New Website - Opinions please!

[DocGreen]

Hi guys!

Due to some... issues... I've had to rebuild my website. I decided to go with Wordpress this time around as I keep hearing that its the thing to do, and I'm actually pretty satisfied with the experience! That being said, I'm a Wordpress novice, so I want to make sure I've done everything right, so... anyone mind having a look and telling me what you think?

http://www.pcpitcrewsb.net

A few things I should point out:
• I haven't finished the Remote Support page yet, but it's not a priority
• There are a few things missing that I plan to add in later- reviews, blog, etc. I plan to upgrade to the premium version of the theme I'm using (vantage) which will give me more customization in my menu. As it is now, if I add anything more to the menu it ends up way too large on a mobile device.
• I've been told to find a more professional pic for my "about" blurb... working on that (also waiting on a pic for another employee who isn't listed yet.)

One of the things I'm specifically concerned about is the SEO. I'm using the Yeost SEO plugin, but it tells me that my homepage has no text, and is giving me a really low SEO score (see first image below.) I assume its because I'm using a static front page, and used the page builder/widgets to designe it (see second image.)

Thank you in advance for the critique!

 

[gadgetfixup]

You're a little heavy on the graphics size. 7.2mb is a pretty hefty page load size, especially if your visitors are on mobile. The images are great but you can resize them without losing the visual impact to reduce the page load size.

http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/#!/bnPCoa/http://www.pcpitcrewsb.net/

 

[nlinecomputers]

I'd make the phone number bigger so that it stands out better. But it looks good.

 

[fencepost]

As a more general thing, if using WordPress you need to do a couple things: Make sure you keep it updated with new releases (just sign into the control panel periodically), and I recommend running a "firewall" on it (I use https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-simple-firewall/) that will basically trap and block a bunch of common attack patterns like requests containing SQL commands or "../../../../" directory traversal attempts.

 

[mikey314]

Nice job!

I agree with everyone above, nice tips! From a quick glance it looks good, but it's a bit slow especially on mobile. Compressing images will help a lot, but you can see a list from Google on other tips here:
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=http://www.pcpitcrewsb.net/&tab=desktop

The easiest thing to do would be to use gzip compression, which is typically a button you press somewhere in your hosting panel, or you have to ask your host to enable it.

Google also suggests "minifying" your resources, so turning like 10 JS files into 1 JS file for faster loading. That works, most of the time, but sometimes your JS will error out with some bad issues if a plugin does it wrong. I see you're running W3 already, it has that option so you might want to try it out - just be ready to disable it if it breaks things Typically I suggest Super Cache over W3 Total Cache.

From a content standpoint - you might want to make your phone number "clickable" so when on mobile you can tap on the phone number and it will open your phone app up.

From a WordPress standpoint, like they said above - update, update, update, and backup, backup, backup. My favourite backup plugins are UpdraftPlus (https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus/) and VaultPress (https://vaultpress.com/ not free).

 

[300DDR]

On Bryce's last video, he mentions that the photo sliders at the top of your main page are no good. They do not convert, wasting valuable space to "sell" to customers. I'm getting my website redesigned now specifically to remove our photo slider, so I can test and see if conversions go up without it.

 

[DocGreen]

I'd make the phone number bigger so that it stands out better. But it looks good.

I'm not sure that I can make it bigger... the phone number at the top is part of the theme I think

Nice job!

I agree with everyone above, nice tips! From a quick glance it looks good, but it's a bit slow especially on mobile. Compressing images will help a lot, but you can see a list from Google on other tips here:
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=http://www.pcpitcrewsb.net/&tab=desktop

The easiest thing to do would be to use gzip compression, which is typically a button you press somewhere in your hosting panel, or you have to ask your host to enable it.

Google also suggests "minifying" your resources, so turning like 10 JS files into 1 JS file for faster loading. That works, most of the time, but sometimes your JS will error out with some bad issues if a plugin does it wrong. I see you're running W3 already, it has that option so you might want to try it out - just be ready to disable it if it breaks things Typically I suggest Super Cache over W3 Total Cache.

From a content standpoint - you might want to make your phone number "clickable" so when on mobile you can tap on the phone number and it will open your phone app up.

From a WordPress standpoint, like they said above - update, update, update, and backup, backup, backup. My favourite backup plugins are UpdraftPlus (https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus/) and VaultPress (https://vaultpress.com/ not free).

I just went through the settings on W3 Total Cache last night and enabled the caching and minifying... did it not work? If I get rid of W3 in favor of Super Cache, am I going to have any issues (is it going to break the site? lol)

On Bryce's last video, he mentions that the photo sliders at the top of your main page are no good. They do not convert, wasting valuable space to "sell" to customers. I'm getting my website redesigned now specifically to remove our photo slider, so I can test and see if conversions go up without it.

The static images in the slider now are just temporary. When I have more time, I was planning on overlaying text and using it as a sort of ad to feature different services/specials we offer with calls-to-action. My only concern with that is that it would be too small to read on a mobile device. Anyone have any tips for that idea?

Thanks for all the input guys!

 

[gadgetfixup]

On Bryce's last video, he mentions that the photo sliders at the top of your main page are no good. They do not convert, wasting valuable space to "sell" to customers. I'm getting my website redesigned now specifically to remove our photo slider, so I can test and see if conversions go up without it.

I don't think a slider that reflects your offerings is a waste of space. I believe if you make your slider a sliding menu it's not a waste of space. i.e. if you offer remote repair, computer service, mac service and tablet service with a slide of each linking you an internal page explaining your offerings in more detail then your slider works as a menu bar. I do agree a slider that just shows graphics without specific offerings and no links to internal pages is probably just eye candy and a waste of prime real estate.

 

[catsnotdrugs]

I'm not a fan of clicking the services button at the top only to be taken to a page where I have to select another button for residential or business services. I'm aware the top menu drops down allowing me to select residential or business but still not a fan of it.

 

[DocGreen]

I'm not a fan of clicking the services button at the top only to be taken to a page where I have to select another button for residential or business services. I'm aware the top menu drops down allowing me to select residential or business but still not a fan of it.

I'm not either, but I couldn't figure out how to make "Services" not be an actual page. Anyone else know? (Separating bus & res into separate menu items makes the menu too big on mobile devices)

 

[rockhoptec]

I'm not either, but I couldn't figure out how to make "Services" not be an actual page. Anyone else know? (Separating bus & res into separate menu items makes the menu too big on mobile devices)

easiest way is within wordpress, go to the menu section, create a link for services and put # sign instead of the actual url. This will create the link but not go anywhere. Then add your dropdowns nested underneath. I believe on the left hand side of the menu page your choice is create external link. Once added to your menu you can delete the old service link and the service page.
Hope that helps,

 

[glennd]

easiest way is within wordpress, go to the menu section, create a link for services and put # sign instead of the actual url. This will create the link but not go anywhere. Then add your dropdowns nested underneath. I believe on the left hand side of the menu page your choice is create external link. Once added to your menu you can delete the old service link and the service page.
Hope that helps,

Thanks!

 

[DocGreen]

easiest way is within wordpress, go to the menu section, create a link for services and put # sign instead of the actual url. This will create the link but not go anywhere. Then add your dropdowns nested underneath. I believe on the left hand side of the menu page your choice is create external link. Once added to your menu you can delete the old service link and the service page.
Hope that helps,

Excellent! Thanks for that, I'll give that a try tonight

 

[DocGreen]

Worked like a charm! Thanks again @rockhoptec !!