Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

The graphics and layout are appealing (except for the fLaShInG Contact Us button.) The scroller on the right is a little overwhelming and too complicated to operate as well, but may just be me.

The first thing I notice after my eyes stop spinning is the first word: Your (neighborhood storage source.) That is a great start to interest ME and MY needs, but fails to deliver. I count 8 occurrences of "us" or "our", but no occurrences of you and one more of your neighborhood.

Basically, at a glance the site appears to be all about the company and doesn't readily answer the WIIFM (What's In It For Me) proposition. Shoppers are inherently selfish so you need to appeal to their instincts to get a deal with little risk. Customers are referred on your site in the third person. If you want to improve the site, I suggest started with that overall message and making it more first person.

I also question if your home page elements aren't too complicated for your audience. Click to Rotate/stop, the tag cloud, link to blog, link to specials. I don't have evidence, but I doubt many visitors click the link to the blog (do they know what that is?) Why not just say: "Free Tips and Stuff"?

The menu bar may have too many items. Maybe figure out the most common questions/priorities of site visitors and set your menu accordingly? Check out https://www.crazyegg.com/ which allows you to see exactly where on the page people are clicking.

Your sidebar contact form is nice. Why not have it on home page? Also give me some incentive/reason to contact you. Maybe "Put dibs on a unit before someone else gets it!"

I hope this helps. It is not a bad site, but there is always room for improvement.

Hi Keith,

Nice and clean site, here are some of my thoughts.

1. When I first looked at the site, the "key lock" at the logo and the title "Our customers trust us with their Lives ..." gave me an impression your site is dealing with security. Only when I read it carefully then I know it is about self storage. May be the two items "key lock" and the word "Lives" link together gave the wrong impressions.

2.On the homepage, the "click here to rotate" is not easily understandable. This may cause visitors to miss the testimonials. Suggest you put the testimonials in a section separately.

3. I'm using Google Chrome browser and the hovers for the 3 items (make a payment, reserve a unit, call us) on the top right corner did not work well. I was unable to select any item form the pop-over menu. If majority of your visitors are using Chrome, you may want to fix that.

4. Somehow, I couldn't find any pricing for your services, only when I clicked on your sidebar then I realized it was there. Pricing is one of the main factor to consider when one decides to use the service, why not consider putting on the main navigation bar.

Hope you can run a test on your navigation, I believe you can further improve the users' navigation experience.

While the site is visually "clean", it fails to answer the important question "Why choose us (instead of the competition)?" You mention "competitive prices compared to our national competitors" - either you cost less or your don't - and price, while important, isn't a strong differentiator. So, what makes you better/different than your competition? Better lit/safer facility? Insured facility? Specialized units for prized possessions? 10% of your income (before taxes) go to local after-school programs?

My 64 bit internet explorer doesn't use flash, nothing displayed. When I switched to 32 bit, the page loaded, but I was distracted by all of the revolving pictures. Too much motion to concentrate on anything. Make the pictures on the right static.

Most people use 1024 x 768 resolution, you have it set for a higher resolution. Which means that people have to scroll down to see the full page of the website if they use 1024 x 768. FYI 90% of internet users don't scroll.

About us: Customers don't care about your expansion plans, nor do they care who is the owning company, and that is your first point.

Our Vision: That is for your sales reps to handle, not for a customer looking to use your service.

Unit info: Take some actual pictures and not drawings, looks more professional.

Coupons: Don't provide any information on special deals, only the location to one of units, either offer it or don't.

Business storage: Too much reading, way too much. Make it to the point.

Hi Keith,

I agree with Totem - the main element is a cool idea, but seems overly complicated (click to rotate, etc.). However, beyond the design, I think the biggest issue is your messaging and call to action.

Is your focus on "trust" based on studies? If I were considering storage, I would assume it to be safe, and mostly be concerned with price, location and ease of use. To me, trust seems secondary which should not be used as your main message.

A lack of call to action is also an issue. Nothing draws me in - no quick way to search for units, find pricing, etc. See https://www.publicstorage.com/ for a good example.

I would also suggest using the Expert service at https://www.conceptfeedback.com to get additional strategy and usability/UX recommendations.

Good luck!
Andrew

Lots of flash looks slick but remember this won't load on most mobile devices and will take a while to load over any mobile connection (e.g. 3G).

Likewise, transporting customers to a separate window to make a payment will take more time and potentially discourage people from completing that goal (again, more so on mobile devices).

Lots of "orange" on the homepage - not a problem in itself, just remember that you need to "break up" the page effectively so that different elements and messages gain standout.

The calls to action on the homepage - make it clear who they are for - I'm new to the site but I don't know why "Make a payment" might or might not be relevant to me as opposed to "Reserve a unit" (is one for existing customers, the other for new customers?).

Again, on the messaging, there is a feeling that this is quite a "hard sell", with all the emphasis on customer advocacy. Instead, I would keep that message present but put more emphasis on other things like being competitive on price or the duration of a standard contract term. Both of these would help me progress from landing on the homepage.

Finally, almost insignificant point and I'm not sure if it's work-in-progress but the coupons device doesn't go anywhere when you click on one of the place name buttons!

Otherwise, the site really works fine and does what it needs to do. I'd say well done, great site overall.

I've just had a look at your site and overall think it looks fresh and clean for the market you are in, so good job!

Whilst I don't really have anything extra to add to the above, I would just say that the flashing 'Call Us' button is distracting along with the scrolling and changing images below and to the left. I found it gives me a bit of a headache.

I wonder if t's more that it is too fast, perhaps half the speed it's set at currently would be better. I also missed the 'Click to Rotate' icon even though I had read it was there. Maybe instead of the icon, a simple header with Customer Testomonials?

I've just looked again and taken in the link to your main image and text "Our customers trust us with their lives...Here's five reasons why". Might just be me but I didn't take this in the first time. Now I have it makes more sense but it still seems complicated. Trusting you with their lives seems a bit more drastic, though I get what it means, I wonder if lives is the right term.

In the limited time I have right now I can't find any pricing information, probably the crucial thing I would want to know.

Hope this is of help in some way :) Good luck with it all!