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If you are trying to spend the least amount of money possible then it is best not to be too original but rather find a good theme that fits your business and just change the logo and header graphic.

I think your header is too big and the graphic is not really related to your business.

I would use Studiopress's Executive theme and add your company name to the header. I think this themes fits your business. See http://www.studiopress.com/

Studiopress also gives you the PSD to modify so if you know Photoshop you can take those, modify them, convert them to graphics and add them to the theme to create a sort of 'unique' style. It's pretty easy. Most people would do this for $200 or so.

Use the rest of your time to polish your copy, create new content, add blog posts frequently, write articles, research legislation, take photographs etc.

PS. I was just looking at the Executive theme and think it a even more suited for your business.

If you get some related photos then they could be blended into the gray middle of the home page to create a subtle effect, the colors and gradients could be changed and graphics could be added to the header. This could be changed so that it does not even look close to the original.

The goal is not to create a fancy site but to increase the credibility of your business.

People here like to talk like SEO is everything and if you get to #1 with a site that looks like a dogs breakfast that's all you really need. But you still have to convince visitors that you are the best for the job and a design that looks cheap will not help.

SEO is like winning the pole position in an auto race - you still have to win the race.

Some more feedback for you.

I would agree with Karunnt about your header... Sizewise it's not too bad but there is no relation to what you're doing?

I think a header graphic should contain some imagery related directly to what you do and some key points about your services.

People here like to talk like SEO is everything and if you get to #1 with a site that looks like a dogs breakfast that's all you really need.

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There are members of this very forum whom have sites that look just like a dogs breakfast but they rank highly and yet they report they are getting leads. These are guys that didn't piss around worrying to much about their site design, put up some valuable content and got it done.

Once you've got rank, you've got data and with enough visitor data you can start making changes with a purpose and not at random.

But you still have to convince visitors that you are the best for the job and a design that looks cheap will not help.

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Agreed. You definitely need to convey credibility and experience but that doesn't exactly mean a pretty design. There is nothing wrong with a contractor putting up a bare bones site or a "stock template" so long as they follow some strict layout patterns and populate it with content that a visitor would find helpful and of value.

What layouts work? I've mentioned it once before... MarketingSherpa puts out a report called the Landing Page Handbook. It's in it's 2nd edition right now and sells for about $497.00

They tell you straight up with the data to back it up what layouts work well and what doesn't work so well. With that knowledge you'll know what templates you really can choose from and which are useless, how to structure your site, where to place important items, best navigation setups etc... It's a very thorough and detailed piece of web marketing literature that would save the DIY website builder/marketer a ton of trial and error.

Thank you for the feed back. Right now the whole "Bulk Email" at the bottom of the pge is my biggest turn off. I'll check out that site you mentioned.

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Yes, I noticed that right away... You need to have that removed. That will not help you at all.

Carl

My partner is in charge of our web design department and she hammers the point home to our employees...Be consistent, it demonstrates your commitment to professionalism.

On the subject of blogs..."Every" site should have a blog attached to it. The Search engines love blogs...and as its been pointed out it's a great way to get traffic to your site.

There are some linking strategies using blogs that can actually help your site in the search engines.

If you don't have time to write good quality content have some one do it for you...a secretary, spouse, friend or even hire it out. I'm not showing you this to promote a site but think about how easy it would be for you to create a short video (2 to 3 mins) then have someone create a blog post based on the video...here is an example.

example blog

think outside the box

j