honest opinions on this please

[Pebble Communications]

This is NOT a spam...I just want some other points of view please.

1) My website - people seem to love it or hate it. Smaller companies seem to like it but larger companies can be put off by it. Any comments very welcome. I do this myself using a template system (am looking to get a professional designer on board later in year if I deem it necessary - or do you think this is a good enough job? Or does it look amateurish? What do you like? What do you dislike?) Trouble is there are features I want that are not available through this template. So anyway, general feedback wanted.

Then in a couple of weeks I am going to be making a big change to it. I will be linking back and forth to another site (not ideal, that is why I need a pro job done eventually) that is more of an e-shop. Do you think that will work? I thought of presenting the e-shop as a division of Pebble Communications and making the connections clear. So i'd love feedback again from the same people (and any others of course) so I can make a comparison.

Thanks very much,
Fiona Bailey
www.pebblecommunications.co.uk

[webit]

SPLASH SCREEN - NO !!!!

[Ozzy]

Hi Fiona,
I didn't have time to read through your entire website but here are my thoughts on what I did see.

You need to decide on your target market, because you website does not have a corporate feel about it which larger corporate clients would be attracted to.

You make it clear you are "Pebble Communications" on the about us page, which is fine and will attract SMEs but you have several email addresses for people to contact you through and also refer to "we" and "us" throughout other parts of the website. YOu need to be one or the other.

I pressed "skip" as soon as I saw the splash animation screen. Personally I think that is a waste of time and money as no-one will sit and watch it unless they are bored.

If you want to go after the SME market then your design is OK but the copy needs to become more personal to yourself. I'd also tidy the site up a bit and lose the red backgrounds behind the text.

If you want to go after the corporate market then I would remove reference to PC being you only and refer to "we" and "us" and redesign your website to become more corporate (blues, etc).

Just my thoughts, I'm sure others will have more.

I'm now off to create a website critique forum for here as I would like some feedback on my next website design :)

[c2webdesign]

Splash screens are considered a no no, but they can have their place. Absolutely useless for search engine visits (and your home page should be the most optimised page on your site) but a nice design overall.

On to the pages...first glance nothing particuarly amateurish but nothing striking, inviting or 'sticky' (making the user want to explore your pages).

Have to admit if I were looking for your services I wouldn't go past your first page. Images are a great focal point of any site and really help to drive home the message, and links to your service pages.

There's just too much consecutive text. Nothing to break it up. The black text against the dark pink is not the easiest to see either.

Have a look at any big corporate site and you will be whisked away of a mirage of images and text drawing you deeper and deeper in to the site, services and products they have to offer.

Hope this helps,
Dean

[DavidHorn]

I'd lose that splash screen ... why put a barrier between you and your potential customers?

- the whole thing looks as if it was constructed on a template (1and1, by any chance?) and (the code) is very poorly written from a search engine point of view (all menu items are images, not text; all sub-headings are bolded paragraphs, not Header tags, etc. etc.).

- there are no pictures at all. You're in Public Relations, but there's nothing for the public to relate to.

- the colour choice is odd (not particularly corporate), especially as it makes your logo seem out of place

- I don't know what else. If I was looking for a PR company though I'd be looking for a site that communicates with me a bit better ... there's just too much text there, I wouldn't be interested in reading it at all - it's not drawing me in. Try techniques like a higher white space to text ratio, or different text sizes to draw the eye to certain areas of the page, etc.

Good luck!

[Pebble Communications]

ouch! no cheers guys, I know it is far from ideal - I just want to sort it out a bit until I can get a real one done.

Top marks for spotting the 1and1 template!

[Coding Monkey]

I'd just quickly add, that intro is the same on 3 other members on UKBF that I've come across. People catch on quite quickly, and if they feel they're being 'cheated' will go elsewhere.

[Pebble Communications]

sorry, what intro? The intro on my home page?
I'm confused now...catch on...cheated?

Oh no, I see - the subject line and intro to this thread. Well I can't help what the spammers do but I really was just after opinions as I'm spending next Friday giving the site a complete overhaul.

I don't think PR is something people 'impulse buy' anyway....

I've just checked and I've made over 150 posts on this forum and none of them have been spam. I've only mentioned my services when it is relevant to an enquiry and I do lots of posts just about all sorts of random things!

[Ravenfire]

Fiona I like your website it looks good, especially as you have used a template, however, I would lose the splash screen as well.

[Coding Monkey]

sorry, what intro? The intro on my home page?
I'm confused now...catch on...cheated?

Oh no, I see - the subject line and intro to this thread. Well I can't help what the spammers do but I really was just after opinions as I'm spending next Friday giving the site a complete overhaul.


No, no! My mistake. I mean, the intro to your website, as it's a 1andone template, I've seen at least 3 people on these forums alone with that intro. If people are familiar with it being a template, your credibility is gone, and they're 'cheated', because they won't believe you're offering a professional service. For all they know, you've just stole someone elses website.

[fastfences]

Hi Fiona,
Sorry, but when I see those flash intros I just skip it; I reckon no-one can be bothered with them.

For me, there's too much text with nothing to break it up. I like the dip the toe/ripple and waves header though!!

Put a few photos or something in it to break it up - then hire someone later in the year.
Cheers, Nigel

[Pebble Communications]

Ta...watch this space in a fortnight or so.