Hey,

 

I have been creating and updating my own small business website for the last few years and someone i know asked me to create a website for them.

 

He is starting a new consultancy business and i suggested that i could do a site for him for free so i could learn more about web design as i am naturally drawn to it as a hobby (at present - hoping to one day go pro!).

 

It has really stretched me as my small business is entertainment related so i could be more creative and work with graphics which is what i enjoy most but as a financial website the site needed to be functional, user friendly (majority probably 30+ years), content heavy, SEO friendly, print friendly, responsive, etc. I was used to making a creative, graphic based site with a few nice JQuery bits and bobs!

 

Anyway, i am slowly getting the site finished in my spare time and i feel i have nearly completed it.

 

I would really appreciate it if any of you have some suggestions / positive criticism to help me improve the site, particularly on my coding as i know it is a bit weak.

 

I have yet to finish the following:

 

• Search feature - any help on this would be great.
• The slider on the home page
• some of the services content lay out.
• Add meta tags

 

The URL is : http://www.paulcrookconsultancy.com/

 

Thanks for your time.

 

Daniel

Edited January 23, 201412 yr by danieljoseph

I think the text is a little hard to read - not sure whether it's the size or the weight, perhaps.

First thoughts...

 

HTML not too bad considering you're a hobbyist

- there are a few errors, run the site through the validator and tidy thos eup - http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.paulcrookconsultancy.com%2F

 

There's a lot of javascript being loaded which made the page lag a bit

- consider moving JS to the bottom of the document

- aslo look at what you need and only load up scripts on the pages you need them to reduce HTTP requests and download time

 

The font is very hard to read (WinXP/Firefox)

- suggest using a thicker font to aid legibility

 

Footer blue areas, red text is not good and hardly readable, use a light font on dark areas.

 

Brownie points for putting correct labels in your contact form

Very good mate

Thanks for your quick feedback guys and girls.

 

Is there a way to kind of 'compress' JQuery in any way? Will look to put it at the bottom of the page though.

 

BlueDreamer - I will happily take all credit for the contact form labels!

 

Will take all these points and look to improve.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

http://www.jotform.com/

Good work. It needs few touches to the typography (as mentioned above, the font is not easy to read and some texts are totally unreadable) and to the contrast and white-space and it's going to be a good site.

pretty nice overall

 

remove the date - i have it on my computer already and it makes it look like a site from the 90s

 

not sure what all that js is doing but there's a lot of it

 

when i hover over a menu and get the drop down when i place my pointer over the link it changes to the I bar (not a hand) latest firefox, mac mavericks)

 

 

good choice of stock photos

 

call to action "book a free consultation could be more obvious - i wrote the above and then saw it

 

 

resposive works well (in browser at least) good job!

Hey dap,

 

Thanks for your feedback.

 

I did advise him that the date and time was not needed but he insisted that this was something he wanted to give users the impression that the site was up to date - think of that what you will !

 

Personally i would not have had the date or the bookmark option (as most people know how to do this anyway) but these things were requested by Paul (and both require js!) and i guess at the end of the day it is his website and he had his reasons.

 

Thank you very much for letting me know about the I bar... i will look into that.

bookmark option ? missed that well not needed either but no big deal

 

you should be able to downnload a minified (i.e. compressed) version of jquery from the jquery site

- also check if you have gzip on your site http://www.whatsmyip.org/http-compression-test/ and if not enable it (some links on there that help, if i remember)

 

yahoo has a js/css compressor http://refresh-sf.com/yui/

 

just move the js to the bottom before the closing </body> (you can also combine all your js into one file (simply copy and paste) and then link to just that one file

I disagree, the Jquery loads fine on my computer. I like the over all design, it's great. It's a good layout. I would also recommend maybe putting some weight to the over all text.

The design is good.

 

I do feel that the drop down menu for "services" is a bit slow, especially the last part of it, feels laggy almost. There is also something off about it being the only item with a drop down mixed in with the other navigation items, but not really a big deal.

I have to agree with all of the above, the gold is to dark for that shade of blue as a background and it causes me to squint; The call to action needs some tweaking; Letter spacing could improve readability.

 

In addition there are also a couple of minor content errors -

 

The core values of Paul Crook and Paul Crook Consultancy have never altered. They are of providing a truly personal service based upon Trust, Honesty and Integrity, understanding your personal, business and philanthropic aspirations and creating tailored solutions that work.

This should read - '.... altered. They are to provide a truly...', plus the use of 'and' to many times in one sentence.

 

Like I said minor errors. Getting a friend to sit down and proof read your content that both has never read it before and has excellent English skills would be an advantage, especially for any kind of consultancy business where potential customers are looking for reasons Not to go with that service provider, and seeking evidence that all may not be as it first seem's.

 

Another point is that the word 'if' is in-decisive and thus encouraging readers to make up their own mind. Taking it for granted that visitors to the site are seeking services that are in the sites keywords and phrases is a solid approach,

 

'You are here, so we both know you are seeking either...';

 

Not ideal wording but you get the idea.

 

The 'SERVICES' list at the bottom of the page starts to read as an exhaustive list, but ends with the rather weak 'other services' almost as if they don't count really but we'll mention them anyway. A good tip is to have a very short phrase declaring that the list is 'Some of our/my most popular services offered', then list either 3 or 5 items, each one linking to the page that discusses them. I don't know why using either 3 or 5 items in this type of list works best, but it just seems to get a higher follow rate in service industries according to google analytic stats for my three businesses sites. (Maybe most people are to lazy to read more, but the odd number has an effect as well on my sites.)

Hey Guys

 

Thanks so much for spending time looking at the site and giving me feedback, it's been really useful.

 

Dap - Thanks very much for the information on JS. I have studied this a little more and cleaned up my code as suggested. I will also look into the minified option.

 

Weedy - Thanks for reading through the site - your time is appreciated. I am going to lighten the gold font on the drop down menu as suggested and will look into the css regarding the letter spacing. i was not aware that you could do this. the content was written by a third party so i will ask if Paul would like me to change a few bits as i think you have a very valid point.

 

I have a little more work to do on the site yet but hopefully i'll get there soon! I have learnt so much from this project and your feedback has contributed to this greatly.

 

Many thanks,

Edited January 27, 201412 yr by danieljoseph