Website Review/improvement ideas req

[creospace]

Hi,

It's not often you'll find me inviting criticism for a website so please make most of this opportunity ;)

I have a newish venture cracking off and i'd really value the of the input and advice of my contempories and peers on this forum. It's all my work, so far.

www.quickcatering.co.uk (http://www.quickcatering.co.uk) .

Bearing in mind it is for a specialised market I'm looking for advice form the point of view of a user and potential customer of the product, is there enough sizzle here for you to want more information about the steak?

Be brutal but positive, I look forward to your input.

Gary

[Astaroth]

Personally dont like it at all.

Looks very much like an american style get rich quick, MLM or "miracle product" type site - can just see the infomercia on at 3am on Bravo.

The "feature packed" list down the left hand side look as if they are supposed to be links.

It isnt clear until you get well into the site that by catering you only mean outside catering rather than resturants/ cafes etc as well.

My original reaction was that is the food trade unique enough to require bespoke software... looking into it the offering (esp after seeing that it was for outside catering) it certainly didnt convince me that it was.

I think there is an "about us" missing from the site. I see that on the landing page you have the site was designed by creospace and the contact us has a very small "a division of creospace" but especially when you have a site that looks like american MLM I would at the very least want to know that there is a "proper" company behind it and even then I would probably still be put off as I am not the sort that falls for MLM scams and so not your target audience.

A little surprised that as you go up the scale of product that your setup costs go up... most systems work in the reverse (though obviously the monthly payments go up as yours do)

PS. what do the "?"s mean in the feature list?

[Tin]

Hi Gary

My apologies but I'm not keen on it either. The two things that came to mind were..

1. The headings over to the left under 'Feature Packed' looks just like a nav list especially with the small gaps between headers but it isn't.

2. There's too many areas vying for my attention at the same time which loses the focus somewhat. I don't think the use of different coloured text helps pull the eye to where it should go first and being honest, I don't know where that is either.

It might be an example of 'more is less'.

Sorry I can't be more positive.

[creospace]

So what is it that defines it as a MLM american site as apposed to a sales British site? I need to know this. Is it because the message is to strong and needs to be more subtle?

It's funny because I thought Robs site which was up for comment was really american miracle type in comparison to mine so now i'm wondering what are the ingredients so I can avoid them?

And how do you suggest I portray bullet point benefits on the home page without making them look like links. The trouble is these days any list can look like links?

I'm getting a company office (albeit virtual) and that address will be displayed. Yes i'll do an about us page, good point, maybe tht will make it less mlm and more human & real?

Re the product I guess unless your in the catering trade you won't know whether you need it or not but will make it more obvious for outside catering, good point.

Set up fee's increase simply because ther is more to do as the product increases as some elements are unique such as setting up the pdf letters etc.

Keep it coming guys, but if you spot something you don't like can you suggest a fix or the right way it should be done IYHO.

Thanks

Gary

[little_stork]

Hi Gary,
From a buyers view i like it. Its clean and gets the message across.
Regards
Little Stork

[WomenXtra]

i really feel the site does not look professional...this text below is way too big and too many colours used:

Do you run a catering company?
Thinking of starting a catering company?
<-- Does your paperwork look like this?
And are you feeling a little like this? -->
Do you need some help?

also when you underline a red text like the one you did here (You can trial Quickcatering free for 30 Days with no obligation) ----> the visitor will get confised. they will think its a link...

i like the top header and left hand menu.. very nicely done..but the content of the main page will need a re-design and to consider a more professional look. why dont u look around what the compititors are doing? and get some ideas.

[creospace]

There are no direct competitors, that's the problem :)

Thanks for your comments so far....

In your opinion what would look professional though?

[SteveGibson]

The headings over to the left under 'Feature Packed' looks just like a nav list especially with the small gaps between headers but it isn't.

I thought so too.

Personally, I wouldn't even look at a LH menu like that until and unless the main copy had gotten me intersted, so I wouldn't have seen the benefits.

I think the copy doesn't really get the heart of why someone should buy this.

The tagline: "The easiest way to administrate your catering business!" doesn't work for me as "administrate" isn't the right word.

If I had been brought in to review or re-write the copy, probably the first tagline I would have written would be something like:

"the hassle-free way to run your catering business"

That's just striaght off the bat, I'm sure that I could come up with at least another dozen, many of which would probably be better than that.

The 5 questions that follow from the header:

"Do you run a catering company?

Thinking of starting a catering company?

<-- Does your paperwork look like this?

And are you feeling a little like this? -->

Do you need some help?"

aren't really doing much.

For example, if someone isn't running or thinking about running a catering company, they're disqualified anyway, so there's no real point in paying attention to them. So, the first 2 questions can be.

I'd suggest:

(1) Moving the horizontal menu to a LH vertical menu.

(2) Have a problem-agitate-solution type head and sub-heads below the banner.

(3) Having a bullet list of benefits quite high up in the body text.

That should allow you to get the real selling point over without being overlong and with fewer distractions.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[DuaneJackson]

Too many bright colors!

[creospace]

Thanks Steve, some great advice/help there (again).

Duane - It will be toned down, don't fear your eyes will be safe :)

If at first I don't succeed I will try try again :)

[multilingual]

Just out of interest, where did you get the inspiration from to build such a site, and why did you think it was the correct thing to do?

It looks very much like the sort of site that is selling a product that would appeal to someone in their mid thirties, stuck in a rut at work, feeling as though the world is passing him by, looking for a chance to get out and do something with his life....!!

But it isn't, it's selling a business solution for a catering company :|

So the whole message is rather confusing and more than a little bit wierd, if you want my opinion.

It needs to be crisp, clear, professional, trustworthy, credible, etc

You are trying to appeal to a business user and I don't think that many of them will respond to this type of marketing. Some will, don't get me wrong, but I am just giving my opinion.

I wouldn't trust the company behind that site.

(I trust you though Gary) :)

JB

[creospace]

JB,

Not sure if inspration had anything to do with it, more necessity :)

mid thirties, stuck in a rut at work, feeling as though the world is passing him by, looking for a chance to get out and do something with his life....!!

Well it's interesting you say that because i'm guesing that most catering companies are burdedn with adminstration and wnat more time to enjoy life so i'm not far off the mark ;)

You see the thing is it's so damn hard to pin down the exact look and lingo to say 'buy me' to the joe average business user who runs and owns a catering company that needs some help. I know the proof of the pudding is in the eating I just need to get them eating it and it will sell itself.

Trial and error i guess, but if I can avoid as many errors as possible I will, and hopefully with all this advice I can do.

With the exception of a couple of peeps it's very easy to say 'what doesn't grab your attention' or 'what doesn't look good' but it seems very hard to say 'what does work' or 'what would look good' and it's the latter I need to a degree. Having said that I have a lot to go on.

Thanks again

Gary
Hey maybe a photo of me is required 'Would you buy a software product form this man etc...' ;)

[dan_moore]

I think the site is a bit garish / bright too. My eyes are drawn to the two images at the top left and bottom right of the main content pane - particularly the one of plates at the bottom right - and it really takes my eyes off the copy.

I like the quick explanation of who the product is for at the top (personally I would replace orange on white with a darker colour on white) however when it says
"You can trial Quickcatering free for 30 Days with no obligation"

I think "why?" A very brief explanation of what it is might be useful to get me to click to find out about the trial.

I think there are a few too many options on the homepage. If the main pitch of the page is the product, I wouldn't go off at tangents down the left hand nav with things like "get a customised version" or "join our affiliate scheme" that might distract from the main aim of the page.

Cheers

Dan