Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

Christa,

You caught me on a Sunday night when I was caught up on all my yard work. So I decided to give your site a full review.

You are in a very competitive business. I must get 3 to 5 business cards a week stuck on my door from landscape companies wanting to service my lawn. Not because my lawn needs it but they handle the lawn for one of my neighbors and decided to drop a card off.

Your other competition is someone doing the lawn themselves. Your website needs to help you stand out from the crowd.

Your current home page does nothing to showcase your business.

Start with a better stock image of a home and lawn. Try https://www.istockimages.com and look for a home and yard that would be similar to the homes in your area of the country. If you are going after both residential and commercial business then have 2 photos. One of a home and one of an office building with a front yard photo.

Don't use reverse text for your company name. Your name should stand out. Don't use reverse text for the navigation either.

Have your logo or company name in the upper left hand corner of the page. Across from the your name have your phone number. Have the phone number as text not a graphic.

Then a real nice photo of a yard that would make people stop and look. Wow, their yard could look like this if they hired you. If you want you can also have a commercial photo.

A lot depends on who is your real target market. If it is homeowners than go after them and address commercial in your navigation.

Have the navigation under the main photo. Change the navigation to the following:

Home, About KB, Commercial Services, Residential Services, Project Photos, Landscaping Tips, Pay Online, Contact.

The home page should tell people right away, who you are and what you offer. If I stopped you on the street and asked you to tell me about who KB Lawncare was and what could you do for me? That is the information you need on your home page.

I would include a testimonial from a satisfied customer right on the home page. "I can always count on KB Lawncare to handle my weekly lawn maintenance. They reliable and dependable. I would highly recommend them as your lawn service." John Megan, Knoxville, TN

Also how to get a hold of you. Phone, email, etc.

About KB - info on who you are. If your home page does a good job most people will not read this page.

Commercial Services - info on what you can do for commercial clients. If I'm a property manager, I want to know your commercial services. List the services you provide to commercial customers only.

Residential Services - info on what you can provide a homeowner. Remember your trying to stand above your competition. Also, they could do it themselves if they don't hire a service.

Project Photos - good section if you have before and after photos. Currently you only have after photos. You might give some explanation on what the project entailed.

Landscaping Tips - a great section for bringing people back to your site. What News and Events does a landscaping service really have. Change it to Landscaping Tips and keep this section updated. It's almost April in Knoxville, what do I as a home owner need to be doing at this time of year to have a great lawn. Give some tips that they can do themselves. Most importantly keep this page updated or don't have it. Worst thing is for someone new to come to your site, click on tips and get winterizing lawn tips and it's almost April.

Pay Online - I would make sure I fully explained what someone was paying for before I set up this feature. I know it is for convenience. Especially if you have customers where you come on a weekly basis. Have them pay for the month instead of weekly is an option.

Contact - full contact information and a simple form that someone could fill out for additional information.

Have good testimonials throughout the site. Have a satisfied commercial customer on the commercial page and the strong residential one for the residential page.

Again, it's almost April in Knoxville. Time for you to heavily market KB Landscaping. Your new website is a credibility statement. It is also the first impression you might make to a potential customer. Make it stand out.

Good luck with your business. Contact me with any questions.

Brian Bearden

To Karen and Brian,

THANK YOU! I didn't actually think anyone would give me such detailed feedback. I appreciate the time and attention you have given me.

I have already made some changes that you have suggested. For example, I have removed the EShop at this time, because I can't get it to work, so until I do, I'm not leaving it on there to confuse clients (THANK YOU for pointing this out). Also, I have moved some of the text around to make the home page more of what Brian suggested: what are we and what can we do for you). Also, I separated the services section to make it easier for customers to access what they are looking for: residential vs. commercial. I also stepped up the "sales" part of it. You both inspired me--thank you! Karen, I have also got to get the before pictures of our projects, which happens to be on another computer. I will be uploading those photos in the Project Photos sections with descriptions of what we did to make them look like the "after" photos. Brian, I took your advice and removed the "new and events" and inserted a Lawn Care Tips section with a write up about what you should be doing right now to get your lawn ready for the spring season. I will update it often per your suggestion (I really like this idea a lot). I am also looking for some professional photos from the site you suggested Brian.

To you both: would you suggest a Logo? The banner on the site-I don't like it-and while reading your suggestions thought about a logo with more professional photos showing a residential and commercial property lawn scape.

Again, THANK YOU SO much for the time and feedback. I really appreciate it!!!


Christa

Karen,

Yes, I am very interested in a logo for our company. Any help with directing me to someone/company that is trustworthy and creative would be much appreciated. Your feedback has been exceptional! Thank you so much!!!!


Christa

Karen,

I forgot to add: Your answer has been chosen, so I will be closing this and I'll give you my email:

KBLawncare@knology.net

THANK YOU!