Website Review Required

[Pro-Chauffeur]

Hello..

I am new to the forums and would like some feedback on my website design, layout and ease of use.

Please let me know if you think it can be improved by adding or even removing things....


Cheers all.

Andy

[Pro-Chauffeur]

pro-chauffeur.co.uk

[fisicx]

Hi Andy,

Just by looking at the site I can tell you began with a template and then added your content later. And it hasn't worked.

Your first action should have been to think about you potential clients and their needs. It is unlikely that they themselves will be looking for a chauffeur but employ someone to do it for them. As a result you need to provide the essential information on the home page to convince them to consider using your services.

This means getting rid of the welcome message as this is one one of the most pointless introduction to any website. Your visitors don't care about you or your business. All they care about is finding the best man for the job. They have hundreds of companies to choose from and they all offer a similar service so you neet to attract their. Eye.

So the homepage needs to be bulletpoints (not centralised text) and a call to action. Get rid of everything on the left, it's all just wasting space.

Once you have got their attention you can they may then want to know more about you and expect to see evidence of your previous contracts.

Put your contact details on every page.

Get rid of the nasty header animation, it takes longer than 2 seconds to play and will therefore have alreadt lost you potential clients.

Change the navigation to css/text not javascript.

Sort out the 'contact us', you are asking survey questions and not telling me which fields are mandatory.

The quotes page is all wrong. Because there are so many variables (times, type, number, duration, location etc) the qoutes form needs a lot of work to make it easy for the potential client.

In general the site is nothing special, you may be very good at your job but this really does look like a cheap template.

But get a well designed site with all the right bits in place and you could easily rank well - the competition is quite frankly pants.

[Pro-Chauffeur]

Wow! that told me.... not quite sure how to take this.

Ok, so your saying that the site is really bad and that I need to change it all because it looks cheap and it is pointless.
The Quote section only asks for contact info and brief hire requirements. I did not specify what fields MUST be filled in for a reason.
If say a person comes onto my site to spam, they won't fill in the most part, so I won't contact them if the info is missing, but if I genuine customer fills it in, they will im sure add the details requested.
I thought by explaining what we do on the homepage was the idea? the links are clearly visable for anyone to see should they be in a hurry, but from what I understand it looks clean and simple and that was the idea.

Thank you for the feedback, it will help me a lot and I will see if I can improve the site.
I take it you offer a site building service? Maybe I could get the site built by someone else...

Cheers

Andy

[fisicx]

No need to start again, just do some research. This is a good place to begin: http://webstyleguide.com/ and buy a copy of Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug.

Web design is not about the layout, it's the way you meet your visitor's needs. Answer their questions without them having to look for the answers. Remember you only get two seconds to attract their attention so don't waste it telling them how good you are, tell them what you can do for them.

Nothing wrong with using a template, it's how you use it that matters.

[katman]

I noticed that in your "Quotes" page you say to call your company if they require a service within 24 hours. The problem is that they have to click on the "Contact Us" Page to et that number. Don't make the do an extra click.

Your layout is pretty plain and the text is quite small.

You also need to find a niche for your website. I mean its obvious you cater to high companies or higher income people so maybe you should describe the luxury vehicles you use.

Once you find what your company represents then you will be able to make a better website.

I don't understand why you have this notice panel that says, "Are you a working professional chauffeur? read more..." Shouldnt that space have a better use with a call to action?

[Pro-Chauffeur]

Originally Posted by katman

I noticed that in your "Quotes" page you say to call your company if they require a service within 24 hours. The problem is that they have to click on the "Contact Us" Page to et that number. Don't make the do an extra click.

Your layout is pretty plain and the text is quite small.

You also need to find a niche for your website. I mean its obvious you cater to high companies or higher income people so maybe you should describe the luxury vehicles you use.

Once you find what your company represents then you will be able to make a better website.

I don't understand why you have this notice panel that says, "Are you a working professional chauffeur? read more..." Shouldnt that space have a better use with a call to action?

The Notice panel is for recruiting. I don't see it as a waste of space, but I think I understand what your saying.
We don't provide vehicles, we provide the Chauffeur only.

Thanks for the input, I will note all the comments and make the required changes in due course.

Cheers

Andy

[fisicx]

The website is for people looking for a chauffuer. Because you have the box on the left and a recruitment link it changes the emphasis of the site from service provider to recruiter.

Website visitors are notoriously fickle, if they don't like what they see within a few seconds they will go elsewhere.

Just because you don't think the recruiting panel is a waste of space doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. It's your paying customers you need to please, not your drivers.

[Alternatives]

Hi,
I have had a look at your site today, and with a broadband conection that is set up on a good working PC with windows XP or Vista installed, and up to date software installed it loaded here in 0.3 seconds even with your graphics on.
Some comments I read on here from people who advertise for website building work, and reply to posts for advice or help I find are quite harsh, and to be honest uncalled for, as my own website was treated the same by these web page builders, so please do not get too hurt by them.
You do not have to have a so called Pro web page maker build every site on the internet, in fact less that a quarter of sites are built by a person calling themselves a pro, it is stupid to give a person money to build a site, if you have time and skills to build your own.
I have been building websites 12 years before the internet started, I have over 400 on line now that I have built for companies and private users, and it has only cost me £60 for the software to build them, so why pay a silly amount to a person who may have only started building pages since 2001 or later.
All I would say is like a person on here has said, that your font size is a bit on the small side, but you dont need to pay £200 or even more to make them bigger I assure you.
Good luck, keep your chin up.
David Webb
Suffolk UK

[katman]

Alternatives,

Who said anything about going out to spend a lot of money to change the website?

The man wanted input on his website and this is what was given to him.

What he does with our opinion is up to him and how he changes his website if he chooses is also up to him.

For all we know he already knows how to code so he won't have to pay anyone to do it.

Read what people say before replying.