Question

Topic: Website Critique

Virtual Spokes Person & Site - Credible Messaging?

Posted by pgothier on 1/11/2009 at 9:17 PM ET 250 Points
We develop Internet Presentations on top of CMS platforms. Messaging Platforms, not websites.

Our intent is to deliver messaging that demonstrates the value our clients deliver. That is to create a marketing platform that demonstrates their credibibility, and the high quality of their products and services. That is in this case, the high quality of the homes they build.

These attributes to be delivered through the Virtual Spokes Person, Aerial and Unique Perspective Photography, Style Planner Technology, Testimonials, etc.

Did we deliver? Constructive critques appreciated! Or other innovative, out of the box ideas.

The site: https://www.paulsatterwhitecustomhomes.com/

p.s. forgot to mention "Interactive Plat Map Technology" please check out lot 163!

Thank you.
Paul Gothier
RTP Designs, LLC
[Phone number deleted by staff]

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 1/12/2009 at 8:34 AM Accepted
    The spokesperson is fine. It loads fast. You can turn it off (and when you pause it, the slide show continues).

    The home page itself needs work. The eye doesn't know where to go first. There's too much text pulling me in too many directions. The menu format is a bit dated. I like the colors of the site, and the satellite map. I would've like to see it better integrated with Google Maps (in case I'm not sure where the development is in the region).
  • Posted by Mikee on 1/12/2009 at 8:47 AM Accepted
    The spokes person is a cool idea and seems to work well. I am using IE7 and when I disable her I am not able to re-enable her. I would reccomend using pictures only once in the slide show. It seems that they are reused at some point, which makes me wonder how many houses has this builder done.

    Over all the site works well.

    Are any of this builder's houses listed right now? On the properties page must have a price of $0.00. On the properties page I would have the listing agents contact info, this may help generate sales leads.

    In the gallery there are many similar pictures, in fact some eve appear to be the same. Do not repeat picutres or put in similar pictures. It makes the builder look like a one trick pony.

    I agree with Jay that you would like some Google maps interactivity.

    Looks good,
    Mike
  • Posted on 1/12/2009 at 10:33 AM Accepted
    Good morning, Paul

    I as well like the use of the spokesperson on your home page. Your color choice and overall layout of the site is very pleasing.

    You are not using a large part of your web page real estate for anything -- the upper left corner of the page. Might consider using this for messaging or putting a graphic related to the awards the builder has received in this section. A great area for a call-to-action as well.

    I would reconsider the use of fonts, especially mixing up Verdana and Times New Roman. I would stay with one font and resize for consistency. I'm not sold on either the Verdana or Times New Roman font although I believe you may have selected them for web "readability." I would test a few more fonts searching for a more "elegant" feel for the font to stay more in line with the logo at the top of the site.

    The font on the phone number is very small, seems smaller than Call:

    Under "Request Information" your apostrophe is loading as another character set on my screen.

    I'd work a bit more on the border colors on some of the photos that pop up, especially the tan on tan seems to blend into the picture and not make the picture pop.

    Headings. I don't care for your mix of the blue and white in your headings with the Times New Roman. I would develop a crisper heading using PhotoShop or other graphics/imaging software and again test colors/fonts. I'm referring to headings such as "Find a Home", "The Difference", etc.

    Overall, I am very impressed with the design of the site but feel that you could go one step further with it especially given the price range of the custom homes.

    Hope this helps. Again, a very well-designed site.

    Marketing-Riot
  • Posted on 1/12/2009 at 10:39 AM Member
    I would also suggest a proofer to edit your content for proper punctuation such as hyphens and possessives or refer to the Blue Book of Grammar for self-fixes.

    Marketing-Riot
  • Posted by susancarrollcreative on 1/16/2009 at 9:08 AM Member
    I find the spokes woman rather distracting. If I'm going to pay top dollar for a custom-designed home, I want to focus on the home.

    However, I'm a copywriter/creative...so marketing-wise, it may be that research shows that a spokesperson does boost confidence in service/architecture industry.

    Your client might want to do some focus group testing. Inexpensive idea: Send an invitation to the neighbors to visit and give their feedback (remember to give them a free lunch).
  • Posted by pgothier on 1/18/2009 at 9:03 AM Author
    I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the site and provided those substantive comments.

    Kathleen, the site content is virtually all our work except: Style Planner & Space Planner - did you check these out, quite cool. They use the homes actual Kitchen, Family Room, and Floor Plans.

    My wonderful Development Team did the design, databases, photography, copywriting, and scripting. The site has more updating to be done through our databases and we will follow your great recommendations in adding additional homes, gallery images, and maybe font changes.

    I must also mention we worked with the "Video Spokes Person" developers as well. A great results based, cost effective Team.

    p.s. please see my LinkedIn Profile & the attached presentation ...invite a network connection, join my group: Real Estate MasterMinds, and let me know if there is any way we can help you.

    Thank you again.
    Paul Gothier
    RTP Designs, LLC
    Cell: 919-215-3839
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