Jumping in...

[SCUBA9097]

Okay, so I was looking at my website through "fresh eyes" today and I know my website need some serious work... not sure what or where, I just know that something doesn't "feel right" to me. While it is a drastic improvement over the old website, potential clients didn't see the old site, only what's presented to them now.

I do know that my "contact us" page is not operating properly, but since I have no knowlege or experience in PEARL, I'm at the mercy of the hosting company to get this corrected.

Have at it my new "guru friends"... www.OmegaFirearmsTraining.com (http://www.OmegaFirearmsTraining.com)

[KristineS]

First of all, let me say, a lot of the elements are there. Your site is informative, which is a very good start, and you offer educational resources, in the form of PDF downloads, which I think is great. That said, there is still some work to be done.

One thing I noticed immediately is the white text on the black background. That is considered one of the hardest color combinations to read on a website. I know it was bugging my eyes a little. You have a lot of text on the site, and you want to make it as easy as possible for people to read it.

Second, you have the bright yellow Omega logo up at the top, but that color doesn't appear anywhere else in the site. It's almost like the logo is an afterthought. I'm not sure if you could carry that color elsewhere, maybe in your menu bar or something, to make it look more connected to the site. Hopefully one of our web designers will jump in on that point.

Third, I loved the quote on your front page, and you made a great start on on explaining who you are and why what you do matters. Then, below the fold you kind of went off track. I'm not sure why the radio thing is there at all, or why you put the forms of payment on the front page. Stuff like that might be better suited to an FAQ page. The bit about being the first and only certified instructors and the link to the newspaper article are good, and I think there no harm in letting people know they can follow you on Facebook or asking them to sign up for your newsletter, but remember that your homepage is all about hooking people and getting them to use your services. Anything that doesn't do that, should go elsewhere, in my opinion.

Fourth, on your About Us page, why do all the pictures of the male instructors look so grim? They're almost like mug shots. Some people do have the view that people who use and carry firearms are thugs, and I'm not sure those pictures dispel that myth. It might also be helpful to have some group shots, or shots of instructors leading classes that look as though they're enjoying themselves. I know you have pictures in another place, but it might also be nice to have some on the staff page as well.

I'm sure there are more suggestions I could make, but those were the four that stood out to me in the first run through. Hopefully these are helpful.

[Harold Mansfield]

It's not horrible.
My first impressions that the layout looks a little dated, in a "prefab, site builder" kind of way:

The images at the top are a strange dimension and not in a good way, and there is only one side, which makes the absence of images on the other side make the site look half done. It also throws off the symmetry of the site on larger monitors making everything looked pieced together.
There is too much open space without any content and it makes your pages look very sparse, giving the impression that your organization is actually smaller than it may be.

I immediately recognized the "contact" image as a stock photo that I have seen on 100 other sites.

Pages/SEO:
Your courses need to be on their own individual page with individual calls to action (sign up or pay). Having them together on one page is ruining your SEO. No matter what type of tags or headers you use to separate them, it is still going to be seen by SE's as one page and only that page title and description will get the benefit. By separating them you benefit from having each course as it's own destination from searches.

Also, I see a lot of "coming soon" areas. I do this on one page of my site and I shouldn't. Neither should anyone else. If it's not done, don't draw attention to the fact that it's not done. It makes it look like you aren't 100%. Feature what you do have.

I actually do like the color of the logo, and I can deal with the dark background for this type of site,but you have to be creative to pull it off. One way to do that is with great images and well organized content.
Actually a lot of sites in this industry use dark backgrounds. Smith and Wesson, Colt, and Browning (although they use white areas for the text) come to mind, but they all have a lot more color to balance things out and make things look a little more vibrant.

Other noticeable things:
You offer courses, so your immediate contact information and location should be present on the first page. At least a phone# or Email, AND general location such as what city or area you serve..so that people know immediately that you are in their area,

Last but not least, I think a business like yours could benefit immensely from a regular posting of news and articles in the industry, new advancements, new products and regulations. Yes, an integrated blog.

[SCUBA9097]

Thank you for the amazing suggestions! There are quite a few items I hadn't even considered. You guys are the absolute best, I absolutely love this site and feel completely at home here.

I'm going to print this page out and run it by my designer. The site started off as a "pre-fab, site builder" project (excellent call eborg9!) but we began modifying it to "fit" the business a little better.

[vangogh]

Ted before even visiting your site I knew it needed to be updated simply because you mentioned Perl being behind your contact form. Perl hasn't been common where websites are concerned for years. When I visited I had the same feeling. Like Harold mentioned the site looks like a template from a few years back. I could even tell which company's template is was and then I saw them listed in the source code. At the same time and again to echo what's been said above, the main elements are there. The site is a long way from being horrible, but it could certainly stand improvement.

Both Kristine and Harold covered a lot of the points I was going to mention. I'm not sure how much in the way of specifics I can add. Mostly count me as giving another vote to all of what they mentioned.

To be honest if it were me I'd have the site completely redesigned. I think a tweak here and a tweak there isn't going to substantially improve things. Admittedly I am a web designer so might say I naturally tend to push toward newer and better design. On the other hand being a web designer I think it's fair to say I do know a little about what makes for a good website.

Fortunately it doesn't have to cost you a lot to update things. I use software called WordPress to run most sites I build. It's free and there are many free and low cost ($75 or so) themes you could add. If you feel comfortable moving files back and forth from a computer to a server you could do all the work yourself. If you don't feel comfortable doing that it shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred dollars to have someone else do it for you.

That will likely fix all the little things Kristine and Harold mentioned above and it will likely cost less than trying to fix those things one by one. It'll also bring the site into the present. In the end it's going to be the least expensive way to improve the site and it'll result in something much better than trying to add a tweak here and a tweak there to the existing site.

[craigb]

Hi there took a look at your site and a lot of what is being said above is what I have to say with a few variations

1. The colors are so dark, the lower right half of the screen is black fading up to grey and
It just kind of seems grim. I know it's a gun site and rainbows are not the theme you are going for but
Add some texture to lighten things up a notch.
2. The instructors did look mad and like they might shoot you if you didn't have a boot camp mentality going in
Which brings me to the SPC. in uniform. It's against military policy to pose in uniform to advertise or endorse any
Company or Organization. He might get in trouble if his Commander or some retired SGT Major sees that. Even if he is out of the Military
now he was obviously serving when that picture was taken.
3. There were a few of pending sections still waiting content.
4. Replace the picture of the guy dressed in orange, he is just scary looking.

hope these tips help