Please review my business site

[simplyjo]

Hi All,

I finally thought of creating a more professional approach to my business through my new site - http://bestcontentwritingservice.com/.
I have just put it up and I need help badly. There are tons of things I plan to do -
1. Have a cform plugin for the contact us page - But, don't know how as new to WP
2. Format client testimonials page so that words don't trail off where viewers cannot see them
3. More detailed samples and home page

I need help with the above and more tips on how I can improve it / promote it etc :) Anything that helps .

Thanks,
Jo

[Alexishost]

The first step you can do ,to make it looks nicer is
put footer link in your site.

[warrichpk]

site is good but you need more hard work to add more content

[Fergal]

Jo, your site looks professional at first look. Please see some suggestions below, that might help you to improve it even more;

Adding a logo should help to make your site look more professional and give it some branding. A quality logo would help create the image that you are a professional business that can be trusted.

The social networking buttons, e.g. the FaceBook one, don't link to anywhere. If you are not going to use them, it might be better to remove them.

Having the main content centred on your homepage makes it a little difficult to read. I'd be interested to see how that content would look in bullet points.

Having used your article writing services in the past, I was very impressed with the quality of your service and I really do hope that this site works very well to promote and grow your business.

[xiang]

Try to concentrate on the content of your site and user interface.Try to make him more friendly to the user.

[GekiDan]

Here's what I see on your website:

Logo: Your website should have a good quality header and logo. It will definitely give you more professionalism and people will think you as a good company. A good quality logo can also get you more visitors who can be attracted to it.

Content: The content on the homepage is centered and hard to read. You can put it on Justified. You can also divide the frontpage into two parts. The bigger half will go to the content you have now and the other smaller half is for some testimonials.

Putting testimonials on the frontpage will be easy for your visitors to read it without going to other pages of your sites.

Social Bookmarks: It doesn't link to somewhere so you might as well fix it or remove it for good.

Other than that, your site seems to be good. I might try your srvice some other time.

[simplyjo]

Thanks all for the awesome and honest review.

I am not too good with WP at all - Infact this is just the 2nd site I have hosted myself so no idea about footer , how to divide the main page, add/remove the social bookmarking buttons etc.. Can anyone here help me with these..for a small fee, ofcourse :)

[realitybites.in]

Jo
as you are new to WordPress ..you may find little problem
But WordPress is the best CMS

You can use
Contact Form 7 Plugin for contact form
its very easy to use for a newbie

I am not able to understand

the problem of

2.Format client testimonials page so that words don't trail off where viewers cannot see them
3. More detailed samples and home page

Can you make it clear

If u want a help in installing contact form

u can ask ..i can do it for u (Free of cost )

[Fergal]

...You can also divide the frontpage into two parts. The bigger half will go to the content you have now and the other smaller half is for some testimonials.....

I strongly agree with that and feel that it would make a significant improvement to your site. Having some testimonials displayed on your home page will help first time visitors to have confidence in your site at first glance. You could display one or two testimonials on the home page and have a link underneath them, that points to your main testimonials page with greater details and more testimonials.

[simplyjo]

Thanks a TON, Buddy - Sending a detailed PM :)

Fergal - Yes, I do want to add few testimonials on Page 1- Let me figure out how to do it.


Jo
as you are new to WordPress ..you may find little problem
But WordPress is the best CMS

You can use
Contact Form 7 Plugin for contact form
its very easy to use for a newbie

I am not able to understand

the problem of

2.Format client testimonials page so that words don't trail off where viewers cannot see them
3. More detailed samples and home page

Can you make it clear

If u want a help in installing contact form

u can ask ..i can do it for u (Free of cost )

[GekiDan]

Let me figure out how to do it.
All you need to do is modify or customize that part template and use DIV tags.:D

[Tecknowoman]

Hey Jo - it's a good start if you want some help to make it a beautiful wordpress site including simple tutorials to allow you to learn how to do what you want to do, maintain it in future and what I am doing please PM me and I'm sure we can work to a budget and timeframe that suits you. The important thing is we give you some video tutes so you learn and can do in future for yourself!
B

[simplyjo]

Hi Gekidan/ all = Your suggestions have been implemented. Is it looking better now - http://bestcontentwritingservice.com/
All thanks to realibites who helped with the changes :)



All you need to do is modify or customize that part template and use DIV tags.:D

[GekiDan]

Hi Gekidan/ all = Your suggestions have been implemented. Is it looking better now - http://bestcontentwritingservice.com/
All thanks to realibites who helped with the changes :)
Instead of using "-", you can use bullets.
If possible, you can remove unnecessary spaces between your sentences. Having it lots of spaces makes it hard to read. Just my opinion though.

[Fergal]

Looks much better now. Actually something you could try, that might help is;


Put the website name and slogan above the NavBar
Move the text block with the blue background and white font, into the top of the main content area, i.e. just above "Looking for content ?"


It's difficult to judge how this will look, until we see it. However, I feel that reducing the height of your header will bring more of quality content and testimonials above the fold and hence make your site appear more professional.

[simplyjo]

@Gekidan - I am not able to change formatting of this text, even when I try to paste from word.

@Fergal - I have zero knowledge of how to do this, but will ask reality bites for help, maybe if he is kind enough once more :)

Also, on my 'blog' page, what kind of posts should I add ?
- Writing tips etc ? Or
- News about our services, like if I add new services like SEO etc then I can update readers thru my blog page. Or both ? Any tips ?

Also, does anyone have an idea how to change the colors for the testimonials block on front page ?


Instead of using "-", you can use bullets.
If possible, you can remove unnecessary spaces between your sentences. Having it lots of spaces makes it hard to read. Just my opinion though.


Looks much better now. Actually something you could try, that might help is;


Put the website name and slogan above the NavBar
Move the text block with the blue background and white font, into the top of the main content area, i.e. just above "Looking for content ?"


It's difficult to judge how this will look, until we see it. However, I feel that reducing the height of your header will bring more of quality content and testimonials above the fold and hence make your site appear more professional.

[Fergal]

Also, on my 'blog' page, what kind of posts should I add ?
- Writing tips etc ? Or
- News about our services, like if I add new services like SEO etc then I can update readers thru my blog page. Or both ? Any tips ?

Jo, I'd suggest that you write blog posts about both, both of those topics would be of interest to your clients. There are some great links to resources suggesting blog post ideas, in the blogging section of our Useful Business Resources / Links (http://www.businessadviceforum.com/showthread.php?t=405) thread.

[GekiDan]

@Gekidan - I am not able to change formatting of this text, even when I try to paste from word.
Maybe you could use line break rather than the paragraph tag.
To use that, you type in your sentences and type <br> or press "Shift+ENTER" to move on the next line.

I tried editing the text through my WYSiWYG editor and here's the one I got:

Looking for content? Well... then your search ends here!<br />
<br />
Be it articles, blog posts, forum posts, edits, research papers, press releases, ghost writing, biographies, ebooks,yahoo answers,article submissions and so much more.<br />
<br />
We cater to all your content requirements.<br />
<br />
We can write on any niche: from relationships, health, forex, business, internet marketing, pets, SEO, animals, to nature. Basically anything under the sun!<br />
<br />
We can cater from small to bulk orders. Our turn around time is 24-48 hrs for most orders.<br />
<br />
Why hire us when there are a million similar services?<br />
<ul>
<li>We offer 100% unique and copyscape passed content.</li>
<li>We have highly experienced writers and editors.</li>
<li>We have over 4 years of content writing experience.</li>
<li>We re-do the work until the customer is 100% SATISFIED.</li>
<li>We guarantee that full copyrights of work belongs to our clients.</li>
</ul>
So, if that is not reason enough to buy through us, then check out our <a href="http://bestcontentwritingservice.com/?page_id=3">samples</a>. You could also view our <a href="http://bestcontentwritingservice.com/?page_id=8">client's testimonials</a> to ensure you that you are giving the best possible quality you will need.

Try pasting this one a sample template and see if this works.

[simplyjo]

Hi Gekidan - When I pasted this on my site.. the front page showed br and li tags too.. so i just copied it all on word and edited. is it better now -colors, font etc or was the earlier one better ? Let me know, pls and thanks for your help.

Fergal - Okay, I will blog about both :) Do you think regular blog updates can help PR too ?


Maybe you could use line break rather than the paragraph tag.
To use that, you type in your sentences and type <br> or press "Shift+ENTER" to move on the next line.

I tried editing the text through my WYSiWYG editor and here's the one I got:

Looking for content? Well... then your search ends here!<br />
<br />
Be it articles, blog posts, forum posts, edits, research papers, press releases, ghost writing, biographies, ebooks,yahoo answers,article submissions and so much more.<br />
<br />
We cater to all your content requirements.<br />
<br />
We can write on any niche: from relationships, health, forex, business, internet marketing, pets, SEO, animals, to nature. Basically anything under the sun!<br />
<br />
We can cater from small to bulk orders. Our turn around time is 24-48 hrs for most orders.<br />
<br />
Why hire us when there are a million similar services?<br />
<ul>
<li>We offer 100% unique and copyscape passed content.</li>
<li>We have highly experienced writers and editors.</li>
<li>We have over 4 years of content writing experience.</li>
<li>We re-do the work until the customer is 100% SATISFIED.</li>
<li>We guarantee that full copyrights of work belongs to our clients.</li>
</ul>
So, if that is not reason enough to buy through us, then check out our <a href="http://bestcontentwritingservice.com/?page_id=3">samples</a>. You could also view our <a href="http://bestcontentwritingservice.com/?page_id=8">client's testimonials</a> to ensure you that you are giving the best possible quality you will need.

Try pasting this one a sample template and see if this works.

[GekiDan]

Hi Gekidan - When I pasted this on my site.. the front page showed br and li tags too.. so i just copied it all on word and edited. is it better now -colors, font etc or was the earlier one better ? Let me know, pls and thanks for your help.

It's much better now. But I highly suggests using Sans Serif fonts like Arial and Verdana.
It gives much better computer screen readability.



Fergal - Okay, I will blog about both :) Do you think regular blog updates can help PR too ?
It will help more on traffic not Page Rank, since PR relies on backlinks.

[simplyjo]

Thanks I choose Verdana now - Better ?


It's much better now. But I highly suggests using Sans Serif fonts like Arial and Verdana.
It gives much better computer screen readability.


It will help more on traffic not Page Rank, since PR relies on backlinks.

[Fergal]

It looks great Jo, well done, your site is improving and looking more professional all the time.

[GekiDan]

Thanks I choose Verdana now - Better ?
Seems to be improving and looking much better.
But some of your sentences/paragraphs are indented, especially the first sentence and last paragraph. You may want fix that. After that, it will be ok. :D

[realitybites.in]

simplyjo
i just fixed visual editor problem
now u can formatting of this text, even paste from word.






Put the website name and slogan above the NavBar
Move the text block with the blue background and white font, into the top of the main content area, i.e. just above "Looking for content ?"


I have zero knowledge of how to do this, but will ask reality bites for help, maybe if he is kind enough once more :)



simplyjo there is little in this ...because the theme ur are using is Frameworks Theme

just like Thematic and Thesis wordpress theme

and i really dont know how that theme work .....at present ...as i am learning it now

it may take some time to understand it ..till then i cant really help there ....after i understand then i will u in this issue

but my advise is that ....u can try other WordPress them free or paid

[simplyjo]

Thanks all for your help :) Please do keep your suggestions coming and I will try and implement them all.

[Kay]

Take or leave these as you wish Jo. :)

1. Your sidebar testimonials are all about yourself, yet the main page content refers to "We" all the time. Add more testimonials about the work of other team members too and mention them by name for more balance, or you'll have everyone requesting only Jo does the work.

Alternatively add a part to the About Us tab saying you run the team so visitors can tie together who the mysterious "we" are and who you are in the scope of things.

2. You also have a number of punctuation errors on your main page. You need to revise that right away because some will run a mile if they see that, Jo.

3. Turnaround as in turnaround time is one word.

4. I would suggest you rename the Rate Card tab to Pricing. Many people skim sites and they may not grasp that's what Rate Card refers to. Keep it simple.

5. If it's possible to tweak your Contact form plugin, I'd add in a dropdown where they can select what the enquiry is about. Say even just adding in "small order enquiry", bulk order enquiry", "general enquiry" and/or "feedback and suggestions".

That would help you when it gets busier to prioritize the emails as they come in. You may for example want to deal with a bulk order enquiry that could mean a lot of business ASAP and before a general enquiry that could be answered at a later time.

That's just some quick suggestions. Sorry that I don't have a lot of time to go over it more thoroughly.

I use Wordpress too btw although I don't claim to be an expert. Feel free to shoot me a question anytime by PM if you're stuck and can't find anyone to help you. I'll do my best. If you PM me I won't miss it because I get email notifications from here. I barely sleep so am worth a try even if it's 1 or 2am my time. I'm usually up too by 5.30 am. :)

All the best, Jo! Good luck with it all and many congrats on raising your profile! It's looking good overall.

[nirav]

It looks really user friendly now. You did a great job! It shows only your hard work. Keep it up!

[jennysquare]

Look good, but not looking as professional view, you have to work very hard and review suggestion which people had already posted

thanks

[simplyjo]

Hi Kay,

All solid suggestions. Many thanks for your time and effort. I am off to make some changes in the 'About Us' page and will surely check out the punctuation errors as well. Thanks a ton !

Jo


Take or leave these as you wish Jo. :)

1. Your sidebar testimonials are all about yourself, yet the main page content refers to "We" all the time. Add more testimonials about the work of other team members too and mention them by name for more balance, or you'll have everyone requesting only Jo does the work.

Alternatively add a part to the About Us tab saying you run the team so visitors can tie together who the mysterious "we" are and who you are in the scope of things.

2. You also have a number of punctuation errors on your main page. You need to revise that right away because some will run a mile if they see that, Jo.

3. Turnaround as in turnaround time is one word.

4. I would suggest you rename the Rate Card tab to Pricing. Many people skim sites and they may not grasp that's what Rate Card refers to. Keep it simple.

5. If it's possible to tweak your Contact form plugin, I'd add in a dropdown where they can select what the enquiry is about. Say even just adding in "small order enquiry", bulk order enquiry", "general enquiry" and/or "feedback and suggestions".

That would help you when it gets busier to prioritize the emails as they come in. You may for example want to deal with a bulk order enquiry that could mean a lot of business ASAP and before a general enquiry that could be answered at a later time.

That's just some quick suggestions. Sorry that I don't have a lot of time to go over it more thoroughly.

I use Wordpress too btw although I don't claim to be an expert. Feel free to shoot me a question anytime by PM if you're stuck and can't find anyone to help you. I'll do my best. If you PM me I won't miss it because I get email notifications from here. I barely sleep so am worth a try even if it's 1 or 2am my time. I'm usually up too by 5.30 am. :)

All the best, Jo! Good luck with it all and many congrats on raising your profile! It's looking good overall.

[rebecca16]

Website is good but i feel that you seem to have installed a basic and 'easy' template may be you did not want too much of design and graphics.though it looks nice and decent.

[Kay]

Website is good but i feel that you seem to have installed a basic and 'easy' template may be you did not want too much of design and graphics.though it looks nice and decent.

If a site is about offering content, is it not better for the focus to be upon content, ie words, rather than graphics? If I were a potential client and there were more graphics than text, I'd find that odd. Nothing wrong with a clean look. :)

[simplyjo]

Thanks Kay.. those were my views as well. !


If a site is about offering content, is it not better for the focus to be upon content, ie words, rather than graphics? If I were a potential client and there were more graphics than text, I'd find that odd. Nothing wrong with a clean look. :)

[Pat Foster]

Had a look on 6 May 2010 - after you had acted on earlier suggestions - and think it tells viewers what they need to know.

The home page is easy to read, and the links all work.

My only suggestion is to add an example, rather than just give the links.

Pat