Feedback on my side-hustle site

[Mark T Jones]

I think you know me well enough - don't spare my blushes, I've never claimed websites as a skill!

Before you do though, a couple of things:

It's essentially a brochure site not a 'lead gen' site (I really don't want too many random leads)

Don't worry about grammar, spelling etc, I'll be all over that once I know what I'm doing.

Here it is: https://www.kickstartbiz.co.uk/

Hit me with it...

 

[Ian J]

Founder & proporietor Mark Jones

What's a proporietor?

 

[ctrlbrk]

Mark, the most immediate thing you need to fix IMO is the height of the sticky header (i.e. the bit of the page that does not scroll with the rest of the page) because it almost takes more than 1/3 of the screen which from a usability point of view is ludicrous.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Founder & proporietor Mark Jones

What's a proporietor?

I thought I'd corrected that!

Thank you

 

[Mark T Jones]

Mark, the most immediate thing you need to fix IMO is the height of the sticky header (i.e. the bit of the page that does not scroll with the rest of the page) because it almost takes 50% of the screen which from a usability point of view is ludicrous.

Thank you.

Possibly a change of theme?

 

[KM-Tiger]

You need to sharpen up your copy. I had to read it twice to understand what you are offering (which incidentally sounds rather good).

Not sure what you need to do, but a visitor needs to 'get it' from their first scan of the page. Then they will want to look further.

 

[ctrlbrk]

Thank you.

Possibly a change of theme?

I would first try reducing the size of the logo - it's taking a lot of space compared to, say, UKBF one.

Depending on your theme, you should have the option to reduce the size in the Theme Settings.

Only to give you an idea, just by tweaking size of logo and tagline the impact on the sticky header height is quite noticeable.

 

[Mark T Jones]

You need to sharpen up your copy. I had to read it twice to understand what you are offering (which incidentally sounds rather good).

Not sure what you need to do, but a visitor needs to 'get it' from their first scan of the page. Then they will want to look further.

Fair point

TBH I've slightly changed tack - bolting on rather than re-writing

It will change!.

Thank you

 

[Mark T Jones]

I would first try reducing the size of the logo - it's taking a lot of space compared to, say, UKBF one.

Depending on your theme, you should have the option to reduce the size in the Theme Settings.

Only to give you an idea, just by tweaking size of logo and tagline the impact on the sticky header height is quite noticeable.

Done it!

 

[Fagin2021]

Hi Mark

If I was looking for someone to help me start-up I’d be asking 3 questions…

• Does this person know what he’s talking about ?
• Can I work with him ?
• Can I trust him ?

What I would like to see on the ‘About’ page is…

A half-body colour photograph of you seated at your desk with a desktop on behind, perhaps with an open spreadsheet on the screen. A few neatly arranged files on your desk. Dress – very smart casual. Not jeans & T-shirt (too laid back), not pinstriped suit (corporate consultant). Wearing spectacles (cerebral) and smiling gently (approachable).

The Smarta avatar could be used to portray an enforcer for the Kray twins.

The text alongside the photograph should emphasise your experience and achievements (not boastfully), preferably with a user story or two to illustrate the point. In short, it should convey the impression that you know a lot but you’re not going to beat someone up with your knowledge. Professional, approachable, trustworthy.

Of course, as my own bedside manner is along the lines “Man up. You’ve got another lung haven’t you!” I may not be the best judge of this.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Hi Mark

If I was looking for someone to help me start-up I’d be asking 3 questions…

• Does this person know what he’s talking about ?
• Can I work with him ?
• Can I trust him ?

What I would like to see on the ‘About’ page is…

A half-body colour photograph of you seated at your desk with a desktop on behind, perhaps with an open spreadsheet on the screen. A few neatly arranged files on your desk. Dress – very smart casual. Not jeans & T-shirt (too laid back), not pinstriped suit (corporate consultant). Wearing spectacles (cerebral) and smiling gently (approachable).

The Smarta avatar could be used to portray an enforcer for the Kray twins.

The text alongside the photograph should emphasise your experience and achievements (not boastfully), preferably with a user story or two to illustrate the point. In short, it should convey the impression that you know a lot but you’re not going to beat someone up with your knowledge. Professional, approachable, trustworthy.

Of course, as my own bedside manner is along the lines “Man up. You’ve got another lung haven’t you!” I may not be the best judge of this.

Thank you.

Definitely useful food for thought.

 

[MBE2017]

I noticed a guy advertising a paid for course on social media. Now I haven’t bought or dealt with him, but his approach I thought was very effective. He put about 6-10 txt and email messages up from his students, all thanking him for the help and perceived success from his course.

Just simple testimonials, saying I will let my current buyers say why you should use him.

 

[Uwe (Invoiceberry)]

Hi Mark

If I was looking for someone to help me start-up I’d be asking 3 questions…

• Does this person know what he’s talking about ?
• Can I work with him ?
• Can I trust him ?

What I would like to see on the ‘About’ page is…

A half-body colour photograph of you seated at your desk with a desktop on behind, perhaps with an open spreadsheet on the screen. A few neatly arranged files on your desk. Dress – very smart casual. Not jeans & T-shirt (too laid back), not pinstriped suit (corporate consultant). Wearing spectacles (cerebral) and smiling gently (approachable).

The Smarta avatar could be used to portray an enforcer for the Kray twins.

The text alongside the photograph should emphasise your experience and achievements (not boastfully), preferably with a user story or two to illustrate the point. In short, it should convey the impression that you know a lot but you’re not going to beat someone up with your knowledge. Professional, approachable, trustworthy.

Of course, as my own bedside manner is along the lines “Man up. You’ve got another lung haven’t you!” I may not be the best judge of this.

I agree with this 100%. It's basically the E-A-T principle in SEO.

Have a look here: https://www.semrush.com/blog/eat-and-ymyl-new-google-search-guidelines-acronyms-of-quality-content/

 

[jamie1183]

Looking at a mobile version where most people browse from these days the header is very large, ideally needs reducing. The text wraps onto 2 lines. Maybe reduce the font size and try to get the burger menu up in the top right. This will increase content in first view.

Remove the theme link in the footer if you can

Other things to help build potential customer confidence, add reviews, case studies if you have any,

 

[fantheflames]

Firstly, loving the logo!

Looking good so far, here's my comments:

1. Reduce the size of the navigation bar
2. A small paragraph, or a line or two about what the site is/ who it is for
3. Banners and images - some visuals to break up the text!
4. Clear sections and CTAs needed!
5. I love a bit of animation on sites. Could a section be animated?

 

[fisicx]

Mobile first! Startups tend to be younger people and they use their phones for everything.

The theme is uninspiring and there is nothing above the fold that grabs my attention.

The actual copy will depend on how you plan to market the business. For example if you are hitting social media with a bunch of adverts potential visitors will already know what you offer. Which means you just need to tell them the details and how to get it. There is no call to action! You have your phone number but is added at the bottom of the homepage almost as an afterthought.

Wow me with some numbers. Show me you are the man to get my business up and running.

And I don’t like the logo. Too jokey. What makes you think you even need a logo?

 

[doomain]

Oops! That page can’t be found. This is what it says now

 

[antropy]

It says page not found at the moment, but my feedback would be that I find the word "biz" short for business to be rather cheesy and tacky.

Paul.

 

[RodneyUK]

Site looks like a nice professional business theme, but I would suggest working more on content because the domain looks new and if you want organic rankings on Google you'll need to build some site authority.

• The logo is great
• You've already listed yourself on a business trade directory, a good start for referral traffic

Suggestions:

• Work on content for your blog and aim for at least 800 words
• Get rid of the theme author in the footer and add your social media links instea
• Build out the site a bit more

 

[JamaC]

I've got time this evening and had a good dig.

From my understanding the company provides

- Full end-to-end consulting
- Start-up loans
- Business plan reviews

*Flexible
* No hidden extras

From what I've seen I'd say you need to do some rearranging. Create a few new pages, add some new information and move some information around.


1. Create a homepage that is simple and does the following

• Tells people what you do in a few words

• Shows the 3 services you provide as calls to action buttons/links with an option to click and learn more. Making it a simple journey for the person interested.

Those individual pages describing the services will also play as the landing spots from the ads as @fisicx mentioned above.

And remember to add CTA's to these pages

• Show off who you are, you clearly have an impressive resume. Maybe use badges displaying your experience and achievements. These small visual elements make a difference as they add to the overall picture you are painting to your website's visitors. Plus add the badges of the companies you work/worked with

• Any extras such as being flexible (with examples), having no hidden fees etc


2. Extract the key information from the about us page and business plan consultancy page and place the information in its correct place i.e the service description pages and homepage. As you currently have around 5 pages worth of information crunched into 2 pages. Clearly separating the services and giving them their own pages gives you more opportunities to inform the user about the details of the service including any questions they may have. Reduces customers contacting you with questions and people leaving the site due to lack of information.


3. The blog. You can improve your blog massively by doing 2 simple things

- Take the information from the funding guide, chuck it into chat gpt and use them as individual blog posts ( I counted around 15 topics). These topics are perfect for your target customer group and will improve your SEO.

- Fluff up the current resources blog page. Again, just throw it into chat gpt and add more detail about each resource on the list. Again this will help with SEO



And remove the items for sale from the blog. Extremely confusing.

Avoid the external links throughout the site, they can lead people astray

 

[Marantzdigital]

A ballpark indication of pricing eg. *from £XXX would be great for the skim searchers.

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

Buyers need to trust you. And that you have real expertise. Show me something. Pop a video on there where you can talk about what you can do for my business. Demonstrate you have real expertise.

 

[The Byre]

Writing copy 101 - Write about me, not about you. I am a young, wannabe business person looking for start-up funds (not really, but that person is your target!) and like all young wannabes, I am only interested in myself. What I want to know is "What can this Schmo do for me?"

With that in mind, let's look at the first bit of copy that tells our young hopeful what this site is all about -

• Create & execute a meaningful strategy & business plan from pre-start to the early stages of your business.
• Get meaningful advice and access to funding for your start-up!
• You will benefit from over 30 years of experience helping start-ups to create a viable business plan and access to funding for your owner-managed business.
• You can talk now to an experienced advisor online, on the phone, or in person.

Underneath that lot, a nice picture of you -

A half-body colour photograph of you seated at your desk with a desktop on behind, perhaps with an open spreadsheet on the screen. A few neatly arranged files on your desk. Dress – very smart casual. Not jeans & T-shirt (too laid back), not pinstriped suit (corporate consultant). Wearing spectacles (cerebral) and smiling gently (approachable).

This! And this -

Buyers need to trust you. And that you have real expertise. Show me something. Pop a video on there where you can talk about what you can do for my business. Demonstrate you have real expertise.

Plus some testimonials.

What's a proporietor?

It's a small animal that eats cheese.

 

[helmuc]

neat, though it would be great to see some case studies or startups you have helped.

all the best!!
H

 

[thinkfast]

Seems like you are experimenting with your website because its looking basic theme in wordpress. As members are suggesting you for header hight then i would suggest you to hide tag line from wordpress setting .... Tag line is long and so its taking additional space .... If you will hide it then only logo and menu will appear there with standard height.

Create a customize home page and describe there all things like one section with small about us and link to about us page ... Another section with your services, can add more section like testimonials, contact us or get quote ... something related at home page ..... Because nowadays there are lots of competitions so you need to think like first impress is last impression.

Generally i am didigtal marketing related guy and so i am noticing many basic SEO things not according SEs rules and guidelines .... So you need to take some attention on on page optimization also because title is not according to SEO ...... open graph tags are available but meta description not available ...... You should use any SEO plugins like Yoast to fix these SEO issues and these types of plugin help you also to SETup local SEO and global SEO also.

 

[lattod]

Hi Mark,

I thought it would be easier to record a video - so that's what I did.

Hope that's alright.

Nobodys website is perfect, and they're CONSTANTLY a work in progress!

Anyway - here's the video I recorded for you

P.S. I just tried to post the youtube link for the video but it wont let me - so find me on YouTube and it's todays video !





All the best

Daniel Latto

 

[fisicx]

Nobodys website is perfect, and they're CONSTANTLY a work in progress!

Depends on the site. I’ve got sites I haven’t touched in years and they still rank and convert well.

 

[lattod]

Depends on the site. I’ve got sites I haven’t touched in years and they still rank and convert well.

The original poster didn't mention SEO once.

Websites should be evolving all the time to meet the needs of their visitors as times change.

 

[fisicx]

Websites should be evolving all the time to meet the needs of their visitors as times change.

No they don’t. As I said I’ve got site that haven’t been touched in years and still convert well. Not going to be the same for everybody but many sites aren’t a constant work in progress.

 

[lattod]

Yes. They do.

We won't agree here sadly.

But that's fine.

Have a nice day.

 

[fisicx]

It’s the word ‘constant’ that is in question. Sites often need a little bit of attention but this might only need doing every few months. If you had said ‘regular’ then I might have agreed.

The local gardener has a simple site with details on the work he does, area, prices and contact info. It’s been the same for years and still gets him lots of work. He posts images on instagram and has GBP for reviews. None of these are a constant work in progress.

 

[lattod]

Honestly, this conversation isn't worth a massive thread about it.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend,

all the best.

 

[fisicx]

Maybe if you explained why a website is a constant work in progress I would understand. It would also help others reading this thread.

As to enjoying the weekend - just got another new project to build a plugin. They got my details from a site that’s not been touched since 2021. Just saying….

 

[Gyumri]

Remove the word About. List some of the types of grants and funding sources for which you can help prepare funding applications and business plans. ie., the arts council and many of the other regional development funds etc.
Put $ signs in the eyes of your visitors and you'll be inundated.

 

[bijutoha]

The site could offer more personalized recommendations based on the user's interests and needs. This would help users find the information and resources they need more quickly.