website i just made

adamburke83

www.strandsecurity.com

Just looking for comments on the new website i just made up....

Antisocialiser

it looks like a template mate....

adamburke83

Antisocialiser wrote: »

it looks like a template mate....

Cheers, Its only my second one ive done but hey its only a hobby...:D

Antisocialiser

sorry man is it the graphics etc you want a few comments on?

adamburke83

Antisocialiser wrote: »

sorry man is it the graphics etc you want a few comments on?

No the whole lot pal.
Its all self taught and i just try my hand as a hobby.....
All comments will go towards my learning experience

Cheers

-Chris-

Looks like a template, but it's a good start - better than some other Irish SME websites I've seen.



I'd start by fixing your fonts, they change on nearly every page

There are a couple of typos that could be fixed

Why do you have a Contact Us page and an Email link directly underneath. It seems a bit redundant.

The logos in the Clients section should be clickable

Is the "Hollywood sign" image legit - do you have licence to use it?

Fix the Sponsor page - Sponsor is spelled wrong, the link to the Hyland brothers website is broken, page looks very plain - who are the Hyland brothers and why do I need to know about them if I'm hiring your company?

Fix the map link on the Contact Us page. It doesn't actually show me where you are.

The logos in the footer should link to the individual agencies that the logos represent. The link is back to your website, and it's broken.


You need more content overall, blab on a bit more. Why would I trust you guys enough to contact/hire you.
Who are you personally? I'd expect the Company Profile should at least have a bit of a blurb about the founder(s).

All in all, that's what I see that you can fix for free, and that will make the site more professional looking.
Beyond that you're probably looking at a lot more work to upgrade the site.

PCPhoto

try a spell check .... (ie. Sponsor ...not sponser)

also instead of using graphics/animations try some actual photographs of security staff or company logo/uniform.

pts

Well done on your 2nd website, it looks better than my 2nd one did many years ago

A bit of (hopefully) constructive criticism, feel free to ignore as you see fit.

I would recommend that you keep the font and layout as consistent between pages as you can.

Also try to fix the width of each page, at the moment some pages are wider than other pages, which makes the website "jump".

Some of the logos in the footer look like they are very low resolution, I think you'd be better off getting higher resolution images and resizing them. Also I'd save them as GIF instead of JPG. As a rule of thumb I'd use JPG for photos and GIFs for any other type of image.

I'd probably remove the purple lines on each side, I don't think they fit into the overall website. Or if you really want to use purple lines I'd try to use that colour in one or two more places.

The logo isn't the strongest, maybe try redesign it.

Since you seem to own the domain strandsecurity.com I'd try to set up emails using that domain. For example on the jobs page you give the email address Strandsecurity@eircom.net, I'd set up something like jobs@strandsecurity.com and use that instead.

That's all I can think of for now, bets of luck.

chakotha

Maybe change the font of the front page text to Arial like the rest of the content pages. Times New Roman doesn't always read easily on the web.

The left nav links seem a bit bunched toward the top. Maybe use similar padding as the content area.

Mr Web

ooops - couldnt bare more that 10 seconds - - - but

this is perfect to show why everybody should use a web developer designer to build a website (if you need one)...

dont get me wrong - well done on learning to do some code and design - but its not really happening is it.... honestly?

quick rant - well i can do "hello world" so ill persevere and make what you made - great - but it looks like monkey dirt if its a face to your world...

if you need a plumber, electrician, or other trade - pay 40 quid - perhaps you will either get flooded or electricuted... but maybe you wont hurray!

chakotha

Very constructive Mr Web.

markesmith

Yeah, very instructive, Professor Dick Balls.

Adam, you need to focus on the homepage, and try to improve that. Then push your ideas outwards to the other pages.

The main points I'll say:
- Logo looks like clipart. Maybe that's their logo, but it looks like clipart.
- The rollover links look good.
- The Times font doesn't really work, considering the links are in san-serif. Consider Verdana, Arial or Tahoma. Also, don't bold the font. Use the <em> tag to emphasise important content, thus making the page more "scannable".
- Remove the image of the guys in suits - it says absolutely nothing, and if anything detracts from the message.
- A headline for the homepage wouldn't go amiss - and not "Welcome to our website". Try to state what the company is about briefly and succinctly.
- End the homepage not with "Our goal is to serve you", but with a strong call to action, e.g. "Call us today on xx-xxxxxxx". Try to get people to do something when they're on your site.
- Consider having a call-back form on the site, it often improves conversion rates.
- A photo of the building, the people, or even a "smiling girl" will build credibility, as will a testimonial from a happy client.

That's my $0.02.
d

Tim M-U

i hate the website teleplate and all the clipart stuff. no affence but this website is not right.

change the template, and make the fonts georgia with a nearly black fomt colour (not grey).

sorry if this affends you

-Chris-

Mr Web wrote: »

blah, blah, blah. something, something else

Sorry, I kind of tuned you out there...

OP didn't come on and say, "I'm trying to be a web designer and I'm intending to invoice someone for this work". They said they were trying to do something for a hobby and could we provide an opinion.


It could definitely be better. That's the point of the thread.


Maybe the company owner doesn't want to pay for a website (although, I think that's a mistake).
Maybe, based on this exercise, the company owner will realise the standard of a free template website from a mate isn't up to snuff for a professional company.


Blah Blah Blah, your website is your online "face" and must be as professionally presented as you expect your staff to be - this is fair criticism for the owner of the business, but ranting at the OP doesn't help him learn.

HandWS LTD

Look....i don't mean to be harsh or anything. But your a security firm. The website is just not right for a security firm. I honestly wouldn't go near you from the way the site is designed and the colours...its just too childish.

I would want a "Professional" security firm with a "Professional" website so i can TRUST them. Very important.

You need to catch peoples eyes. I don't see any images of security that are not cartoons images....just in your text. You need ordinary text fonts. I seriously think your website needs to be totally redesigned.

I ask you an important question....are you getting many hits for your website. I believe not. If you redesign your website to a "Professional" website with no cartoon images, use ordinary fonts, make website more attractive and make the customers feel they they will be secure with you....then i can guarantee you that when your customers visit your website they will not leave straight away. Plus alot more hits to come your way

Sorry if it sounds harsh. Free advice from a professional web solutions company is worth alot to many people.