Website Critique Needed

[CapitolMike]

Hi guys,

I'm a builder outside of Boise, Idaho. I have been a lurker on the forums for many years and have learned a ton from everyone. Someday I may feel more qualified to post and offer my opinion.

I have just launched my website, which is www.agile-homes.com. I would like some constructive criticism of my website. It would also been informative as to building costs in the Boise, Idaho area for those of you who are curious.

I also have a facebook page, www.facebook.com/agilehomes. The page in not nearly as polished, but does include more photos. It would give you a good idea of the fit/finish of the homes.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Mike

[Lavrans]

The site looks nice, but doesn't have much in the way of personal touch. Or of your work, really.

Profile page seems light. Who is Mike, and who are these subcontractors who have had long histories with him? What kind of work do they do? Got any happy customers?

There's a few flashes of completed homes that may or may not be some of your homes. Is that Mike standing with the plans in the slide show? Where are your homes?

If you've completed some of the plans you have listed, why not have either a photo of the home or a link to some photos of an already built house? Computer renderings are getting better, but they're pretty sterile. Although- a gallery of completed work would do that and not clutter up the page, I suppose.

[Unforgiven]

The framework looks pretty good and well thought out and organized, but the content is lacking and needs further development.
The blurred edge effects in some of the photographs are a bit much, and is distracting, as is the little Facebook symbol that slides up and down the side of the page.
Your website designer is one of those guys with a stupid name that insists on plastering it everywhere on your site. If it costs a little extra to remove it it's probably worth it.
If I were a potential home buyer that was not using a Realtor I would especially take note of the percentages you are giving away. Consider removing the incentives and invite Realtors to inquire.
A photo gallery would be great, as Lav said. The renderings aren't a very good representation of your company's work. You would almost be better off with a photo of a floor plan than a rendering of a house. Some testimonials would definitely add value.
And if upgrades are standard, they aren't upgrades; they are standard.

[CapitolMike]

Thank you for the feedback. All very valid points (mirrored some of the comments I was getting from friends/family). I will be making some substantial improvements and may check back in for round two at some point.

[Ottoman]

I'd echo the comment about the blurred edges. My vision is bad enough as it is. It tends to distract. Framework is great, simple enough and to the point. Maybe a little light on photos.

[jstoddard]

I'd be happy to send you a copy of my "10 Builder Website Screw-ups and how to avoid them" slides. There are actually 18-19 screw-ups covered now, and climbing ;-) . Send me an email address I can send it to.

The site is pretty good. It's not a home run yet, but compared to many builder sites what you've got so far is a solid "C" so consider these comments tweaks not tear-downs. Getting to a "B" site is just elbow grease.... an "A" costs money because you have to add functionality (see below). Most never get there and don't need to.

CONTACT INFO
Get the phone number and email (or whatever contact info) above the fold on every page, and make it text so somebody can copy it with their mouse and paste it into another application. This is the number one complaint we log - people unable to quickly/easily grab a phone number. It sounds simple and it is.

META-DATA
It doesn't look on first glance like your meta-data (keywords, page titles, alt tags, etc.) are fully fleshed out/baked . Example - the keywords on one page are minimal( agile homes, boise, meridian, idaho, fruitland idaho, fruitland id, - that's all.) This is a big piece of what Google will use to rank the content, so make sure it's right It's just as important as the content you can see. Ditto with any incoming links - make sure you're recruiting high-quality relevant sites with similar meta-data to link back to you. If you're not getting in the top 5 results you will typically need to strengthen the relevance between your meta-data and the content on the pages. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is very important but not anything you have to spend money on- just follow Google's guidelines and continually test your search rankings.

I'd recommend developing your meta-data generally for the company as part of your mission statement - and then rolling that down into all your marketing so it is 100% consistent. That's another story for another day.

CALL TO ACTION:
There are nowhere near enough "calls to action". You need to formulate a one-click "contact us" mechanism in every section of the site - don't make users go back to a "contact us" page. Different ways to do this - it won't necessarily be the same on every section.

CRM
I hope what forms etc. you have there now are feeding your back-end sales system directly. If not, they should be. You're going to want to be able to correlate your web traffic with sales /starts /closings.

ANALYTICS:
I'd need to look at your analytics to see how the site was supporting what users were looking for, etc. so can't comment on that. If you don't have full analytics up and running - that's a major problem because you have no way of knowing. Google Analytics are free.

CONTENT:
You do need a lot more content - but not the usual "we offer the highest quality at the lowest price" blah blah blah. The content needs to add value to your VIEWER. You're asking someone to spend their precious time with you - what are you giving them in return ? The "Builder Story" is an important component -that's weak too - but I'm talking about the stuff that will keep a viewer on your page or refer others to it.

VIDEO and SOCIAL
So many ways you could be incorporating video - too much to list here. Testimonials, talks with your crew and staff, neighborhood walks, virtual tours, on and on and on. It's so inexpensive and easy to do -- just do it !

Facebook links are good --- I'd consider putting some or all of the photos out on Flickr or some other social/sharing site so interested parties can help you spread the word. Watermark anything out there with your URL and phone number

INTERACTIVE:
What you have up concerning your homes is OK. The basics are there. Next would be integrating what you have so a potential buyer can configure a home and save that configuration, pre-qualify for financing, etc. This is an entire layer that's missing on your site, but unfortunately there's no easy way (or cheap way) to get it - unless you're using one of the builder ERP products (Dynami, BuildTopia, etc.) that has a homebuyer homepage kind of functionality. It's gonna cost time or money or both to add - but that would be the next level.

I didn't spend very much time - but if there is anything that runs itself (music, photo collage, whatever) - for the most part I'd convert it to something instigated by the reader/user. The user should initiate every action on a website.

If you'd like a more professional assessment give me a shout - I'd be happy to do a thorough review for you. I'd also consider setting up a couple of informal focus groups where you can track users' clicks through the site and gather usability data that way.

Hope that helps
JLS

[tomthetoolman40]

Overall seems okay.

I also didn't like the blurred edges. And I agree with the others, pictures instead of renderings. Also the pics showing a one car garage and the info says three? It does say "photo similar", but it should be the home you are describing, not a different one. I also thought there wasn't enough "gazing time" with the photos on the home page. They change too quickly to be able to "see" them.

The facebook logo and the designers name doesn't bother me though.

[jstoddard]

BTW Mike- I had a client in Boise a few years ago. Big land developer that had a small-midsize building division they were trying to get moving. That's a beautiful area. Back then (2005-ish) it was really hopping. Lots of people moving in from Northern CA... cashing in their over-inflated property there, buying a nice place for cash in Boise and banking the balance.

Lots of craftsman-inspired stuff was selling strongly at that time.
JLS

[Allan Edwards]

Joe, is it conceivable Facebook is such a major force (and growing) that there may come a time where it is more important than a static website. Especially if each house or neighborhood becomes a separate page.

[always-learning]

Mike,
The first thing I gravitate to in a website (that revolves around a service) is a face or person of contact, such as others have said. Without the pic of "mike" in it, it looses some validity, at least for me. I really like knowing who I'm dealing with, and the personalization factor helps make me feel a little more comfortable with whom I may just be dealing with in the near future.

Expanding your bio to something a little more detailed, will really go a long way, IMO Some of the older generation are wary of this new fangled computer stuff, and tend to shy away from sites without a person they can Identify with. Some folks might want to know how you started out, as a way of feeling more comfortable with who you are, now that they know you just a little more.

As soon as I put my pix of me on my website Home page, I started getting more inquiries than I had before. I really don't know why, but I guess some folks just feel sorry for the ugly mug in the pictures.

;-)

[jstoddard]

I think we're already there in many ways - not just Facebook per se, but the idea of a "Web Presence" vs. a "Website". For example - if you're going to send prospects information to their mobile device based on a QR code on your jobsite sign... that really has nothing to do with a marketing website but everything to do with understanding the mobile delivery platform. Where something like Facebook comes in - "It" provides many of those tools for you. Maybe we're talking about a Wordpress site, or something that hasn't reared its head yet - but they all make the static marketing website a smaller and smaller component of the total. My strategy would be to utilize those content management systems so you're not, as a small-volume builder having to manage complicated computer code and so forth. Use tools that do it for you. Right now Facebook brings the tools - but what makes it unique is it's also bringing you the audience. There have been Facebook-like services in the past (AOL, CompuServe, etc.) but none of them amassed the kind of audience you have with Facebook. That makes it pretty hard to ignore.

I'm not ready to say that Facebook is here forever - who knows. But it's definitely here now - it's practically free - so why not take advantage of it ? . For the average small volume / custom company, a simple static website plus a good FB page is a good start. CapitolMike looks to be production-oriented so his website is going to have to offer a little more - for instance a basic model-option catalog. OTOH a small handyman service might not need anything except Facebook right now. Register a domain and point it to your Facebook page. Why not ? It's a question of what is bringing you the required amount of qualified sales traffic.

JLS

[Rick Hoge]

I have a potential new client I've been communicating with the last few days.

About 120 employees.

Last evening he requested that I send him a link to a home I have under construction after a GTM showing the CAD 3D model with a fly around.

I then sent him an additional link to a facebook page with construction progress photos.

When I talked with him this afternoon and asked if he had seen the FB page he said that his company had blocked all FB access because it was wasting too much of the employees time and couldn’t access….then said something about smartphones….

I didn’t pursue it any further.

[CapitolMike]

Thanks for the lengthy reply Joe and everyone else. Joe - I sent you an email.
It's crazy how much can be learned just from getting a few different viewpoints. My web designer and I will be doing some major work over the next month. And I thought my work was mostly done when I got it published....