, that doesnt bother me, all typos will be removed, as before it goes live, they are have someone brought in to proof read the site.

Regarding the flash, i do agree with phone number, ill change that i think

The sites text on the main page is being changed, just waiting to see a new update.

The width isnt final, as i say its not live, and being worked on, it wont go live till im happy,

with regard to apple, the site is being made to work as well as it can on an ipad or iphone, but i made it clear to them that its not an issue, customers can still view the site, but in word format on an ipad (im not a fan of apple products, and dont work on them or own one, and nearly all my customers either dont own an ipad, or iphone, or if they did, they looked on a windows based pc or laptop)

On the business page, im removing the service packages for the time being, so the page will spread its self out.

Im having 3 videos made, all about 30 seconds long each, the first on the home page welcomeing customers to my company and the services.
the second on the remote page, explaining why its a great service
the third is on the courior page, explaing why thats a great service.

Like some of you said, i need to explain the service a bit more, so the videos work wonders in explaining very quickly the benifits.

The main change which im glad you said was the font consitancy, i agree with that, (couldnt really make my mind up on it but have now) so thats gonna be changed so it all looks the same

I hope you guys dont think im biteing back, im not, i do really appreciate the feedback,

with regards to Mr Web Creator, (im not them honust) but i will say that like all of us, they are qualified, and like a lot of us, they had to start somewhere, this is why there prices are cheap (they need a portfolio) i know when i started my prices were so low i was bording on free. so i think its a little harsh to rip into them, if you look at the porfolio of previous work you can see how many happy customers they have give them a break there new, but i have full confedence in there work.

Oh and Cheers Steve, be good to have a chat