website and blog feedback?

[shane@detailedreflections]

Hey guys, 

I've been working on the website for my business a bit and was wondering if you guys would care to provide feedback (both good and bad).  I'm new to this whole website thing, so some of it is trial and error.  I also just added blog to it.  I figured I'd put it here so I don't take anything away from the Adam's portion of the discussions.

Anyway, the website is Detailed Reflections

Thanks for taking a look if you do!

[moons21]

Hi Shane,

Good site, the only thing I would suggest is to not load all the info on your home page and to have the tabs at the top open new pages.  This will allow for your site to load faster for people with slower links and aide in caching the site on a proxy or local browser cache.   Only other thing I would make sure of, is you can see some people license plates and for some reason.. some peeps get pretty anal about that, not sure why, but would hate to see someone freak out on you over that if you didn't have their thumbs up for putting their car on your site.

[shane@detailedreflections]

Thanks for the feedback. I’ll have to see how difficult it is to break out each separate page. Admittedly, i went kind of with the default format.

good point about license plates. I never really gave it a second thought about plates. I assumed that since anyone can read it when you’re driving around, there isn’t much difference. I’ll blur them in the interest of avoiding potential problems. 

[ZMAN024]

Hi Shane,  I think you're off to a good start.  It may seem a bit trivial, but you should take a few minutes and read through all of the text and check for spelling and grammar errors.  People can be funny about that and may get turned off thinking it represents an "unpolished" image.  No pun intended.  I like the gallery section you currently have. However, you may want to consider including a highlighted project for each service offered.  Be sure to include before and after shots, where you list the steps and products used with detailed pictures along the way, etc.  Just my two cents......

 

[mc2hill]

9 hours ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

Hey guys, 

I've been working on the website for my business a bit and was wondering if you guys would care to provide feedback (both good and bad).  I'm new to this whole website thing, so some of it is trial and error.  I also just added blog to it.  I figured I'd put it here so I don't take anything away from the Adam's portion of the discussions.

Anyway, the website is Detailed Reflections

Thanks for taking a look if you do!

The site looks nice Shane.  I did not understand the symbols in the Service section.  They did not seem to match the services you listed below them.

[shane@detailedreflections]

14 hours ago, ZMAN024 said:

Hi Shane,  I think you're off to a good start.  It may seem a bit trivial, but you should take a few minutes and read through all of the text and check for spelling and grammar errors.  People can be funny about that and may get turned off thinking it represents an "unpolished" image.  No pun intended.  I like the gallery section you currently have. However, you may want to consider including a highlighted project for each service offered.  Be sure to include before and after shots, where you list the steps and products used with detailed pictures along the way, etc.  Just my two cents......

 

I’ll definitely spend some time proofreading the wording of everything and make sure it’s polished. 

My idea was to use the blog for some before and after and write ups on how we accomplished the results. Your idea makes me wonder how difficult it is to have a clickable photo that would take you to the write up of a given project?

8 hours ago, mc2hill said:

The site looks nice Shane.  I did not understand the symbols in the Service section.  They did not seem to match the services you listed below them.

Honestly, the icons were default template icons. When I started this project I was more concerned with the wording and flow. I never went back to create new ones. Changes will be coming this weekend!

I can’t thank you guys enough for the feedback. It’s great having other eyes look at it and being candid about their thoughts. You guys are awesome. If I can ever help any of you out, please don’t hesitate to ask. 

[funkymonkey1111]

The site looks nice, but I'd agree beefing up the "services" tab---that's what you're pushing, right?  performing services.   Right now, that part is weak--it says you offer cleaning, polishing, and coating.   great!--but i think most people that are trying to track down a detailer have already figured out that a detailer will clean or polish their car.  

 

What i'm saying is this would seem to be where your prices should be, or package descriptions, etc.  if "coating" includes wax, sealant, and/or ceramic, then describe them--and put your baseline prices.

 

As an example--two days ago i was looking for a tire installer to put on some snow tires.   the ones with clear, easy to understand pricing (TMS surcharge, disposal fees, e.g., total cost) got calls from me.   the ones that were screwy presenting prices never even got a second look.   You may be the best detailer in the world, but if i can't find a price--and quickly--you're not even within the realm of consideration with me (and i'm sure others, too)

 

Overall, the site looks good, and i like the pull-down menus at the top.  Good luck going forward!

 

p.s.--one thing i've seen some detailers do, and you may or may not want to do this--is offer a monthly maintenance program--i don't know exactly how you'd do it, but scheduling someone for a quick clean at a bulk price (if they sign for a year, etc.) may increase business.   or, it may not.   just something i've seen other folks do.

 

 

[shane@detailedreflections]

2 hours ago, funkymonkey1111 said:

The site looks nice, but I'd agree beefing up the "services" tab---that's what you're pushing, right?  performing services.   Right now, that part is weak--it says you offer cleaning, polishing, and coating.   great!--but i think most people that are trying to track down a detailer have already figured out that a detailer will clean or polish their car.  

 

What i'm saying is this would seem to be where your prices should be, or package descriptions, etc.  if "coating" includes wax, sealant, and/or ceramic, then describe them--and put your baseline prices.

 

As an example--two days ago i was looking for a tire installer to put on some snow tires.   the ones with clear, easy to understand pricing (TMS surcharge, disposal fees, e.g., total cost) got calls from me.   the ones that were screwy presenting prices never even got a second look.   You may be the best detailer in the world, but if i can't find a price--and quickly--you're not even within the realm of consideration with me (and i'm sure others, too)

 

Overall, the site looks good, and i like the pull-down menus at the top.  Good luck going forward!

 

p.s.--one thing i've seen some detailers do, and you may or may not want to do this--is offer a monthly maintenance program--i don't know exactly how you'd do it, but scheduling someone for a quick clean at a bulk price (if they sign for a year, etc.) may increase business.   or, it may not.   just something i've seen other folks do.

 

 

You bring up some good points. A few people have mentioned pricing and putting it on the website. Part of the hesitation of putting pricing on it is that it makes it more difficult to give accurate pricing. By that I mean how do I provide pricing when it varies so widely?  Vehicle size, condition, etc all come into play. Would you still be interested if it had a price range?

It’s funny you bring that up, I actually have something that I had written detailing different services that covered a price range and an estimated time for the service. I felt that if people saw the pricing with a time, the perceived value may be greater?

Monthly maintenance is an interesting concept. I can throw it out to my regular established clients and see how they’d feel. They’re usually pretty candid on expectations and what they’d consider. 

You folks all are awesome for taking the time to look and offer honest feedback!  I can’t thank you all enough. 

[pirahnah3]

The site loaded quick for me, I know this is a new common layout style and works for a lot of people, not my personal favorite. 

I would def agree that your services offered is lacking, honestly, I would breeze by this page as you are not at all descriptive of what you do, why you do it, and what it does for someone. I realize that each and every customer will have a different needs or desires but you could cover some basics. Make those clickable so that for example cleaning can open into a new tab or new window that describes why  you clean a car and different methods you use and some of their reasons. Help educate while you offer your service, for those that do not know what things are or do this would help them understand what you are doing and why you need to do it. 

When I was viewing your gallery, the images were slow to load once clicked on, or if I use the left and right arrows. Personally I dont think this should be a focal point of your main page, just a couple nice images that when clicked on can open up a larger gallery that offers many photos categorized into what services were offered. IE Freshly washed, Freshly Waxed, New Coatings, Whatever else you want. This way you can get to easily show off what you do and what it can look like when done. I would also think of some before and after photos to show how your services can make a vehicle look better than new. 

Your thought on Monthly Washes is a great one, I would def talk to them and at least bring it up on the site, never know what some people might want. 

As trivial as this can sound considering the area and the water shortages and such, you might want to bring up some water conscious options for folks that have concerns. Or at least a statement to the effect of how you conserve water. Car washing can get a bad name for using a ton of water for no real gain to a lot of folks and the last thing you want are some ticked off folks just out to make your day bad. 

[shane@detailedreflections]

Thanks for the feedback.  I updated the services offered tonight with more work to be done this weekend!  Feel free to check it out, and as always feedback is appreciated and welcomed.

[funkymonkey1111]

Good point on the fact that pricing is not cookie cutter and will obviously vary from a Corolla to a Suburban, or a trashed interior, etc.
 

I like the ranges you put up--that's a good compromise, as well as the disclaimer that prices may be higher on heavily soiled interior---hopefully others weigh in on this as well.  

[pirahnah3]

Great writeups on your services, should help people make some decisions on what they want you to do for them. It could just be me but the "What our customers say about us" section has a weird grey block behind it. I am sure it was meant to be a backdrop to read against but it doesnt cover the entire text area and it makes iut slightly harder to read. At least for me. Maybe others are not having that issues. 

Also maybe its just my OCD but it seems odd that if you only use the links at the top of the page it navigates you up and down the page as you follow the links. The three in question would be FAQ, About us, and Contact in top of page order but on your website they are in the order of About us, FAQ, What people say, and then Contact. Side thought also just occourd to me, you could make each of your headings under FAQ and Services to be expanding if you wanted to shrink your homepage a little bit. IE click on the question or detail option and have it open up the space below it with the info in it.