Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

Danielle,

My first impression is that it is very stark. Perhaps it is the grey and aqua combo.

I think it is good to use pictures to make your point, but the ones you have a very large and somewhat overwhelming. Pictures are a great way to get some color on a site. The problem is the one's you have chosen are very mono-chormatic so they do not instill any color.

On the About us page you say "Welcome to My Virtual Assistant " but your header says "My Cyber Assistant". It is important to be consistent through out the site. This page is also feels very wordy. Perhaps you can ad some headers that allow people to scan it quicker. People like to be able to quickly scan websites.

I hope this helps.

Mike

Personally, I like it. Now you need to decide, is your website there to build credibility or to land you customers?

I suspect that you will need to get the customers by referal and phone calls, rather than via some web marketing strategy.

Have your copy focus on the benefit of hiring YOU, not just any virtual assistant. Tell me what special knowledge/skills you have, how easily it is to work with you, and a list of glowing past client testimonials.

Hi Danielle,

Great idea. However, there are many aspects of the website and the way you talk and promote it that need improvement. I'll walk you through each page so that it's easier for you to work on it.

Homepage
- Page title: your page title, along with homepage address, keywords, metatags and other little things, is one of the firts things that search engines look for. Most importantly, it's the title that users will see when searching your service on google. Do not leave it to simply homepage. Give it a concise description of your service no longer than 40-50 characters including spaces.
- Topbanner and menu
I like the color set. However, you should have a logo with slogan that is more identifiable and personalized than plain TimesNewRoman. Think of it as your brand. The menu is nice and simple. However, I believe Services and Portfolio should go before About us. As they mentioned above, call-to-action.
- H1(Header 1). Other element search engines compare for consistency with keywords and content. You need to make good use of it.
- Body. You what your website to be neat and organized. No one wants a messy assistant. You also want you website to translate visitors in clients, so you need a clear and quick view of your services. A tool that might fit perfectly your site is a Livecall Centre, or Liveoperator Chat. If you used joomla to build your website, try HelpCentreLive or CraftySyntax. They are both free and easy to install and use. Otherwise, this kind of service will cost you about 20$ per month.

- About us
By skim reading te page, I get the impression that more than a company 'we', the whole service is an 'I'. It is ok to create an image of a bigger company even if you operate by yourself or few other people. However, you need to be consistent throughout the website.

-Services.
The page appears to be text only. You could for example, box the different categories. Also, include a call to action in this page. Be careful, there is an overlaying issue of the bullet points over text. I am using Firefox to see your website.

- Portfolio
Your portfolio is very important. But I understand you just started this service, so the page myght be blank or have a few entries. Have a look at https://enfatico.com/our_clients.php. It's just marketing inspiration at the end.

- Contact us
Here you definitely need a physical presence, and address, telephone, fax, skype, etc. Moreover, I agree with the above on a simplier form.Or, you could have a double form: one short and simple for asking informations, and another more derailed for asking for a quotation.


I would also include a section for registered users only, where you can exchange documents with your clients.

If you plan to have your website generating business, you need to optimize it for both search engines, not just the users. A quick&easy read on the subject is Ledford - SEO Search Engine Optimization Bible (Wiley, 2008).

Hope this whole comment wasn't too overwhelming. I'm following the question,so if you need more advice, let me know. You can also contact me on skype davide.pasini.

Best of luck!
Davide