Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

I might retake the photo of the team. The person 2nd from the left looks like they don't want to be there.

Second, decide which customer segment is most likely to come across your website and cater to them. If I was a sales rep looking for representation to receive unpaid commission I would not want to read about the firm's experience in divorce or criminal law. Maybe add some case studies to highlight the firm's ability to collect unpaid commisions.

great site.. but if sales representation and commission issues are their specialty... I would eliminate the divorce family, estate etc from this site. I understand they do all of them but, if need be I would rather see them with another whole website catering to this aspect of their business.

I would also do something to bring the commissions and sales company advice to the forfront

Definitely get rid of that photo! There is nothing inviting and engaging about it. Both of which I am assuming is the reason they put it on the site to begin with.

remove all of the >> they are a distraction. Home pages should be about less and very crisp.

The content is not bad. I just don't get a flavor of why you are any different than 99% of the rest. If you want to different - communicate different! I would actually probably try to be less conventional and do a major design treatment to the website.

I would replace the picture with a picture of the one who the firm is named for. Why? Because lawysers come and go, and one will be updating the photo from time to time. Good for the web designer...bad for the client. Odds are, the principal will not be leaving the firm.

You might want to lose the technical jargon in-take form. It would perhaps sound better if you had a slightly commercial or sales like phrase

Tell us about your legal problem - free initial consultation

Do make sure this form is in line with the ethics and advertising guidelines of the bar and legal association.

If the initial consultation is not free, then list the fee.

I think the menu navagation needs a little more thought. Navigating the page is a bit....'funky'. Its all herky-jerky with a little here, a little there. Its needs some cohesive-ness. The flow just isn't there. Granted, there is a lot in the offering by this firm, but I think more time needs to be spent figuring out a slightly better way of manuevering the pages. You might want to think about some dhtml drop downs or something. Sorry, I don't have an answer for you at this time how to change it...but what is on there now just doesn't fit. The menues are leaving me with the impression that the thoughts are jumbled...not the 'organized and attention to detail' impression you would want to project, right? I think its the left nav going down that is throwing it off on the front page.....it works well on the others. Ah, its the less pictures thing that causes the visual clutter!

Hope this helps.

Darcy Moen
Customer Loyalty Network

Just from a creative standpoint, yes, the picture of the group must go. Sorry to say, but not the most attractive group and, yes, people care about this. Many, many studies have demonstrated a "attractiveness bias" in that more attractive people tend to be more trusted and overall more successful (if anyone cares you can look up information on this by Googling the term). In addition, and perhaps most important to your site, attractive people tend to get hired after face to face interviews versus unattractive people at a staggering rate. It may not be fair, but little in life is.

If the main thing that these guys do is winning commissions for sales reps (and the like), you obviously need this clearly reflected. I would absolutely recommend that they embrace this niche and put themselves out to the world as the experts in this area. However, much responsibility comes with being an expert. People want to know your opinions and where you stand on issues. No problem. Give them some content on this site about this issue. How does a sales person know when they've been taken advantage of? What should they try first? What things should people watch out for? Post some information that is useful to the world and let people find it (search engine friendly). Since your guys have radio faces, what about a few podcast with this information or a blog? Give the site something people care about. If you are the experts don't just say it, show it.

JMR for Focus Fields

I think Kathleen has said it all. Esp. re: the navigation. Don't add things to a simple site design, re-create the site to accomodate your additions.

The one thing I would add is to highlight your tagline better on your home page and throughout. Right now it is "buried" in your photo caption. I didn't even see it until I looked at your intake form and read it at the bottom. Ohhhh, that must be the tagline. It's good. So when I went to look for it elsewhere, it just wasn't as prominent as I would expect. Consider adding it to your header graphic, which is on all the pages.

Best Wishes,

Jennifer
XPRT Creative