Balloon Chat
Uncategorized Boards => Website "Chat" Help => Topic started by: Billy Wiz on November 18, 2008, 11:41:53 AM
Hi guys,
I'm looking for some constructive criticism regards my website please. I've spent the last week re-doing it all and I'm always looking for ideas to improve it.
Please offer any suggestions you feel might help, or any negatives you think of it.
Thank you
Billy
http://www.billywiz.biz (http://www.billywiz.biz)
Sorry Billy the link won't let me look? is anyone else having the same problem?
Works for me
Graham Lee
thats a great site i havent got a bad word to say about it i love the VENUES page what a great idea.
The only criticise is its on my site :cry:
Excellent site, will go back and carefully read it again a bit later but on initial reaction brilliant :D
Hi Billy as everyone else has said the look of the site is great.
I just noticed one or two spelling errors/typos.
Under the "enquiries" section it says "If for any reason you enquiry..." instead of If for any reason your enquiry....
Under the FAQs and the question "What should I look for?" It says "so that both you and the Billy Wizz" instead of "so that both you and Billy Wizz"
Finally under the "Can I have a joint party?" it says "as long as children are _ similar age" instead of "as long as children are a similar age".
Hope this is useful.
Brilliant, thanks Bickers, all three mistakes have now been changed.
Thanks again
Billy
Hi Billy,
I agree mostly with people's general view about the site being good.
I however have a problem with the home page, i believe (my view only!) that there is too much info and ill set out.
1) You already have a dedicated page to thank you letters, why not pick the best quote for the home page and leave out the rest.
2) the text can be made easier to read by putting bullet points and breaking up the paragraph. It also emphasises the points you wish to make.
3) Make your phone number BIGGER and with a different coloured background to the whole page background i.e. not yellow! it will stand out more.
4) your photo top right looks better mirrored, you are more open to the page, friendlier
5) Not sure about the long list of clients and the small writing in grey
Hope that helps,
Danny 8-)
Quote from: "Danny the Idiot"1) You already have a dedicated page to thank you letters, why not pick the best quote for the home page and leave out the rest. Makes great sense.
2) the text can be made easier to read by putting bullet points and breaking up the paragraph. It also emphasises the points you wish to make. I'll try some variations.
3) Make your phone number BIGGER and with a different coloured background to the whole page background i.e. not yellow! it will stand out more. Yes, I'll certainly change that.
4) your photo top right looks better mirrored, you are more open to the page, friendlier I'm not quite sure what you mean here?
5) Not sure about the long list of clients and the small writing in grey The clients can probably be scaled down a bit. The small text is just rubbish really, I think it does help with search engines picking up text on the home page. I noticed quite a difference before with having it there.
)
Some really helpful info Danny, thank you very much. I'll make some changed tomorrow morning.
Regards
Billy
Yay I can see it now great work billy
Hi Billwiz
First page:
Where is your call to action.
You guarantee a top quality show or What? Your money back? Tell em don't let them guess.
To much on first page, you loose the style of promoting yourself.
Will the list of past clients make your prospects book you?
"Make a smile appeal" on a separate page or better still a separate Web site with a link.
Contact page:
Will prospects sit down and write a letter to you?
Cut the options down make it easier for them to contact you loose the graphic and use words instead.
"Call me NOW 00000000 or email me your phone number and I will call you."
Form Confirmation:
Your form confirmation needs jazzing up. I know what I put in so why tell me.
Thank them instead, tell them when you will be contacting them and how.
Consider an auto response system if you are going to use email. It will save you a lot of work in the future.
Big Tip for you Billwiz:
Save a copy of your replies to email and mail merge them as you will find people ask the same questions. This will save you writing out the same answers over again.
Hope this helps.
Fuzz
Hey Fuzzy, this is perfect, constructive criticism. I'll explain my reasons for what I have on the site already and make some changes as well. Please feel free to reply to my comments. Thanks again.
Quote from: "Fuzzy"Hi Billwiz
First page:
Where is your call to action. Sorry, I'm probably a bit thick, not quite sure what you mean here?
You guarantee a top quality show or What? Your money back? Tell em don't let them guess. I've now added a 100% guarentee to the home page.
To much on first page, you loose the style of promoting yourself. I've cut it down a little
Will the list of past clients make your prospects book you? My thoughts here are that if Joe Bloggs is looking at various sites, he'll see that I've worked for many top companies and not just a part time entertainer out to make a quick buck. What do you think? I have cut the list a little
"Make a smile appeal" on a separate page or better still a separate Web site with a link. The link should have been to http://www.makeasmile.co.uk (http://www.makeasmile.co.uk) I'm not sure if I had the wrong link before. I've changed it now. I feel I have to have that on my site as it's a big part of my life and want it seen by as many people as possible.
Contact page:
Will prospects sit down and write a letter to you? I get a lot of mail through the post from kids as well as parents which is why I prefer to have my address there.
Cut the options down make it easier for them to contact you loose the graphic and use words instead.
"Call me NOW 00000000 or email me your phone number and I will call you." I like that, thank you, I've added it to the site.
Form Confirmation:
Your form confirmation needs jazzing up. I know what I put in so why tell me. I've changed it to stand out more, what do you think? http://www.billywiz.biz/wiz/contact.htm (http://www.billywiz.biz/wiz/contact.htm)
Thank them instead, tell them when you will be contacting them and how. Changed that now as well, thanks
Consider an auto response system if you are going to use email. It will save you a lot of work in the future.
Big Tip for you Billwiz:
Save a copy of your replies to email and mail merge them as you will find people ask the same questions. This will save you writing out the same answers over again. On my email, I reply using 'auto correct' which does this for me.
Hope this helps. YES, it's a great help, Thank you again for your comments, they've been a real help.
Fuzz
Regards
Billy
Hi Billywiz
First page:
Call to action is what you want the prospect to do next.
If you want them to call you...Call me NOW (note: NOW is very important)
Email... Email me Now just click here (add link) make it easy for them.
Study advert TV/Radio/Paper and see how they get you to respond.
Some very important questions to ask your self...
What is the purpose of your site?
Is it to sell, be informative, show your talents or a directory?
What type of people do you want to visit your site?
What do you want your visitors to do when they are on you site?
I see your call today for a quote is top left. Is it really in the correct place?
I have to scroll down to read all your stuff then I have to scroll up again to find it....Is that easy for your prospect?
I would look at cutting the page under the 3 pictures.
Left picture change for a powerful Customer quote
Keep middle picture
Change right picture for your Call to action (Call me NOW...)
Guarantee:
Still does not mean a lot it is just a graphic. If you are going to offer one spell it out Here's mine:
It's never happened yet, but in case you're not 100% happy with your Fuzzy party you can take advantage of a gilt-edged guarantee. " Mr Fuzzy guarantees that his show will delight your group, make them laugh and have a fun time or you get the show for Free." So you have absolutely nothing to lose and can book now in complete confidence. And of course you can ask to see a copy of my risk assessment.
Will the list of past clients make your prospects book you? My thoughts here are that if Joe Bloggs is looking at various sites, he'll see that I've worked for many top companies and not just a part time entertainer out to make a quick buck. What do you think? I have cut the list a little
I do not believe that a list of retail outlets will influence a Mum that is looking for a birthday party entertainer for her kids 4th birthday party. They are not top Companies in my mind they are high street retailers. This would be ok if you were targeting other retail outlets though.
How about having a page for birthday & a page for Retail or better still 2 separate sites? Now that would be very specific.
Quote1: "Previous clients include Asda, Sainsbury, Luton Airport + (your list)"
Quote2: "Here are just a few quotes from the thousands received from very happy Mums after their children's birthday party."
Note: If the prospect was a Mum looking for birthday party entertainment quote 2 would touch some hot spots.
"Make a smile appeal" I feel I have to have that on my site as it's a big part of my life and want it seen by as many people as possible.
Good on you, so create a page for it don't take them away from you site.
Contact page:
I get a lot of mail through the post from kids as well as parents which is why I prefer to have my address there.
Is this mail before the booking or after they have made contact with you?
Why would they send a letter and pay postage when they have the internet?
Telephone: Call me NOW on 01752 519529
Suggest drop Telephone:
Use "Call NOW 01752 519529" or "Call NOW on 01752 519529"
Keep Now & number same size
Form Confirmation:
That's a lot better.
Big Tip for you Billywiz:
Save a copy of your replies to email and mail merge them as you will find people ask the same questions. This will save you writing out the same answers over again. On my email, I reply using 'auto correct' which does this for me.
I'm talking mail merge their name, kids name age here not spell checking.
Example:
Hi Mary (firstname),
Thanks for your enquiry for your sons 4th birthday party.
You then mail merge the firstname, son/daughter and child's age.
Fuzz
Love it! As said somewhere the venue info looks useful.
Kev
Hi Billywiz,
its all looking much better.
Just one last comment. It might be worth changing the "Call to day for a quote" box colour to the same as the enquiry form. You could do green fading down to yellow. Or change the box colour to red - which would stand out on each page.
Enquiry page - just noticed "If telephone, what is your number" you could add "preferred" to give
"If telephone preferred, what is your number".
Definately clearer now, well done!
cheers
Danny
I am coming in rather late (been busy doing my other stuff) but I have a comment of a purely aesthetic nature! On most of the pages you have a nice space between the edge of the white box but on your FAQ page you do not. It would look more consistent with the rest of the site if the text was brought in about 10mm each side.
Thanks Yvonne, I hadn't noticed that. All sorted now :)
You are welcome. This thread will help me on my quest for a website too. Did you do all of your site yourself?
Quote from: "YvonneH"You are welcome. This thread will help me on my quest for a website too. Did you do all of your site yourself?
Yes Yvonne, I've been cahnging my website for about 10 years now :) Every so often I get board with it and start all over again.
Good luck with yours, although after looking at your 'temporary' site, I think your new one will look first class.
Trouble is it is done with a template and the page headers are coming up with "A Webbuilder Website" then my page name. A lot of it was just chucked in so I could continue with my web presence and hopefully not loose my google ranking.
What programmes did you use if you don't mind me asking. You have certain effects that I am trying to create for my site (and a few ideas I may borrow if I may ;) ) and I would be grateful for any shoves in the right direction.
I use Frontpage. If you have it, it is really confusing when you first start using it, but with practice you'll get used to it
You can borrow any ideas you like Yvonne. :) But please put them back when you've finished with them ;)
Oh that's good to know as that is what I am currently using. I did try Dreamweaver but found it more difficult to use I suppose because it is not a wysiwyg program like the Microsoft ones :roll: I take it you used photoshop or something similar to get your header?
Yes, I did use photoshop for the heading and many of the buttons as well. Do you also use photoshop?
I have photoshop elements which I am just learning to use but I mainly use Corel as this is what I use to produce the FACE magazine. Still not great with either though!