Client Site...hitting a brick wall...help?

[Patrysha]

I'm hitting a brick wall with this site because when I started trying to incorporate all the graphic designer's ideas things started going wonky.

So I need fresh eyes...

http://kcgraphics.ca

What's missing?
What's needed?
What's distracting?


I know what I think...but need a bit of perspective here.

TIA,

[dynocat]

Overall look is nice--clean and professional. I like the color scheme going on until I get to the category widgets. Wouldn't something brown/white look better than the off gold.

Some of the content in the Feature Content box doesn't seem to fit right.

That's probably not much help, but maybe a start.

[Spider]

Looks alright to me. To some eyes it might be a bit bland but I like it well enough. My only objections are the fixed width to the page and the fixed size to the fonts. I like those to be variable.

[vangogh]

Overall I think it looks nice too. I'm not crazy about the brown color scheme. Maybe it's just me, but when I think printing I think either black and white or more color. Brown to me says UPS.

The text that pops up over the featured item is hard to read. Maybe bigger font size would make it easier.

The contact info on the left could stand out more. Maybe a different color for the phone number or some other piece of text within to draw more attention to it.

While I know the site is for a printer, I don't get a sense right away of what kind of printing the business does. You have to mouse around and click a few links before really knowing what services the printer offers.

Hope that helps.

[Harold Mansfield]

Personally, I'm a big fan of contact information (for a business website) being in the header..at least the phone number. that way it is sure to be seen immediately.

I have to agree that the font in the featured slider area should be bigger and condensed more. Usually 2 lines of easily read excerpts or caption is about all anyone can or will bother to read in that area, especially since it is changing so quickly. I noticed that one or 2 of them run on past the visible area and the last few words are hidden.

If this is a physical business, I would put a Google map in the box titled "Serving Northern Alberta" so people can see exactly where they are located...that can eliminate the need to physically have the address text written since it will be on the map and it also adds some graphic to the site and shows that it is a local business.

For the areas where you have sample documents, or examples...I think using an image plug in, like Next Generation Gallery (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/nextgen-gallery/) that shows them in a lightbox, rather than just going to a plain page would look a little better...I know that configuring that plug in is a pain in the butt and usually you would set it up as you are building...but when I clicked on the images, I kind of expected it.

A couple of other small changes...I would nix the "featured content" title in that area and change the text to something like "our services". Also if he plans on blogging new news and information, go ahead and leave the RSS feed, but I would remove the comments feed. since it doesn't appear that this is going to be an interactive blog.

I also noticed the absence of a contact page. I know you have the location listed, but you can use something like Contact form 7 and set up custom fields using drop down menus for people to leave their name and the kind of work they are interested in. A of times if the option to leave a name and number to get a call back back with a quote, they will do that instead of calling first. On one of my sites, I have all my services listed ( you don't need to do that) and a drop down menu for the approx time that they need the work done..it actually gets used....I think it conveys the point that I can work within certain time parameters.

One other thing I would try to show some color contrast would be to change the color of the border..just that area that is immediately framing the theme...it's kind of tan..and it goes around the top of the header as well ? I would try changing that color to match the dark color in the header image. That would means that you would have to change the date, and RSS text to white for it to show..but I think it would add more color contrast to the page. Note: this may not work but I would try it.

last thing ( I promise)..the images below the featured scroller don't take up the whole area and are not centered. Being a Graphic Designer, the client has to have some really colorful imagery to use in the area.

I would use the most colorful images that he as in the area, (and place a little "Read More" button on them) and make them take up all of the space...leaving very little white around them if any....and, I would make the titles a little more clear.
I'd change "Business paperwork" to "Forms and Docs", Business Image" to "Company Logo's" or "Company Branding" or something to that effect....I try not to use a word twice in the same area...I don't know why I do that, but it looks repetitive and makes neither really stand out...that's just me.

That's all I have..hope it doesn't come off a nit picky, but just a few things I saw right away.

[billbenson]

Personally, I'm a big fan of contact information (for a business website) being in the header..at least the phone number. that way it is sure to be seen immediately.


I have contact us in the top nav bar and below the side navigation near the bottom of the page. I've been noticing that about 60% of my emails come from the bottom side bar "Contact Us". I can tell because they come to me on different emails

That says to me people are scrolling down the page which is good. It also says to me you should probably have your contact info at the top, bottom of the content, and footer as well. That way nobody has to hunt for it.

I did it by accident, but it also is a way to tell if people are scrolling down the page (reading your content).

[Harold Mansfield]

I have contact us in the top nav bar and below the side navigation near the bottom of the page. I've been noticing that about 60% of my emails come from the bottom side bar "Contact Us". I can tell because they come to me on different emails

That says to me people are scrolling down the page which is good. It also says to me you should probably have your contact info at the top, bottom of the content, and footer as well. That way nobody has to hunt for it.

I did it by accident, but it also is a way to tell if people are scrolling down the page (reading your content).

I do too. Actually I have a contact box at the end of each page. I didn't mean that it should be the only place, but the phone number at the top should be standard...I actually got that from you guys a few threads back. It has worked well for me.

[Patrysha]

Thank you all so much.

The colours reflect their logo/cards/interior decorating scheme in the shop, so not something that can be messed with too much. I will see what it looks like with the changing of the border colour. It's a very elegant look, especially for the interior decorating but I think it will date itself...

You've given me a few ideas on things to work on.

Van Gogh, your statement about not knowing what kind of printing they do is one thing I was wondering about.

I'll have to see what I can do with the featured content. it's a plug in. I wanted to put a slideshow there (the ones I used in the portfolio section) instead, but I haven't figured out how to do it without breaking it, yet.

Eborg, I do have a contact form in there, but I put it under Quotes...

[Dan Furman]

I have a huuuuuuge problem with the site (but it may not be that important.)

At a glance, I have no idea what they do - I really have to read carefully to figure it out - I can't just glance at it and say "oh, graphic design / printing".

Now, if everyone coming to the site already is kind-of a client or a warm lead, that may not matter that much. But that homepage is going to have a hard time pulling anyone in.

[Patrysha]

Well, they're a small printer in a small town...so in town they are well known. But not out of town...they would like to expand in small towns to the North of us who have no local printer...but the challenge is if a person doesn't have a local printer what's the advantage of choosing a higher priced printer (though closer to home than the corporate choices out there)? I haven't figured out a valid excuse that would stand up.

Their primary designer has a good eye, but the programs they are using are not printing industry standard. She is significantly less pricey than dedicated freelance designers, but pricier than typical WAHM graphics. (Not that she's up on web graphics or really much marketing beyond the way things look).

Anyway, she insists that it be pretty and more about pictures...they had me remove all the front page copy that I had started on there. But if I can come up with something compelling the boss may override that...if I can convince her.

[Blacktalon]

One thing I noticed is that the map doesn't directly focus on Whitecourt but rather Slave Lake. That might hinder or confuse potential customers.

Second, in the footer there is a double "By". Remove one and this will be grammatically sound.

Other than that it's a pretty decent design. I assume that Whitecourt is more or less the big commercial centre for several hundred kilometres from Edmonton, and this business is one of few printers in the area?

[Dan Furman]

Anyway, she insists that it be pretty and more about pictures...

She's wrong.

Unless, of course, the pictures immediatly bring to mind what she does. Which those pictures don't.

I mean, I went there and saw "hard rock" right away.... another second, and I realized it was Hard Rock Wall and Ceiling... am I in the right place?

Why are they prominently advertising other businesses like that - it overshadows themselves. I realize the point (these are the things we do), but you know, I don't lead off my site with the text I wrote for someone else... having THAT big a splash with their work is doing exactly that.

I don't mean a site cannot showcase work, of course. But not so front and center like that - especially in this case. Listen, the owner knows that's work the place did. You also know that, and I, as someone coming to the site to review it, kind of figured that out in a second or two. But that's a second or two you don't have with a cold lead.

[Patrysha]

Ah I'll get to that tomorrow...my head hurts and it's nearly midnight (they aren't the only project on the go at the moment)...

Well we're about two hours out of Edmonton (takes 1 1/2 to get there plus usually half an hour to get to any of the printing shops there). There are printers in Grande Prairie, but that is oh three hours away. My clients are the only ones for miles around that do most of the work in-house...we're the biggest on the highway until you hit Peace River...I think that's about four or five hours drive. I forget I haven't gone back up that direction since we moved south.

[Blacktalon]

Moved south...meaning you were once further north. Wow. You have gumption. True Canuck you are :)

Dan Furman is right; having images are fine, so long as they clearly indicate the type of work being performed. It also matters in their placement on the search engines. The less image files and more text, the better they will be. The easier it will be for customers to really know what they (the site itself) are about.

There is no harm in having a gallery or product samples is just as good, but maximizing the text would be in their best interest.

Blacktalon

[Dan Furman]

Dan Furman is right

It is about freaken' time people realized my brilliance!!! :D


Now, if only the rest of the world would see....

[Blacktalon]

It is about freaken' time people realized my brilliance!!! :D


Now, if only the rest of the world would see....

You owe me for this. I ain't doing this accolades thing for free, ya know? ;)

[Patrysha]

Well I changed a few things around but still haven't gotten any feedback from the client. I've given her the directions for her graphic artists to create new graphics. I'm a text girl...so they are very plain.

Prior to the changes she had said that it's not what she had envisioned, that it doesn't have enough visuals (I used everything she gave me) and that it's not user friendly enough.

I can't do anything about the quantity of visuals until she gets them to me or actually sticks to a time to go in and get the training over with. The task is easily integrated into their job orders and shouldn't add more than 10 minutes to each order.

I don't know what she means by user friendly because I get around it just fine and it's quite a popular theme that was tweaked to their specifications (color, etc).

No one her commented that it was hard to get around, beyond being confused about what they did on the first page. I think I've made a bit of improvement in that area, but it still needs copy.

Any suggestions that will make this more user friendly?

(Note I am working on replacing the gold quote button graphic...I didn't have time to get to that today)

[Dan Furman]

Any suggestions that will make this more user friendly?

(Note I am working on replacing the gold quote button graphic...I didn't have time to get to that today)

- Clear navigation that I do not have to hunt for. I have to hunt for this navigation. I'm not crazy about the names of the navigation, either.. "business image"... "business paperwork". I had to think about them for a second. The names are probably secondary and small potatoes, but I do have to "hunt" for the navigation, which is never good.

- The page is too busy - there's too much "stuff". Map on the homepage? Silly.

- Again... first thing I saw this time was massage. Hey, I like a nice massage. But I wanted business cards, ya know?

Sorry Patrysha, I don't mean to be negative, but I've become very good at site conversion over the years, and I can tell you flat out that this site isn't going to do much. One year from now, the owner will probably be "meh" in regards to its effectiveness, and will say something like the web don't work. And you won't be the shining star, either, even though they weren't your ideas.

One thing I'm seeing by your words here (forgive me - and correct me - if I'm wrong) is that you're not really designing anything anymore on this project. Instead, you're just HTML-ing what she wants. There's a difference. Personally, I shy away from jobs like that - I'll take input (it's crucial), but in the end, I know better, and I generally do it my way, even if it means getting a little pushy and defending my choices.

Luckily, I'm a good arguer. :)

[Patrysha]

No this is good. I am learning. I appreciate feedback and am open to anything that can help me do a better job for my clients. I want the site to convert. It doesn't do anyone any good to have it not be converting, least of all the customers.

They have solid design and good equipment and they do most of the work in-house. Even the newspaper outsources all the printing they do - including using graphic artists from foreign countries rumour has it. At the very least, the artists are from outside the town.

I know I can't do everything well, but I can always get better in the areas I'm weak in.

My thing is writing press releases (well that and articles and special reports - typical ghostwriter stuff) those are a hard sell in a small town when all you really have to do to get press coverage is ask for it :-)

What would you expect the names to be? Names are easy to change. I have no clue because I have never really given it much thought...

[Patrysha]

Oh and I added the map based on the feedback here...so should it stay or should it go? Personally I would've like to have put a picture of their storefront there.

Oh also. Can you point me to a few sites with user friendly navigation? I thought it was pretty straightforward...

[Dan Furman]

What would you expect the names to be? Names are easy to change. I have no clue because I have never really given it much thought...

I dunno - I haven't really thought about it. But the word "image"... I first thought graphic or even hard drive image... the third thing I thought of was the image of the business. Maybe "marketing materials" is better (off the top of my head...). It's certainly clearer.

Business paperwork is probably fine for the other. But again, the link names are probably small potatoes.

I noticed something else as I clicked around - most of the pages have a sentence or two. I don't understand the need for a seperate page for something like "hard hat decals" if there isn't going to be more than two sentences on them. Now, if there are eventually going to be pictures and more text, then that makes more sense. But otherwise, there's a slight negative twinge... like "what, that's it? You made me click for that?"

[Dan Furman]

Oh and I added the map based on the feedback here...so should it stay or should it go? Personally I would've like to have put a picture of their storefront there.

Oh also. Can you point me to a few sites with user friendly navigation? I thought it was pretty straightforward...

Look at my two to start - you don't have to "look" for the links at all. That's what I mean - they are clear as day. That's how all navigation should be.

On that printing site, you have to actually look to first find the links - they don't stand out. Once I find them, I'm fine.

Storefront is much better than a map. Map is fine on the contact us page or whatnot.

[Spider]

I see nothing wrong with the navigation as it now is. It is placed in exactly the same position as Dan's second site and therefore just as obvious. It's exactly where the eyes (mine, anyway) naturally fall. Dan's links are bolder in color, and I think your links, Patrysha, would benefit from being a different, brighter, color — deep red, maybe? or mid-level green?

As to the map, for a business that really requires a visit from customers (little opportunity for online sales), I think a small map on the first page is warranted – perhaps below the fold.

Have you changed the colors? It seems bolder than I remember. I like it.

Re: the main graphic samples – they do override all else on the page. They give the initial impression that this is Hard Rock Wall or Everybody Massage's website, depending on what's showing when one arrives. I think the size and the very heavy black border draw too much attention. I think the samples need to be on the first page and quite large, but make it more obvious that they are samples — a lighter, narrower border or background and a slight reduction in size. Perhaps add "SAMPLE" across the top of that panel, or a diagonal "SAMPLES" across one corner.

I hope this helps.

[Patrysha]

Hmm they do use red as one of their accent colours in some of their marketing, for now I've altered the colours a bit and added a border.

Will have to see what I can do to make the featured posts plug in a bit less prominent. Or if I can add a post with their logo and see if that can be set to be there on start.

I think on the map I am going to take it off the front and wait to see if they do get me a picture of the storefront. I just have to get the names of some of the other towns that they serve.

The thing about online sales is that they can fulfill orders from online, but there's no inexpensive way to get that accomplished (like with a shopping cart to automate it) with all the variables involved in a print order. That's why it pretty much has to be manual quotes.

[Dan Furman]

I see nothing wrong with the navigation as it now is. It is placed in exactly the same position as Dan's second site and therefore just as obvious. It's exactly where the eyes (mine, anyway) naturally fall. Dan's links are bolder in color, and I think your links, Patrysha, would benefit from being a different, brighter, color — deep red, maybe? or mid-level green?



Yea, they are in the right spot, but I think they get "lost". Other colors may indeed help.

Now, to anyone looking at this site, yea, they are only "lost" for a split second. May seem like a tiny thing. But I've seen things like font (size and style), link color, link position, etc, radically change conversion. The kind of stuff I'm talking about is akin to the studies that go into a retail store's layout / design / etc - small stuff that seemingly doesn't matter... but does.

In general terms, the best converting small business websites out there don't make a client think at all - they are extremely clear in what the company does, the navigation is clear... nobody has to guess. They are also written with the end user in mind, not the business owner (a prickly point for many designers, for sure.)

Now, of course outliers exist in terms of websites. You need look no further than Amazon. But, of course, if one points to Amazon as a reason why their site should work, they should probably have Amazon's reputation, time in business, and marketing budget.

[Dan Furman]

Hmm they do use red as one of their accent colours in some of their marketing, for now I've altered the colours a bit and added a border.

This was an improvement.

[Patrysha]

This was an improvement.

I thought so as soon as I hit update and saw the change. I like the way it is but will experiment a bit more.

I think part of my problem was that while I know things like that can make a huge difference, I didn't see that they weren't "visible" because I knew they were there. Does that make sense?

I so agree you with the little things making a huge difference. We experimented in a toy store with some theories that I had read about and the store owner made a few changes to the layout of the store and a few others with stock placement. It made an immediate difference.

In terms of the customer end of things. I suggested to the owner that she send a note with the invoices asking for customer input. It can save so much phone time (and increase productivity) just having existing customers put their re-orders in through the website.

[Dan Furman]

I think part of my problem was that while I know things like that can make a huge difference, I didn't see that they weren't "visible" because I knew they were there. Does that make sense?

Absolutely :)

[Harold Mansfield]

One of the rules I live by on my own sites as well as anything I do for others is to immediately let it be known as soon as the page is loaded.."I Do This..", or "You will find this here..." ( of course not that abrupt).

I used to get so caught up in projecting the image of the company that I forget the all important description of exactly what I do, how I do it, that I am for hire, and how to contact me...everything else is icing on the cake...detailed descriptions, F.A.Q.'s, flashy things, and so on.

If people don't see that information immediately, I figure I have wasted their time, and they will probably go to someone else who is clear about what they offer.

[camp185]

Capitalize the titles of your pages in your menu for starters. Left sidebar has content that is aligned centered, and then DHL Depot is aligned left.

The main content below the large animation was done using images instead of text. Big mistake for usability, and bigger mistake for SEO value. I would convert all of that to text.