UPDATE: Web page builders...GONE LIVE!

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
L

LaRue Medlin

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2000
Messages
3,084
Reaction score
4
Location
Sumter, SC
This is an email comment I got on my new locksmith web page. I thought my new pages were pretty good. From you professional builders, is he right? do I need something better?

:smile0001:

The splash page will go away in a few days..btw



Hi,



Your first site : www.carolinalockandkey.com



I was taken to splash page. I had to wait to be taken to main homepage. Nothing for me to click on to skip the wait and the loading animation is very poor quality and very hard to see. People do not like waiting around. There seems to be no purpose for the splash page.



On entering the site, the first thing i noticed was the outdated yukky color background. I would change this to something much more modern.



The site structure seems somewhat out of place. I feel it does not have much structure.



I find the site unproffesional looking and nothing is eye catching to make me want to read or stay.



hope this helps,



Regards,

Mathew

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I had to wait a whole 5 seconds or so to be redirected to the home page -- big deal! But, my understanding is that having an opening screen is considered "old school" now -- people want to get right to the content. Maybe you could just go directly to the home page or include the ability to click through the welcome page immediately if the visitor doesn't want to wait.



While not the flashiest of designs, the rest of the site is fine, as far as I'm concerned. Again, the design looks "older" -- but not bad -- and is simple and easy to navigate.



And that's my $0.02. :)
 
LaRue, Im not a webmaster, but. I have no Idea what he means. I see nothing wrong with the splash page. It is only up for a few seconds, with broadband. IMO, the info I would need is clear, represenative and easy to click thru.:smile0006:



Was this from one of myst members? Maybe, some of your jelous competition...



I find the site unproffesional looking and nothing is eye catching to make me want to read or stay.
Click to expand...



That statment of his, IMO, he is full of it. Your site serves its purpose. It is a bussiness. Not a newspaper.
 
This person was really picky and their patience was non existant. If your customer needs your service they will wait the 5 seconds for your welcome screen to redirect them to your main page. Everything else on your page is right there in front of you. What you do, hours and a phone number. I would not change a thing.



Happy Holidays to you and your family LaRue.

 
LaRue,

It looks fine to me.



I assume by the Splash Screen he is talking about Christmas theme background that displays for a few seconds. I see nothing wrong, and it does not stay up very long to bother adding a button to skip that screen. You might wan to ad something like Seasons Greetings, etc, but other than that it's fin.



As for the rest of your site it looks fine. You are not a profession web page designer but your page looks as good and many professional sites I've seen.



I did a lot of Web design work for the Texas Farm Bureau mack about 5-11 years ago (Sr. Programmer on the Web Team) You web site looks and functions fine...Don't worry about one A-Hole who just thinks he can do better than you...Maybe he can, but can he pick a lock?



...Rich
 
LaRue, I manage our parts department's website and I've only gotten one complaint like that. We've had our site up almost a year. Our customers like the site, otherwise, they wouldn't come back to it. If your customers are happy with it, I can't see anything wrong with it.



That said, I do tweak ours a little bit every now and then. I have a couple of areas that I change up on a regular basis just to keep it a little different. I wouldn't worry about it unless you get messages like that on a regular basis. THAT'S when I would start making an overhaul. Just make sure they aren't from the same person!
 
Larue,

Looks fine, just make sure the links are always up to date.

Nothing worse than outdated links, especially to customers.

Like the security tips, Like having a News section for locals,

maybe link to some live web cams and have the weather, time and temp.

The Home button should go back to page after the splash screen IMO.

Other than that it looks good.



Maybe have a picture of yourself dressed in all black with a raccoon mask breaking into a house!

Then you in the back of a police car!:smile0007:



Keep up the good work. Hope the feedback helps.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas!

 
RichardL: took your advise on Season's Greeting,,,

budfromballground: fixed the home link... oh yea,, that's me at the bottom of the page...:smile0007:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Splash page took 15 seconds to load (in two parts, foreground, then background, then into site). I am on Charter cable for my internet connection - other pages do not 'lag' when loading.



Here is the question - who needs a locksmith for emergency service?



Someone who is locked out of their vehicle, who will then get on their PDA, try to bring up the page and then wait or they are on the phone to someone at home and waiting. Think about the situation for that person, if they do wait, they may already have a bad taste in their mouth.



I would say, if you want to give season's greetings, do it on the main page w/o a lot of fanfare. People are coming to your site for locksmith assistance, not season's greetings. Is it a nice touch, yes, but it should not be primary.



JT#14



 
LaRue,



Since you asked for a review, I have one for you. Please take my comments constructively, because that is how I intend them to be. I speak straight, but I mean no offense.



I have a 6 MB connection in Poland, and the first page took nearly 30 seconds to download. Probably an issue with the net between here and the US. I think the photo should be compressed to a smaller file size, but really, it comes down after Christmas, so what is the point?



I build websites for NATO and in our business, they want everything concise and straight-forward. I suspect your critic has similar tastes. In that respect, I would cut out a lot of fluff, which really means nothing to anyone except you.



When I am locked out of my car or house, I won't read the newspaper articles about how you work 24/7/365. I personally find that sad and a bit scary. I wouldn't call you, because I don't want you to kill yourself driving to me in your exhausted state.



Also, your 60 mile service radius is a bit extreme. If I am in Columbia, why would I call you? You could be in Conway, 120 miles (two hours drive) from me. Columbia is a big city, so I would just call a locksmith there.



When I need a locksmith, I just want to find your phone number and get you there to help. You already have all the info I need on your homepage.



Regarding the homepage, I always put the most important information FRONT AND CENTER. Since you have two columns though, it should be on the top and left, because that is where people will begin reading. Once they find your phone number, most people won't even read the rest of the stuff you have there.



In my opinion, your coverage area page is perfect and could be your entire website. You just need to trade the positions of the map and contact info.
 
LaRue,



You can't satisfy everyone.



However, for every person with the ambition to say something there are a dozen that are apathetic and silent.



His comment about the background is somewhat deserved. That style of background image has been "done to death".



Sometimes "less is more", when it comes to a home page. The home page for a services company should be the quick, "30 second" message (who are we, what do we do, how you contact us). Beyond that, the person talked about the site being inviting and "wanting to stay" and look around...that's what is called "stickiness" in the biz. A services website doesn't have to be, and probably shouldn't try to be sticky (my opinion).



As for the structure of the site, and the splash panel; the structure is what it is, and it seems fine as it takes you to the pages that give the info that is needed. As for the splash screen, I've never been a fan of those, myself...I too find them gimmicky and annoying when all I want to do is "get to the info".



TJR
 
Ok,,, you guys gave me some good info,,, here is what I did today between cleaning up for family tommorrow, and having a backache... What about this one???





Nelson, my milage statement is because people live out in the boonies around heer and NO_ONE is willing to go help them after hours. YOU PAY ME,,, I'll go....





WHAT ABOUT THIS ONE?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think flash openings suck. Total waste of time. They serve no real purpose. Give the info I need or I go elsewhere.



If I need the service of a locksmith, I don't care if they wish me a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Valentines Day, 4th of July, or anything. I need a Locksmith and I need them NOW.



This is my opinion...





Tom
 
LaRue,



Much better, but STILL too tall in the content on the home page. I have a desktop that is 1280 x 1024, and with a browser that is mostly set to full screen height I STILL don't get all the info on the home page without scrolling.



See what I mean below:



[Broken External Image]:



Some other homepage advice:



1. I'd say get rid of everything below the TCLA logo.



2. The masthead image looks great, but the left side of the house image in the masthead is blurry. Not sure why. Should try to fix that.



3. Consider getting rid of the scripture above the masthead. Never met a Christian yet that will use your service if they need it because you quote scripture, but have met several non-Christians that won't when you do. Your choice.



4. You need a TITLE tag in your page. Comes across as "Untitled Page" now.



5. The site navigation would probably be better if all in one row, all just below the masthead image.



6. The whole "our licensed and professionally trained staff" sounds deceiving to me. Isn't your company just one guy? If so, I'd play up that fact (I reworded some stuf below).



7. When describing your service, refrain from saying "We do this", and "We do that", repeatedly.



8. The bullets to the right and the "Welcome to South Carolina's..." and the text below that should all be combined. It's very rudundant, often saying the same thing several times. I suggest starting with the bold title, then the bullets....





Welcome to South Carolina's Best Locksmith Service:



A full service, mobile locksmith for all your home, business and automotive security needs



Independently owned and operated to serve you with the trust and respect that the large corporations can't match



Licensed, bonded and insured



Emergency UNLOCK service for cars / trucks / houses / apts provided



Automotive transponder keys our speciality



Serving Sumter and outlaying areas



24 HOUR services available, including 24 hour access to Shaw AFB



Commercial billed accounts always welcome
Click to expand...



I took the liberty of suggesting the bullets below, as they have a more logical flow: Who we are; what we do; where we do it; when we do it; how we do it.



Good luck...looking really good!



TJR
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks Tom,,, that is the kind of help I'm searching for.



1.) The disclamers at the bottom, I was told a very good idea liability-wise...



2.) The house pic is "borrowed" and that's the way it comes....



3.) The scripture suggestion,,, well,,, I see your point... need to decide



4.) The page is in work right now,,, the tags/title will come later. Length is just to give me room...



5.) nav tags will probably drop down to 4-5 on one row



I'll play with it more later,,, any more suggestions





WHAT ABOUT NOW?:smile0006:













 
Last edited by a moderator:
I like it. My suggestion is to place the word "competent" before the word "competitive", and perhaps drop the "in our services" phrase.
 
LaRue,



I suggest you keep the disclaimer at the very bottom, but get rid of everything else.



I figured you snagged the masthead house image from somewhere else. I'd suggest you try to find a source for such material and pay a couple of hundred for a good version of an image like that.



Still a little tall...



TJR
 

Latest posts

Top