Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

Hi Tomasz,

just a quick note, change "My name is Tomasz Banas and i work as" to "My name is Tomasz Banas and I am an" (capitalize the "i" and change the verbiage a bit to make it more personal like you are trying to do). Like Kathleen said, be sure to pour over your text with a fine tooth comb, especially when personal credibility is so important (people inviting you into their homes). Do you have a spell check - if you use Dreamweaver, you can use the built in spell checker which will catch things like that lowercase "i" instead of I.

I don't really agree that the site is too personal. I think for what you are providing and the approach you are taking, personal is totally appropriate, and a great approach. I would even like to see a bit more of a smile in your photo on the front page.

Fonts: The Helvetica text is a bit hard for me to read; this particular font always seems squished and just harder to visually separate the letters ... you might consider changing to verdana or arial - both are more open and easier to read in an online medium. I appreciate your use of Helvetica Neue, but this is an uncommon font and most people will see the hard to read weird kerning of online Helvetica.

Parallelism: The "Troubleshooting and computer repair services" bullet item text flows down into the numbers area. I think you can actually ditch the word "services" to shorten the title to one line, because the fact that they are services is understood. You even have "See my services" there which also implies that they are ... well ... services. So on items 1, 2, 3 & 8, you can just take that word off ("services") to be consistent across the board. Taking "services" off the troubleshooting and computer repair title will scale it back to one line and will allow the text you have to fit, and as a bonus it allows all the titles to be parallel in structure. Also, it will allow you to change the ampersand on #1 to "and" to match the others as well.

Text Layout: Consider removing your first line indent on your text. The odd construction of indention of paragraphs is usually used in the PRINT medium, not online, and even then only when the paragraphs don't have space between them, or when the text is justified (which is also NOT a good idea for online purposes). The reason we indent is to show where new paragraphs start; when the space between the paragraphs clearly separates them, there is no need for the indention. Additionally, online, the indention actually makes it "harder" for people to read, because of the eye motion involved.

Front Page Content: Your "Why Computer Clue" is great info, and in bullets (bonus!), and it needs to be on your front page and prominent. Quick to understand, good logic, excellent info. Although your testimonials are strong, I think the bulleted list is more important and would be better served where the testimonials on your front page is now. (or put the bulleted list on the left, move the text block "You'll Detect the Difference" to the right, and put your schedule a visit close to the bulleted list ABOVE the fold.

"Schedule a visit" should be higher / more prominent on the page - it is the most desired call to action. I should definitely not have to scroll to get to it.

Overall ... the site has a nice feel, the layout implies corporate, yet you have a personal approach. I think it's a nice balance. Your choice of pics and graphics is swell, it works well with what you are trying to do.

Hope this helps,

Jennifer P.
XPRT Creative