Review my website if you would be so kind

Hi, I would really appreciate a review of my website: www.zincroofinguk.com

Give me all and any opinions please - I am not a snowflake (not young enough sadly) and can take harsh criticism of it.

Not just from an aesthetic point of view, although that is welcome, but also because since inception it has sat anywhere between page 11 and page 14, never moving up at all. I have smushed all the photos and stripped the site of any unnecessary plugins etc., but according to the google speed test it still seems painfully slow (is that making a difference to ratings?). I can add new information on the different roofing types (as I have done for Zinc Roofing) but won't that just make it even heavier?

All views, ideas and points of view welcome - even if the upshot of that advice is - start again mate.

 

Not being picky but maybe a picture of a roof may help on home page. Possibly a zinc roof in action ? - maybe i’m old fashioned.

 

That's interesting. The front page does have a revolving set of photos of zinc roofing projects we have done, are they not showing up behind the lettering?

 

Hi I once layed in bed, staring up at the stars, and then I thought.... what the crap happened to my ceiling and the roof!!?!

I just had a look at a few of your webpages for the last hour, using an 8inch Tablet.

The wifi here is crap, but your pages loaded OK, started off grey, until the background images loaded a few seconds later...

For those with faster connections, it should be loading for them perfectly fine, imo

In some of the writing, there are a few "," comma, needed to separare things, and a few words to change or add, simple things many wont even notice.

Ive only looked at zinc and copper while trying to write...

On Zinc page, the word AND, should be, ", an" instead
You wrote :

@ When comparing a Zinc Roof against other roofing types and important factor to keep in mind is the maintenance and longevity of the roof.

I think it should be :

@ When comparing a Zinc Roof against other roofing types, an important factor to keep in mind, is the maintenance and longevity of the roof.

Simple edits might make bits easier and clearer. (I dont write clear a lot, its 2am)

There was another text that might need changing lower down,

@ Once you have weighed up all of that, there are usually only two other factors you need to cost for; Materials and Installation

@ Once you have weighed up all of that, there are usually only two other factors you need to PLAN costS for; THE Materials and Installation

Or

@ Once you have weighed up all of that, there are usually only two other factors, that you need to plan for; The Materials and Installation costs.

i dont think it makes much difference on that bit, most people will know

and on the Copper page it has a link at the bottom, which states :

please visit our Copper Roofing Technical Information Section section (<twice!)

The link really should just go to the page, you have put in a # for it to go there, but on my browser Opera, it instead, just goes to the home page, wether I tap it, or right click it.

also, the text, has the last word, twice!

Again simple changes, for things like that,

Get your wife or partner to sit, and read it slowly out loud, and from how she or they speak, you will find what you need to do, and where a breathing comma needs to be.

I am reading about Zinc roofs, something I know zero about, you got me sold, I found it unusually interesting & informative, like for example, on the Tiles vs Zinc, it sounds very good, with your comparisons, you are right, I imagine with tiles, they can break, they can fall, winds can lift them, so many repairs might be needed vs using your various metals.

So I think it sounds like a better idea in the long term, even if it costs more, that is always the thing about doing home expansion, upgrades or repairs...

Pay a bit more for quality items, fitted by a qualfied person, and they should last far longer, saving you far more in the long term.

I personally do not like, images that move by themself, if I am trying to read things, moving adverts or photos distract me, but that might not effect many others

The backgrounds on the home page, I would slow down a fraction, but again, thats just me trying to read against different photos changing behind, and the fonts in front shifting, might not effect everyone, just a few.

Some websites have white back grounds, with light grey text, which is stupid as you cant read it clearly, so with your photos a few letters might change, but its only for moments,

The other pages are quite clear and fine, even for poorer vision people, the pages zoom & scroll fine as well.

I just re read the copper page using another browser...

The link on the first part for technical does work, and does go to the technical information page

But the link at the bottom goes to home page, as it is set to go home, but does not bring up #copper...

Speaking of white grey... Your contact address is like that, so it is faint to see it.

Lead roofing sounds good, photos on whole, look good everywhere (every page the photos are good and shows good quality & build), even if moving, the move is quick and OK

There are a few errors like "some of photos of" add the, some of the photos

You have added a few big names, you might want to bring a couple to the home page, to make it eye catching to those upper class and those not so much.

Not all, just a few like :

* Lead Roofing *

We have considerable experience in heritage and ecclesiastical projects, like Kensington Palace, The Tower of London, Claridges, and The Royal Academy of Art, we also specialise in creating eye catching home extensions in this durable material.


Just in my opinion... I have nothing to do right now at 2:44am, so I am just trying to help you, with zero knowledge of roofing, but what I am learning as I read through on your site.

Going to post,if i get to check other pages later i will test the links and let you know.

Great site overall, photos are good quality. Your build quality is amazing, really looks great. Your craftsmanship of your work, is very high quality indeed. Well done.

 

I am reading your website again 420am and about the different metals, their qualities, recycling etc
Its very interesting, and the site is very good, things seem to work fine except for a ciuple issues stated, you might be using Windows?

You might want to install a few mobile browsers and test on there.

One thing i just found is the map... Its started from Munich on mine... Yet you are in the UK...

So i dont know if thats my browsers, or the map settings or just a bug. Ive no idea.

But again i never ever thought reading about roofs & looking at designs, could actually be interesting and so very indepth. Im finding it quite fascinating & I really find not much of interest anymore.

Your trade is amazing. Somethings people dont study much anymore are actually being craftsmen, woodwork/ carpenter, metalwork etc and their various professional names.

Maybe you could offer a training scheme for a local university and give students work placement, it could help you get new staff in the future and keep the industry going for many years, as well as bring in trade, the University might need things done & be happy to place company banners etc

 

Thank you for the time you have spent and I am grateful for the corrections, after a while you read what you want to be there and not what is actually there, so thank you for that and the other pointers on the site, much appreciated. I have taken note of all the points you raise and will act on them.

Thank you also for your kind words regarding the work.

 

I think my post on this review from a couple of days will sum up my thoughts.
Website review

The main problem with the site is that you haven't thought about it from a potential clients perspective. Think about how the prospect would land on the site, and what they would need to see to pick up the phone and call you.

 

Hey @Onthebrightside!

It sounds like you're having a few issues, from dissecting your original post I see:

1) You're trying to improve your SEO
2) You're trying to improve page load speed
3) You're trying to shift from effectively looking like a blog to a website that generates leads

To start off with, it's a great start! I've seen websites far, far, worse and it's great to see you're looking to take on advice

Search Ranking

From taking a quick look through the website, the main reason you're stuck between page 11 and 14 is really down to what @fisicx said. I'm afraid there simply isn't enough indexable content.

On the Technical Page, you've sort of got the right idea Instead of putting all of that info together on one page, why not slice it up and put the info in places where you'd more likely expect to find it? i.e Copper Roofing Technical Information in the Copper Roofing page etc.

This works for two reasons:

1) Your Copper Roofing page will have much more related content and a higher word count, which means there's more content for Google to index and use to determine your ranking for those keywords.

2) You'll avoid Keyword Cannibalisation. Having an explanation of 'Copper Roofing' on two different pages confuses Google, simply because they don't know which one to prioritise as you're essentially competing with yourself for those keywords.

I've also done a quick Whois search on your purchased domain. I saw that you acquired the domain at the end of August. Would I be correct to assume that you've only completed the website recently? If that's the case, by default, new domains have a very low domain authority and so low keyword positions are to be expected! As your domain ages, if your pages are optimised enough, they naturally will climb through the ranks

I would also agree with @fisicx in that the domain could do with a little help. If you were to walk down your local High Street and saw a shop called Harris's Gold Jewellery Store, would you expect them to sell Silver Necklaces? The internet works in a similar way

If you are going to replace the domain, I'd also recommend purchasing a .co.uk domain as you're targeting the UK only. Location plays a big part as if I'm based in Birmingham, Google wouldn't show me details for an Asda in London, would they? Similarly, if you let Google know that you're serving UK and UK only, they'll know to prioritise you for UK search results.

You'll also need to make Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, T&Cs and a dedicated Contact Us page.

Load Speed

As strange as this might sound to you, have you thought about removing all of the images? If you've ever used a Hotel Booking Website, you'll see that they keep a handful of small solid images and then when you click one of them, a pop-up loads where you're able to see/access more pictures with more information.

This works because the browser only has to load one or a handful of very small images when loading the page which makes for faster load times. From there, when the image is clicked, you can always load in the images afterwards in a similar popup.

Converting to a website that generates leads

This is an ongoing process. Remember, every page can always be tuned more, whether that's the CTAs, Copywriting, Funnelling, Page Layout etc. To begin with, you'll want to insert CTAs or possibly contact forms at the end of every page.

Your pages will also need a little more structure in regards to pushing the user to act, as an example:

- Intro section (this is where you set the tone for the page)
- Benefits section (perhaps a table outlining benefits of X roofing vs other/traditional roofing)
- Previous work (a section dedicated to images, client requirements, project info, satisfaction)
- Technical information
- Building certifications
- Contact us section

The aim of funnelling is that you want to gently push users through your website, reinforcing in their back of their minds that your roofing solution is good enough for them to want to fill in their private contact details, and request for you to get in touch with them

Throughout all of this, you'll have to put yourself in the shoes of your customer. What's relevant to them? What's bugging them? What do they need? Why do they need it? How can I move from providing information to providing value?

I hope this helps! Let us know how you get on!

 

Thank you for your help. Is that because the background slider makes the site move slowly or because the slider takes your focus of the writing?

 

I would LOVE to get someone to do this for us but we don't have the funds.

You may remember from that other thread that I have had cancer, he has been looking after me, we had to sell our house and move further out, we spent all our savings on mortgage/bill payments and when we eventually ran out of funds we were not entitled to any benefits because during the +year he had been looking after me during the ops etc. neither of us had paid NI contributions - so we had to apply to universal credit (which took 4 months to come through) so the credit cards took a hammering for food and bills. You might remember from the very last thread you and I were on we had to wait until the end of this month to pay the funds to become full members here to get the website reviewed . We are just crawling to our feet.

We now find ourselves in a new area (I can't work yet because of some of the late effects of radiation) and the 123-website he originally had kept going down (most likely because 123-reg website itself has been down some of the time! - clearly they are having troubles). So I am pants (LOL a pile of pants) at this - which became evident when I first looked into it and had to come here for someone to recommend wordpress and the hosting uk website - right there I think I displayed my lack of knowledge on this subject. Without the help of you guys it would have looked even more sh'te

 

I can see that now. If you remember I put the Technical Information page on later and then it was the only thing the showing up on Google. I realised my mistake and put the information on the home page - at which point the site disappeared of Google - I came on here and the consensus of opinion was to reinstate the technical information page - but you are right, it needs restructuring and I am going to try to do that taking on board everything I am getting from on here.

 

Thank you for this, I see where I have gone wrong now and that one sentence has made it clear to me how dumb I have been on this. I am going to move the information out of the technical page onto the pages.

Got this as well and will restructure each page to make sure they are following the same format and pushing prospective zinc roofing customers towards making contact with us, adding benefits and styles etc. on the pages itself for each of the pages.

Thank you for your help and advice, I realise that I won't be making this my day job but we just have to sort this out for ourselves at the moment because of (un)available funds. We are grateful for the pointers and technical advice and heads-up on where we have typos, rambling sentences and incorrect links, it's all going to help us.

 

You may have caught me on a good day who knows, but we will refresh and rewrite your website content for you free of charge if you wish - No problems if you don't

We specialise in helping tradespeople online and have been extremely successful ranking a number of roofing companies over the last couple of year.

 

I thought I did but clearly not. If I were looking for a zinc roofing I would want to see examples of the work in detail (which is in the photos). I would have thought that was the main selling point so I went photo heavy. I would want to know who employed these people previously, so we have recent builds on Charlie Luxton Building the Dream, Kensington Place, Kew Gardens etc. all mentioned on the website... so, we're good.

It's impossible to price for a roof unless you have the technical detail and on the websites we have seen where they purport to be providing that service with a calculator etc. we know this to be rubbish because the bulk of the cost will be in the detail (which you can only get if you go to site or have drawings), so we stayed away from what we saw as lying to customers.

But clearly I am missing some key points, it's not just photos of the work - I guess what I need to know is if you were considering a zinc roof - what sort of things do you want to see - perhaps I am missing it because my Dad was a roofer and my husband has been doing metal roofing all his life so I am too close to the subject to look at what a normal punter wants.

Grateful for assistance and I am taking this all on board and acting on it.

 

It's terrible isn't it. I am going to move the technical information under its correct pages and thus get rid of the technical information page. Cut down on the photos and take the revolving images of the first page. Hopefully some of that helps.

Thank you.

 

Who's your customer?