Finally got off my but and hired a designer for my business.
I’d like a critique of the site, from all you gals & pals out there.
www.aaronrconstruction.com
Go at it folks, I’m wearing body armor.
Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR Construction
Vancouver, Canada
The Paslode cordless siding and fencing nailer drives fasteners reliably without the hassle of hoses or compressors.
"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.
Replies
you're hired!
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
only one thing that looked a little scary.....
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
only one thing that looked a little scary.....
Boy, there's a deal breaker.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Yeah, he coulda went a lot further with something like this...View Image"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
Phhhhtttttttttt LOL
Thank you.Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
looks pretty enticing...
how long from selecting the webdesigner to publishing ?
and what kind of money are we talking about ?
i think it is very professional ... easy to navigate.. good before / after pics
what are the maintenance costs ?
I started talking to the designer in November.
It took a long time to get the pictures ready; re-edit the text; get the wording right (notice there is no "free"?).
I'll say 5 weeks, and it could have been faster if it were up to him.
The price was around 1300 including 2 years of hosting and registering .com and .ca, and includes 3 months of support after upload.
My guy is a gem and I would recommend him to anyone.
http://www.stambler.net
Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
Looks great. Big problem for me is getting bath pics that do justice to the work. Photos are great but small rooms are tough to photograph.
Edited 2/20/2009 5:31 pm by jagwah
I know. I need to get a super wide angle lens and a filter over the flash.
But the work DOES pay!Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
The most important part, getting paid.
1-gallon milk jugs with a hole cut in them do a good job as a flash difuser. Also, if you have the capability auxilary flashes bounced off the ceiling help a lot.
Aaron, I like it a lot. Even on my Sympatico dial-up service it loads tolerably quickly. Your web weenie gets big points for that!
When I was designing graphics (on paper, back in the last century, LOL), I always told clients that the hardest and longest part of the job was creating the content. You've done a good job at that. I like the step-by-step and before/after photos with the brief descriptive captions.
The only caveat I'd make is to point out that this approach appeals to men more than it does to women...and it's well known in the business that Mrs. HO usually has the final word. You might want to add some dramatic, artistic pics that appeal to the lady of the house--for instance, the photo of the home theatre would have been better from a low angle looking up, and better yet if you'd photo-shopped some handsome movie stud into the frame of that big screen.
Do not--repeat not--succumb to the urge to photoshop a Budweiser girl into the shower.... <G>
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
"succumb to the urge to photoshop a Budweiser girl into the shower.... "
That was going to be my suggestion!!!>G<
I love the logo..... and header in general.
As it's been said it's very easy and quick to navigate....zero lag time.
Everything's very clear and to the point.
I like what you say towards the end of "what we do".
I never heard " We are a full-service construction contractor specializing in small to medium-sized home renovation and repair jobs" put that way before though...where you say "we" then say "construction contractor (singular)"
but thats probably just me....I don't get out much outsider of work : )~
My only criticism is something thats just my own personal taste...nothing thats wrong in your website..... and that is talking about ones self and personal experiences.
When I had my web site up for critique by different people from different places I was told by a lot of people that it was to wordy. that that doesn't go over very well but that was what I wanted. I sorta wanted to ramble a bit...about me...and my work...and my thoughts in general. I wanted to make it more personal. I was told that that wasn't a good marketing strategy but I really didn't care b/c I wanted what made me feel comfortable and what I like doing is being authentic...maybe to a fault.
I like to try and engage people. I also like to try and step outsider of the box...from typical business "strategies".
I figure I'm only one person...how many customers can I work with at one time? What I personally wanted were people that related to me and who I related to.
I was sorta looking to target people. People that related to the fact that my work isn't JUST my work...it's a big part of who I am...it's not just a job to me.
I'm in most peoples homes for quite a while I want to feel good about them as I want them to feel about me.
I'm not one of these companies that handles 2-3 crews.
Anyway....I got real good responses from the people that've hired me about my site in spite of the original critiques.
One of the main comments I get is that they do go back and re-read it which is nice to hear.
I think your new web site makes you sound very honorable which is key IMO. You also do sound sincere.
I hate typical catch phrases....and promises that everyone and their brother gives which is why I think it's important to somehow capture your personality in your site...just makes you sound that much more authentic.
I think you did a real good job...Mazal Tov : )
Hope you have it up and running before Purim....lol.
Namaste'/Shalom
avi dass
http://www.cliffordrenovations.com
http://www.ramdass.org
Aaron I like the site both graphically and content-wise. I think one of the big mistakes people make is posting photos of work without any copy that relates the photos to the human experience of working with the company. I like how you have:
You talk about the desire and or problem or pain ( a Sandler Sales word) your potential client had and illustrated how you solved their problem and "removed their pain". People don't buy our services based on pretty pictures of the stuff we build they hire us because of what they thing the experience of working with us will be like. I get a good feeling of trust in that regard going through your site although I think as you move on don't look at this as a finished project and try and think of ways you can communicate more about the "experience" of working with AaronR Construction.
Did the designer set up the site in such a way that you can modify or make developmental changes to it? Can you add a blog to it? That's one way you can continue to add updated content.
I also like the red background. I think red is one of the harder colors to work with and many red sites really just look awful but your looks professional and has class.
Folks here are making fun of your photo (that's certainly to be expected) but that's really an important part in my estimation in making a human connection with the people you want to hire you.
One critical comment about something I really don't like is that when you click to send you an email your email address is reads [email protected] rather than [email protected]. If you can make that change and set-up an email account with your domain name make sure you run the HTML code for your address through sometime like the Fantomas MailShield tool which will convert the HTML code in to Uni-code format that spam bots can't pick up as they move through your site. More about the Fantomas MailShield.
View Image
Nice site. See some of my older posts on the subject for improvement.
Do you have a URL or two for one or more of your older posts on web site design or do you want me to search for them?
View Image
I have to agree with you on the email address. A business email address should be for your company, not some local communications company.
I'm not sure about the web address either. http://www.aaronrconstruction.com
That extra R in there is easy to miss. Web addresses should be easy to remember.
I liked your site, I can't say the same for your slogan. Luckily there is a really good post on this topic right now, created by some really smart guy.
I have a few thoughts.Overall, pretty good.
home page: Effective in describing your scope... you get to it in the first sentence. however, I suggest you separate that from your block of text so it's highlighted.I agree with previous poster that mixing of pronouns is somewhat confusing. Do you mostly work with subs you bring into a job? If so, I would keep it plural.I would suggest replacing the generic graphic of tools/etc. on your homepage with your most visually stunning piece of work. Or, you could have a rotating photo collage of your top projects. Show what you can deliver, right away. Don't make people dig to see the great work you do!What we do tabText heavy... any way to integrate some project photos here? I would also create sections with a sub headline, picture, then text.i.e.Looking to lower your heating and cooling bills?Picture of a wall you're redoing with new insulation or somethingThen text of "you are energy conscious..."I would put the part about licensed/insured up front... builds trust/credibilty with potential clientsI would dump the last two bullet points about payment schedules.On your project showcase... going forward can you get pictures of the actual owners in the completed work (where it makes sense)?Humanizing the end result of your work with smiley happy people shows that you do good work and treat your customers well. You could go as far as offering a discount or extra piece of work as a "small fee" for using them on your website.There are some other things... like many times your best points/info is at the bottom and needs to be scrolled to... summarize/bullet point quickly up top.. let people read into the detail after they understand what you delivered.I would also show a photo of you working on a project... tool in hand.I could go on, but those are my top reactions.Sorry if I sounded harsh... I wasn't trying to be... you have a real solid start here. With some touch ups it could be very good.Of course, that's just my $.02.
Jerrald, thanks for the kudos and the compliments. Red is my favorite colour (except for the balance sheet).
Email tip. Good thinking. I'll get David on it right away.Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
love it
One more consideration, and probably a love 'em or hate 'em deal, but how about testimonials from some satisfied customers?
I like your site; it is easy to see it was designed by a professional.
Two things that I see:
One: Place a pic of your best or most eye catching work on your splash page. Or you could do s rotating collage of finished projects as someone here has already suggested.
You could also get some high def pics from your cabinet suppliers to use. The only drawback to that is that then you are showing work which only showcases their cabinets, not what you are capable of doing.
Two: I strongly recommend against showing any before pics. Homeowners already know what their tired old home looks like, they don't need to be reminded. Show them what their space will look like.
I might suggest posting a running photo gallery of work in progress that you update weekly if you want to show what-it-was-then-what-it-is-now
That's my $.02. I don't have much left.
Aaron-- it is a good first site.
It is a bit wordy and a bit light on photography.
Fill in Metatext and you need to mention where exactly you live... city, towns etc. On the main page.
Casting a big net is fine... but not so many folks will type in BC or British Columbia without where they live.
Good Luck with it...
Now go get some links... you don't get traffic until you have a hundred or so links from other sites... now the real work starts!
L
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