 REVIEW MY WEBSITE / 4N PROFILE [New Business, New website] |
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 12:04
Hi Everyone,
I've just recently set up an IT business and was hoping this site might be a good place to look for some pointers especailly from those in the same field. I wrote a website recently just as a means for people to get more information once they'd heard about me. I'm now focusing more on the SEO side so I will be updating for this in the weeks to come. However I've been getting different views on what the website is like. Some people say it's a bit bland while others say it has the elegant simplicity I was hoping for.
The question is, do you think I should work on the image of the site on it's good enough to start focusing on other aspects of my business. I just set up the company a few months ago so there's lots to do and it's more about priorities then anything else. Any of your feedback will be extremely appreciated and if you would like me to return the favour just let me know, many thanks, Anthony.
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 12:27
Hi Antony
Firstly, welcome, I think this is a great place to ask these kind of questions.
I actually really like bland, simple and elegant websites so I think that is a fine aspiration.
Your current site doesn't really shout out simple and elegant though. I do understand there are a whole bunch of things that need your attention when starting a business but if your website is important to your marketing plans than either invest your own time or pay for someone elses to build something that truly represents your brand and your services.
Visuals are very subjective so it is tricky to comment on those, I would just say that it isn't graphically appealing to me. It does look like the science geek at school designed it not the one who was top of the class for art. I don't find it compelling and really dislike the scrolling box for the content on the inner pages.
You sell techy stuff but your website is a bit technically lacking. It fails html validation and accessibility testing. The front page is a bit superfluous and won't help you with your search engine performance. The html semantics and source ordering of the pages needs some attention.
It just doesn't scream technical excellence and I think that is what you are selling.
I hope that helps.
 Karen
www.cpdev.co.uk
More than just websites
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 16:22
Hi,
Thank you for your time and the comments that you have left. It's very good to get feedback from someone in the field. I was trying to make the design look like a business card but I'm not sure if most people notice that so I'm thinking of removing that. That would certainly allow me to remove the scrollbars as the height wouldn't be restricted which is something that I didn't like either.
With the HTML validation and assessibility I researched that any effects on the search engine are unsubstaniated, is there another reason that you suggested this, maybe because you find a lot of customers asking for this type of options? Also could you explain what you mean by the front page being superfluous as I'm not quite sure what this meant. I have to agree that art has never been my strong point though, definately an area for improvement, I hope to outsource this as the business grows, most of my customers are currently more concerned with the functionality of their applications.
Thanks again for your time and I hope others in the forum can also provide some feedback, many thanks, Anthony.
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 16:53
Hi Anthony....I am not in Karen's league with this stuff, but I can answer one of your points from an e commerce point of view. I commission websites and I insist on top quality coding, because the effect of top quality coding is substantiated.
It makes life easier for the search engines, as their is less of it, and it makes life easier for the hosting server, because their is less of it. The second only matters if you have a large site with big traffic volumes.
If you are a technological company it makes sense to do it to the highest standards just because they are the highest standards, too. Be deliberately excellent in everything you do! You will find it works, right across the board.
The next bit I hate myself for!! I love the strap line, complex problems, simple solutions, but its already in use by a company called Ebbon-Dacs. I dont know if they have registered it as their intellectual property, but it might be worth checking.
Paul Norman 4N North Tyneside and Oxford
Gibside Associates - a different approach
www.gibside.co.uk
Training for business with, no jargon. Consultancy that makes you think. Helping you be deliberately excellent.
Check here for training courses that might just suit you!
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 17:06
Hi Paul, thanks for the comments, I found them really helpful and can see your point about projecting the correct image. I'm gutted about the slogan as I liked it too, I actually thought of it within about two minutes and then couldn't think of anything better in the next two hours! I'll check to make sure it's not intellectual property, fingers crossed!
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 17:51
Quote:
With the HTML validation and assessibility I researched that any effects on the search engine are unsubstaniated, is there another reason that you suggested this, maybe because you find a lot of customers asking for this type of options?
I always find it very interesting when I mention here something about code/validation/accessibility and get a response like "does that effect the search engine" ..... whether it does or it doesn't .... google isn't going to buy your applications people that visit your website are so why would you want to do anything to restrict the number of users that can successfully use your website. If you focus soley on traditional 'SEO techniques' then you badly miss the point. Get the content right, make it relevent, make it compelling, make the user believe they can do business with you and then make it ok to look at and build it properly, the google thing will happen automatically.
If you want to then do some effective website marketing beyond that you should speak to Paul or with Darren Malony who both have great track records with real SEO, not the stuff you read about all over the place.
Oh, and sematics are very important to search engines the appropriate use of HTML tags, especially headers is key. Your main issue is your doctype declaration .... that will cause you problems.
Also could you explain what you mean by the front page being superfluous ... it is just a bunch of images and a bit of flash none of which would encourage me to venture into your site, especially as you don't sell either images or flash. Your home page is the place to engage the website user, you need to get your key marketing messages there, you need to make them interested enough to find out more. This is also true of search engines .... page one is vitally important.
I hope to outsource this as the business grows, most of my customers are currently more concerned with the functionality of their applications ... I understand that, CPDev are primarily application developers but you did ask for feedback and you never know who is looking at your website and you can't exactly contact them post visit to say 'sorry, I was just testing someones application so I haven't finished my website' You don't get a second chance to make a first impression!! If it's not ready to represent your company brand then it shouldn't be live.
I really am trying to help!
Karen
www.cpdev.co.uk
More than just websites
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 18:25
Hi Karen,
Your help is appreciated, I didn't mean to cause any offence although I feel like I might have done. All your comments have been taken onboard,
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 18:44
Oh you really haven't offended me at all  The internet is full of seo 'gurus' and webdesigners that are little more than con men so I am a bit passionate about getting it right so tend to hop on the soapbox.
Karen
www.cpdev.co.uk
More than just websites
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 18:52
That's great, thanks Karen, I've had at your website and like the look the of it, very simple to navigate as well. Did you get the photo's from a stock website they look great.
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 18:53
P.S. is there any way of getting these forums to send you emails when a response has been recieved to your forum posts?
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 20:21
I dont think you can get an email Anthony..dont worry though, we are a patient lot and if you dont reply immediately we dont get agitated!!!! Bother...I used a word I probably cannot spell!!
We have bleated on about website stuff here, what about the applications side of your business?
Paul Norman 4N North Tyneside and Oxford
Gibside Associates - a different approach
www.gibside.co.uk
Training for business with, no jargon. Consultancy that makes you think. Helping you be deliberately excellent.
Check here for training courses that might just suit you!
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 20:25
...and dont be alarmed either, because you will find we dont get offended or upset here!!!
We will be honest with you, but we really do want you to succeed at your venture.
Why? Because we are a gang of small to medium sized business owners and we like to hear success stories!
And those of us who are a year or four down the road are happy to share experiences so you dont have to share the scars!!! Well, not all of them, anyway!
Paul Norman 4N North Tyneside and Oxford
Gibside Associates - a different approach
www.gibside.co.uk
Training for business with, no jargon. Consultancy that makes you think. Helping you be deliberately excellent.
Check here for training courses that might just suit you!
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 21:10
I concur (and I can spell it  ) if your site and or your company didn't look like it had any potential no one would have bothered commenting, so take it as a complement.
Thank you for you comments about the CPDev website but it is very old now and badly in need of a facelift/restructure/dustbin. We are working on a nice new one which we will launch after we have fought our way through the mass of stuff we have on at the moment! Some of the graphics on the website we created ourselves and some we sourced from our stock library.
Karen
www.cpdev.co.uk
More than just websites
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 21:27
Hey thank you for your posts,
It's good to hear what you are saying about a group of like minded business people Paul because that's exactly the type of group that I am looking for. I find it quite dissappointing that a majority of people in life don't have much ambition to improve on how and what they work on, and so far people on this site have really displayed that drive.
The applications that I have worked on so far have been a risks, issues and standard management system for businesses. I worked at bringing in features to the application to improve it's functionality design and server load. The other project has been very interesting to me and I've proved myself quite popular with the customer by improving previous algorithms. It's an image analysis project, I'm a little restricted about what I can say about it but it was a production line, real-time distributed system. My strengths shine through when it comes to algorithms and it's certainly something that I would like to do more work in.
I'm working on a few web pages to add to the website to talk about the projects in as much detail as I can. It's quite tricky though because I have found that customers don't want me to divulge the really impressive parts of the applications in case they were to be copied by competitors. It's quite complementing in a way but it makes it difficult to market what I do, I'm just trying to give as much generic information as possible at the moment. Maybe I should include more information in my profile here as well.
I noticed that you have a picture of you on a boat Paul, do you sail? I recently took up sailing and have finished a course and been out on a trip to Isle of Wight. I'm looking forward to my next sail although I'm going to have to get a much bigger fleece for this time of the year!
Looking forward to seeing your new site Karen, let me know when you have it finished.
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Posted on 26th Nov 2008 at 21:59
We have very similar problems with our applications, most of which sit within customers own networks so people can't see what we actually do, websites have to suffice as our shop window in the main, especially useful in the small business arena because there is much more opportunity to 'design' . When you do lots of work with large corporates and multinationals so much of the design is tied up in rigid corporate identity that all you do is tinker with the look and feel.
Karen
www.cpdev.co.uk
More than just websites
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