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QWP Site Review

  • 21-05-2012 9:27am
    #1
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15


    Hi Everybody,

    I am looking for some feedback on my Web Development site called Quality Web Programmers.

    I want your feedback on layout/design + URL structure of the site and also on the blog.

    Thanks.


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 2,551 ✭✭✭Squeeonline


    "We believe ON quality web programmers." Inconsistency with capital letters there too. Not a good start.

    I would get a native English speaker to write your copy, preferably a professional with copy writing experience.
    "We offer the most competitive rates in the industry while maintaining the quality you deserve; from small static websites to custom built e-commerce stores you can get everything in the same small rate i.e. $9/hour. So, what are you waiting for Order Now and build your business."
    I'd expect that sentence from a Junior Cert business class.

    "Recent projects" section: arrows don't work. Remove them until you have things to put in there.

    Headers made in wordart look awful. Learn how to make nice CSS headers and use google web fonts (or cufon etc) to get the desired look. The same goes for the buttons

    On a mobile device, the twitter/fb in the sidebar will annoy the hell out of people as it covers content with no way to remove it.

    There's too much text on the front page. Don't over load your visitors. If they see that much text on the front page they may expect to see as much on other pages and that will put them off. Again, properly written copy will minimise the text while maximising the message.

    Nothing on the site stands out. There are hundreds of sites like yours offering outsourced IT work from Asia, but yours has no unique selling point. Why would someone choose you, a new service, when they could go with a trusted, established website? The section where you talk about what makes you unique, isn't special.

    Your "about us" section has no names. Who are you?? Make it personal, have photos up with your names and backgrounds so visitors can make a connection rather than a faceless site that could be a scam. Be so proud of your service that you put your face on it.



    Take home message: get a professional copy writer who can help you develop a brand and a message.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    Thank you i really appreciate your time and suggestions.


  • Registered Users Posts: 63 ✭✭JD RoX


    TABLES?! SERIOUSLY?! It's 2012 - I would expect tables from 1st year students... Not from "Quality web programmers".

    Have you checked your keyword density? I would be afraid to run a report on that...

    Last suggestion: Hire "Quality web designer"


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,551 ✭✭✭Squeeonline


    ha, I didn't even look at the source. Nested tables make me laugh. It's awful that they are still the way to create html email templates.

    This site seems to use a mix of inline styling, CSS, and tables. Messy and weird. Certainly not professional.

    Oh in the source, you're over using <br /> tags for layout. That should be done in the CSS. If you need br tags, you've make mistakes in the styling.

    One has to wonder if the only reason that this thread exists at all is to get a backlink from a trusted .ie, but that would be the cynic in me.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    ha, I didn't even look at the source. Nested tables make me laugh. It's awful that they are still the way to create html email templates.

    This site seems to use a mix of inline styling, CSS, and tables. Messy and weird. Certainly not professional.

    Oh in the source, you're over using <br /> tags for layout. That should be done in the CSS. If you need br tags, you've make mistakes in the styling.

    One has to wonder if the only reason that this thread exists at all is to get a backlink from a trusted .ie, but that would be the cynic in me.

    Thanks for the criticism Mr "Squeeonline" as you don't know know all links are nofollow in this forum. so you dont have to wonder why and how :)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,551 ✭✭✭Squeeonline


    Didn't realise that. Good idea though, thanks for pointing it out.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D


    Nested tables and linebreaks for spacing are what I'd expect from an Indian sweat house 'based in a western country'. Low cost, low quality, poor value. Caveat emptor.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    well i have never been to any Indian house so i have no idea about that.. =) any criticism for the blog if you have seen :) i am all ears


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    any other feebback?


  • Registered Users Posts: 63 ✭✭JD RoX


    No more feedback, for now just rebuild it and then come back for second round :D


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  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    Thanks JD RoX but still if you have any other suggestion you can let me know :D


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    http://www.quality-web-programming.com/ ---> this web is also using Tables ... so what would you say now?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,266 ✭✭✭Overflow


    http://www.quality-web-programming.com/ ---> this web is also using Tables ... so what would you say now?

    I would say its not using tables :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,551 ✭✭✭Squeeonline


    This version is much better.

    Couple of things though
    - get rid of the flash box on the right sidebar. Unnecessary with Jquery.
    - Update the jQuery library you're using. 1.3 is years out of date.
    - Copyright at the bottom is for 2010, not 2012
    - Too many links at the bottom that just look like spammy stuff that (hopefully) Google will murder your rank for.
    - phone number looks far to foreign for people to call. They'd be scared of huge charges etc. Might be worth investing in a lo-call number or offering people to call you on skype, or call backs so you foot the bill.

    - not sure that the validation images are at all necessary these days. That's something for you to know yourself. Visitors dont give a **** about them as long as they can view the page properly in their browser.

    Contact form / request a quote requires far too much information. You don't need my address for this at all and I'd end up filling it with 123 fake street etc. That's the kind of information that you'll get later from a client once you've gained their trust. Make things as simple as possible with as few clicks as possible or people won't bother. They'll go somewhere where it is easier. (i.e. one click ordering on amazon.)


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    Thanks again for your time dude (Squeeonline).


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,551 ✭✭✭Squeeonline


    Thanks again for your time dude (Squeeonline).

    No problem.

    Couple things again: The social sidebar buttons are a pain on thinner devices that haven't got the width for the white space on the side for them to sit in. Basically means that a visitor has to scroll around it to read the text that it covers. Bad idea.

    The front page is still very cluttered. Minimalism is very fashionable in web design at the moment. IMO you're better enticing people to clicking to dedicated pages about a subject area rather than blasting them with information on the front page.

    As the tabbed slideshow advances and you are reading further down the page, it'll jerk the page up. Not sure what you can do about that, maybe set the slideshow to have a fixed height?

    Header title blocks made from Word Art by the looks of things. Learn how to use google web fonts and CSS to create nice titles that are SEO friendly and will be lighter than images.

    I don't like all the stock images (that are everywhere on the web). If you can't make your own images, I suggest using something like http://photodune.net where you might find some less overused stock images.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    thanks but do you think that the template/code is SEO friendly?


  • Registered Users Posts: 63 ✭✭JD RoX


    No, it's not.
    Most of coders think that Validation errors doesn't matter for google - THEY DO! The cleaner your site is, the higher you will rank. It's not much, but it's some sort of a boost anyway.

    10+ validation errors are disgrace to any programmer who consider themselves professionals. You have 25 ( just in homepage alone )


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D


    JD RoX wrote: »
    No, it's not.
    Most of coders think that Validation errors doesn't matter for google - THEY DO! The cleaner your site is, the higher you will rank. It's not much, but it's some sort of a boost anyway.

    Incorrect. They don't care at all. 1:40 in this video from the horse's mouth:


  • Registered Users Posts: 63 ✭✭JD RoX


    Having valid code will boost your seo, because:
    Clean code means faster loading time, which is important factor for google,
    In some cases, invalid code could cause crawling errors.
    For example:
    We had a site with 50+ errors in each page, it was 70% crawlable by google. After cleaning up clients site, we got it up to 100% crawlability and it allowed site rank higher for few extra phrases they were running after


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  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    thanks for the info! but i have seen many sites with more than 200 or 300 validation errors but they have a good rank and traffic aswell. like on many blogger blogs! i can point out many...


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,082 ✭✭✭Feathers


    thanks for the info! but i have seen many sites with more than 200 or 300 validation errors but they have a good rank and traffic aswell. like on many blogger blogs! i can point out many...

    Validation in & of itself doesn't matter, but it goes without saying (I hope) that it depends on what your validation errors are. I could have 500 inputs on a page that don't close with a trailing slash — that's not going to affect my rank.

    But you have metatags that look like this:
    <meta name="robots" content=""="ALL">
    <meta name="copyright" content=""=" http://www.qualitywebprogrammers.com  Copyright 2012">
    <meta name="language" content=""="English">
    <meta name="distribution" content=""="Global">
    

    Presumably, that's going to cause you some problems, if for instance Google doesn't understand your robots tag as JD RoX was saying.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    yup! i can understand! thanks for pointing it out!


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    I have fixed all the issues and errors!


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 redfeilds18


    nobody has replied yet! :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,551 ✭✭✭Squeeonline


    Front page is too busy. Far too many things to read or click, it's like you're trying to put the whole website onto the front page.

    Instead, get your website to tell a story. Guide people through point by point to convince them to use your service.

    You still have "we believe onquality web programmers" a very unprofessional typo. "Speak with programmer" is just plain bad English. "Testimonial" in menu should be in the plural.

    under key skills "B2b, B2c, C2C ecommerce solutions " no consistency with capital letters.

    "Speak with A programmer". "A" doesnt take a capital in this case, but Programmer does.

    Looking at this it still looks like a poorly made scam to me. I'm not even scratching the surface of bad writing and bad design, I only looked at the front page. Sorry.


  • Registered Users Posts: 16,402 ✭✭✭✭Trojan


    I'm not having a go at the OP here, more of a general point (and they're unfortunate enough to have "Quality" in their business name).

    I always find it interesting - frustrating - that some people just don't (or can't?) see the lack of quality in their work. I know some of it is down to experience and skills, but there's a lot of it that should just be plain obvious. E.g. I find that many clients can't tell what makes a design good or bad, but they know good or bad design when they see it and are sure of it. But some people don't seem to be able to do that.

    I also see patterns in the geographical regions that I find this occurring. I know that this could be argued to be borderline racist, and it's only based on my anecdotal evidence - of working over the past 6-7 years with subcontractors in 30-40 different countries - but I find there are very clear patterns in the ability to discern quality.

    Apart from the subtle racism, I'm also not saying everything I create is perfect - far from it!

    But I do usually know when stuff isn't perfect, and most often I make a conscious decision to compromise. Sometimes on client sites it's a decision to sacrifice image quality for speed, or worse, code quality for speed or because of budgetary constraints. I hate doing that, but you have to compromise sometimes - budgets aren't infinite.

    In the case of some of my own sites, just putting something live that's "average" that happens to be still better than what was there previously - e.g. the awful image sliders on my WD site right now. That's me being a developer and not getting a designer on the case (actually, I do - it's work in progress). The issue of the cobblers children. (I've seen some web design agencies outsource the design of their own site because they can't prioritise it above client work in-house. )

    But that's conscious decision making. How can people who are working in a field not see that they're producing what's very clearly low quality work?

    If they know about it, they can resolve the issues. Text can be spell-checked by native speakers. Designs can be reviewed by experts, and designers can learn what good aesthetics are (though almost every designer I know seems to have been born with that knowledge). But that's only if you know about it.


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