ForumsShop Talk

This Question is Possibly Answered

1 "correct" answer available (5 pts)
1 2 Previous Next
Post a new topic
21 Replies Last post: Jul 7, 2009 9:50 AM by david_aa

I would like feedback on my website and services

Jul 18, 2008 6:17 AM

Click to view HappyTails's profile Professional HappyTails 7 posts since
Jul 6, 2008

First let me say Thank you for taking your precious time to review my site and give advice. I would like any input you have about my website, and the way my services are marketed on my website.

Thank you again for your help

HappyTails

Happy Tails Dog Psychology Help

http://www.dogpsychologyhelp.com/

Report as inappropriate
Click to view amspcs's profile Mogul amspcs 516 posts since
Oct 18, 2007
1. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 18, 2008 10:54 AM
Hello Happy, hope you're having a good summer.

I took a peek at your site per your request. My impressions in a nutshell: The content is superior, you obviously know your subject matter. However, I didn't find the pages particularly 'readable'. Font type not conducive to reading, very 'wordy', sparse very mediocre graphics and photos, little if any attempt at design flow.In short, I think if you took the same excellent content and presented it better, your site would be much more inviting to the eye and attention grabbing, which is what makes people WANT to read more.

My site is kind of new too, about a year old and still a 'project'. How about returning the favor and reviewing mine as well. www.MerchantServices-help.com I'm betting your comments about mine will mirror mine about yours since it is strictly a homemade site, but always open to new suggestions to make it just a little better.

Thanks, and best of luck to you.

Barry G
www.MerchantServices-help.com
amspcs@juno.com
Click to view Lighthouse24's profile Mogul Lighthouse24 2,396 posts since
Oct 10, 2007
2. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 18, 2008 1:02 PM

Excellent content! The only problem I have is that so much content is thrown at visitors all at once. It makes it very time consuming for them to find what they're actually looking for.


My suggestion would be to think about why a visitor hits your home page in the first place. There are probably only a handful of summary reasons -- to learn about you and your qualifications, to see what services you offer, to see what products you sell, to diagnose doggie disorders (sort of a "canine WebMD"), to get news and info, to read articles or post blogs, to see where you're located, etc. With those visitor purposes in mind, I'd highlight those specific categories on the home page and provide a navigation link to the relevant sections that have all the details about each (and from there, everything you have is probably great, as is). There is just too much information on the home page for me. I'd trim the content there and present an attractive and uncluttered welcome page that allows the visitor to quickly navigate to the specific section of the site that he or she is there to check out. (Just one person's opinion. Hope it helps.)


Best wishes.

Click to view Sofulcooks's profile Authority Sofulcooks 10 posts since
Jul 12, 2008
3. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 18, 2008 1:53 PM
in response to: Lighthouse24
I agree with lighthouse there is alot of content all over your page. I do like that you have this much info for your visitors but it has to be placed where they want to see it. Have most of the pics and articles placed in the page to where if the reader would like to he or she can view further.
Click to view Archangel's profile Mogul Archangel 40 posts since
Jun 26, 2008
4. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 18, 2008 2:18 PM
The site is not bad, but I have to reiterate previous comments as the site is a bit busy on the main page. It should highlight the main points of your services and then link to more details further in. Also, though it looks OK in IE, in Firefox the front page layout falls apart. While it has the lions share of the market at the moment, Firefox and other W3C standards complient browsers are gaining market share every day. The way it is, 10% of your potencial customers could get confused and go elsewhere.

Archangel
Click to view A_Ellicott's profile Mogul A_Ellicott 48 posts since
Jul 11, 2008
5. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 18, 2008 6:11 PM
I agree with the other opinions. Lot's of good information, but maybe too much overload on the homepage.

One other thing. I use the Firefox browser on a laptop with a big screen. The page content goes way off the screen to the right. It doesn't do that in Internet Explorer. You might want to look at making your site more accessible to all browsers and screen sizes.
Click to view VelvetBlues's profile Professional VelvetBlues 7 posts since
Mar 19, 2008
6. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 18, 2008 7:15 PM
Well, this is by no means a professionally designed website. But you do have a lot of good information to share, which is the most important thing.

Some suggestions:
1. Reorganize the home page and make it less chaotic.
2. Make sure it looks the same in IE and FireFox.
3. Instill trust before asking for payment... I clicked on services and the first things I saw were multiple Buy Now buttons... Your services are at the bottom of the page.
4. Keep a consistent design and color scheme for all pages.
5. The navigation is too long. Try to reorganize. Perhaps you can have sections with subpages. For example, 'Staff at work' and 'Meet the Staff' could be under one 'Our Staff' category. Similarly, 'Services' and 'Why Choose My Services' could be lumped together, etc...
6. Make your pages shorter as well.
7. Allow all services and products to be easily accessible, maybe from one location. You offer quite a lot, but it took me a while to find all of it.
8. Optimize your images for faster loading pages. (ie. Resize images... Look at the front page for example. Instead of controlling the size of the image by setting the height and width, they should be resized.)

Additionally, that wagging tail navigation is quite distracting. I'm not sure if that has to do with the movement of the tails or the fact that the image has a white background but is set on a blue header... Perhaps you can blend the white background into the blue, like a fading cloud or halo... or just remove the white altogether...

Things I like:
1. Sitemap - Awesome.
2. Meta tags. Most people don't realize that they should be unique for each page.
3. Unique & Quality Content

Good luck. I think this could be a very successful site if you clean it up a bit. How long have you had it?
Click to view HappyTails's profile Professional HappyTails 7 posts since
Jul 6, 2008
7. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 20, 2008 10:23 AM
in response to: amspcs
Thank You so much for your help. I am going to take your suggestions and try to improve my site.
I did look at your site. Wish I had all that information a few years ago. Your content is excellent. Your site is very wordy, there is a lot to read through on the home page. I find the font on the left side buttons hard to read.
Your are right, Web sites are a constant work in progress. My site is also new, about 8 months. I tried to model my site after similar content based sites. Maybe that was stupid since I don't really know how those sites are doing except for page rank.
Thank you again, I wish you much success,
HappyTails
Happy Tails Dog Psychology Help
http://www.dogpsychologyhelp.com
Click to view HappyTails's profile Professional HappyTails 7 posts since
Jul 6, 2008
8. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 20, 2008 10:32 AM
in response to: Lighthouse24
Thank you so much for your time. Your suggestions are excellent. Everyone who has replied has given the input I was hoping for. I guess I worried to much about the meta tags and making the content on the home page match for page rank and organic search. The canine WebMD is a really good suggestion. I will try to prioritize the "why" visitors are there and use that for my design goals.
Thank you again, I wish you much success,
HappyTails
Happy Tails Dog Psychology Help
http://www.dogpsychologyhelp.com
Click to view HappyTails's profile Professional HappyTails 7 posts since
Jul 6, 2008
9. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 20, 2008 10:53 AM
in response to: VelvetBlues
Velvet Blues & Archangel,
Thank you so much for your time. I am hosted by Microsoft Office Live Small Business. I will have contact tech support about the FireFox issues. I am guessing it is the text boxes.
VelvetBlues,
You obviously took some considerable time and I greatly appreciate that. I am going to implement your suggestions. Your are right about the services being at the bottom of the page, and everything else you noted.
I went back to my Web site and tried to look at it as someone looking for services and products. You are right they are very scattered.
I wasn't sure when I picked the wagging tails that they would work well. I know when people come to my sight they are upset and frustrated because they are having problems with their buddy. I need to be sure the site helps them to calm down and feel like there is hope.
I have had the site for about 6-8 months. (mentalpause) can't remember anything. I am learning. The nuts and bolts of web site design is way above me. The help of generous people like everyone who replied is helping me to learn and get better.
I can't thank you enough for your time and your help, I wish you much success,
HappyTails
Happy Tails Dog Psychology Help
http://www.dogpsychologyhelp.com
Click to view RongDesign's profile Mogul RongDesign 54 posts since
Jan 28, 2008
10. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 20, 2008 12:24 PM
in response to: HappyTails
I read over a lot of the other posts but only skimmed, so I apologize if I am repeating anything already mentioned.

A few more notes to keep in mind when redoing your main page:

1. Your page title which currently is "Home Dog Psychology Help" needs work. If some one using a search engine searches for "Dog Psychology" they will find you but what if you are looking for "Dog Training"? I would use something like "Dog Psychology Help - Dog Training and Obedience". This adds in two more keywords. After you make that change, do it to every page but change the two keywords. (e.i. On the services page make it "Dog Psychology Help - Training Services and Products".

2. I'll be the one to say it. The waging tails, while cute, looks like a Spam Email. I personally wouldn't purchase from a site that has it on, but on the other hand my wife, who buys halloween costumes for our dog, would buy from your site and would be a repeat customer. So it does meet a certain audience.

3. Keep sizes consistent. A few pictures were a great size and I could see a nice dog, but a few others were to small and you couldn't enjoy them.

But with that said you have a lot of SEO potential here. Just fix your titles, ALT your images with Keywords and you should see number rise a good bit.

Take it easy,
Dave Moore @
www.rongdesign.com
Click to view tim13ga's profile Mogul tim13ga 32 posts since
Jul 17, 2008
11. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 20, 2008 1:32 PM
Hello Happy Tails,

Velvet Blue said what you need to hear. The biggest thing about the page is that it hits you all at once with more information than you can take in comfortably. I had to hunt through the first half of the page just to find out where you where your business is located. If your locals can't tell your local, how are they to find you?

My 2 cents consists of: try putting the photos in a slideshow. This will allow for larger pictures to be used, they will not be spread all over the page, they can be changed or added to every now and then, and to have good movement on the page.

I hope this helps...
Tim...
Click to view A_Ellicott's profile Mogul A_Ellicott 48 posts since
Jul 11, 2008
12. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 20, 2008 9:39 PM
I'm going to second the comment about the wagging tails. Lose them. They make your site look like a myspace page; not a serious business someone would give their money to.

I hope you don't feel too beat up by the comments. Not only do you have a lot of good content but by learning this yourself you will be able to keep it fresh and updated as well. One of my pet peeves is to go to a company's website and find a nice, clean, professionally done site...that hasn't been updated in years and has old information on it.

Keep working!
Click to view billspecial's profile Authority billspecial 10 posts since
Jun 23, 2008
13. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 20, 2008 10:38 PM
I would have to agree with the advice you received from everyone else, Something I noticed just because I am anal when it comes to misspelled words, Your phrase on the home page that reads Blog A Question or Comment the word Comment is misspelled. However, not to be a professional site it looks good.
Click to view britinusa's profile Professional britinusa 7 posts since
Jul 21, 2008
14. Re: I would like feedback on my website and services Jul 21, 2008 7:32 PM

Ok, Great content, and shows subject expertise. The rest of the replies have summed up my thoughts, tons of content but tough to figure out where it is.

I suggest you reduce the content on any one page and let it spill it over to other pages.
A visitor that clicks is engaged! That's good - make them click!!!

A few technical(ish) things.

  • I didn't see a site map.. almost a must if you want to get noticed in the search engines.
  • Meta tags do pretty well, but you exceed a few ideal limits, check out seo centro for guidelines
  • missing page error is ugly, if a page is requested but does not exist, then send them to the home page.
  • Follow basic web practice - people don't read on the internet -- they click-n-skip -- so make the point in sound bites.

Hope this helps.

Paul

1 2 Previous Next