# Please critique my website.



## canadianplower (Sep 3, 2009)

Just getting started and would love the experts to take a look.

www.highlandpropmntc.com

tymusic


----------



## creativedesigns (Sep 24, 2007)

Mabe you can add a Gallery page showing some of your jobs you've completed!


----------



## FEFMedia (Sep 17, 2009)

Ahh yes.. my Hobby/Business. Ill give you some free tips to help you out.

1. Get rid of the free hosting. They contain pop up banners, banners, and the like. No one will take you serious with banners of other companies on your website. Web hosting can be found as cheap as $6.95 a month.. Mind you thats just the hosting.. not the content in itself.

2. "Pictures say 1000 words" Get images of the work you have done as mentioned. This is critical! Remember people want to see the work you have done. Heck I am one to talk since I build FEFMedia.com last week I am still adding in the code for all the websites I have built.

Just those two things will get you to a good start. Microsoft Frontpage and Word can get you started in creating your website. Then you upload it to your host.

I see a lot of basic websites out there every day. The question is, what is it that you want your website to do. Get new customers? Question and Answers for your customers? Mailing List? ETC ETC.

Sure you might ask what do I know about websites.. well here is a few in my resume.

http://www.sportbikes.net - Sold Feb 2008, over 100,000 members. Worlds largest Sportbike Website.
http://www.onthethrottle.TV - Web designer and administrator. No I dont own it just the web designer 
http://www.chicagolandcruisers.com - Another Motorcycle Forum. Local.
http://www.RollingThunderIL1.com - Rolling Thunder Website I build a few years ago. I dont manage this website any longer due to time constraints and it was free work.

If your looking to have all your problems answered I do just what your looking for. This is a Hobby/Side work for me so I enjoy doing it and dont charge a lot of money. Ill post up a couple templates I have for Lawn Services. Email me at ffolkerts (at) gmail.com


----------



## mdvaden (Oct 3, 2009)

Overall I like it.

You have a way to cull the ads from the top?

Also, check spelling on "you summer" in the middle. You mean "your" I think.


----------



## canadianplower (Sep 3, 2009)

You were right, I change the you to your.
thanks.


----------



## SPD (Sep 8, 2009)

I agree with everyone else on many points, A picture is worth 1000 words. Even if it's a picture of you, your truck, your family etc.Also people are tired of old stuffy websites with mission statements. Tossing up some pictures you, your truck, stuff you have done are great ideas. Videos are even better, no one can resist clicking on the play button of a video. 

You only get one first impression. On the internet that first impression is about 2 seconds before they hit the back button. You will need to have something there so they know they are in the right place and they want to continue looking at your site. 

When I hit your site I think it's a site for tree services. Which is ok, a ton of landscapers and tree trimmers run plows in the winter. So there is a connection but I do feel you need more of a focus on snow removal. If that is your business.

Again loose the free hosting for sure, it makes it appear as you are not serious about your plowing business. Be careful with a very cheap hosting services, they are not all equal some of these 5 and 6 dollar hosting accounts will put you on a server with 1000's of sites and your site will load slow. If you need a good inexpensive hosting account let me know and I will point you in the right direction. 

One thing you may want to consider is using a WP blog instead of an actual hard coded webpage. Blogs are very flexible and allow the layman to create very professional looking websites and easily update them. In addition there are 10's of thousands of free templates to allow you to change the look and feel of your site in seconds. 

Another aspect of a blog that will help your efforts is the ability to rank high for keywords in Google. There are simple Changes that can be made to a WP blog that will drastically increase your sites ability to rank in Google. I can normally set up a Search Engine Optimized Blog and get it to rank in Google page one for your local keywords ("city state snow plowing") in a very short time. Blogs are very powerful for this reason.

I hope this helps, if you have any questions about how to do anything I mentioned let me know. I will be glad to explain further. 

Rob


----------



## cr252many (Mar 7, 2007)

I would hire FEFMedia...your web site like I put it together. We wanted to do the same thing with our business and I ended up hiring a web designer and now we have a better website than what we could do.

http://www.isstrm.com


----------



## canadianplower (Sep 3, 2009)

Great feedback from all thank you, I will look into each suggestion.
All I can post is pics of my equipment because this is my first year back at it and don't have any pics from before.
Does anyone else use WB blogs as there web site?


----------



## SPD (Sep 8, 2009)

canadianplower;822632 said:


> Great feedback from all thank you, I will look into each suggestion.
> All I can post is pics of my equipment because this is my first year back at it and don't have any pics from before.
> Does anyone else use WB blogs as there web site?


I would bet most people in this industry are not using blogs. Blogs have become very popular in the internet marketing community because of how easy they are to setup, how professional they look, how quickly they can be changed, and how powerful they are for Search Engine optimization.

Blogs are making their way into the local business market quickly though. I set up a few a week for businesses. The nice think about a blog is that it can be configured to do almost anything. It can be setup to look like a normal website and no one would even know its a blog. Or if you want to use it as a blog and post regular content to it better yet.

Once a blog is setup which is a very simple and easy process. Anyone and I mean anyone can easily add pages, content, pictures, links, etc. Then if you are tired of the look you can go out to Google and find a new layout/design, for free and in seconds change the look of your entire site. No need to have the developer recode all the pages.

They are uniform and look very professional. Search engines love blogs. 1000's of widgets have been created to add dynamic content to a blog. IE local weather, forcasts, breaking news, whatever, if you can think of it chances are there is a plugin for wordpress for you to easily add it to your site.

They are the websites of the future. Well they are the websites of now.


----------



## canadianplower (Sep 3, 2009)

SPD,
do you have any suggestion as to which WB blogs to try?


----------



## SPD (Sep 8, 2009)

Hey canadianplower,

I only use wordpress blogs, they are the most popular so they have the most features available for them.

You will want to host the blog in your own hosting account. This way you can be assured you will be able to add what ever plugins you want.

You can get a good fast hosting account for under 10 bucks a month. Stay away from hosting with Go Daddy their cheaper accounts are way slow and overloaded. I only use GoDaddy to buy domain names.

I have my own web sever and provide hosting for $8.50 a month. www.wemaketop.com my server is very fast and has only a few websites hosted on it. If you get the hosting through me I will setup the blog for you for free and configure it for Search Engine Optimization.

Another option for good and inexpensive hosting is Host Gator. Let me know which ever way you choose I will be glad to help you out.

Rob


----------



## Grn Mtn (Sep 21, 2004)

....................................


----------



## Grn Mtn (Sep 21, 2004)

I appologize in advance if i repeat what may have been said already (feeling lazy and didn't read what others have said).

Its boring, all words, you have ad banners - can't stand those, pay money for your web hosting, $7 a month will get you a lot. try BIZLAND.com if you don't know of any place.

I don't think its very professional that you can't set your own prices and rely on others for it (I know this has nothing to do with your web site but felt like mentioning it) Also who determines when you come back "as needed".


----------



## BlackIrish (Dec 22, 2007)

Its better than nothing but it could be a lot better.
The better it is the more you will benefit from it.


----------



## canadianplower (Sep 3, 2009)

SPD,
I am not to experienced with web sites, domains. Now that I have my domain on Bravenet is it transferable? I don't want to have a second one, especially if potential clients know my current web address? Any my advertising and business cards already list it.
Bravenet has an upgrade feature that is only $8.99 a month plus they are offering some kind of discount for longer terms, it says with the upgrade your domain will be add free. What do you think.

Thanks
Roland


----------



## drivewaydoctor (Nov 26, 2008)

I didn't read all of the replies here so please excuse me if I repeat someone else.

Photos are very important yes but what many people do wrong with websites is limit the amount of text. You want a lot of reading material on your site. Why? Search Engines. Get as many pages up as possible. In fact, you should have at least one page for every service you offer with full details of each service and why someone should choose you. Another important page many overlook is an "about us" page. It doesn't have to be a big corporate profile on your life and history but a little something about the company goes a long way.You will be surprised how many people click on the about us page to learn more about who you are.

Have a look at my site in my signature. I average over 200 unique visitors per day through google.ca from people searching for driveway sealing. My call volume is so high from search engine searches no longer need to make cold calls.

One last tip, which it seems you have done. Always make sure if you have a "button" as a link to a page then you also have text links to a page. If all of your links are images (buttons) rather than text links then search engines have a hard time listing your pages. Thats why most sites have the text link navigation system on the bottom of the page or a site map page.

Remember, the more pages you have on your site the more listings you get with search engines which equals more traffic.


----------



## SPD (Sep 8, 2009)

canadianplower;823547 said:


> SPD,
> I am not to experienced with web sites, domains. Now that I have my domain on Bravenet is it transferable? I don't want to have a second one, especially if potential clients know my current web address? Any my advertising and business cards already list it.
> Bravenet has an upgrade feature that is only $8.99 a month plus they are offering some kind of discount for longer terms, it says with the upgrade your domain will be add free. What do you think.
> 
> ...


Roland

You will not have to buy a new domain name. You can very easily forward the domain to your hosting account on my server.

You will just log into your bravenet account and forward the domain name to me. I's very simple you will just be changing the DNS to point to ns1.wemaketop.com and ns2.wemaketop.com.

On my server when you setup your account you type in your current domain name and that's it it's done.

Feel free to call me if you can't figure it out.

Rob 
216-408-9874


----------



## SPD (Sep 8, 2009)

drivewaydoctor;823576 said:


> I didn't read all of the replies here so please excuse me if I repeat someone else.
> 
> Photos are very important yes but what many people do wrong with websites is limit the amount of text. You want a lot of reading material on your site. Why? Search Engines. Get as many pages up as possible. In fact, you should have at least one page for every service you offer with full details of each service and why someone should choose you. Another important page many overlook is an "about us" page. It doesn't have to be a big corporate profile on your life and history but a little something about the company goes a long way.You will be surprised how many people click on the about us page to learn more about who you are.
> 
> ...


You make some great points here content is king. Another great reason to use a blog, The more pages and content on your site the more chances you have for google to find you and send you some free traffic.


----------



## YPLLLC (Dec 4, 2008)

Site looks good, I agree you need to add pictures. Also you might want to remove the visitor counter on your contact/price page. Personally I think they are tacky on sites. Also consider making your email address smaller on your contact us box. Having a horizontal scroll bar makes it look a little unprofessional. JMO Check out my site if you want, www.yplawns.com, my business partner came up with it. And it has worked for us so far. Good Luck!!!


----------



## canadianplower (Sep 3, 2009)

Changes were made based on all your good suggestions.
Have another look and let me know if other changes are needed.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## big pusher (Sep 9, 2008)

It's a start.


----------



## drivewaydoctor (Nov 26, 2008)

Let me point out some errors. Good effort tho...



> Commercial
> 
> We will not disrupt your business as we cut your grass and maintain your gardens after regular business operating hours.
> 
> ...


I do not see the word Landscaping even once on your landscaping page. I believe a common search string in Google would be "Timbucktwo Ohio Landscaping"... If you dont even have the word landscaping on your landscaping page you wont get listed.



> Commercial
> 
> We will clear your snow before and after business hours so that there are minimal vehicles, that way your lot will be as clean as possible.
> 
> ...


Once again you dont have the word "removal" on this page. A common search string in Google would be "Timbucktwo Snow Removal"...

Also:

I still don't see an "About Us" page. This page is very important. Its your chance to introduce your company. Even just saying something like we are a family run business since 1982 who believe in paying attention to detail blah blah blah blah....

Have photos of your equipment? If so get them up on every page. Like your "Summer" page could have a photo or two of your mowers etc. Winter would have pics of your plow/blowers etc... This way your showing people you are a real business with real equipment.


----------



## YPLLLC (Dec 4, 2008)

looks a lot better. one crucial thing. I searched your page on google to help with jumping you up onto the first page. YOU HAVE TO REMOVE THE BRAVENET.COM WRITING FROM THE PAGE HEADER.... IT SHOWS UP ON A GOOGLE SEARCH IN THE PAGE NAME AND IS VERY UNPROFESSIONAL LOOKING. Again great site and good luck.


----------



## LUCKY 7 (Dec 9, 2008)

One thing that jumped out at me- it says when you will remove snow, how you will do it, etc. When reading it, it comes across like they don't get to have any input in making your service fit in with their business and schedule. I think you should make mention that you will customize services to fit the customer's needs- I realize that you need to be careful doing this in the real world but, it would look and sound much more inviting to the potential customers. They might think- hey, here's a guy that will probably do it the way we would like. Just looking at it from a customer's standpoint. Good Luck!!


----------

