We want opinions

[traciedowell]

We have a website and we got some great feedback from people who visit the site reviews and critiques section here on alldeaf so we re-designed the site and want to see how everyone feels and thinks about the new site. We would love to have more opinions because we really want people to feel comfortable with the website and want to contact us through it.

Here's the link to the other thread: http://www.alldeaf.com/site-reviews-critiques/47293-re-design-up.html

Any comments/feedback are greatly appreciated and don't feel bad if you have something bad to say about it. Thanks for your help.

 

[Bright-Eyed-TJ]

The physical design of the site is very nice; however the information is still quite lacking. You said don't feel bad if you have something else to say about it.

So here is honesty, yet tactful as possible.

Design is nice, warm, friendly. Nice colors, look, and feel. Easy enough to navigate.

The content/information is still virtually non-existent.

Hard for people to trust a site (and who's behind it) when they have no idea what they are getting into from the immediate beginning.

Also with such little information and only 3 or 4 pages, it makes it almost impossible to be found in the Search Engines for SEO purposes. The more targeted traffic you receive, the more money and bilking you can do.

If people can't type in specific keywords at the Google search engine box to find you, that's a lot of traffic that is lost.

This means that a company like this (generally) are limited to advertising online in Deaf forums, and the like.

Your site also has lots of meta tags missing. (You only have one meta tag right now.) This is also a very crucial component of getting more traffic to your website.

Domain name is also part of any website. So guess we can comment on that, too.

I feel that the url link has a misleading name as it's run by hearing person and does not actually give Deaf a true career in the end.

What I also don't understand why the domain couldn't be named after your own business - LifeMark. There is a LifeMarkCo.com domain available (and many other similars).

Ok, so all fact, and just one opinion.

 

[Reba]

I have to agree with TJ. Nice beginning but needs work. Content is skimpy. Needs more pages. Home page needs more "grab".

I expected the pins on the map to link to something.

The Team page introduces the members but doesn't really explain what a team does.

I think the site would be more creditable if it explained exactly what was involved in the training (length of time, process, materials, etc.).

Please don't be discouraged by our comments but use them for tweaking your site.

 

[Bright-Eyed-TJ]

I'd also like to read about the success of these Team Members instead of reading "I look forward to this" or "I hope this works".
How long these people have been in it, what they have learned from it, how much they enjoy it or not, how long they think they will stay with it, etc.

Also when you hover over their photos, sometimes the information is cut off, so you can't read their whole comment.

And I agree with Reba that the home page needs more "grab".

Your homepage is one of your most important pages on a website because it explains to your visitors what the rest of the site is about. However, you don't really have a 'rest' of a site, so you really need to compensate for this with more content on your homepage.

Right now there are more quotes from famous people, than anything nitty gritty to understand.

I understand that the game is to pull in those to ask you more about your program, but the Homepage really doesn't say anything about what to expect or anything.

Kind of like "blind sales".

Also agree not to be discouraged by our comments. It's merely honesty.

 

[Reba]

...Also when you hover over their photos, sometimes the information is cut off, so you can't read their whole comment....

That happened to you, too? Ha, ha, I thought it was just my shaky mouse hand!

 

[Bright-Eyed-TJ]

LOL! Shaky Mouse Hand! Hahaha. Yep, I checked on both FF and IE and both are cut off.

Also important is navigation experience. If it's hard to navigate or info is cut off, we are less likely to want to keep reading/exploring further.

Personally opinion, the older way was nicer where we can read paragraph(s) about them, and look at them all at the same time to compare the side by sides of all comments together.

 

[traciedowell]

I take sincere criticism very well and I appreciate the comments. The pins will be linking to the states they are attached to so people will be able to click on a pin and see which team members are in their state. Also, we will be adding a new section with photos of our members working. This weekend one of our members will be hosting a meeting with 25-30 attendees and they will take pictures that we will put on our website. We agree that there should be more information and are trying to figure out a way to be as informative as we can. Keep in mind though that we prefer to explain this to people the old-fashioned way by using face to face communication via the VP. It helps us and it helps the end user because they can ask all the questions they like and receive a comprehensive overview of what we do.

The website is still being worked on as we speak. It is not done. We just wanted to make it more cohesive. The final product is weeks away from completion and we are actively incorporating feedback into the design.

Many thanks to you guys for your comments.

 

[Bright-Eyed-TJ]

Keep in mind though that we prefer to explain this to people the old-fashioned way by using face to face communication via the VP. It helps us and it helps the end user because they can ask all the questions they like and receive a comprehensive overview of what we do.

The other message, you said that you were not allowed to say the whole process on your site.

This message says it's your preference.

Wondering which applies.

No purchase of a more realistic domain name?

 

[traciedowell]

The other message, you said that you were not allowed to say the whole process on your site.

This message says it's your preference.

Wondering which applies.

No purchase of a more realistic domain name?

The answer to your question is: both.

As far as the domain, our domain name is merely for keywords and our REAL name is LifeMark. LifeMark doesn't have any good keywords so we went with what we have. We have many people who work with us and noone seems to have a problem with the name of our web address so I think we'll be ok keeping it.

 

[Bright-Eyed-TJ]

Of course you will be keeping it.

I have mentioned the meta tags several times. That's because it's very important within a site and a way to get significant traffic.

You can place other keywords within your meta tags that have to do with home based business, which also will grab you more traffic.

I remember your other post said "of course we want more traffic".

This is a great way to get some more, and actually maybe be found in the SEs sooner.