Website-Almost done but would like opinions on improving

[Desk Jockey]

We are getting pretty close but before we go live I'd like to hear what changes or additions you would make.

Here are the problems we already know, some pictures in the rotators need re sized, some test has not yet been added and videos and testimonials are still missing.

I don't think we can make drastic changes but would like your input in making it better.


Edit: Link no longer active

 

[nerdwithme]

Are you using a CMS of any kind? I wasn't able to detect any.

The homepage itself is approximately 1.2mb download. That is kind of big. Your UI elements are all separate images. (logo, service boxes, side bar items etc) You should get your web guy to make an image sprite out of those elements. Saves on how many files have to be requests on page load (http requests).

The website hangs up and jumps on page resize. This may be do to the javascript on the page. I can't quite figure it out.

Some of the elements jump around and lose their desired position when the browser is resized. Was this intended? If you were going for a responsive design, there are grid frameworks out there that make this easier.

--

Your anchor tags are using relative urls to access content on your site. It is better if you use the full path.
example
instead of Page
do Page

I took a look at the webbersites portfolio. Their websites are definitely interesting, but perform poorly. Their home page alone is over 6.2 megs of data to download. Thats very poor practice.

Keep an eye on your websites performance. Page loads should always be under 1mb. Think about the people that may look up your service on the phone. They are not going to be able to download much more than 1meg over a 3g network. It just takes too damn long, and the browser has a hard time rendering all that.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I think the CMS is loaded when they put it on our server. At least they said they write a manual after it's transfered to our server. ???

But what do I know I'm just a dirty carpet cleaner. good lord Vawter, just die already.

 

[nerdwithme]

The CMS(content management system) will be the thing you interface with when you want to add new blog posts or update the content of your website. Did they tell you which one they would be using?

 

[Desk Jockey]

"All WEBBERSITES Include powerful Content Management Software"

Not by specific name, they just refer to it as "Content Management Software" good lord Vawter, just die already.

 

[FredC]

Technical issues aside...cause I try not to get too hung up on them...

I would send them back to the drawing board. It falls into many of the same traps your old site does both SEO and design wise. It is wider though...thats a plus...and the number is easier to find

its a simple layout/design which is good..I'm a big fan of simple....however the use of color and other styling elements makes it look DIY....if the interwebs existed in the 70s
Just because you have "company colors" does not mean they need to overwhelm the site.
Assuming those will be the images the site was not designed with content you have in mind....or it was not properly optimized for the template they created for you....I guess what I'm trying to say is it is BLURRY.

 

[Desk Jockey]

All good info, thanks Fred & Nerd!

 

[FredC]

when you say "almost done"...how close are we actually talking

cause stuff like the images breaking the accordion would get on my nerves



adding content should push it down....but you would think that would have been accounted for

 

[Desk Jockey]

Well I thought we were.

However now I'd like to gather all the issues and go back to them with it.

Get what can be fixed, fixed before it's finished.

 

[Erik]

Looks good to me. I tryed to read about Soda blasting, it's in Spanish.

 

[Opie Cleaner]

I'd change testimonials to reviews.

I think testimonials is a very dated word. Clients don't leave them or read them, may not even know what they are, they leave and read reviews.

And I agree with Fred regarding all that techy crap, pics were blurry.

Course my site is nothing to write home about but it does make the phone ring.

 

[FredC]

The CMS(content management system) will be the thing you interface with when you want to add new blog posts or update the content of your website. Did they tell you which one they would be using?

CMSMS

 

[XTREME1]

I know it is insignificant but looking at the pictures and I know how you like to play with pictures. Why not point out things in quotations. Simple things in the pics like We take around the edges of the tile. Big truck Big Job... Residential is great also we have the right truck for that. Who else gets down on his knees to detail the rug

 

[Royal Man]

Love your testimonials/reviews

Testimonials
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse gravida nisl id risus condimentum ultricies. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Donec a accumsan leo. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam ac erat sem, ac dignissim tellus. Fusce nulla leo, hendrerit non dapibus pulvinar, hendrerit nec sapien. Nam vehicula, ligula at gravida tempor, leo sapien volutpat odio, a gravida lectus velit sit amet quam. Praesent pharetra, diam sit amet semper placerat, diam sapien blandit elit, sit amet tempus elit nunc id mi. Vestibulum sodales sollicitudin tellus, sit amet ultrices velit interdum ac. Morbi ultricies condimentum interdum.

Donec ullamcorper, risus eget vehicula feugiat, urna lectus auctor libero, in placerat libero felis non lectus. Ut bibendum eros in arcu dignissim sagittis. Fusce luctus, mi nec imperdiet consectetur, mi enim pretium mi, ut ullamcorper ante elit ac neque. Pellentesque quis nulla dolor. Vivamus bibendum purus ac risus bibendum adipiscing cursus tellus varius. Ut ullamcorper pellentesque bibendum. Aenean a urna posuere ipsum tristique sollicitudin. Pellentesque euismod euismod orci. Aliquam tempor pretium magna, mollis dignissim felis laoreet at. Ut ut nisl id nunc molestie convallis a ut lacus. Vivamus scelerisque, libero nec imperdiet ornare, tellus odio viverra lectus, nec fermentum lectus arcu at urna. Morbi velit libero, malesuada id egestas a, lobortis ac dui. Nam pellentesque rhoncus dictum. Cras justo risus, porttitor eu adipiscing quis, pellentesque et ipsum. Mauris molestie imperdiet condimentum.

 

[FredC]

JFC....its dummy text and serves a purpose....unlike your post

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum

 

[Royal Man]

I thought the dummy text made as much sence as some of those stupid Groupon ads full of dust bunnies and weird fanciful but, vague descriptions.

Actually I was looking for a couple or a few short review sniplets on the first page.

A few "I was so Happy!!"s can carry a lot of weight and close the deal.

 

[Brian R]

OK Rich...Here's the skinny

It almost looks good. I think the over all coloring is too dark

The logo looks good and the phone numbers are findable...Although I would put them on the right instead of the Blog Corner thing

The main slideshow is too big...the navigation bar is too blocky and the text under the slideshow is worthless because it's too small and too much.

The yellow outlines on the smaller photos are yucky and make it look pornish...Don't use ANY yellow except on your logo and it will stand out better.

The clickable links on the right are too blocky as well...Again, no yellow.

I like the 3 part fade from top to bottom...But again.. a little too dark.

I like simple as well...But generally the more you work on something....The more crap gets thrown into it. Be careful of that.




It's still better than 90% of the sites out there for CCing.

 

[Ken Snow]

In the about us diatribe tenses are mixed. Trim it back if you can, no one needs to know abioiut all the name changes.

Also your logo name is not consistant with what your about us says. If your company is Chaves Restoration and Cleaning that is all you need in the story plus it reinforces the name. You can always talk about the work that was done in the past without confusing people. Also lose the Inc in your story, it is not warm and fuzzy and is not germaine to the name~ mearly how the business is structured.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Thanks Ken I'll pass it on!

 

[duckster]

is your site setup and tested for mobile and tablet? If not, you miss out of nearly 170,000,000 visitors worldwide who are hooked on those small devices like an addict on heroin. They no longer access the web from a laptop or desktop.

 

[The Great Oz]

Overall I like it. The dark areas are the places no one's eye goes to anyway (thanks Google ads, for training us to ignore the right side of all pages) and makes the photos stand out.

The technical stuff like mobil viewing and SEO need to be addressed, but looking at this as a potential customer I'd say it works. Very clear, easy to navigate quickly, and those big pictures are what customers want to see. I don't get irritated waiting a microsecond for a photo to load, I get irritated waiting 10 seconds for dancing gifs or music to load.

The only thing you're missing is your average customer. You need about 80 more pics of double-wides.

 

[nerdwithme]

Chavez, I took another look at your site and the javascript they are using to do the image rotation is causing my browser to hang up.

Also, I checked to see what libraries they were loading to handle those javascript effects..

They are really inconsistent in how they are loading in the JS. Some pages have jQuery loaded twice with 2 separate versions.

example:
they have jQuery v1.5 and v1.7 loaded on
and its the same throughout.

I would recommend since they are using a custom jQuery UI for jQuery 1.8, to just use jQuery 1.8 and load it on every page.

And like I said, something is really wonky about your javascript that is causing huge performance hits to your site. Its locking up my entire browser for about 2 seconds each time the pictures cycle over. If they don't fix this, i'd be willing to take a look at it for free.

 

[Glen G]

Looks great Doc, very professional. I always tell people when I do websites for them be sure to have your social media links. Facebook, twitter, youtube, etc. Even if you don't have content yet, and if you have not already done so, be sure to secure those names on those social media pages. And DON'T forget Instagram it's getting huge! Lots of luck. Glen

 

[Mikey P]

insta what?


tell us more..

 

[Glen G]

insta what?


tell us more..

LOL, oh Yea, sorry Mike, you asked me that before. Instagram is a pretty new social media site. It was started for iPhones but now pretty much any smart phone can use it. Really easy, you sign up. You take photos (and much like twitter) you write something about what you posted. You can "geotag" it to show exactly where it was taken. You can "#" hashtag it so people can find it in a search (i.e. #carpetcleaning #stains #rugs, etc) You follow people, like photos, they follow you. Why it's taking off is you can post from Instagram, to twitter, 4 square, facebook and more all at the same time. I think its faster then Facebook. I believe it has a slightly heaiver female following so great for homeowners to stay in touch with you. Its also kinda fun!

 

[Mikey P]

Glen has offered to lend a helping hand to MB for our our Social Networking needs.


what ever those may be, who knows?


We do need more hot house wives on here during the day.



btw, Glen use to be CEO of Legend Brands before that Rick Aranus guy took over his spot..


or something like that.

 

[Glen G]

or Product Manager is more like it. Chief Eating Officer would be correct . No, Rick is a sales guy... he's da' man!

Why you stirring up trouble Mike P? :-) I'm going back to my scooter now.

Glen has offered to lend a helping hand to MB for our our Social Networking needs.


what ever those may be, who knows?


We do need more hot house wives on here during the day.



btw, Glen use to be CEO of Legend Brands before that Rick Aranus guy took over his spot..


or something like that.

 

[Derek]

dang it why bump this now, i re-read the whole thread thinking it was new lol