I’m switching over to a Mac user-based website platform and would welcome any input breaktime members have.
it is not ready for publication yet, but can be viewed at http://web.me.com/keithmathewson
Thanks
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"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
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Something about the way your address is presented in unsettling to the eye. Maybe you should make it mixed case, or maybe a different font.
The secondary pages should have some sort of page header with your business name.
I've never laid out a web site or know how.
However I know what I like or what grabs my attention and what doesn't.
The few pages look to simplistic for the caliper of the work you perform & product you provide. I hate to say it but I think you need to start over.
Your work is high end, the web pages are not. Please don't take this as an attack in any way. I think with a more high end looking site you will be able to command top dollar as you should. That being said I don't know how you price yourself out & am not asking but looking at your work it says to me highend quality.
The majority of your pictures should be finished products & maybe a small portion of in progress photos. Us tradesmen here may apprieate the "How you do it photos" but the customer wants to see finished photos so they can say,"Thats what I like"
When you look at new cars catalogs, You want to see finished cars, not the making of.
Hope this helps
Paul
No one should regard themselve as "God's gift to man." But rather a mere man whos gifts are from God.
You've got a good point about the pics. I don't take many pics and always seem to forget to take any at the end, and you can't really go back after you've finished. Might have to drop some of them.
I love the layout and color scheme, but I agree with Cardiac. Could you insert some tasteful flash with some stunning pictures? You are definitely on the right platform for web design. We are hiring a design company to do ours as work is slow and the web is the future!
I looked through my pics and the only finished pics are of a couple of bars I built a few years ago. I think the only reason I have pics of those was going back for the opening party. It appears my interest lies more in the construction of it.
Understand. What about creating your buttons (services, approach) to enable easy navigation. When I spoke to a friend who is a designer at Facebook, he said the focus should really be placed on simple layout with easy navigation. What about using a welcome page? I really like your top graphic, what about making that a button to get to your main page?
And then on your services page what about placing Seattle Fine Woodworking with the ph # at the bottom in the same graphic though smaller and toned down?
I think you are definetly on the right track.
I did our site on a mac with iweb software. I got a lot of help from the folks here, still took me about a month to get something halfway intelligible.Gotta hit the sack, but I'll check yours more closely on the morrow.http://www.tvwsolar.com
Now I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill
I would set him in chains at the top of the hill
Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille
He could die happily ever after"
Don't feel bad about not having pictures I'm also guilty as charged on that one.
Hope you don't feel I beat on you too much, I just think you have a great talent just from the few pictures you have.
Having more pictures not only shows different things you can do but also that you have done alot of projects.
I think your on the right track & sincerely wish you the best,
Keep us posted with your web ideas.
Edit: Just went back to your site, I do like the idea of the four pictures of how its done. The picture of the one riser in the stringer, average homeowner won't know what it is & you won't be there to explain it, replace it with maybe the back of a completed stair, looks more complicated and impressive, Love the picture of the cad drawing, that shows high tech, latest technology on your part & real professionalism. The one with your hand in it, maybe replace with one of a longer railsection & no hand in it, also watch whats in the background.
Paul
No one should regard themselves as "God's gift to man." But rather a mere man whose gifts are from God.
Edited 5/3/2009 10:25 pm ET by CardiacPaul
Edited 5/3/2009 10:27 pm ET by CardiacPaul
Paul
Don't feel bad about not having pictures I'm also guilty as charged on that one.
You are also guilty of giving us teasers about complex casing at his your house and then not posting the pics. LOL
Still patiently waiting to see that multiple piece casing. I don't blame you, but I do want to see them sometime.
I am guilty of not taking pictures at the end too.
Often times I want pictures to justify tearing something out are adding to the cost.
But on the last day of the job we are wrapping up and trying to get out of there and the pictures just fall off the radar.
Rich
Rich,
At lest now I know how to embed pictures, thanks to you.
Now I have no excuses, although if I look in my box of excuses I'm I can find some that apply.---- LOL
I do feel like a jerk everytime I come here knowing your around & I owe some pictures.
I am building a maple kitchen right now for my daughter & putting in some real hours in on it & its really turning out nice, fun project too, Yes there will be pictures of that to.
Paul No one should regard themselve as "God's gift to man." But rather a mere man whos gifts are from God.
Paul
I do feel like a jerk everytime I come here knowing your around & I owe some pictures.
I'll shut up then.
I don't want to be a pain, nor do I want to drive you away from BT. But then again you might get more work done.
Don't feel bad. I understand. There are a couple of photo threads I would like to do.
As I was spending time doing a thread DW would walk by and and make a comment about XYZ that still need doing. And your on the computer talking to your imaginary friends.
Rich
And your on the computer talking to your imaginary friends
ROAR
My wife calls it my "Computer Wife"
and no your not a pain.
Paul No one should regard themselve as "God's gift to man." But rather a mere man whos gifts are from God.
Paul
My wife calls it my "Computer Wife"
My wife can relate to that statement. Although she reads almost all of my BT correspondence and she finds the guys very funny.
We are at peace about it now, but i have to watch myself or i will become a BT addict.
I can also get very involved in Excel estimating and figuring a job.
Rich
Who says you can't go back for finished pictures? I would bet that most HO's would be happy to allow you to show off their stairs on your website. Call and tell them that you particularly liked working on their project and ask if you could take pictures for your portfolio and website. What's the worst that can happen; they say no?
BruceT
It's also a good way of networking, reminding them you're still around. =)~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.netMeet me at House & Builder!
Who are you marketing to? General contractors, architects or homeowners? I think that should determine the focus of your content, the technical aspects, your skill, reliability, ability to meet a schedule, etc.
John
your phone number on the pages other than Home don't strike me as a phone number at first, more like a part number or a tracking number of some sorts. Maybe a dash between the groups or ph prior to it such as
206-669-2087
or
206.669.2087
or
ph: 206-669-2087
The fonts of the phone number look clean but they hit my eye funny for some reason. Maybe reduce the in size a bit or something to help distinguish them from the header/title of the page.
And I agree with who previously stated that on yoru home page the phone number and address get lost, something with the spacing of the leters on the background design and colors. I think very slight changes will make a difference.
Thanks for the replies everyone. It's time to call it a night. I'll work on it some more this week.
Keith,
I think the pics in progress are neat. Love the ones on the first page and the one of the circular stair from the top down. (Though I'd be tempted to Photoshop out the shiny metal cross at the landing, since it distracts the eye away from the stair, which ought to be the focus.)
Your layout needs some help, though. The pics are running on top of one another, and aren't spaced evenly. In the layout you've got (especially on the Approach page), it would go a long way to giving a clean look if you made the images the same size (height and width). The grey border only appears on some of them. Nothing wrong with keeping that, just make it the same on all, and maybe cut the stroke of it in half so it's not quite as heavy. Might be nice to spread some descriptions around with the photos so you can inform your viewers. You know exactly what they showcase. I can probably guess correctly. Harry and Harriet Homeowner that might be interested in your work? Probably not. Enlighten them and give them a reason to want to call/email you. (This goes back to your thread on the dark stain on the bookmatched stairs. It's not likely that the client doesn't care about these things; it's that they don't even know that they SHOULD care. Teach them why you are the craftsman they've been looking for.)
The Services page has some trouble. In Firefox it looks like this. The logo is cut off, and more importantly, none of your menu links work here. Looks like there's a CSS issue where the logo has floated up above where it was placed and while the info below is visible, the 'skin' on the logo layer is preventing you from clicking on those items. Same sort of thing with that staircase image.
Contact form. Nothing's happening on this page, I assume because you aren't finished. But, unless you need some specific info from your visitors, just put an email on each page with your business name and phone number. I hate filling out a form like this just to provide basic info. You can screen your email with some Javascript so it won't be available to spam farmers. Make it easy for people to get in touch with you, not more difficult.
Lastly, I'd recommend a real domain name like seattlefinewoodworking.com instead of the one using the mac one. It will both help people find you and give you the professional aura you'd want.
Hope that's helpful.
Best,
Steve'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
View Image
The "in" thing is to use "." instead of "-" between the number groups, but they're probably more identifiable as phone numbers if you use () around the area code: (501) 555-1212
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
whichever as long as it's different than what he currently has. I had to go back to the home page to find the number to check what I was seeign on the other pages. I really thought it was a part number or a tracking number first but that's me.
Yeah, I noted that the entire address thing was kind of off-putting and didn't get beyond that.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
I like it. I like your work. And I prefer work-in-progress photos over finished product, (because anyone can purchase photos of finished homes, and because its the process more than the product that interests me), but that's just me.
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
First, the good news: I know you build circular stairs and rails.
Now the bad news: I know you use clamps LOL.
Why is it that carpenters always take pictures while in progress, but never take them at the end of the last day, when all the mess and tools are cleaned up?
My suggestions are similar to those that have already been given. I would also add some testamonials off in a corner on each page. I might also suggest trying to get back to those houses and get permission to photograph your installations. If they all say no, just find some finished stairs that represent the work that you do. No one really cares if you've substituted a different set for the marketing effort. They won't know until you tell them but when you tell them, if you tell them, you will have your works in progress pictures to tell your story.
I know what you mean about not taking pics, I've got a ton, but it's still not even of half our work. And, when I'm in the house it's about finished, and there's always rosin paper and tools all over the place.
We usually do a 1 year punch, and I had always felt like an invader asking to take pics, but, I'm getting better, and most clients seem to like it.
The pics you have are great. Any mill work examples? Other weird projects? iWeb has a site inspector. You can put your email address in text and make it a link,
... I agree about the form, I'd just want to email you.
Check your site out in a couple of browser, I use FireFox, and it shows some of your pics on top of text, some text is cut off.
And, is your address really Marginal Way, I'm not so sure that's where I want my fine woodworking coming from... LOL
Now I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill
I would set him in chains at the top of the hill
Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille
He could die happily ever after"
I have a website that was done a website programer, although what he did looked nice it was a struggle to get him to do anything. Add to that it was expensive. So I stopped doing anything to it. Now with things being slower I'd rather attempt to do it myself than shell out another thousand or two. I've only spent a couple of hours on it so far, I mostly copied and pasted from the site. I need to spend several hours working on it in the next few days.
The website looks nice, though I'm not sure what using a Mac has to do with it.
~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.net
Meet me at House & Builder!
Thanks Ted,
What I have posted is my attempt, so far on a mac. It's not what is currently listed with my domain name.
I have a website set up with the same .mac (now .me) platform. My sister who is a photographer and graphic designer set it up. (you can also take a look at Jerry Work's, especially if you're into the whole Festool thing)I don't really use mine for advertising, it's mainly a place to store pictures so I can direct people to it and say, "take a look at my website and you'll see an example of this..."
The thing I do like about the way mine got set up is how easy it is to navigate. I like websites that are big on pictures and easy to find my way through from any point.It looks like you do beautiful work. I agree that the website should reflect that a little more. More pictures (as has been said). Change "Services" to some other word. Services to me sounds more like a handyman or property management, not a custom stair building craftsman.On the first page it should say "ensures," not "insures." I'd keep some sort of common theme between the pages. The home page has the iWeb graphic but then it isn't continued on the other pages. It needs a little more continuity to tie the whole thing together. I thought I'd been directed to a different page when I clicked on services the first time.It's a good question about who you're advertising to. The small font with lots of explanatory material close together has a more architect/engineer feel to it. The pictures show the craftsmanship. I personally would break up the text with more pictures, or graphics, or just somehow ease it on the eye.You can take a look here http://www.pauljohnsoncarpentry.com to see the one I am using. Again it's a very simple, straightforward design. But so is most of the work I do. I think make the whole thing a little bit more inviting overall and you've got a winner!
Nice work hipaul, both on your jobsites and website.
Thank you kindly sir. I'll give all the credit to my sister who does my website design and work. I will take some credit for the jobsite work though! ; )
cool!View Image"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
I like your site, really gives me an idea of how much can be done with the software package. Looks like I've got a lot of work to do before mine is ready to go online.
I like your new website. I like your old website. I like your work. I'd call you for a bid in a hearbeat. FatroMan & others here really know their website stuff, so there is some good advice here I'm sure. I'm like you - I do my own website from a template, because I couldn't afford to pay someone to put the kind of hours in that is required. And I like doing it myself. But I'm no expert.
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
Huck,Thanks for the compliments. With the economy in the state it is around here I need to drum up as much interest as possible.