Critique my site please?
Discussion
Everyone knows how valuable honest feedback can be , wondered if anyone could help with my site?
Its a wordpress site , designed with me editing on my own , in mind. I had it designed for me , but most of the content is my own ideas.
Im pretty happy with the design side of things but more concerned with content and how the site portraits me and the company.
We are a small company offering all trades but specialising in electrical rewiring. This involves moving people out of their homes for a few days , so Ive tried to make the site very personal with lots of info about myself to gain trust with the customer. Im not sure if Ive over done it with personal info , I even have a pic of myself, the mrs ( sure to direct some traffic now
) and our dog. Im just not sure how if its all a bit smarmy, especially the "about me" page.
I'm generally winning most rewiring jobs in my area however concerned maybe with my new brand image perhaps some customers are being put off ...I dunno why , do we look expensive ? overly friendly ? Trying to hard ?
Ive also started messing around with adwords. Im going to spend a few hundred a month on it while Im learning then set aside a large budget per month, so Id like the site to be solid to back this up.
Really appreciate any thoughts good or bad ..
www.jrcpropertysolutions.com
Its a wordpress site , designed with me editing on my own , in mind. I had it designed for me , but most of the content is my own ideas.
Im pretty happy with the design side of things but more concerned with content and how the site portraits me and the company.
We are a small company offering all trades but specialising in electrical rewiring. This involves moving people out of their homes for a few days , so Ive tried to make the site very personal with lots of info about myself to gain trust with the customer. Im not sure if Ive over done it with personal info , I even have a pic of myself, the mrs ( sure to direct some traffic now
) and our dog. Im just not sure how if its all a bit smarmy, especially the "about me" page.I'm generally winning most rewiring jobs in my area however concerned maybe with my new brand image perhaps some customers are being put off ...I dunno why , do we look expensive ? overly friendly ? Trying to hard ?
Ive also started messing around with adwords. Im going to spend a few hundred a month on it while Im learning then set aside a large budget per month, so Id like the site to be solid to back this up.
Really appreciate any thoughts good or bad ..
www.jrcpropertysolutions.com
I like it as well.
Maybe the pics of shaking hands with customers is a tad cheesy though! You have a lot of spaces before commas and fullstops, formatting issue(?)looks odd.
edit - You explained why in your OP, but I'd also drop the pics of your dog etc and description of home life stuff on the about us page. Starting to lose the professional touch IMO.
Maybe the pics of shaking hands with customers is a tad cheesy though! You have a lot of spaces before commas and fullstops, formatting issue(?)looks odd.
edit - You explained why in your OP, but I'd also drop the pics of your dog etc and description of home life stuff on the about us page. Starting to lose the professional touch IMO.
Edited by scottri on Saturday 28th December 19:15
Looks good, I'd recommend taking the picture of you and the wife off and replacing with one of you at work.
Also, the customer pictures are very bad. Replace the one of the young chap, the lady in front of the summer house, the "estate agent" and the couple. Retake the one with the guy who has his eyes shut.
Good luck.
Also, the customer pictures are very bad. Replace the one of the young chap, the lady in front of the summer house, the "estate agent" and the couple. Retake the one with the guy who has his eyes shut.
Good luck.
That's actually quite good. I live in Glasgow, work in Advertising and have recently had a partial re wire done. If I had come across your website I can see no reason not to book you. It's good that you mentioned £2000 up front for 3 bed house and the photo's of the Mrs and happy customers don't seem cheesy, it's what I'd like to see. It portrays a good image of a company that genuinely wants to do a good job for not too much money and if you care about your image enough to invest in your website then I'd imagine you' d do a good job on my re wire
excellent stuff , exactly what Im after keep the suggestions coming please ..
I always knew the customer pics would be cheesy and debated on them for sometime so if I get enough negative feedback here Ill remove them. Quality of pics , I agree , could be better.
About me page - I like the idea suggesting a pic of me working rather than with the mrs , again enough feedback on this and Ill remove it.
There is a bathroom specialist in Glasgow who pushes himself as a family man/family company etc. He has the same idea on his site with pics of his family etc...the guy does really well from what I can see , and this is where Ive got this idea from..but like I say from day one Ive been debating this idea.
Grammar - Punctuation etc Im not too concerned with at this stage ..I have still to go over it in fine detail and have been meaning to do this for a while but simply not got round to it , so this is an easy fix I can do on my own (wordpress)
So far great thanks , exactly what I need !
edit - forgot to add , some of next years goals were/are ,
- To get professional pics done for the site ( since having my wedding pics done Ive realised the difference this makes )
- SELECT Registered ( already started process)
- NICEIC Registered ( already started process)
- Become VAT Registered - ( already done this year )
- Radio Advert
Incase it helps with overall view of company..
I always knew the customer pics would be cheesy and debated on them for sometime so if I get enough negative feedback here Ill remove them. Quality of pics , I agree , could be better.
About me page - I like the idea suggesting a pic of me working rather than with the mrs , again enough feedback on this and Ill remove it.
There is a bathroom specialist in Glasgow who pushes himself as a family man/family company etc. He has the same idea on his site with pics of his family etc...the guy does really well from what I can see , and this is where Ive got this idea from..but like I say from day one Ive been debating this idea.
Grammar - Punctuation etc Im not too concerned with at this stage ..I have still to go over it in fine detail and have been meaning to do this for a while but simply not got round to it , so this is an easy fix I can do on my own (wordpress)
So far great thanks , exactly what I need !
edit - forgot to add , some of next years goals were/are ,
- To get professional pics done for the site ( since having my wedding pics done Ive realised the difference this makes )
- SELECT Registered ( already started process)
- NICEIC Registered ( already started process)
- Become VAT Registered - ( already done this year )
- Radio Advert
Incase it helps with overall view of company..
Edited by Jamster123 on Saturday 28th December 19:32
contrary to others, I quite like the customer images. it is VERY important for this kind of trade to show happy customers, and exactly what sort of person you are.
like this site as well, very impressive.
you could frame these images a little better though, bring them down very slightly in size, and make the shadow effect slightly larger. otherwise this image could be a little too large for the rest of the page on a lower resolution screen.
one thing to do is make the images for Scottish Jib, Rated etc link to those sites. people like these to link.
then move the payment methods accepted a bit higher up.
the link at the bottom to soapbox digital media doesn't work. you could remove this altogether as well.
last thing, going back the pictures, is you could frame all of your pictures. set a frame around each one with a title at the bottom, and it gives you more opportunities to improve your SEO.
like this site as well, very impressive.
you could frame these images a little better though, bring them down very slightly in size, and make the shadow effect slightly larger. otherwise this image could be a little too large for the rest of the page on a lower resolution screen.
one thing to do is make the images for Scottish Jib, Rated etc link to those sites. people like these to link.
then move the payment methods accepted a bit higher up.
the link at the bottom to soapbox digital media doesn't work. you could remove this altogether as well.
last thing, going back the pictures, is you could frame all of your pictures. set a frame around each one with a title at the bottom, and it gives you more opportunities to improve your SEO.
The photo's are a bit cheesy, but it does show a "real person" side to the business and i think it works. Put it this way if i went on your site i wouldn't be put off by the pics. Some of them made me chuckle so maybe that's a good thing (makes you memorable)?!
I would however get rid of the pic of you and the wife and the bit about yourself and just keep the "my experience in the trade" part. The other bits are just not needed.
Other than that the site is good, easy to navigate round and looks trustworthy/professional. You get my thumbs up
I would however get rid of the pic of you and the wife and the bit about yourself and just keep the "my experience in the trade" part. The other bits are just not needed.
Other than that the site is good, easy to navigate round and looks trustworthy/professional. You get my thumbs up
Thanks , This is a massive help to me ..
Seems to be a difference in opinion on the cheesy pics ...pretty much my thoughts since uploading them , but I guess so long as its not putting people off then all is good. It has been really hard to balance between the trusted tradesman/professional company.
Loads of great tips here and things I can change easily. Keen to here more opinions ...
Seems to be a difference in opinion on the cheesy pics ...pretty much my thoughts since uploading them , but I guess so long as its not putting people off then all is good. It has been really hard to balance between the trusted tradesman/professional company.
Loads of great tips here and things I can change easily. Keen to here more opinions ...
Id keep the cheesy pics. If someonechas heard of you, they will google/fb you, and a wbsite likes this has a comforting feel.
I like the explanation about the RCD. More explanations would be welcome.
Why are your qualifications very small and at the bottom? Even the about us doesnt mention the qualifications. Nice pic of your wedding, however.
Two thoughts: we? Is it you your wife and dog, or just you? Id be tempted to say "me". It doesnt make you very big, but it does make it more personal. If not, does tucker always wear a bow tie when on thr job??
And the tel numbers at th top. Blue on black can be difficult to read if you have a vision impaiment. And the blue does not appearcanywhere else on the site/van
I like the explanation about the RCD. More explanations would be welcome.
Why are your qualifications very small and at the bottom? Even the about us doesnt mention the qualifications. Nice pic of your wedding, however.
Two thoughts: we? Is it you your wife and dog, or just you? Id be tempted to say "me". It doesnt make you very big, but it does make it more personal. If not, does tucker always wear a bow tie when on thr job??
And the tel numbers at th top. Blue on black can be difficult to read if you have a vision impaiment. And the blue does not appearcanywhere else on the site/van
Ok so defo going to drop the pic with dog and Mrs. Ideas of what to replace it with ? Action shot working or me with both vans maybe ?
Qualifications - I could add more info on "about me" page - good point.
Links on Rated People/trustatrader/Sjib etc - funny one this , I'm keen for people to know I have 72 reviews on rated people , but I don't want to draw too much attention to "rated people" as the potential customer could list their job on they're site therefore introducing another few tradesman into the mix . Again another part I've debated on , I think when I can display my SELECT and NICEIC badges on the site , I'll remove all "findatrade" type logos.
Qualifications - I could add more info on "about me" page - good point.
Links on Rated People/trustatrader/Sjib etc - funny one this , I'm keen for people to know I have 72 reviews on rated people , but I don't want to draw too much attention to "rated people" as the potential customer could list their job on they're site therefore introducing another few tradesman into the mix . Again another part I've debated on , I think when I can display my SELECT and NICEIC badges on the site , I'll remove all "findatrade" type logos.
Jamster123 said:
Ok so defo going to drop the pic with dog and Mrs. Ideas of what to replace it with ? Action shot working or me with both vans maybe ?
Qualifications - I could add more info on "about me" page - good point.
Links on Rated People/trustatrader/Sjib etc - funny one this , I'm keen for people to know I have 72 reviews on rated people , but I don't want to draw too much attention to "rated people" as the potential customer could list their job on they're site therefore introducing another few tradesman into the mix . Again another part I've debated on , I think when I can display my SELECT and NICEIC badges on the site , I'll remove all "findatrade" type logos.
TBH, don't ask the guys on here for their opinion, you'll get just that. 50% of people saying the photo's are CHEESY, 50% of people saying they like them.Qualifications - I could add more info on "about me" page - good point.
Links on Rated People/trustatrader/Sjib etc - funny one this , I'm keen for people to know I have 72 reviews on rated people , but I don't want to draw too much attention to "rated people" as the potential customer could list their job on they're site therefore introducing another few tradesman into the mix . Again another part I've debated on , I think when I can display my SELECT and NICEIC badges on the site , I'll remove all "findatrade" type logos.
Set up some simple split tests and TEST what gives you the higher conversion rate.
Who knows whats best until you test, but unfounded 'I think that xyz is better' isn't particularly helpful.
I personally didn't like the shaking hands photos and the wedding photo with the dog, but maybe having them is a huge conversion factor for your target market! I dont know, and neither will you until you test!
The site looks good. If I stumbled across it while looking for a company like yours, I would call and you have some good call to actions above the fold which is good.
Just a few SEO things to look for, if your intention is for people to find you on Google.
TITLE: JRC PROPERTY SOLUTIONS LTD - Electrical rewiring specialist | Electrician Glasgow | Electrical Rewire | JRC Property Solutions
That's too long for a webpage title, you really need between 10 - 70 characters rather than the 126 you currently have
DESCRIPTION: JRC PROPERTY SOLUTIONS LTD - Electrical rewiring specialist. Glasgow Electricians. Elecrical Rewire Specialists. Call 0141 892 2766 for a FREE Quote. JRC Property Solutions
Is about 12 characters too long. The "JRC Property Solutions" isn't showing on Google.
If possible, your images should have ALT TEXT which you can use to help SEO ranking.
Think of some phrases that you would expect customers searching for your type of business to type into Google and customise your pages to incorporate these.
Upload a Favicon if you can, it looks a bit more professional and people expect to see these nowadays.
Hope this helps and good luck :-)
Just a few SEO things to look for, if your intention is for people to find you on Google.
TITLE: JRC PROPERTY SOLUTIONS LTD - Electrical rewiring specialist | Electrician Glasgow | Electrical Rewire | JRC Property Solutions
That's too long for a webpage title, you really need between 10 - 70 characters rather than the 126 you currently have
DESCRIPTION: JRC PROPERTY SOLUTIONS LTD - Electrical rewiring specialist. Glasgow Electricians. Elecrical Rewire Specialists. Call 0141 892 2766 for a FREE Quote. JRC Property Solutions
Is about 12 characters too long. The "JRC Property Solutions" isn't showing on Google.
If possible, your images should have ALT TEXT which you can use to help SEO ranking.
Think of some phrases that you would expect customers searching for your type of business to type into Google and customise your pages to incorporate these.
Upload a Favicon if you can, it looks a bit more professional and people expect to see these nowadays.
Hope this helps and good luck :-)
May just be me but I find the twitter, facebook bar on the left encroaches over the words meaning I can only read the first inch of text above and below the link images. (Must say though i'm using an old PC/screen/settings after drunkenly falling onto my new laptop and damaging the screen).
Not a major just a little frustrating - looks excellent though overall.
Not a major just a little frustrating - looks excellent though overall.
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