Feedback PLZ...

[Aqua Pro 22]

I have been working like a madman on my website, finally finished it, uploaded it today.

I respect the opinions of my peers in this industry.

Would love to get some feedback.

good, bad or the ugly.

I already noticed that the pics in the wood slideshow are too big. My home system is set @ 1600x1200 or something like that on a 20' widescreen. The system i'm looking at the site on is 1024x768 on a 17' - Big difference.

thanks everyone!

Deck Cleaning, House Washing, Power Washing, Deck Restoration, Graffiti Removal, Aqua Pro Cleaning Solutions

[Jeff 232]

It looks pretty good some good stuff. Question? When you hit services can you make the box with different services listed bigger or stand out more. I hit services and I saw everything about sufactants etc, but I almost missed your other services. It wasnt until I took a 2nd 3rd look that I found it.

Lots of good pictures & info , Congrats!

Jeff

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Looks like it's coming along well. I have a couple of pieces of feedback for you.

• all background should be the same if you use a pattern, or maybe have one white and one with a pattern or a color. Too many patterns make it look cluttered ( just my opinion)
  
• I would remove the games. This is your business where clients come...here on TGS we are fellow contractors, but when your client comes to your site, they want to see what your company is about and what excellent services you offer. Don't detract from your level of excellence. Again just my opinion....

Beth :)

[Jarrod 22]

The wood background behind the yellow lettering was kinda hard to read.

The general site is cool.

[Barry M 73]

Tom

Your Service page as some blue background behind the copy that is inconsistent with the rest of the site, and the same deal with the turquoise highlighting on the F&Q page. I personally would also speed up or shorten the wording on the scrolling marquee on the home page. It takes about 25 seconds to read the whole thing, by that time most people have clicked 2 or 3 links and are gone. Things happen fast when people visit websites.

Other than that overall the site looks good, and is very informative. I like the testimonials but I didn't see any before/after pics unless I missed them. I stayed on the site awhile and got the feeling you do quality work. Nice job.

[Barry M 73]

Opps, I just found the before & after link, right there at the top...duhh. Lots of pics, again nice job.

[RPetry 564]

Tom,

I'm coding a website currently for the first time and will be doing the same thing...throwing it up to the wolves to let 'em tear it apart! So don't take any criticism personally, like I probably will!

BTW, I'm using Firefox and the linux OS, as well as IE and Windoz on a laptop. Different browsers, different problems...

1. Content - Beth and I are on the same wavelength. A Fun page does not fit in on a business web site. First thing I noticed.
   
2. Home page - Firefox. Spacing problem at tele. #. Looks like "at (630)" on same line with a large space between "at" and "(630)".
   
3. Quick Link Before/After Deck pics - both IE & Firefox. Thumbnails need work, very unclear and bad resolution. Full size pics fine.
   
4. Things You Should Know - Firefox & IE. Too much whitespace in 2 areas. Tighten it up.
   
5. Company - Firefox & IE. Same problem with the thumbnail pics. Need better quality. May want to use jpegs instead of gifs? Google it!
   
6. Services - thumbnails again, guess its a site wide problem. All listed services have pics except Wood Care, which has the "Quick Link" on the home page. May want to consider standardizing format/layout & put deck pics with Wood Care.

I'd look around the web and find more info on formatting thumbnails. Did not check full size pics aside from a few in Wood but would guess they are fine.

[PressurePros 248]

People gave me some excellent feedback on my website so I will return the favor. Remeber you asked for feedback so I am going to give it to you straight.

Overall I like what you are trying to convey.

Home Page:

• Has a "self designed" feel to it. Could use some photos or at the very least a professionally made header to give it more professional appeal.

• The buttons are not a good design. I think it would be more current to just use text links. An excellent program for making a java menu is Xara MenuMaker. They have a bunch of templates to choose from and I think the program is like $30. You can play with the trial for free.

• I'm not a big fan of generic graphics such as the ones you used above your spotlight link. (PS: Your links page has some questionable links for homeowners) I think you can get all of these links into a cohesive menu by eliminating the Fun Page.

• The scrolling banner is gimmick and not effective for reason Barry mentioned. It sends no real message other than the fact that it scrolls.

• Your PWNA Spotlight Contractor link is excellent..goes a long way towards credibility. I almost missed it though. I would want to make it much more prominent.

• The first sentence starting "Aqua.." is a bit run on. Here is a possible rephrasing.

"Aqua Pro strives to keep up with the latest technology and training our industry offers. By maintaining a good standing with professional trade organizations such as the Power Washers of North America, Aqua Pro is able to keep our certifications current as well as set policies that adhere to a strict code of ethics."

• Change 'scaring' to 'scarring'

• 'NOT just a powerwash.' is a sentence fragment.

• There some cohesive structure issues with the remaining copy. At one point you are discussing using 100% oil based wood preservatives then you jump to maintaining close ties with industry professionals, then back to something about sanding rails.

• You write "The content of this site was arranged for convenience of navigation and kept simple in it's design". And?.. A web surfer expects this to be true. This content adds nothing and will not enhance organic search engine results. Its just a space filler.

• The logos at the bottom need to be resized in a graphics program and reimported to your page. Personally I don't like the logo idea. They are industry oriented. You are selling Aqua Pro's services to homeowners. I doubt many know what an Armex or an EacoChem is.

I hope this helps you. Those are what stood out from the homepage. I did not get to indepth on the other pages other than to notice some pages opened in new windows with no link backs. Be careful of orphan pages like that, the search engines see it as bad or deceptive design and rank you lower.

[Aqua Pro 22]

I asked for it didn't i?! haha, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Sounds like I have my work cut out for me. It's amazing what other people see that you/I don't. Should be a lesson for all we do. What do our customers see when a job is finished that we don't?

Thanks for all the feedback. I've got a lot to do. Too bad for me that it takes me forever it seems to make the changes. One thing at a time, I guess.

As far as the thumbnails go, I'm not quite sure how to resolve that. I knew the pics would not be clear, I just wanted them to see something (a shape I guess). I know for me personally, whenever I am browsing a site. I like to be able to tell what I'm getting ready to click vs just a link that says "look, heres a deck picture". I was worried about file size too. Is there a way to make the thumbnails clear and yet small in size?

Boy oh boy, back to the drawing board! ;-)

-Tom

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Tom,

Call me and I can explain one method of thumbnails to you. Once you have the code piece you need, just copy and paste and change file names.

Beth

[RPetry 564]

Tom,

Don't despair. What they didn't tell you in Websites for Dummies is that these things, once created, start living a life of their own. Like children, but worse! Attention, little details, content changes, ya da ya da. Welcome to website hell. Another unsuspecting victim!

Actually, its not that bad if you are interested in learning new stuff. Keep at it, it does become easier.

If you want, email me at the address below and I'll send you a link to a photo gallery I have finished coding. Look at the code, grab a thumbnail or two off the site, and study the format, size, and presentation.

Assuming the original images are of good quality, thumbnails can look very presentable.

[PressurePros 248]

Tom,

Don't despair. What they didn't tell you in Websites for Dummies is that these things, once created, start living a life of their own. Like children, but worse! Attention, little details, content changes, ya da ya da. Welcome to website hell. Another unsuspecting victim!

Isn't that the truth?

I wouldn't get overly concerned about the thumbnails. The larger graphics present well enough. You can chnage them eventually but since you have a few issues to deal with I'm sure you want to prioritize.

[Aqua Pro 22]

Thanks again for all the replies. I utilized about 98% of what was said and made the changes. Not sure if the new buttons are any better than the old ones but they seem to be a little easier to read. Also Beth, thanks for the offer to help via phone. For now, I'm going to leave them as are - not because I don't want to change them, just cuz I don't have the time! When I do, I think I'll just resize them in photoshop instead of within the editor.

Thanks again!

-Tom