website reviews via video

Website reviewed:
constructionmarketingideas.blogspot.com

This video explores the low trust factor and navigation difficulty that this website has. Watch the video to learn how to improve the website ‘trust’ factor as well as reorganize the website navigation to make it easier to find the rich content that the site has to offer.

Treasured Earth is a design/build landscape contractor outside Ann Arbor, MI. Their website suffers from

1. not being found in Google due to a ‘too broad’ optimization approach
2. lack of motivating the visitor to act on the website, that is to do something like requesting a quote

Watch this video to find out how to make this website visible in Google and to get website visitors to ‘act’ on the site.

DBlandscaping.biz is located in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire in the town of Sunapee. They are a design/build landscaping firm that prefers larger high end projects. Their website has 2 major issues:

1. It is near impossible to find in Google and thus is invisible
2. The design does not compel the visitor to act or contact the organization

Watch this video to find out how this website can be improved to be found in Google and compel visitors to act once they are on the website.

Home Restorations roofing company does alot of things right but ulimately falls short in the final push to get a customer to do something on the website. Watch this video to see how a website that gets decent Google traffic fails to lead the potential client to take the next step with the company, and how this can be remedied.

Your website can be a phenomenal marketing tool—but only if potential customers can find and navigate it.

The proprietors of Absolute Aluminum went out of their way to put forward an arresting website design, complete with flash animation, sound effects, and links to further company media. The result is slick, but misses a fundamental truth of online marketing: the goal of a website is to increase your audience. If visual pizzazz confounds your site visitors—or, worse, keeps your site out of search results—it isn’t worth having.

Help Google Help You
The single biggest problem with this website is that it has managed to make itself nearly invisible to Google. By implementing a Flash-based homepage design without a single text link to a subpage, the company has effectively convinced Google that its website is one big animation file. Without content to crawl and links to follow, Absolute Aluminum is missing out on even the most targeted keyword searches.

Cool Stuff Overload
The production value of the homepage flash presentation is impressive, but the load time eats up the crucial ten seconds during which visitors look for a reason to stay on a site. The image may have caught their eyes—but as a distraction, not a motivational guidepost.

The problems of the intro, unfortunately, are compounded by the layout, which is far too busy, with a large (but misnamed) side menu, an FAQ section that clutters the page, and redundant or unnecessary links. The result is an overdone visual impression that will tend to confuse potential customers, rather than inspiring them to act on their interest in what the company has to offer.

Missed Opportunities
And what should visitors do if they are interested? That could be a lot clearer. Like many sites, absolutealuminum.com lacks a real call to action—a hook prompting visitors to make initial contact. There is no form to request a free quote, and while there is a newsletter sign-up on the front page, there’s no explanation of what the newsletter has to offer. Visitors may be left feeling impressed with the site’s complexity, but not moved to transition from passive visitor to active consumer.

The Fix
To start, take off the Google-invisibility suit and simplify the website design. Use real text links that the search engine can find and follow, and post the company’s buried—but effective—ads on video sharing sites where they can catch Google’s roving eye. Then, install a news blog to show off the latest projects, providing new searchable content while establishing a sense of professional trust with visitors. Finally, use a subscription option for the blog and an omnipresent “request a quote” form to compel potential customers to answer the company’s call to action. With increased visibility, navigability, and focused visitor direction, Absolute Aluminum should see a marked improvement in traffic and lead generation.