Constructive criticism for a website design before going live.

[David M]

The website for our new business is completed but is not yet a link on the internet. I want to make sure it does not have any mistakes and that I have done everything possible to make it as nice of a website as possible before going live.

What I would like to do now is to forward copies to people on this website whose opinion I value, as a link or a download in a private message.

This is not considered spam is it?, since I am asking for constructive criticism of a website and not trying to sell the business. I am honestly not trying to spam the business.

Is there a way to do this if the website has not gone live on the internet?...obviously I cannot post a link that will work.

If you are interested in giving us some constructive criticism of our website then please let me know and I will forward you a copy by regular email.

I just ask that you not post the link or the download to the forum. I want to keep some separation for privacy reasons between our business and my member name here at PCMech. BTW, the business is not competition to PCMech, it is an accounting and tax business.

Thanks

[quartet-man]

The first question, is whose opinion do you value? I don't know as much about computers as a lot here, but I am pretty good at finding typos, and maybe good ideas about operation of sites.

[glc]

I'm pretty sure he is looking for input from a visitor's standpoint, not a tech's standpoint.

[David M]

Actually, I would like both please. It's true that I am not looking for technical help on how to do something, I am not doing the design work myself. All I am doing is telling the design company what I need or what looks good.

I would just like people to look it over and tell me their opinions on how it can be improved. Anyone with an opinion is fine. Even you are qualified Quartet.

Am I allowed to do this here George? If so, what would be the best way?

[glc]

Web Design / Development (4 Viewing) Get help with anything related to creating your own website, blog, social networking, or web presence.

You are completely legal here asking for this kind of help. You aren't in competition with us. However,

I want to keep some separation for privacy reasons between our business and my member name here at PCMech.

that's going to make it more difficult for you to get good input. If you want to generate business, you have to get your name out there to some degree. It would be a lot easier if your developer would upload your site to some kind of test site with a followable link.

[quartet-man]

Originally Posted by david m anyone with an opinion is fine. Even you are qualified quartet. :d

well, i never!

[ChoboSeki]

show me

[quartet-man]

Originally Posted by glc I'm pretty sure he is looking for input from a visitor's standpoint, not a tech's standpoint.

I figured he could want one or the other or both. What was funny was this line:

to people on this website whose opinion I value

It sounded like there were some here whose opinion he values, but not necessarily all. That is why I asked whose opinion does he value.

[David M]

Originally Posted by quartet-man I figured he could want one or the other or both. What was funny was this line: It sounded like there were some here whose opinion he values, but not necessarily all. That is why I asked whose opinion does he value.

Perhaps I said that wrong and I would like to apologize. There are a number of people in this forum whose opinions I have trusted over the years...this is true. I am also certain there are people here who would have excellent ideas, of whom I do not know very well.

When I get the website next revision back, I will post a link here or figure out some way of doing this.

How do I post a link to a document that came to me contained within an email called "website.doc"? This is what the web developer sent me to review.

[Nuclear Krusader]

He sent you a Word document?

[quartet-man]

Originally Posted by David M Perhaps I said that wrong and I would like to apologize. There are a number of people in this forum whose opinions I have trusted over the years...this is true. I am also certain there are people here who would have excellent ideas, of whom I do not know very well. When I get the website next revision back, I will post a link here or figure out some way of doing this. How do I post a link to a document that came to me contained within an email called "website.doc"? This is what the web developer sent me to review.

No apologies needed to me. I figured it came out wrong or could be taken different ways. It was funny and I had to razz you about it a little.

[quartet-man]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader He sent you a Word document?

That would be an odd way to do it. I know Word had some limited ways to utilize html.

[David M]

I was able to get the web developer to create a link to their website which has the web design for the business so anyone can very easily take a look.

There are a few typos and mangled sentences which the developer is now aware of. Also, the lettering in the banner will be red instead of black.

All feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mary and David

Mary Morgan

[quartet-man]

Hi, Here are some quick things I saw. Perhaps we have some grammarians or English teachers here to confirm or correct.

Under "About Me"
I believe "seven years experience" should be possessive and say "seven years' experience" or you could just add of which might be better to be on the safe side. (seven years of experience).

I don't think EA's should have the ' because it isn't possessive. I know it looks weird to say EAs, so I wold probably not use the abbreviation and replace with Enrolled Agents.

You might change the blurb "for business or individuals" to "for businesses and individuals".

Under divorce: I think you need a comma after the divorce below (third word) and possibly after "services".

During a divorce a licensed tax professional is often needed. Divorce attorneys quite often need these services so that divorce agreements are congruent with tax law.

There is an extra space or two between "allowable" and "tax" below:
• Determining which divorce-related expenses can be treated as allowable tax deductions.

I think you should have "-" between "future" and "year" below:

• Tax preparation for current or future year tax returns.

Under "tax services for individuals", the word "that" below should be "than".

"Of course, there are sometimes very complex tax filings which require more time that what is typical."

W2's isn't possessive or a contraction either, but short of changing each to W2 forms, I am not sure changing them would look good.

You should be consistent on whether saying "K-1s" or "K-1's"

There are extra spaces under:

"Report all K-1's." (before K)
and
"Prepare and file one or more State return" (before more)
I also think return should be plural above (State returns).

I am not sure repeating the lines about meeting and fees depending on the amount of hours taken is needed. It comes across as redundant, but then again it might keep someone from being surprised when it happens. I would probably use an asterisk on top or something leading to the bottom so it isn't repeated, though.

Under "for business"

You might change "business" to "businesses"

I think "cost effective" should be "cost-effective" and first time "first time" should be "first-time"

"Book keeping on a Monthly, Quarterly an Annual basis or whichever basis you prefer."
I believe should be "Bookkeeping" and "an" should be "or"

" I take a proactive versus reactive approach. By keeping current on new tax laws and legislation, I am in a position to identify key tax planning opportunities that minimize both your current and future tax liabilities. " has spacing issues after "approach" and before "identify". "keeping" should probably be changed to "staying"

" I provide services for all business types including, Corporations, Partnerships, LLC's, LLP's and Not for Profits." should probably have a : after "including" instead of the comma.

"Review of prior year return." should maybe be "prior-year".

Okay, I am not sure if I looked over everything or went over it with a fine-tooth comb, but those are things I THINK should be changed. We'll see if others disagree or catch those or other things. I have been at it for a while with lunch in between. Also, I pasted a couple of times in between things on accident, so hopefully these are back in the right places.

[David M]

quartet...wow...thanks!

That's some great information. I am not good at English and it shows. I think I am going to hire a proof reader to make the necessary changes in the grammar, etc. If anyone knows of a proof reader with a college degree in English then please let me know.

[DOS_equis]

Overall the site looks decent as far as an accountant site can go but the only thing that stuck out to me was the fact that the person's picture looked like it was cut and pasted from an awards ceremony. The big thing was the "blueing" highlights on her face. Kinda looked like from a flash or some reflected light from a blue object in the original picture.

Also, not sure if Q-man pointed it out but I noticed a double space between the words "Federal" and "tax" under the "Accounting and Tax Services for Businesses" tab and one between the words "myself." and "I" on the "Home" tab.

HTH

DOS equis

[David M]

Thanks DOS. We noticed the blue hue to the photo as well. We are not sure how to do the picture better. I will ask the developer for them to PhotoShop the blue out. It has to be somewhat formal because the pic must instill trust. She must look professional. Do you have any ideas? I took the photo myself. Perhaps I need to go to a photo studio?

We still have some typos and mangled sentences which we have decided we are going to hire a proof reader to take care of.

Thanks again.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Oh, ya. There's definitely a marked blue colour cast. Weird, in the first version of the page I saw the blazer was violet, not blue. Yes, you'd be better off having a photographer take care of the picture. From what I see you used on-camera flash. On-board flash is a no-no for professional portraits.

It also looks cut out (as with scissors). Professional portraits should have a background, usually one that relates to the field the person being portraited works in.

[quartet-man]

Many years ago (pre 0911), I took passport photos in addition to managerial functions in retail.. Even then, there were such standards (fit within a template, white background, and no glare or shadows). We didn't use the camera flash. We took them without flash and used the machine to brighten up the photo so they would work.

[DOS_equis]

Originally Posted by David M Thanks DOS. We noticed the blue hue to the photo as well. We are not sure how to do the picture better. I will ask the developer for them to PhotoShop the blue out. It has to be somewhat formal because the pic must instill trust. She must look professional. Do you have any ideas? I took the photo myself. Perhaps I need to go to a photo studio? We still have some typos and mangled sentences which we have decided we are going to hire a proof reader to take care of. Thanks again.

The only thing I can say about improving the photo is to either have someone with excellent PS skills touch it up and place it on a portrait background/ clean up jaggies or just have her visit a professional photo studio to have a portrait done. I found the flash blueing somewhat distracting when I visited the site. It did make me look at it more than once and remember the photo, but for the wrong reasons.

Another minor thing might be that she add some personal stuff like interests or hobbies on the "about me" tab. I know this is supposed to be a professional business page and not a Facebook profile, but it might help to make it feel a little less "stiff" and resume-like. The main impression I get from it is that she is all business and hard driven to perfection, which is probably the message she is trying to put forth. Maybe it might be better to leave it as it is.

Just me rambling, sorry. Kinda hard to give a full, customer based perspective on the site, but I'm not in the market looking for a tax accountant ATM.

[David M]

Thanks for the input DOS. A different or improved photo is in the works. We will probably add a little personal info to "About me" as well.

[Statica]

The site looks quite good. My only suggestions would be to:
* try to get rid of the mailto: on the website and get a form processor in place for emails from the website. No spam tool is going to keep up with the amount of spam that its going to generate. You should be able to find a form processor for free on nearly every web hosts toolbox (most commonly fantastico). Your web designer should be able to just tie it in quite simply. If you cannot help but advertise an email link, then I'd suggest that it not be a primary email address .. but "throw-away" forwarders. like website@ or web@ etc etc etc. It need not be the one on business cards etc; but it is one that you can change and delete if you find yourself going crazy with having to sift through legitimate emails. Most businesses esp. small businesses cannot really afford to rely on a spam filter and a spam box .. because there is always that worry of a false report that trashes a real business clients email. Which means that the person is relegated to going through every email.
* If you are to make your site friendlier to dialup & mobile clients, I would suggest bringing down your image sizes. Your index page load is nearly 2.3MB; adjust image qualities or formats for more effective transmission... the images account for nearly all of that.
* Use better META tagging .. if you want search engines to find you effectively, use good META keywords and description. Always make sure to include a robots.txt directive to your root. META cache directives etc. let frequently accessing clients from not having to burn bandwidth from reloading images and pages that haven't updated. Even the page titles might be better if they reflected more than just the name (for example: "Mary Morgan, E. A. | Accounting and Tax Services :: About Me" etc etc.
* The only real fails on validation come on mobile checking. It may/not be something you really feel is important.
validation

[Dave in Houston]

Originally Posted by quartet-man Under "About Me" I believe "seven years experience" should be possessive and say "seven years' experience" or you could just add of which might be better to be on the safe side. (seven years of experience).

Actually, the years are not the owner of the experience, so I don't think the possessive is correct. If in doubt, as Q-man suggested, use "seven years of experience."

Originally Posted by quartet-man I don't think EA's should have the ' because it isn't possessive. I know it looks weird to say EAs, so I wold probably not use the abbreviation and replace with Enrolled Agents.

The Chicago Manual of Style, a well-respected style guide for copy editors, would style these as "EAs" while the New York Times style guide prefers "EA's." I like Chicago's guidance on this one, but it's a matter of personal preference. However, you should be consistent throughout the document, so if you use Chicago style, you should also say "K-1s," "W2s," "LLPs," "LLCs" and the like.

I didn't read the whole file, but if you'd like one more set of eyes, I'd be happy to. You guys have given me a lot of help on computer issues, and I'm quite appreciative.

[David M]

Thanks Dave.

Friday my wife and I submitted a sizable list of corrections and changes to be made to the web layout to the developer. After the corrections are made, I will make an announcement on this thread and send out PM's to those who have been helping, to once more if they are interested, to go over the layout. After that we hope to go live with the website right before the New Year.

Thanks much to Quartet, Chobo, glc, Nuclear, Statica, DOS, Dave and everyone who has provided their input. Your contributions have been extremely valuable.

Mary and David

[quartet-man]

Originally Posted by Dave in Houston Actually, the years are not the owner of the experience, so I don't think the possessive is correct. If in doubt, as Q-man suggested, use "seven years of experience." The Chicago Manual of Style, a well-respected style guide for copy editors, would style these as "EAs" while the New York Times style guide prefers "EA's." I like Chicago's guidance on this one, but it's a matter of personal preference. However, you should be consistent throughout the document, so if you use Chicago style, you should also say "K-1s," "W2s," "LLPs," "LLCs" and the like. I didn't read the whole file, but if you'd like one more set of eyes, I'd be happy to. You guys have given me a lot of help on computer issues, and I'm quite appreciative.

I think you are right about "years experience". It is basically saying "of experience" without the "of".

When it comes to CDs, (compact discs) and the like, I prefer using the apostrophe (I think it looks better). However, I have recently changed to typing CDs since it isn't possessive.

[juppy]

The "seven years' experience" does need that apostrophe. I know it looks wrong, but most any grammar and punctuation guide will say that's the correct way. It only looks incorrect because that particular phrase is hard to see as being possessive. A way to compare is with some other possessive like "The boy's coat".....the coat is the head noun, and boy's is the possessive, so it could also be read as "The coat of the boy". Likewise, with your example, "seven years' experience" can be rearranged as "experience of seven years", where experience is the head noun and it possesses seven years of time.

[quartet-man]

Originally Posted by juppy The "seven years' experience" does need that apostrophe. I know it looks wrong, but most any grammar and punctuation guide will say that's the correct way. It only looks incorrect because that particular phrase is hard to see as being possessive. A way to compare is with some other possessive like "The boy's coat".....the coat is the head noun, and boy's is the possessive, so it could also be read as "The coat of the boy". Likewise, with your example, "seven years' experience" can be rearranged as "experience of seven years", where experience is the head noun and it possesses seven years of time.

I wish to withdraw my previous possible agreement with Dave in Houston.

[Dave in Houston]

Originally Posted by quartet-man I wish to withdraw my previous possible agreement with Dave in Houston.

Yeah, after looking at some punctuation rule web sites, I think you (and Juppy) were right in the first place.

Which leads to writers' rule number 2: Resist the temptation to write something in a way that half the prospective audience might think you made a mistake, and instead cast it so that it's obviously correct. (In this case, seven years of experience.)

[David M]

We just got the new proof back from the web developer. We did not make all the changes that were suggested, just the grammatical changes, but then we are pretty far into this and want to get going before tax season starts next week. That is when employers start issuing the W-2's and people start shopping for someone to do their taxes. (If they are too complex or time consuming to do it themselves.)

Any glaring mistakes?

I have to admit, it's pretty exciting to be this close to going live with our own website. Neither of us have done this before. I sure hope the phone starts ringing.

Mary Morgan

Edit: We just sent the message to go live.

[glc]

You are going to need a lot more than just a website to get business.