What Makes A Good Company Website?

Nathan

I see a lot of websites from members and sometimes I'm asked to review them.

Here are a few things I look for when reviewing a website.

• Is it easy to navigate
• Does the site give good information about your company and the services your preform.
• Is the domain name relevant to the company and easy to remember?
• Is the design easy on the eyes. This doesn't mean that you have to have some really pretty design but focuses more on if you have something is hard to read or use such as yellow text on a white background.
• Does it have some form of contact page so customers can get a hold of you. Preferably a request an estimate form.

There are a lot of times I see people trying to do too much on their site. They have all sorts of things that the customer has no interest in or at the very least takes away from the site. Your website's number one goal is to be a introduction to your company and to give customers a way to get a hold of you such as a request an estimate form. Think of it as a brochure for your business.

Some overdone things to avoid!

• Hit Counters - Nobody cares how many people have visited your site and more than likely it's going to look less than impressive.
• Page Transitions - This is when the website makes your browser fade or swipe from one page to another. Very Annoying!
• Jokes/Current Events/etc... - Your website is a brochure about your busienss... not a social place for people to hang out.
• Advertisements - I've been on a few sites that have ads on them. For some this is because they are using a free host and if this is your ONLY option then it's ok (if its not a pop up)... However I have also seen a few people actually charging for ads on their sites or advertising other services on their sites for vacation homes or realtors. I think this looks really cheap and I doubt you will get any money out of it anyways. Stick with your core business.

What do you look for in a good website?

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Double-A

I would add that it should have your complete address and phone numbers on all pages.

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"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

Nathan

Agreed. I'm not sure about address but I would have my service area and phone number on every page.

Good suggestion.

__________________
Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Double-A

I just helped set up a fellow contractor (he's way small potatoes) in Quickbooks. I had to look up all his vendors addresses and phone numbers as we did this whole thing from his checkbook. Its so much faster to just cut and paste from their websites than to keep flipping 'windows' to read the next line of data.

He is my "teach one and pass it on" project. He told me his company didn't make any money last year (S Corp.). I told him his tax return begs to differ. He asked where it was and I showed him the 125K he took out of the company in draws. The ninny.

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"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

willbone3

[QUOTE=Nathan]I see a lot of websites from members and sometimes I'm asked to review them.".
Nathen,cole,bigdave everyone else, I have started a web page at our church.com its a search Eng. Christian site. then go to super side. 1 st time i've done anything like that. i bought siding express.com at go daddy.com i have paid for web hosting from them just not sure how to put web site on go daddy. when it is good enough i would like to like to here,but it will take me a min i have only been on computers. for 9 OR MTS. I just installed spell check.

Nathan

sidingexpress.com sounds like a great domain name. Good luck and let us see it when it goes live!

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

willbone3

thanks i'm trying. that ourchurch.com had free web building i took pics. posted links to fiber,windows,doors ect.

Double-A

I've been kicking this one around for a while. Its one reason we don't have one yet. That and I not thrilled with the company name (but that is a long story).

I think its like pronograhy. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I'm glad when I find the good stuff.

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"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

Big Dave

I've been wanting to redo my website but don't know where to start or what to fix. I'm not sure it is broken but I would appreciate any constructive criticism. I am trying to keep it simple and it is mostly for people that I am bidding on work for to look at. I can't afford to have it in the search engines and frankly I get enough work by word of mouth that I don't really need anymore.

All suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Dave.

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Do one thing at a time, do it well, then move on.
http://www.bigdaveswoodworks.com

MinConst

It doesn't have to cost money to be listed in search engines. The spiders will do it for you for free. You just have to have good information for them to list you well.

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Paul
Minichillo's Construction
Website
I will never leave you hanging!

Nathan

You've broken a few of my "things to avoid" rules that I listed above. Start a new website review thread and I'll post some feedback for you.

__________________
Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Melissa

I think that it should look professional. My husband is the biggest "do-it-yourselfer" I've ever known. Which can be a PITA some times! He takes such pride in doing everything himself. So because of that our website is not finished and doesn't look very professional. IMO it's worth it to pay $1,500 for a good website. It will last forever, so it's just one small investment that is all part of doing business. I was going to take a class and try to figure out how to do it, but I'd rather just focus on helping run the actual business instead, and if I ever have free time and still want to, then I'll do it then. But we are starting to raise our prices, and I think the website is a selling point. So, it's something I'm working on- getting him to agree to just fork over the $$.

But at the same time, I don't like websites that look mass-produced. I like them to look a little bit unique.

And definitely don't put too much information.

mickeyco

"What do you look for in a good website?"

I have a unique perspective, I used to be a full time contractor and part-time graphic-web designer, now I'm a full time graphic-web designer and due contracting part-time. Hopefully my experience, while biased, will be of help.

I think the most important aspect of a website is that it looks professional, it's a reflection of your business and many people will associate the quality of your website with the quality of you companies work (bad website = bad work), even though this may not be the case. If you can't do it yourself pay to have it done, it will pay for itself and reflect well on your business. Other important factor are:

Crisp, clean images, that are properly sized (not scaled). Make sure there are no missing images.

Use original images and material, I have seen way to many sites that use images taken from other sites (Some taken from major sites that are very recognizable).

The webite should load quickly, many people still have 56k modem (I'm on DSL and find that many sites still take to long to load). Use repetitive elements, this will help the site load quicker because they are already cached. You don't want to lose a potential customer before they have seen your site.

The site should be sized properly, this is hard to do because there're so many different screen resolutions out there, but you should definitely avoid visitors having to scroll left to right. Design the site for the most popular resolutions not what you have.

Make your site compatible with as many browsers as possible. I have seen many sites that use fancy java script or layers that make the site completely un-viewable on older and or less common browsers ( I use Opera ).

Remember that it's business site not a personal web page, while some people may enjoy pictures of your kids, motorcycles, cars etc., it's not the purpose of a business site and doesn't belong there and could be the cause of lost jobs. Example: You're an avid hunter and put some pictures of your trophies on you website. You might lose the business of animal activists, PETA members, or just regular people that think hunting is bad. Don't give people a reason not to hire you, if you want a personal page to show to friends make one.

Working links, all your links should work and all pages should have links.

Get rid of the "Under Construction" pages, add the link and or buttons when the page is complete and ready to view, this especially applies to contractors pages, "if they can't even finish a webpage how are they going to be able to finish my kitchen".

A site should load fast, too slow and you might lose them. Skip the fancy animations and flash.

If your business has a logo put it on the site, but make sure it's a nice picture. This lets people know that they are at the right site if they got your web address of a truck, sign or ad that has your logo.

Content; don't overwhelm visitors with loads of useless text put there for search engines. Tell them about your company and services. Try to answer the most common questions asked when people call you; What types of payments do you accept?, Are you Insured?, Are you licensed if required?, Do you service this area?, What is you guarantee/warrantee?, etc. This will help you get calls and change your calls from all these questions to when can you come out and do an estimate or the work.

List your services and service area, many businesses have phones/cel phones with different area codes than there service area has or that is not known by a potential customer. Use a map or list all the areas.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
I think it's overrated I have a website without any keywords etc. that comes up number 1 or 2 in google. I listed it myself on google's submit page. How much new business do you actually get from search engines versus you web address on the side and back of your truck, in the phone book, in local newspaper ads and mailers, signs in front of your projects and word of mouth. My experience has been that the latter is better.

For the "DON'Ts" look at the first post by Nathan he covers them pretty well.

Kevin

Grumpy

Here is my take on things. Customers are looking for information. We need to provide them with just enough information to contact us!

Yes a site needs to be easy to navigate

Yes a site needs to look professional and clean.

However IF the goal of your website is to generate leads, it must be built to do that. If your website is built more as an informational refrence you will use to point your potential customers at for more information, then it must also be built for that. OR you build multiple sites, each geared for a different purpose.

Grumpy

Phone number yes! Address, who cares? I have it on the contact page only.

Grumpy

I agree and disagree. WHat I mean is yes it must look professional. You wouldn't want an electrician to install a roof and a plumber to install wiring... You don't want a contractor building a website (in most cases, there are exceptions to every rule). Plus the more time you take away from generating revenue, the more of your money you are wasting, thus as Melissa said, someone can do it better and faster for $1,500 than if you spend $1,500 of your own time building the site.

I disagree that it's a one time investment and that it will last forever. You need to be updating your website to keep it current and might even want to change layouts every few years.

Nathan

I agree with this especially when you are buying leads off of a search engine. I would lead people to a "landing page" that is to the point and gives people an easy way to contact you.

A great example of this is the page that ServiceCEO has for this site: http://www.insightdirect.com/contractortalk.html

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

brzelt

You can have your website done for a whole lot cheaper than $1500

Like 2-500 for a not so complex site. (mine will be finished next week )


I hope

Bruce

Blue

I'm not trying to butt in, but I would typically charge 600-800 for a custom 5-6 page site. I spend a good deal of every working day designing, researching, and perfecting my "trade". If I were to count the amount of headaches and hours i have spent trying to get graphics to line up or using tables and CSS, not to mention designing the templates in photoshop and slicing them up, it would be a very very long time. And I am still learning.

You can get a site up yourself for cheap, but it is going to take many hours and you will still be left with a mediocre-bad site that will not portray the professional image you want to have. It would be the equivalent of me leaving my desk right now and trying to go build a gazebo in a week, It wont be pretty.

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-Carson Coots
Houston, TX