Does anyone have a website? (for business purposes)

martin82scott

paulwf wrote: »

save-a-lot makes some good points about getting your website promoted everywhere you can.

Your approach looks like mine - write down every single bit of information you can think of and focus on the detail not the big picture. Your front page should have a summary of everything you do, you shouldn't have to navigate a 3 part menu, I've never seen a menu like it.


Every single page should have your phone number across the top (in big letters) and your email address. Your site isn't really asking people to take any action, whereas you need to be pushing them to contact you. To give customers confidence in you as someone else said having an address and landline really helps. Oh, and having some idea of prices really helps, sites without any idea of prices usually puts me off.
Basically someone is likely to google for a sparky, go onto the site, read a couple of lines and call for a quote. Your site is too complex, by all means link to the in depth info but the front page summary is crucial as not many people will look beyond that.

The design also looks too corporate, as though it is designed for corporate business to business activities. Even using words like "service review" create the wrong image to a domestic customer. "Real life" pictures of you have taken rather than stock images also give more of a personal touch. It's not very often I say this, but your site is too professional!

i totally agree and i suppose i have gone wrong by building the site over time instead of finalizing it and then publishing it. its one of those things where its been added to adjusted since day one and the 'big picture' has been missed.
again, as for the menu, im not fond of it and it needs to go! its just something that has been made over time.
can anyone suggest a better menu?

thanks for commenting on prices etc-point noted and action to be taken. just not keen on adding prices as every job is an individual price. i could note this on there and publish details and costings of previous works as a guideline? is this good? also gives fresh content for google!

martin82scott

many have mentioned the menu layout and that it should highlight a word or picture as a user scrolls over it to show it links to information.

any ideas on a better layout please?

im thinking delete menu and have a nice, bold and eye catching list of services on homepage which all highlight and link to the relative page?

a nice eye catching quote at the top would explain to click on the relavent listing could be good too.

any better suggestions please?

LittleCharlie

martin82scott wrote: »

thanks for the information. thats exactly what i was wanting to hear. as i mentioned about the landline etc. thats getting sorted asap and i do appreciate its important. the site was made from templates and i had a mate finish it off so hence the lack of photos of myself etc. a few have now said this and think its the next step forward.
Im also concerned that too many people think its aimed at big businesses. not only this but as it looks 'professional' (as i want to also do!) i also agree and its worrying. i do market myself well elsewhere and most of my links are from other sites but im also young (26) and think some people get a shock when i turn up at the door and they have seen my site etc. at least they will know im serious and i do have 12yrs+ experience but i dont feel thats a good thing to advertise as some sites boast 25yrs+. with a mate finishing the site meant i just got top work for my money!

any pointers for a revamp would be nice too. all my competotors do have just as good site by now as some been around many years and a refurb at the financial year is the thing to do for fresh look and content.

think i need to pass this on to an seo specialist and do some work myself to make it 'reflect me'

The thing is, it looks like an IT solutions site, not an electricians site. If I clicked on while looking for an electrician that I'd click back straight away because it looks like a company that makes products such as CCTV cameras. I don't really associate electricians with CCTV or half the brands you have at the bottom of the page (Next? Windows?) I think of an electrician as someone that will wire a new light into the ceiling or fix my cooker.

martin82scott

i agree on the it looking site etc and hope to take all this information in from everyone. its what i was hoping for! getting my list of actions going now. problem is, the site has just been built over time and not just a one time finished product so i admit its not great and not the way to go about things. im also a sparky and not a web designer and money is tight but im trying really appreciate all the time you are all putting into your in depth posts! thank you to all

martin82scott

the next logos and windows logos etc were supposed to be for next lighting etc which many people list on their sites to give clients a head start for ideas and windows was for media extenders etc but just checked and it looks like it has been sent to the wrong address-just windows homepage

save-a-lot

martin82scott wrote: »

i totally agree and i suppose i have gone wrong by building the site over time instead of finalizing it and then publishing it. its one of those things where its been added to adjusted since day one and the 'big picture' has been missed.
again, as for the menu, im not fond of it and it needs to go! its just something that has been made over time.
can anyone suggest a better menu?

thanks for commenting on prices etc-point noted and action to be taken. just not keen on adding prices as every job is an individual price. i could note this on there and publish details and costings of previous works as a guideline? is this good? also gives fresh content for google!

building the site over time is good... adding more and more content over time is what helps your site to be frequently spidered. So, obviously in the first place get it ready so that it is good to show off to people, but then after that keep adding more and more content. Articles etc.

save-a-lot

Here is a thought. It is getting quite trendy nowadays to put links in your footer and there are lots of styles on how to do this.. for example:
http://www.kathymarks.com/archives/2005/09/putting_css_footers_in_their_place.html

but search more. That way you can still carry lots of content whilst making the rest of the site very simple and focus on the services that are your bread and butter. The other services that are still important to you will be in the footer and be available for spidering and getting you visitor to those pages from searches.


Here is a quick tip on cutting down on maintenance every New Year.. the copyright notice can auto-update, here is how..

use notepad and copy that in bold and save as copyright.js - FTP that file to your root directory

var Today=new Date();
var ThisDay=Today.getDate();
var ThisMonth=Today.getMonth()+1;
var ThisYear=Today.getFullYear();
var MonthName=MonthTxt(ThisMonth);
function MonthTxt (MonthNumber) {
var Month = new Array();
Month[1]="January";
Month[2]="February";
Month[3]="March";
Month[4]="April";
Month[5]="May";
Month[6]="June";
Month[7]="July";
Month[8]="August";
Month[9]="September";
Month[10]="October";
Month[11]="November";
Month[12]="December";
return Month[MonthNumber];
}

Then in the <HEAD></HEAD> section of your pages between those tags call the javascript to the page like this:
<script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.your-website.com/copyright.js"></script&gt;

Then where you want the copyright notice to appear paste this code:
<script type="text/javascript">
document.write('© Copyright 2008 - '+ThisYear);
</script>

cally6008

hey s-a-l, can I use that code on my website ? The website started in 2004 but has seen a few design changes since then so should I put "copyright 2004 - this year" ?

save-a-lot

cally6008 wrote: »

hey s-a-l, can I use that code on my website ? The website started in 2004 but has seen a few design changes since then so should I put "copyright 2004 - this year" ?

Yeah use it... yeah put copyright whatever year and write all rights reserved aswell if you want - I found this piece of code and it has helped loads.

martin82scott

save-a-lot wrote: »

Here is a thought. It is getting quite trendy nowadays to put links in your footer and there are lots of styles on how to do this.. for example:
http://www.kathymarks.com/archives/2005/09/putting_css_footers_in_their_place.html

but search more. That way you can still carry lots of content whilst making the rest of the site very simple and focus on the services that are your bread and butter. The other services that are still important to you will be in the footer and be available for spidering and getting you visitor to those pages from searches.


Here is a quick tip on cutting down on maintenance every New Year.. the copyright notice can auto-update, here is how..

use notepad and copy that in bold and save as copyright.js - FTP that file to your root directory

var Today=new Date();
var ThisDay=Today.getDate();
var ThisMonth=Today.getMonth()+1;
var ThisYear=Today.getFullYear();
var MonthName=MonthTxt(ThisMonth);
function MonthTxt (MonthNumber) {
var Month = new Array();
Month[1]="January";
Month[2]="February";
Month[3]="March";
Month[4]="April";
Month[5]="May";
Month[6]="June";
Month[7]="July";
Month[8]="August";
Month[9]="September";
Month[10]="October";
Month[11]="November";
Month[12]="December";
return Month[MonthNumber];
}

Then in the <HEAD></HEAD> section of your pages between those tags call the javascript to the page like this:
<script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.your-website.com/copyright.js"></script&gt;

Then where you want the copyright notice to appear paste this code:
<script type="text/javascript">
document.write('© Copyright 2008 - '+ThisYear);
</script>

Hey, thanks for that and will give it a go. i have the day off work today and i intend on starting a few bits for the new design of the site to make it easier (and cheaper!) when it comes to getting my mate to finish it off and upload everything properly.

It does look like you know your stuff s-a-l! Do you or anyone else know much about html? i know nothing much to be honest as its not my game but i was just hoping that if i was to upload or pm someone a copy of a page like my index etc, then hopefully someone could give me some pointers? it would be most appreciated.
i have basically been given the templates and have altered things as i have gone along but fear i may of deleted things or adjust them by accident. People also speak of h1, h2 etc but i cant seem to see these in my pages? i dont even know if my site is that css stuff!!!??? whatever css actually is! think its youtube time for some info but id be really appreciative of anyone who can give me pointers on the html pages for my site. thank you everyone