Do you like my new digital agency advice website?

[Chris Needham]

Hi,

I have recently launched my digital agency finder website. Just wondering what your views are with the design/branding and whether you feel it would be a service some of you might be interested in?

www.digitalmarketingbroker.com

 

[fisicx]

I've just sat and looked at the site and I have no idea at all what it is you do.

You have loads of animations that make no sense and you ask me to call you. But i have on idea why. I can't think of any activity I would do that would land me on your site. But if you have some sort of marketing plan in place then it's just unfocused waffle.

I have looked at page after page of boring copy and there is nothing that suggests you can do anything for me.

Sorry to be so negative but I'd expect some sort of conditional form that leads me to the sort of service I need which I then submit and you deliver me a list of potential suppliers.

Or am I missing something? Is this just a bit of altruism?

 

[Chris Needham]

Hi Fiscix,

Do you mean the heading, subheading and video make the messaging all too convoluted? As it stands, if you had to guess, what do you think we do?

 

[The Byre]

As a possible target, I looked at the website and I do not know (after one minute of looking at the thing) what you do.

Also, there are people who can be in front of a camera and others who should avoid being in front of a camera at all costs. I belong seriously in the 'avoid' category. My very presence puts people off. It ain't my looks, or what I have to say. It's just that I do not 'work' on camera. I come over as an arrogant, self-important *mother-f**cker.

So do you!

*In reality, I am a lovely, witty, person who enchants all who meet me. No doubt, you are the same! It's just that the camera doesn't like either of us.

 

[fisicx]

Hi Fiscix,

Do you mean the heading, subheading and video make the messaging all too convoluted? As it stands, if you had to guess, what do you think we do?

I didn't even bother with the video. If you need to stand in front of a camera to explain what it is you do then something has gone awry.

The whole hero image and heading just doesn't work. Assume someone is on the site because they want help choosing the marketing company. You need to tell them how you find the right company. All I see at the moment is fee free stuff. Which suggests the will be a cost later on in the process.

You also need to give some indication of how it all works. I tried your Agency Search thing and it fails because it assumes I already know what I want. But if I knew what I wanted I wouldn't need you.

I did try the form and the result bore no resemblance to what I wanted.

 

[Clinton]

I thought the site was alright. It's not wow amazing, but I did get the gist of what you do within a couple of seconds of landing on the site.

 

[billmccallum1957]

I tried the agency search....

"Sorry we couldn't find any Ecommerce Agencies matching your criteria"

 

[fisicx]

I thought the site was alright. It's not wow amazing, but I did get the gist of what you do within a couple of seconds of landing on the site.

But would you have rung the number?

 

[KacperJed]

Is the video on a green screen? It's the first thing that came to mind. If you make things seem better than they are, I'd think the same of your service.

 

[Chris Needham]

Thank you for your insight so far. Ultimately we are looking to create a resource to help businesses avoid the pitfalls and problems when it comes to hiring and managing digital partners. We offer quite a few options. You can either view our agency finder (we are working hard to add only the best agencies to that list), you can read our guides or you can call for advice. Is there anything that would stop you from calling? The service is free as, in time, we would look for a nominal amount from the agency for their inclusion on the website.

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

Parts of your site states "WE"... others like below give the impression that it's not a WE which makes me think that I wouldn't be getting a personal feel from your business...

This short video tells you what to expect when you call us for digital marketing and design advice. We make the process simple, straight forward and hassle free.

It should be more inviting and formal... like...

Our short video tells you what to expect when you call us for digital marketing and design advice. We make the process simple, straight forward and hassle free.

or

don't put anything explaining it at all... we can tell it's a video we're not stupid... you don't need to tell us that you make the process simple when you're treating us like we are simple...

Just my 2p sorry

 

[KacperJed]

You could also apply for funding from the EU. There are about 6 or 7 funds in the area I live, available for businesses.

 

[fisicx]

Ultimately we are looking to create a resource to help businesses avoid the pitfalls and problems when it comes to hiring and managing digital partners.

But it doesn't do that. There are lots of guides but most of that will be ignored (if they bother to read it at all - I really struggled with the copy).

If you want to give advice on the pitfalls and problems bin the SEO and other tutorials and publish the top 10 tips on finding the right marketing agency on the homepage.

The agency finder just doesn't work. I followed the path and the agency that you recommended didn't even do what I wanted. I've tried a number of variants and the results seem almost random.

And try to use the finder on a phone - the UX is awful.

 

[Peter Bowen]

we are working hard to add only the best agencies to that list

This has to be a Herculean task. The concept of "best" is always going to be dependent on the client's constraints - usually time and money. Are you going to factor these into your determination of who to recommend?

 

[Chris Needham]

Hi,

I was reluctant to add the agency finder as we do not have enough agencies added to our list to please anyone but I am constantly contacting small agencies over the next 3 weeks so the number will be greatly increased along with its functionality.

Hi Peter, yes I am. The most important thing I want to do is to help SMEs understand what they should receive for the price that they pay and also what areas they need to consider before they hire an agency to make the campaign a successful one. Many people don't understand the differences between different agency's, they really do have their own set of skills and abilities, and some are just plain con artists.

By offering free advice and guidance I should be able to recommend different agencies for different tasks and help each customer get the best ROI by working with the most accomplished small digital agency for that task.

Ultimately by getting agencies to work together and making sure they all follow the same ethos, the client should be able to have an accomplished full digital service at an amazing price anywhere in the country.

In addition, in the guides, I should be able to help SME's understand if they are really getting the level of work they should for the money they pay.

The task is very daunting but this is very much the main focus when determining who to recommend. We are looking for specialists and then it would be up to digital marketing broker to determine who would be best for the client specific needs and budget.

 

[fisicx]

But the problem with all the guides it they tell me about the topic (eg SEO) and not about how to choose the right agency.

There is nothing on the site (that I can find) that guides me to finding the right agency. For example: http://www.digitalmarketingbroker.com/graphic-design/logo-design-agency/

This great if I want to design a logo but of no use if I want to find someone to create a logo for me.

The whole point of the site (as far as I can tell) is to help me find the right agency. So all the content on the site should be focused on doing just that no teaching me the basics of PPC.

 

[Chris Needham]

Hi Fisicx, I understand. They will, we will be increasing our content dramatically with the inclusion of best buys, but we have to do it in stages. I really didn't want to go into this so much I just wanted to know if the branding/design looked trustworthy enough and to see if the content is engaging enough so that business owners may be interested in calling me about free digital advice. I think the questions are so good that I'm disclosing too much.

 

[fisicx]

...I just wanted to know if the branding/design looked trustworthy enough....

didn't even notice the branding (it's not important - just about any theme will do). Trust comes from testimonials and other citations. There are none so there is nothing to trust.

...and to see if the content is engaging enough....

No it's not. See previous posts. The sort of people who might want your services won't read the content. If they wanted to learn about SEO or web design or PPC they wouldn't be looking for a marketing agency.

 

[Chris Needham]

ok, thanks. A lot to be getting on with.

 

[fisicx]

Just a thought. This is your homepage title:

"Our number #1 goal - To de-mystify the digital marketing & design industry"

That's what google will index the page under. I doubt many people will be searching for this.

And you have an awful lot of plugins installed. You don't need most of these (as you are using a child theme), getting rid of them would help improve your page speed score (41/100) and page load speed (4.1Mb, 171 server requests and over 3 seconds for me)

 

[Tony Smith]

I'd start with doing a sweep for typos. The first line on the homepage, above the fold: *Im* should be *I'm*. Unless you're called Im Chris?