|
|
|
|
| The Small Business Think Tank Network is not currently active and cannot accept new posts |
| Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | Views: 1921 |
| Feb 04, 2009 4:23 am | | Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Rodney Collins | | Please don't treat this as advertising because that is not the intention - I see that others have asked for opinions on websites, products, or on business letters etc. and I am seeking honest opinions on two versions of my Home Page.
1. Boring old stuff about taking advantage of the economic downturn. (Perhaps its not so boring?)
2. Much more personal with a 'help more people' mindset. I feel that visitors need to know they are dealing with a real person. They need to sense that the person is honest. They need to see that the person is an expert but got there through learning and growth during the life of the business, and most importantly they need to see that the person genuinely wishes to help them, and that the person considers his product has worth and value (perhaps my prices are too low and that doesn't speak 'worth').
Anyway, I would really value your opinions as to which is better.
here are the two versions:
1. http://www.readytousewebsites.biz
2. http://www.readytousewebsites.biz/index77.php
Please be totally honest - I have broad shoulders!
Rodney Collins
Ready-to-Use Websites (now with Short-term lease option)
http://www.readytousewebsites.biz (easy.fast.affordable)Private Reply to Rodney Collins |
| Feb 04, 2009 4:56 am | | re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Sharon Petty | | Hi Rodney this is Sharon I love the second site for the following reasons
It get right to the point of what you do and secondly it give real life expierence of the challege in getting a web site up and how you resolve that problem.
In reading the first one I was not clear until I got the the second paragraph what it was that you did
Last but not least I would love to talk with you more about this site and your business.
Sharon
347-452-0120
Sharon Petty
energy consultant
healthyliving.sp@gmail.comPrivate Reply to Sharon Petty |
| Feb 04, 2009 5:11 am | | re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Jack Kriguer | | Both are good. Try both, keep a record of the response for each one. After a while, that will show you the winner.
JackPrivate Reply to Jack Kriguer |
| Feb 04, 2009 7:54 am | | re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Althea Conklin | | Rodney,
I enjoyed the layout of the first, but I'm with Sharon on the reasons for the 2nd. Perhaps you can combine the two? If you kept the layout of the first, but an "about the founder" blurb to the right with a shortened version of your background it would work...just a suggestion.
Really like your concept. :)
Private Reply to Althea Conklin |
| Feb 04, 2009 11:00 am | | re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Mark Pridham | | Rodney,
If you want a true picture of how the general public thinks about your pages, your best bet is to set up a Google Experiment.
Basically, you publish both versions of your main landing page, ensure that there is some form of call to action (subscribe to newsletter, sign up for a free report, join, download a template, etc). Google will give you a piece of code that will enable them to track the pages.
Then you simply track your traffic using Google Analytics to see which lansing page end up with the highest conversion ratio.
Hope that helps ..
MarkPrivate Reply to Mark Pridham |
| Feb 04, 2009 3:08 pm | | Re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Teddy Towncrier | |
Rodney. .... You've earned your pin. ..
Your first listing does a great job of telling your story. I would like to see a short video of you introducing yourself. ... Preferably interactive video and showcase some of your other features.
Change the headline to a positive ... "Now is a great time for a new Web site".
Why are you expecting visitors to jump through the hoops of filling out a form to contact you when they're at the height of their interest? Use a contact portal and make it easy to instantly contact you. (See Towncrier's contact link in my profile).
It's cost money to get this visitor. ... Include a strategy for staying in touch with them. .... They're here because they have an interest in having a web site. Offer a complimentary report. ... "Ten questions web designers hate to hear but you must ask" and stay in touch. See "Are 27 contacts really necessary" in Towncrier's Reports Archive
Reformat your email links so they aren't harvestable by the spiders.
I really like the "Realistic Lease Terms feature".
Post a Tweet on Twitter "Rodney Collins offers lease terms on new Web Sites". .. (Use a Mailto: auto-responder for info). and I'll be glad to ReTweet for you. More ...
Bestest.
Teddy Towncrier CPP Towncrier-Media.com Supercharging Your Visions.
 
Private Reply to Teddy Towncrier |
| Feb 04, 2009 4:13 pm | | re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Patricia Allen | | Rodney,
The text of the first site, lost me after the second sentence or what I thought was a sentence. It just didn't make pictures for me. (I am on the autistic continuum and think only in pictures and translate into words, or the other way around. No pictures=no understanding.)
The second version's text had movement. I noticed the title line. I built pictures of the first paragraph and then you lost me with the changes in topic or titles or technical words...something like that.
Suggestion on the second version: IF your market is non-technical people, cut the job titles--something like, "I had been working with computer programs for years and the switch to website design was a cinch."
I didn't understand the connection between website design and stock photos...especially in the same sentence. Do you now provide stock photos through your company?
Paragraph three, I get that you thought (I wished you had 'decided' because that would relax me, the potential client.) and obviously (not obvious to picture thinkers) decided help me. (Would that be patronizing if you read it applied to you?) You could save some space with the paragraph if you just said clients can personalize their own website with one of your templates or customizable features. The excess words confuse.
Final paragraph has a really good message, but could be condensed a little. I get that: You continually seek feedback from your clients and you take their suggestions under consideration when you are updating your hosting capabilities (I don't know what hosting entails so this word may not apply.) You also promise to be attentive to the desires of new clients.
Further down you use the word 'shop' I had to pause to make the picuture because I'm used to seeing 'store' in this context.
I haven't read the other posts and probably duplicated everything. I do tend to write a lot. It's the old a picture is worth a 1000 words thing. Hope this helps.
Love and Light,
Pat
Creator of fine wood pens.
http://www.PatsPensAndTreasures.com
http://www.PatriciaAJAllen.com/myblog (which has pen pix)Private Reply to Patricia Allen |
| Feb 05, 2009 12:21 am | | re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Murray Farrell | | OK you have it
My Impression is that the main part is too busy.
I am referring to
"Do you know that the current downturn in the economy is the best time to promote or start the busin"
Is there too much text here?
I feel like I am 'ducking my head' when I try to read it - to me, it appears to be crowded in by the page header and graphic. Maybe this is the effect that you are after; but it doedn't work for me.
Regards,
MurrayPrivate Reply to Murray Farrell |
| Feb 05, 2009 1:15 pm | | re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Kurt Schweitzer | | To me the website design (either one) clashes with the logo.
My kids are all over 20, but your logo design has a strong association in my mind with children's toys. Every time I see it I think of Little Tikes (http://www.littletikes.com/) or Play-Doh (http://www.hasbro.com/playdoh/). Even though the current logos of those products are different from yours, somehow that association is still there. It may be that after so many years I've forgotten exactly which product had a logo so much like yours.
So here I am, primed to see something as simple and visual as a child's toy, and I get to a website that IBM or Xerox could love. Actually both of those businesses are much more consumer focused than that today - to get to the "business consulting" look that your site has you have to drill into theirs a ways.
I'm sorry, but after the energy and simplicity of your logo, I find the bland sameness of your website a real letdown. I hope it appeals to your customers more than either one of them appeals to me.
Of the two I like http://www.readytousewebsites.biz/ best.
Kurt Schweitzer
Urban Village ScootersPrivate Reply to Kurt Schweitzer |
| Oct 05, 2009 7:48 pm | | re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Rodney Collins | | Well, it has been a while since I posted my request for honest opinions and I appreciate the responses. The outcome was that even though I loved the look of my website, others did not share the feeling.
I have made it much more interactive with a demo of what your Ready-to-Use Website could look like.
The second link in the first post no longer exists and the main website has changed radically.
Once again this is not intended as advertising but rather to get honest opinions on the new look. Perhaps you remember the old 'retro' look that I had before but if not, please feel free to give honest opinions (as I know you do).
Regards from
Rodney
Rodney Collins
Ready-to-Use Websites (So easy, even an adult can do it!)
http://www.readytousewebsites.bizPrivate Reply to Rodney Collins |
| Oct 05, 2009 9:39 pm | | Re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Teddy Towncrier | |
Nice Job, Rodney.
If I were seeking a site; .... I'd certainly give you a close look.
Especially like the "Rent a site" programme. ... Tells me that you're an innovative supplier. ... Attractive to the newbie who wants to ease in without having to hock the farm.
I owe you one .... So if you need a ReTweet. .... Put it in Lamar's Ryze Clusters Forum and we'll pick it up.
Article ... "Don’t miss out on the Magic Phenomenon of Retweeting". View Here.
Bestest.
Teddy Towncrier CPP Towncrier-Media.com Supercharging Your Visions.
Private Reply to Teddy Towncrier |
| Oct 05, 2009 11:00 pm | | re: re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Reg Charie | | I think the main page needs some descriptive hooks as to why one should use your process.
Is the site building process SEO friendly or does it use a shotgun approach to things like title keyword and description tags, as does your own site?
Reg - NEW DEMO!! Turn photos into paintings http://FantasticMachines.com
All You Need is Dotcom-Productions and a Dream. http://dotcom-productions.com
0Grief http://0grief.com/special_hosting_accounts_for_my_ryze_friends.htm
CRELoaded websites http://RegCharie.com - SBTT http://thinktank-network.ryze.comPrivate Reply to Reg Charie |
| Oct 06, 2009 9:04 am | | re: Absolute Honest Opinions Needed Please | # |
Ashish Belagali | | Hi Rodney,
I am able to see only the first version. The second is showing a bunch of warnings before the unformatted content. (Maybe you are doing changes?)
The images are highly impressive and the business model comes out very clearly. The only thing I would change is the styles in some 'text-heavy' pages like the last 'Rent a website' page. The dotted line give an impression of separating out the sections from one another which is not what they do. Also, the space before the heading 'Invest in testing your idea' is not adequate.
I am on Firefox on linux, if it helps.
/AshishPrivate Reply to Ashish Belagali |
 |
|
|
