My Ever evolving Construction company website

[badazbuilder]

I love this program. Its soooooo easy! I update in my spare time, and am currently working on making a more Mobile compatable version. Im no graphic designer or web master and therefore open to suggestion. (well most suggestions)

www.ReconstructiveConcepts.biz

[steve.ledger]

Good start.

But, pay attention to alignment and spacing of objects and consistency of design.
For example, some areas have drop shadows while most don't, some rectangles have one corner chopped others have all corners chopped then others have none... Also, try to keep to one or two font faces, weights and sizes. Too much variation looks amateur and scruffy. (Example: http://www.reconstructiveconcepts.biz/index_2.htm - is very untidy)
Your first page is also much longer than your content (as are some others).
Next, give your pages unique names, currently they are all named index_(something).htm with one named index1 - copy - copy.htm This isn't going to do you any SEO favours at all.
Use the Page tab of Web Properties to give them names which make sense and describes the page better, eg: the 'Recent Work Pics' link could be better as recent_work.htm (Try not to use spaces or any uppercase letters in page names.)
Lose the Made with Xara text. Keep the affiliate link, but change the text to something unique to you. None of your visitors care which software you used.

[gwpriester]

Home remodeling is very stressful for the people for whom the remodeling is being done. Your home is invaded by workers you don't know and even though the results are most always worth the stress, it is uncomfortable. The workers often leave mess and show little respect for the owners or their property. Even when we have had remodeling work done by one of my clients who is a neighbor and a builder and whose crew we all know and like, it is still not easy having your sanctuary invaded and your peace disrupted.

Your site is very clean and professional. But it's cold. Gray is OK if you are only doing industrial or high tech design. But your samples show kitchens with rich warm wood cabinets. Bathrooms with handsome earth colored tiles.

In my opinion, your site would be more inviting if you warmed up the color scheme and made your site brighter and more attractive and inviting to women, because I suspect that while the men pay for the remodeling, it is the women who commission the work and select the contractor.

[Choctaw]

Yep, looked at your working site, I think the templates are a part of Web Designer which I am trying to learn. Can't seem to get things to publish yet. Just a new-B hoping to get some ideas here as I go along with the learning curve. Mine has not been sooooooooooooeasy yeat. I used MS Frontpage years back, but it's gone .......so went with Xara.
Choctaw

[gwpriester]

Choctaw - I have feeling that FrontPage had a learning curve too.

Start simple and then embellish as you go along.

[Cloud]

+1 on what Gary and Steve say above, keep it simple, domestic consumers prefer white space, warm inviting colours such as greens and oranges or brownish colours or warm blues even.

I would look at some of your big competitors to see what they are doing, also do not discount looking at the big companies, for instance this is a big company here in the uk and if you look at how simple their site is you can take pointers from it http://www.britishgas.co.uk/ or a company which is similar to yours http://reidjames.dns-systems.net/ or a nice clean and simple site such as ( http://www.aspirebathrooms.com/ ) which will actually be easier for you to do and look far more professional and inviting.

You could look at these sites and create a nice site from blank rather than a template and have the width set at 955px and you will not need to do a mobile version as xara sites appear perfectly fine on iphones or android phones, but as I said; keep it simple.

[pauland]

You have had some good advice. I find some of the pictures way too small and I saw some of the exterior shots of before and after and didn't notice much appreciable difference. I would say that as an enticement to make me buy your services, the site is not working as well as it could.

I always wonder about people who build websites for their business, because being good in a business doesn't mean you can represent that business to best advantage by a DIY solution. How many householders have you done work for who have attempted work for themselves, done a bad job and then get a professional to do things right?

I don't know the value of your work, but it might be a good investment to have someone with a keen design and commercial eye to give you some design ideas to show your company in the best light. It probably wouldn't cost much and you could then build the website out yourself to match their design concept. It might pay for itself in bringing in work. If that doen't work for you, go out there and research some competition (but bear in mind that many small business websites are poor) - better to look at larger established businesses working with professional designers, to get your tips.

A professional copywriter needn't be expensive and could really help your site.

My tips are -

Decide on a colour scheme that compliments your work and doesn't depress;
Try and use some kind of grid for your layout;
Use larger pictures and be selective;
Work on the pictures to make them clearer, brighter;
Crop your pictures and use insets perhaps to show detail;
The text needs work - I hate the exclamation marks, periods and text over the image;

I know you've had good advice already, but I'd think of the bigger picture than small changes.

You may have noticed I'm more forthright about this stuff than many, but I mean well and I'm always more forthright about professional sites - simply because they can't be regarded as a hobby - they impact the bottom line.

..and yes my own website is rubbish.

[pauland]

One other thing I will add. A website is a great leveler. A small company can punch above their weight in website terms and present themselves as well as a much larger company - building customer confidence. You shouldn't just stop at the website - your business cards should match the website design, as well as your business stationery, etc. I once had a landscape gardener client and he used prints of the website as a printed portfolio and took them with him when meeting clients.

Good luck in 2013.

[pauland]

Michael, I spent some more looking at your site and it really has a lot of advice - perhaps too much - it can be overwhelming.

If I want to engage someone I want to know they can do the job and make my life as easy as possible - I don't need to know everything about my local garage when I want a service and for a builder I want to know they've done a good job and will do a good job for me. Some of the extensive detail on the site could be explained on a 1:1 basis, because that's reassuring when you're discussing a job, but it's just too much for the average guy to be reading, I think.

Reading about the pitfalls of the renovation game is scary. I might prefer someone who tells me they'll do things right, not someone who tells me all the things that might not be done right.

I really hope that you'll slim this site down hugely and have short snappy, positive text and definitely check the spelling - there are a lot of spelling errors currently.

In these times where money is tight, I understand there may not be spare cash for professional designers/copy-writers (even though it may pay off long term), so try and go for simplicity in design and message - there's just too much complication at present (and I really think many aspects of your About Us, copy may be honest, but actually put off customers).

No more nitpicking from me.

[Ularco]

I actually like the colour scheme, it matches the brand and is consistent throughout.
If I was you I would concentrate on alignment of panels and consistency of text.
You have many different sizes even on the same page but keep going as you have a great base to move forwards with