Need Site Opinions

http://testing.adrynsolutions.com/

I need opinions on layout, content, prices, and services offered.

This site is not done, mind you.

Please don't lecture me on the merits of obfuscating your email address or phone number

Email is just for this and number is Google Voice in which I can turn off at any time.

 

I suck with graphics, but I can definitely specify what an emergency is

 

Everything I'm going to come up with is cosmetic...I suck at even guessing about the tech or pricing aspects. Also, I'm going to seem very nitpicky, but that's why people in my regular life ask me to look at stuff. The thing that's good to know is when I'm nitpicky it's because overall it looks really good.

I like the slogan box, but make it two definite lines instead of "I" being on the same line with the question. Also, maybe just:
Computer misbehaving?
I can fix it!

There needs to be a space between Trip Charge and (mandatory) as well as between First Hour and (mandatory). I'm trying to think of a better word than mandatory...maybe required? Maybe just a note that says the trip charge is mandatory and it's a one-hour minimum?

Agreed that "emergency" needs to be defined. You might also get away with charging a surcharge for immediate instead of scheduled response, although I'm not sure about that. But I'd mention something about scheduling, because people are going to get mad if you can't drop everything and go to their houses immediately even if you're already booked.

On your contact form, add a section for if they prefer email or phone response, and a best time to call if they do? Otherwise, if you're going to do everything by email, do you really need phone numbers?

Right now, clicking on the "blog" link opens a new tab that duplicates whatever page you're on. I'm sure that's part of it being not finished, but wanted to mention it.

Instead of "Popular Links", maybe "Sites We Like" or "Recommended Links" or something like that?

Otherwise, it just needs something more. Maybe put your three categories on the home page into different coloured background boxes? A highlight box for your "now serving" section? Graphics would be nice, but I think you can get away without them if you employ more section separation with either colour or boxes or something.

I do like it overall! And even though I don't have a clue about pricing (I either fix my own or trade beer or baked goods for repairs), that looks reasonable as well.

 

I agree with TimW on the need for pictures. Maybe over each of the three columns. Personally think it needs a little color somewhere to make it pop a bit. Move the "I" in the sentence I can fix it to the second line with the rest of that sentence. Hope this is helpful.

 

I like it. I agree with TimW some pictures would jazz it up.
You could also post a small video clip of yourself on your site describing your services, business. Selling yourself will pay dividends and get your name out there.

 

Looks great!

I agree with everyone else that your tagline needs to be two separate lines. I like the "Metro" styled, minimalistic look. As far as graphics -- a few metro styled solid blue icons per services rendered point or maybe a full page transparent in the background.

 

This is my take and is all subjective so it is not a criticism and I hope some of the ideas are constructive.

Looks OK but I think you should move the "Popular Links" to another page or the very bottom of this page so the top dialogue box can be in the centre and look in proportion. Increase the font size of the top dialogue box to be slightly larger than the other dialogue boxes and instead of saying "Now serving ......" Just have "Servicing the Tucson, Sahuarita, and Green Valley, AZ areas!" and have it in bold text to stand out more. If you are having a phone contact number then a large font on the line below the Servicing blah blah blah .... would be a good location.

Tagline needs to be two separate lines with a coloured contrasting background.
Either choose a nice coloured contrasting background graphic or have random pictures of PCs, laptops and tablets as the page background. Personally I prefer a simple coloured graphic to pictures as there is less problems of black text over dark parts of the pictures but that being said pictures definitely have merit and offer greater impact when you first go to a site.

For legal reasons you should have a link to your privacy policy. You also need to speak about warranty and what is covered when you work on someone else's gear.
Wherever you have your warranty information list out your disclaimers especially in regard to the possibility of data loss when hard drives fail or when there is a bad virus to be removed and maybe also talk about not being liable if a third party works on the PC after you have carried out repairs.
Also for legal reasons you need to have a "terms and conditions" link somewhere and make sure you also include your banking/payment details.

You need to clarify your charges in relation to travel and emergency. I would also ditch mandatory and swap it for "(minimum charge)" . I would charge at each additional ½ hour as it looks less and the time probably fits the visit more accurately.

Maybe for later on think about branding and a logo that people will associate with your business that you can carry over to your business cards and letterheads,invoices, receipts and fax templates.

Good luck with your enterprise :cool

I will send a pm with some other info

 

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Keep them coming! I will be implementing a lot of them tonight or tomorrow. Today my main focus is getting the contact form finished.


I am trying really hard to make a good first impression and I've lost a lot of sleep on this site in the last day or so

 

You might try moving the paragraph "Technical support services" below the three columns and see how that looks. Just a thought. Seems you are getting some good feedback.

 

Yeah I might have to do that with all of them and stagger them from the left to the right as I add images. My wife said she would help me with the images (I don't want it to look too tacky). Right now the site is fully flexible to any resolution, so I am trying to be careful on how much I adjust Bootstrap.




Contact form is working now, although I need to add to it per the suggestions here. As I said, keep them coming! :-D


At any rate, its a lot better than this: http://adrynsolutions.com.

 

Perhaps this link can give you some ideas? Keep in mind that the business is located in Ontario, Canada. Wow, they've raised their rates compared to 2 years ago. http://www.dependablehometech.com/

 

I may be getting ahead here and maybe you have not linked to it yet but when I clicked on Blog it took me to Services Rendered. I know you have a blog because I have read it "The Ramblings of Adrynalyne" Is that the blog you are linking to or is the blog link for future blogs? Just wondering.

 

A new blog. Funny you mention that, I just created the blog about 20 minutes ago. Thats the only non-working link

I will have that up by tonight probably.

 

Thanks!


Yeah I won't be upping my prices unless i get so busy that I need to bring on another person to help me. In that case, I will hire them on contract (1099, to avoid extra expense to myself), and raise my prices a bit. Looks like I have PLENTY of wiggle room without being too expensive.

 

This is somewhat what I had in mind for you.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Brewers/

Notice the background image is static as you scroll down.

 

That is kind of neat. I'll play with the idea.

 

Images and background aside, I have made most of the changes folks have mentioned to me. Thank you for the awesome feedback and keep it coming if you have more!

New url is http://adrynsolutions.com.

 

I just did a very quick look and my first impression is that it looks very good.

Again, with just a quick glance, I think it conforms well with good design
practices. As you know, people typically do a quick scan to get a sense of
what's there and if anything interests them. Your layout, text sizes and
spacing, especially on the home page, makes that easy.

I like the use of color on the services page and the rounded corners.
I think you should match the space below the Services Rendered heading to equal the space above.

The centering seems to be a bit off on the Pricing page.
I'd make the horizontal lines much shorter and remove the vertical end lines,
so it doesn't look so boxy.
Make the long text line two separate lines and center both.
Also, more space (equal) above and below those lines - at least double.

A very nice touch, I think. SO much better than those TV adds that claim that malware can do
PERMANENT damage to your computer.
They're such creeps!

The only detracting characteristic I noticed right away is the excessive line
length when viewing in maximized view, which is what I typically use. Deciding
on max-width and min-width is a head scratcher and the suggested guidelines
vary.
(don't have my HTML/CSS stuff loaded on this machine yet )

Here are a couple of articles that I bookmarked:

maxdesign: Ideal Line Length For Content

Typographic Design Patterns and Best Practices

 

Re: detracting characteristic:

You are still referring to the pricing page, correct?

 

The one line of text on the pricing page.
The opening paragraph on the Home page.
The entire page width Services page, except the banner, of course.

Without trying it out, it's hard to tell what the best maximum width would be.
You could try 900px to start with.

The length of the line:

on the Home page is a good guide.
If the paragraph above that was about the same width - that's what I'm talking about.

The left text alignment on the pricing page looks better than it was.
I'd like to see Pricing left aligned with "I Keep it Simple".

I like the banner and the footer, BTW.

 

Here is an example with 700 pixel width using a measuring tool.

 

Ah, you are looking at the old copy.

New production copy is at http://adrynsolutions.com.

I moved the links to the bottom a few days ago. I am still tweaking and haven't had a chance for images yet.

 

I added some images :-D


http://adrynsolutions.com

 

I like the images, they add interest.
This is just a question. How do you plan to get your web site noticed by your potential customers in your targeted area?

 

Business cards as well as word of mouth. I should have them by the end of next week.

Why do you ask? Do you have some suggestions? I'm all ears

I've gone through several SEO optimization reports and corrected the warnings as well.

 

Quite appropriate images. :clap

 

I assume you want to hit the ground running. Word of mouth is great and the first thing I would ask if I was the one needing help, but could take a little while to get the word out there since you are starting a new business.
I know nothing about the area you are hoping to serve. I live in a small community and I see friends and family asking on Facebook for recommendations for things like this. A Facebook page just for your business or one you can link your Blog to might be useful.
If you have local publications you might place a small ad in them or even a bit on the local radio station could be a possibility. A few good business contacts could help get your name out there. Good luck!

Probably some of the good folks here in this forum could add better suggestions for you also.

 

Added thought, if you decide to set up a Facebook page you should ask your friends and family to post the link to your page on their pages asking their friends and family to share the link on theirs. Corny as that seems it gets the word out to lots of folks quickly. Hopefully people bookmark the link in case they later need help.
This is how I found a appliance repairman I would of never known about if I had not seen people asking and talking about who they used on Facebook. Just a thought.

 

I'm not ignoring your suggestion, just figuring out how to do it right. I have to be very careful when specifying widths, because it can very easily break the fluidity of the site. What works for one resolution will not for another.

 

Regarding name: I thought about that, but if I need to hire additional people, I think it would become less appropriate. Once I get approval for the business name with the gubment, that will be added.

Regarding tab: I think maybe the bigger question is why is it trying to autocorrect urls?

 

Hmm, not a bad idea either. Thanks!

 

*Whistles*

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fgwj7saw210dxdo/Screenshot 2014-03-13 14.18.14.png

 

I have no idea what you are talking about

 

The main body behaves like it's fluid.
I looked at the CSS file, which is huge, and it appears to use media queries for setting widths, which I know nothing about. :-o

I thought it would be as simple as setting

Code:

.container { max-width: 700px; }

Apparently not

When the browser window is resized Down below a certain width, the banner links disappear
and a button appears at the top right in the banner, but it's not labeled.
Some people may not know what it's for or that it's clickable.
Could you attach a "menu" label to the button ?

 

I might be able to. Something like a tooltip, because when it sizes down like that, the menu uses javascript to open back up. Its a fairly standard mobile menu though.


I use bootstrap, but I just wanted to show that its considered the standard menu these days.

http://responsivemobilemenu.com/en/
http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/create-an-absolute-basic-mobile-css-responsive-navigation-menu

http://speckyboy.com/2013/01/30/more-responsive-navigation-solutions/


All I really have to do is replace the menu image with my own i think.

 

How about this?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ton7q9h9z08kjug/Screenshot 2014-03-14 12.48.01.png

 

This is a bit cleaner.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zufnf4p05bggx7m/Screenshot 2014-03-14 12.54.44.png

 

Yeah its on my business cards too

 

I used VistaPrints, but its my first batch. I'll email ya what it looks like.

 

@mjnc:

Better?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i9grnapfsq0yq4q/Screenshot 2014-03-14 13.35.36.png

 

Yes. Much Better !! Very Nice.
That's great. It's like a two column design. The graphic makes it look nicer and adds some very useful info.
Great that you can offer that convenience. I'm sure people will really appreciate that.

I like the first instance of the menu button. I think the outline makes it look more like a button.
The hover effect makes it unmistakable.

I'm using Windows 7 with 1280 x 1024 resolution.
Checking it out with WinKey+RightArrow brings it down to ~ 640 x 1024.
The rearrangement of the elements works very well.
Starting to look really slick and you still have a clean design.

Wondering if the banner phone and email links should be underlined ?
The banner background is #2C3E50, so maybe #3C4E60 or #4C5E70 for the underline.
Not sure. That might ruin the look.
It looks cleaner without the underline, but what if some prospective customer
isn't computer savvy enough to "point" at it.