Your Thoughts on my website please!!

[dieselboy]

The domain name is now locked for a period of time that i can't get a straight answear on how long,but apparently I can put it on back order and enter an auction with other interested parties to buy it back.Obviously the other parties have no interest in owning the name they just want to shaft me for as much as possible so i've walked away from it. When the interest dies down in the future I may try to register it again,and link to the new pages.
The new domain is hosted by godaddy and their web builder package.

Cheers

Mark

I'm pretty sure the domain is locked waiting for the owner to contact them and arrange ownership again. You should attempt this to arrange the same terms and not try to register the name as a new 3rd party.

There is a document on the internet somewhere which details how to keep readers reading. It's for CV's, mainly but could be applied to your website too. Simple tips like use a serif font. I used it ages ago, will need to do some Googling on it.

[s car go]

Thank you gentlemen for all your suggestions!

Some of the suggestions I will take on board,some I don't agree with,and some I will ignore.

It's very hard doing this because even within this thread some have said "too busy" some have said "basic"

@Albannach I've changed the contact sheet this morning as I agree it was too intrusive,and I've moved the discriptions to the top of the photos,as you suggested.When I was doing it originally I debated putting the description at the top,and I think it now has a better flow. The guest book has been re named client feedback.

Thanks all

Mark

[Albannach]

The site looks quite good; I like the simplicity of it.

There are a few things wrong though.

The narrative has some spelling, grammatical and syntax errors, you need to address those. Use a plain font, write one word numbers and don't use the ampersand (or any of its derivatives) instead of a word.

Don't use a generic e-mail address; it's not professional.

Don't take the #### out of your host nation's people; they can make life difficult.

I'm not sure about the gallery. I think the picture narratives should be above the pictures, so that the user doesn't have to scroll past the picture, read the words and then scroll back up to the picture.

On the title image, the sub heading shouldn't start with a -. If you have to use those words, I'd just use "Roofs Stonework Interiors" and make it the same length as the main heading.

I don't like guestbooks, they are very 1990s.

Your contact page is very intrusive, you ask for lots of details from a user, but offer none of your own. Provide your full details in the Contact Us area (I'm pretty sure that's an EU requirement).

Use breadcrumbs.

Use a sitemap.

Get Dreamweaver.

[mullinsj]

If it was my site I would....

1. Reduce the size of the font and change the font style to arial (easier on the eye)

2. Your target market is in France, your site should be in french if your looking to target the expat community your home page should give visitors the option to select either language immediately

3. Remove the "about us" page and include "our clients" page (detailed description of all work carried out for clients since 2007)

4. Contact Page should allow potential customers to contact you via phone or email at the very least, current layout gives the impression (sorry) that you may have something to hide, full disclosure and all that!

5. Get rid of the map page and include gps co-ordinates in the contact page, if you want to keep the map page it should have a live link to google maps

6. You don't need 3 gallery pages, (see point 3) create a detailed "our clients" page and provide links to photos of work done for each client

7. get rid of the guestbook page, IMO it doesn't look professional

8. check out your competition and copy what they have done but better! (great thing about creating websites is that you will find plenty of inspiration online to copy so get searching on google


+ 1 to the advice given above....... get a copy of dreamweaver and check out the tutorials on youtube

hope this help..... I would love to take the leap and move to france, well done!!

[s car go]

The domain name is now locked for a period of time that i can't get a straight answear on how long,but apparently I can put it on back order and enter an auction with other interested parties to buy it back.Obviously the other parties have no interest in owning the name they just want to shaft me for as much as possible so i've walked away from it. When the interest dies down in the future I may try to register it again,and link to the new pages.
The new domain is hosted by godaddy and their web builder package.

Cheers

Mark

[dieselboy]

Regarding the domain name being lost, aren't there security measures in place now to stop other people / companies buying domains to prevent legitimate owners from doing so when their term lapses? I'm almost certain that when a domain lapses, the company cannot resell it for some time or something of that nature. The company I worked for in London handled registrations through GoDaddy and others. May be worth looking into?

Also,
Regarding your layout what are you using to create? I would recommend using Dreamweaver for speed. If you wish, you can use a free layout from a design company that offers free layouts. I would also say that less is definitely more, where pure and simple information on the page is of favour rather than titles and banners / images.

HTH

[s car go]

Stewart,

Thanks for your kind words.
The we/I thing is true.In the 7 years I've been in busisness here I've had 3 business partners,the only that remains constant is me and the wife (although you'd never find her anywhere near a scaffold). The trouble with France is it stiffles small business and to enploy someone is almost akin to giving uo your first born!!
The latest fella is a good mate and semi retired so subs to me on a as needed basis.However you are quite right and I'll give the text some thought.

Good luck with the domain name transfer.I missed the pay period because the address details on file did'nt match my card details,and some to55er was supposed to sort it for us but never did!!! I'm spitting chips over it but can't do a thing.

C'est la vie!!

Regards

Mark

[Pelicanbill]

Spent many holidays in France and love the place, the people, and the lifestyle which I think you describe very well. Picture gallery excellent.

My only item of curiosity is how you managed to carry out the work. You say "we did....." but all I can find is you, the missus and 3 kids ... so, a family firm it might be, but I think you need to explain the business setup a touch more appetizingly

I have just retired from a parallel existence in the uk. Loved the building work but now I spend my time fiddling on a narrowboat

Funny thing, have just told Plusnet they can sling their hook! Am hoping that my domain will soon be up and running under a new host ... fingers crossed

Bon Chance!

Stewart

[s car go]

I'd leave the family completely out of it.

Nev.

Difficult Nev,
Whilst I understand what you say it was an attempt to personalise the site.

Cheers

Mark

[s car go]

Pretty basic, could use a bit more colour, pics were good and and I enjoyed the info on the family.

Thanks Alan,I could experiment with a bit more colour

[NiftyNev]

I'd leave the family completely out of it.

Nev.

[KERRSURF]

Pretty basic, could use a bit more colour, pics were good and and I enjoyed the info on the family.

[s car go]

Hi all,

I recently lost my domain name due to a payment cock up and the scum bay vultures on the internet, so I've had to use another domain name to avoid ridiculious costs.
Anyway I've taken the oppotunity to build a new web site, and would appreciate your thoughts and feedback, and also it's a cheap stunt to drive some traffic to my site

www.limousinrenovations.fr

Thanks Chaps!

Mark