Got My Site Launched

[Guest]

It's a nice looking site... good colors. The content is a bit stilted and trite, but it is serviceable.

The home page is rather badly composed and poorly thought out. There is no compelling text, graphics, or a call to action. Scroll down and you have all this empty space next to the sidebar.

For an insurance agency site, it is about average... but my graphics parter would say it is poorly composed and she would not have let this site out of our shop... not up to our standards. This is the kind of site we think is effective.

I don't mean to sound harsh... your site is probably fine and will do OK for you... and if you are happy with it, than by all means don't change it. But you asked... and so I answered.

As always, YMMV.

Al
499WordPressDesign.com

 

[somarco]

Shoppers don't want to wait on a quote. They want instant rates. If they can't get it from you they will go to another site. By the time you call they will have what they want from someone else

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

finally got my site launched. would love some feedback..traffic generation is the strategy now..

www.chooseterm.com

i would leave the homepage call to action/quote box across all pages, not just the index page, or make the sidebar quote form "pop" a bit more to grab attention.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

or a call to action. Scroll down and you have all this empty space next to the sidebar.

499WordPressDesign.com

its funny u mention CTA, cuz while the site u linked looks fine, u dont have a cta quote box, very hard for consumers to get a quote, they shouldnt have to search for how to get a rate quote, and ur linking out to WP. elegant themes and ur own site from this client site? u must be the "digital point" of web design....

 

[lhkorn99]

the empty space on the home page will be a virtual tour with video. I'd also like to thank jack meoff for being the first person on the forum to fill out my quote forum

 

[Guest]

its funny u mention CTA, cuz while the site u linked looks fine, u dont have a cta quote box, very hard for consumers to get a quote, they shouldnt have to search for how to get a rate quote, and ur linking out to WP. elegant themes and ur own site from this client site? u must be the "digital point" of web design....

Your points are well taken. I understand what you are saying and I understand your objections. They are not new to us.

There are several design paradigms that we use that are the result of numerous studies that we read and that make sense to us. They have worked for our clients in a number of different business sectors and we believe that our philosophy of web design, while not meeting with the approval of everyone, has been verified to be efficacious in enough situations for us to continue to follow it... until, of course, that the web evolves into a different marketing paradigm.

While we won't elaborate on why we do what we do in public (after all, it is a competitive business) I and my partners spend a considerable amount of time keeping up on the lastest trends in web technology and user behavior in response to said technology.

Every web design firm brings a different mix of skill sets and design philosophies to the client base. Some are right for some clients and not right for others. We only accept clients who are in congruence with what we believe is the best way to present a data, information and we hope "wisdom" to their intended customer base.

We take no offense that some disagree with our approach to web marketing and site design. Those objections help us redefine our own perspectives on design, but also ratify them as well.

We're quite good at what we do, perhaps because we know why we do what we do. We try our best to communicate that to our clients. We don't always succeed. Some "get it" and agree. Others, like you have their own approach and we wish them well with it.

No one knows everything, not all clients are the same, and nothing stays static for all that long when it comes to web marketing and design. The clients who follow our paradigm do well with it which is not surpassing to us given the amount of study we have put in to developing our approach.

For those like yourself who have a different approach, we are happy to learn from you if possible. Nothing is carved in stone with us. We don't see our business as a zero-sum game.

Al
499WordPressDesign.com

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

shouldnt this belong in the offers section?

 

[Guest]

shouldnt this belong in the offers section?

I don't think so, but I see why you might. Perhaps you and those who agree with you should report it and if the moderator(s) agree with you, they will move it or just delete it. No big deal.

I was trying to validate as well as respond to your criticism. I'm sorry if you or others saw it as a solicitation.

We've had very few insurance agents who like our work. Most disagree with our design philosophies, as do other designes on this board and elsewhere. This morning I got a private note saying our work is not very good from a well-known, knowledgable web designer and SEO vendor who has been on this board and doing sites and SEO for agents here for many, many years. I think he is very knowledgable, but we disagree on a number of items. It's all good.

Everyone is entitled to have their opinions. We accept some, dismiss others, but value them all.

This board has a rule about "running down" someone's business. I've been in trouble with that rule at times as have others, but it is a good rule. Without it I don't think vendors would come on the board and contribute. I guess the corollary to that is the reasoning behind allowing anonymous posting.

A website can be measured against a vast number of technical metrics and "scored" against other sites or against so-called "generally accepted principles." These ranking methodologies remind me of NFL quarterback ratings... I'm always amazed how so many QBs with low rataings win critical games (and how many with high ratings lose them!)

If you believe that the methodology of the web-measuring metrics produce valuable information, than one would pay close attention to those scores. The best analogy I can come up with is the difference between investors who are technical analysts with their charts, graphs, and numbers verses fundamentalists who look at products, management, and market segments.

In the end it is all about if the site owner is happy and if the site does what the site owner wants it to do. There are sites that have very high scores which don't garner sales or inquiries. There are those that score poorly against metrics like GTmetrix | Website Speed and Performance Optimization and which do what the owner wants rather well.

In any endeavor that is both creative and subjective, criticism is to be expected. I don't know where the perfect site is or who designs it. If any of you do, please let the rest of us know.

 

[Guest]

I like it.

It's definitely not complete. But in my opinion you've got a good start.

When I was developing my site I went through 2 phases.
1. Design look, feel, functionality
2. Content and SEO

What I like about your design is it's clean and simple above the fold. Your content is definitely lacking especially on your homepage. But don't worry after you are done developing the site look and feel, focus on content. I think you are definitely on the right track. Keep developing the site. My suggestions for improvement will be minor and probably obvious but here are a few things at a quick glance:

-your social media buttons don't work. I'm sure you are aware of face book and twitter but you can also get an actual G+1 button.
-Your main picture of the family is odd. The 2 parents look high and the little boy looks like the devils minion.
-You may want to consider changing your "life insurance tips" tab into a full on blog.
-obviously more content especially on the home page.
-because you are not using an actual online rating system, you may want to consider a simpler call to action form on your home page.

Keep working on it and come back with a finished product.

Also not to be rude but any place that sets up wordpress websites and calls themselves a "web design firm" is a joke in my eyes. waste of money.

 

[lhkorn99]

There is a blog on the site (at the footer) and I have started blogging to add content. The above the fold lack of content is because ideally you want a prospect to call or fill out a form. There will be a virtual tour and all buttons will be working soon. Obviously the goal now is to work on building quality content to drive traffic that will result in leads. As far as using platform, I'm glad the site is on wordpress because it allows me to easily make changes to it without needing my web design firm. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Guest]

Also not to be rude but any place that sets up wordpress websites and calls themselves a "web design firm" is a joke in my eyes. waste of money.

I'm wondering if you might want to show us your URL so we can see your website to see how well designed it is.

There is a rule here about "running down" other people's businesses.

You say you didn't want to be rude, but you were.

If you are here to learn, that is fine. If you are here to teach, that is better. If you are here to run down the businesses of others, that is not the purpose of this forum. You can say you don't like their work or that you disagree with their design philosophy, but to call them a "joke" is counterproductive to everyone reading the thread... and it's rude (your word, exactly.)

You do us all a favor by being civil in the expression of your opinion instead of being insulting.


Al
499WordPressDesign
Fair Oaks, CA