First Website - Advice and Critique, Please

**Frank Edwards** · 26 July 2010, 12:38 AM

Hi there,

This is my first site, (created with XX5), and it is very much a work in progress.

I would be grateful for any critique and advice you can give. I have no expertise and my friend (who's site it will be) has no money, so we are a match made in heaven (or hell, depending on your point-of-view).

The aim is to make the site a simple, one page affair, so that prospective customers can quickly grasp the essence of what is relevant, i.e. services being offered, contact details, area covered, etc. I wanted to avoid scrolling, but there is too much information to allow that.

In its current form, the body text font (Verdana) looks a bit ragged to me when viewed in a browser. Is this normal? Any suggestions for a classy, readable font?

I'm sure there are some fundamental design errors, so please feel free to tell me. I just want it to be good for her, and I'm willing to learn.

Thank you in anticipation,
Frank

P.S. I'm attaching the xara file as I don't know how to attach the index_htm_files here to display the index.htm file properly in a browser. The xara document is a bit of a mess with items strewn about the clipboard area, but if exported to a webpage file it displays fine in a browser.

**gwpriester** · 26 July 2010, 02:48 PM

Hello Frank

Good start.

Are the buttons on the left and bottom going to link to something? Or are they decoration?

**Frank Edwards** · 26 July 2010, 06:08 PM

Hi Gary,

Thanks for posting.

The 'buttons' are just heading labels for decoration. At this early stage the site is pretty much a glorified one-page windscreen flyer, the aim being to achieve presence on the Web, along with contact details. The likes of video, photos, E-mail and Twitter links aren't on the horizon at all. There might be scope for affiliation links later if they are relevant and don't detract too much from the overall design.

It was 'drawn' from scratch, much as I would do a diagram in Xara. The more I read about search engines and the like, the more I realise I'll have to go into the guts of the page's properties to embed key words and element descriptions.

Thanks again.

**Frank Edwards** · 26 July 2010, 06:17 PM

Incidentally, if there are any UK web hosting customers out there, I'd be grateful if you could recommend UK-based hosting and domain name companies that offer a cost-effective service for three simple sites such as the one I've posted.

Unless I'm underestimating the situation (quite possible), at this stage she only needs reliability, good customer service and decent traffic allowances. Please feel free to PM me if it's not kosher to do it publicly in the forum.

Thank you.

**gsthunder** · 26 July 2010, 11:55 PM

I would be glad to offer you some feedback and my thoughts on your site but you will need to get it uploaded to a host/server for me to view it first.

**pauland** · 27 July 2010, 09:03 AM

Frank, I like where it's going - good job.

I'd like to see some clear deliniation of the header area.

I'd advise some caution:

"Treating Your Home Like My Own"

I'm not so sure about the capitalisation, but I'm definitely sure I don't want anyone treating my home like it is theirs. I understand the real sentiment is "Cleaning your home as well as I clean my own", but I'd look for a better phrase.

Contact details:

There is a lot of personal information about Tracey and I would wind that back so that it just mentioned "Tracey's Cleaning Services" and not the full address. Nobody is going to write - they will phone or email.

Tracey is offerring two types of business - cleaning and "meet and greet". I would worry a little about how Tracey is going to be able to meet and greet at all times of the day, yet still keep to a cleaning schedule. There seems to be a bit of a conflict there. It may not be a conflict if Tracey is not just a one woman business and I would seperate that function from the cleaning services - I don't see them as related and the one casts doubt on another - do I want my guests greeted by someone with a mop and bucket?
How would my guests feel to be let in by the cleaner?

I'm sure that Tracey offers a professional service and would not mix those roles in practical situations, but the way the services are advertised, I would be concerned as a prospective client.

I hope that's helpful.

Paul

**Frank Edwards** · 27 July 2010, 10:35 AM

Hello Paul,

Thank you very much for your help. This is just what I need.

I've already had some ideas regarding the header, as well as the overall 'look' of the page. I'm trying to get a balance between appearing homely and competent/corporate. Currently it looks too 'My First Website' for my liking.

LOL! Hadn't considered the nuances of the 'Treating your home..' phrase. Will definitely re-think that one. Interestingly enough, my friend said that that particular phrasing (used on a previous printed flyer) was what caused a customer to get in touch - go figure.

Regarding capitalisation: no design expertise (or perfect grammar) here, so I'll take your advice on that.

Re: the address info - I see what you mean. I was trying to emphasise the 'local' aspect of her availability, thinking local, domestic customers would want a notion of accessibilty and trustworthiness, rather than being anonymous. I guess if the design and wording are attractive enough, they won't care where she is based. It will also cut down on the clutter.

Re: the mixed business 'conflict' potential. Yes, I see your point. At this early stage, she is trying to widen the scope of her usefulness to potential customers. Homeowners and holiday landlords can have different requirements, and she was trying to cover both bases. Will continue to look at the content and wording. She'll also be asking existing customers for feedback to better gauge the effectiveness of the 'campaign'. Local perceptions can be oddly out of sync with national expectations sometimes.

This is all very new to me. I'm really doing it as a favour to her to give her a step-up, while also exploring the new world of website design made more accessible by Xara/Magix. There's a lot to learn. If she gets even one customer out of it, then it will have been a worthwhile exercise.

Thanks once again. Your time and opinion are much appreciated.

Frank

**Frank Edwards** · 27 July 2010, 10:45 AM

gsthunder,

Thanks for your reply and offer. We're kind of working on a shoestring here, so she's not yet at the stage where she can commit to hosting. When she does, I'll include the link and I'll look forward to your feedback. :-)

If you have XX5 (or later) or XWD, you can still view the site by exporting it to a web file and then opening it in a browser.

Frank

**pauland** · 27 July 2010, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by Frank Edwards

LOL! Hadn't considered the nuances of the 'Treating your home..' phrase. Will definitely re-think that one. Interestingly enough, my friend said that that particular phrasing (used on a previous printed flyer) was what caused a customer to get in touch - go figure.

The sentiment is perfect, just the words need a bit of refinement. First thought that came to mind was that she would have feet up in front of the TV!

Re: the address info - I see what you mean. I was trying to emphasise the 'local' aspect of her availability, thinking local, domestic customers would want a notion of accessibilty and trustworthiness, rather than being anonymous. I guess if the design and wording are attractive enough, they won't care where she is based. It will also cut down on the clutter.

Definitely put in the locality, but I think the home street address is a bit too much information for an open flyer (even if it is also the business address).

Re: the mixed business 'conflict' potential. Yes, I see your point. At this early stage, she is trying to widen the scope of her usefulness to potential customers. Homeowners and holiday landlords can have different requirements, and she was trying to cover both bases.

I would try and "blur" the fact that Tracey is a one woman company and seperate out the "meet and greet"/cleaning services at least into seperate paragraphs/sections so they are seen as seperate (occassionally complimentary) offerings and not something the cleaner can do as an extra service.

If Tracey has some existing customers, a couple of succinct testimonials might help too.

This is all very new to me. I'm really doing it as a favour to her to give her a step-up, while also exploring the new world of website design made more accessible by Xara/Magix. There's a lot to learn. If she gets even one customer out of it, then it will have been a worthwhile exercise.

You're doing a great job. Half of the people reading this on talkgraphics are probably wondering why I am so picky.

**gsthunder** · 27 July 2010, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by Frank Edwards

gsthunder,

Thanks for your reply and offer. We're kind of working on a shoestring here, so she's not yet at the stage where she can commit to hosting. When she does, I'll include the link and I'll look forward to your feedback. :-)

If you have XX5 (or later) or XWD, you can still view the site by exporting it to a web file and then opening it in a browser.

Frank

I know I could download your attached files and view the site. Just a personal thing with me where I won't download anything from an unknown source( no offense meant by that at all! ). Lost a lot of info to a virus induced catastrophic failure in a similar situation in the past so I am now gun shy.

I look forward to seeing your site when you do get it up and running online.