Ok, I’m going to open up a can of worms and ask for reviews on my site. Please keep in mind that my primary goal with the site is to show known customers my samples. I intend to add to my sample pages as time goes on (these pages are somewhat limited at the moment).
I also like the idea of having an email address with the business name included. To me this alone is worth the seven bucks a month to keep the site active.
Quick background, I’ve been doing the woodworking thing professionally for about a year now and it’s my goal to grow the business five years down the road when my youngest is finally in school.
Thanks in advance for the help,
Joe
site: www.jmadson.com
Replies
basically I like it.
Clean, fast loading.
I don't care that much for the background color, but don't have a better suggestion.
For the gallery you might want to orgainize them into categories instead of having to keep paging though them.
And you need to either bump up the resolution of the pictures a somewhat and/or more "click to enlarge".
The train shelf and bat (I think that is what is is) show very badly.
The other look "sorta OK" as is.
Joe,
First impressions...
(I also posted this in the other website review thread)
I HATE mailto links (like on your CONTACT ME page.) This is actually more than a personal preference, because it can be a real PITA if the visitor doesn't understand that clicking the mailto link will open their default mail client. For example, on my personal computer, MS Outlook is set as the default mail client, even though I have never used it. This means that if I click the mailto link, Outlook opens. OK, fine, so I type my email. Try to send it, and it gives me an error because I haven't specified MY email address (the return address) or my POP3 or SMTP host. Now I have to figure out how to do that. Is a visitor going to want to spend the time, or are they going to get frustrated and leave?
Putting an email address in the body of the page is also an invitation to spam. Robots crawl hither and yon across the web, harvesting addresses wherever they can and taking them back to their owner, who then adds them to his mailing lists. If you're going to have an email address published on a webpage, don't make it a mailto link. Either leave it plain text and assume the visitor can copy and paste, or make it a link to a contact FORM, where the user can send you a message directly from your site. (Giving you the additional advantage that the user never leaves your site to go to an external mail client).
Leave the euchre link off your page. Your page should be a representation of your professional self, not your personal self. The Adobe link is good, but why not include it next to the actual PDF file links. That way if someone needs the reader, they don't have to go to the Links page to find the Adobe link. I guess I generally don't like Links pages, because I think they get filled up with a bunch of stuff that no one really cares about. JMHO! <g>
I like the concept/completion idea - nicely executed!!
On the Contact Me page, I thought your text " Please feel free to
contact me even if you just want to discuss your project ideas." was a little bit desperate - like "please, please please contact me for anything, even little things, please". I don't think there's anything wrong at all with being willing to work on little projects, or just consult with someone, or whatever. No problem with that at all. I would just think about rewording this text. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else read this the way I did, or if it just rubbed me the wrong way...
I also might change the link text from "Samples" to something else. "Samples" almost makes it sound like you're giving out samples of something. Maybe "Projects" or "Portfolio"???
Joe, there's a lot good with your site too; it's late, though and I need my beauty sleep, so unfortunately you just get my "dislikes" and not many of my "likes". A little tweaking and you can go from a good site to a great one!
I think there's too much information that comes off in a negative way such as how a job might be too big. Why bring any negativity into your wording. Deal with that when the time comes. Wording like that immediately made me think, "hmmmmm".
Also when I go into a linked page it initially is irritating to me. It just seems all over the place. Displeasing to my eyes right off the bat rather than inviting.
There seemed to be no flow about it. Letters of all shapes and sizes and numbers hit you right off the bat..
The site seems a little amateurish or home made for a better choice of words.
In the case of this particular site I'd say less would be more.
But this is just one man's opinion...and thats all it is....hey...I didn't like McCartney's newest album and everyone else did so...If Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
Hi Joe,
This could be a long post but I'll try to keep it short. Even though your focus right now may be existing customers, the real purpose of having a website is to attract future customers who might not know about your service yet. If you'd want to build your business online and bring in customers through your website here are some tips to consider:
1.Reduce the graphics on your homepage and start writing more about who you are and why your potential customer should continue visiting your site. In other words give them the "what's in it for me". In this case the site vistor can finally create that custom wood finished entertainment center that she's always wanted. Or how easy it really is to finally get her bathroom vanity remodeled the way she's always wanted. Think of it as a personal letter to your customer explaning what's in store for them on the site.
2. Capture their email adresses and contact information by offering either a FREE Newsletter or 10-15 page guide on how they can turn any
boring living room for example into an excitng entertainment center with just a little planning and some expert woodworking. This way you can contact them again with your newsletter and remind them of your services
3. Put testomonials on your home page as soon as you can. Since no one has heard of you yet you'll have to work to establish your credibility fast. Nothing does this like testomonials from satisfied customers.
4. Add informative articles to your website. This not only brings more value but also helps establish you as an expert in your field. In this case your service is related to smaller remodeling projects such as cabinets, bathrooms, and other custom work that isn't as expensive as full scale remodeling. Therefore you can reach that niche of homeowners who are looking for simpler projects and nothing grand or expensive.
5. Use pictures of the work you've done to put in articles or alongside the information you post on your site. That will make your work much more relevant and engaging to the vistor.
These are just a few tips that you can use to dramatically improve your website. Of course there's a lot more but one of the first things you should consider before designing any site is how people will actually find you. To do that online, you'll need to know the know the kinds of words people search for on the internet that are related to your service. Since you're local you also may want to advertise your website in local papers. That should get you started. Good luck.
I think Site advisor is spot on. I also agree about telling people what you can do and Not what you can not. Or put the can not a picture of the cathedral of Norte Dame
Good luck Jim III
Exellent site. Informative, thought-provoking, and easy to nav.
Since I do similar work, I know how difficult it is to present a true panorama of all of your abilities and craftsmanship without getting too cumbersome.
I just rely on word-of-mouth, and do OK. Gets me to thinkin'....
<TITLE>JMadson Custom Woodwork</TITLE> (try adding your state and city to the title--at least you will be able to find yourself when searching for your site)
<META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="JMadson Custom Woodwork Naperville Joe Madson"> (think about adding these scope descriptions below to this... as well as large major cities near you)
Built-In Units
- Bookcases
- Desks
- Shelves
- Trim-Work
- Mantels
- Vanities
I've submitted you to Google through the back door.
Good Luck with it.
L
GardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it!
Thanks for all of the great advice.
The biggest things I got out of this...
1) Change name of "samples" to "portfolio" and group photos by type
2) Change meta tags and title
3) Add enlarged photo option to the photos in the sample pages for clarity. Also look at touching up current photos to make them more clear.
4) Change the setup of my email contact
5) Take out the "Some may be too big, but none are too small"
6) Lose the Euchre link
7) Reword or eliminate " Please feel free to contact me even if you just want to discuss your project ideas."
8) I think I also need to look into adding borders or dividers in the pages to differentiate different areas
thanks again to everyone,Joe
Joe, I had pretty much the same impression as the other guys--nice start! One thing you might consider is the width of the page. I don't know the specifics, but my monitor must be a little smaller than yours, so I have to scroll a bit to the right to see your whole page.
Another wording thing I might change is "specializing in". You have a lot of things listed to be "specializing" in all of them. "Custom building" or "Creatively building" or just "We do" would be better titles, IMO. But that word "specializing" is a pet peeve of mine.
Anyway, nice site, looks like you do very nice work, good luck!
Mike Maines