SVA Forum

[1503angela]

Hi, firstly I just want to thank everyone who replied to last week's post. Your advice and tips are very helpful and appreciated!

This week I have passed an exciting milestone- my website has gone live! I’m really pleased with it. It has been a fairly speedy and intense process. It took lots of sessions with my graphic designer and myself discussing the smallest things in the greatest detail so we knew we were both on the same track. For example, the first month was spent purely on coming up with a name for the business as everything else would hinge on the name. When I first met with my designer I had a business name that I had been working on for several months but I wasn’t completely happy with. My designer told me to think of abstract names and practical names. I had a week to come up with this short-list of names before we would meet up again to whittle them down. For that week I was obsessed with names- I was even dreaming about it! I couldn’t read a book because I started analysing every word, looking at all possible meanings and whether it would be a good name for a business. I had long list of names but in the end I settled on the first few I had thought of as I believe when in doubt follow your first instinct!

Another intense session with my graphic designer followed and we choose 3 finalists for the names. The plan was he would come up with brands for each of the names so I could pick my favourite. Easier said than done as I thought all 3 he later presented to me were brilliant. I did a quick poll of my family and friends and 10 out of 12 choose ‘Clear Support’ which was my favourite too, so I had a winner.

The next step for me was the write the copy for my site- not the best way to spent boxing day and the Christmas hols! And then it was all left to my designer to draft my site. The final part of the process happened surprisingly quickly and all I had to do was give feedback and some tweaks. So one month after my copy was sent to him, my designer had the website ready to go live and it did so yesterday and I am really pleased with it!

I would really like to get some feedback from you all as to what you think of my site. It’s www.clear-support.com I would really appreciate it.

Thanks and I’ll talk to you next week. Angela :o)

[secretary4hire]

Didn't spend any time but I had a quick shufty and didn't read the copy but what jumped out to me is it's very "formal" looking, in my mind what an accountat or lawyer's site would look like. I think it needs pictures to make it more friendly looking.

The best of luck with your new business.
_________________
Marj Beattie
www.secretary4hire.co.uk

Email - enquiries@secretary4hire.co.uk
Tel: 0844 884 2818
Fax: 0870 838 6597
Mob: 07854 408142

[Sally@Stonetext]

I've had a quick look at the site. Agree with Marj that it is very formal and visually uninspiring - a few, well chosen images will work wonders. Your designer will be able to provide suitable images (as part of the whole web design package).

General points:
Check capitialisation - incorrect usage in places
Alignment and layout - inconsistencies from page to page and on header
Info about you and testimonials should be listed separately and not included under "Services"
The "Services" home page was strange. Usually this would include some blurb about the range of services you offer plus a list of links. Instead you are initially faced with a virtually blank page with the list back in the left column. You have to make everything VERY easy for potential clients.
Postal address - ideally you should have some form of postal address
Body text - I found the font size a bit too small. I would also suggest you read it all through very carefully.

Sorry if this seems a bit harsh on your new "baby", especially when you were so excited about it going live.
_________________
Sally
Stonetext Online Admin Services www.stonetext.co.uk
Spida Web & Graphic Design www.spidawebdesign.co.uk

Please help to support SVA by donating to: http://tinyurl.com/37urec

[caroline]

It is formal - but perhaps that's who Angela is targeting? Things you could do to "warm it up":
- feature a picture of yourself
- include a profile of yourself
But actually I think you want it to be quite professional looking rather than chatty - I'm pleased to see a bespoke design too. Do you have the option of updating the site yourself?

I think you can't go wrong with getting input from friends and family on which logo to use - I seem to remember sitting in my mum and dad's kitchen waving boards in the air going "This one!" or "That one!!" Until I think I finally made up a combination of styles from two of the designs...
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[AlexTrapnell]

Angela, you certainly have reached a milestone, well done.

Can't agree more with going with your gut feeling and I like the name too.

Feedback-wise:-

I'd get a third party to check through your content in it's entirety as I noticed a typo in the first paragraph on the Home Page.

Font size-wise, it is a bit small and not totally clear, which does go against your Business name/image. I'd also improve the clearness of the header and footer text as this is not terribly crisp either.

Totally agree that images (graphical or photograph) would add to the site (especially as Caroline says, a professionally taken picture of you), but you don't need lots of these as it would become too busy.

At the end of the day, I also agree that it's entirely down to you as an individual as to how you want to portray your Business - what look/feel and image you want to give to the world and his dog and this does indeed tie in to your target client. Some VA's like something that really reflects their personality and others go for something more formal. Thinking about your own USP's (Unique Selling Points) for the Business can also help here and it can be well worth re-visiting them from time to time.

Additionally, a website should never grow stale and should be updated with new content, whatever that be, on a regular basis, so you'll find that it becomes a fluid thing after time.

Upwards and onwards!

Alex


www.alexandratrapnell.co.uk
alex@alexandratrapnell.co.uk

[caroline]

Little note on the photos - if buying stock shots, please make sure they are cleared for internet use (little issue with Getty Images this morning - it was quite painful!!)

Tom now understands the difference between royalty free and copyright free.... Should have checked myself!
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[VaSussex]

I agree with all the above comments.

My webman suggested I put a photo on both my websites, for a more personal touch and the feedback I get confirms this.

I have also added case studies and testimonials where I can, as I think they are important too.

Hope this helps.
_________________
Sue Edwards
Virtual Assistant Sussex
www.virtualassistantsussex.co.uk
vasussex@btinternet.com
(01825) 761890