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OTSDetail

OTSDetail

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If you guys could take a look at my site and let me know what you think I'd really appreciate it.

Off the Shelf Detail - Home

I've spent a lot of time building the site the way it is now, but I still feel like my detailing page leaves something to be desired... so if you have any thoughts or suggestions by all means don't hesitate to tell.
 
Looks good. I like the simplicity of it. You might want to consider a package comparison chart like this. I have lots of people ask me the differences, and while I have them on the phone I have them pull this up so when we end the call they can remember what's what. Easily done in excel. If someone wants my template I'll make it available for anyone to download and modify for their liking.

Scott
 
Looks good to me. When you say Armor All interior. Do you mean armor all as you purchase at walmart? or by armor do you mean protect the interior? And for your packages, Personally i'd start with the cheapest on top. Cause if someone who knows nothing about detailing clicks on your page and sees $220 right off the bat they might be turned off right away without taking some time and scrolling down. Just my 2 cents. Otherwise very nice website, easy to navigate and nice to see you sell products on there too
 
medicscott said:
Looks good. I like the simplicity of it. You might want to consider a package comparison chart like this. I have lots of people ask me the differences, and while I have them on the phone I have them pull this up so when we end the call they can remember what's what. Easily done in excel. If someone wants my template I'll make it available for anyone to download and modify for their liking.

Scott
Click to expand...

I actually do have one! All the way down at the bottom of the page! :D not the best place for it but I couldnt find a better spot. Mine is coded in HTML though not excel, so modifying it takes a little bit more work.

Ryan509 said:
Looks good to me. When you say Armor All interior. Do you mean armor all as you purchase at walmart? or by armor do you mean protect the interior? And for your packages, Personally i'd start with the cheapest on top. Cause if someone who knows nothing about detailing clicks on your page and sees $220 right off the bat they might be turned off right away without taking some time and scrolling down. Just my 2 cents. Otherwise very nice website, easy to navigate and nice to see you sell products on there too
Click to expand...

Armor basically protecting the inside with an interior sealant. I should probably charge more for it but hell, it doesn't take that long.

I do also agree with rearranging so that paint correction services are at the bottom. I thought about reorganizing the whole thing and doing just "Exterior" "Interior" and "Paint Correction" and a few sub categories.

And yes, I do sell products! The whole "Off the Shelf" thing was mainly meant to be my own brand of products and performance parts. I have a few already developed but I'm nowhere near ready to put it on the shelf yet.
 
OTSDetail said:
I actually do have one! All the way down at the bottom of the page! :D not the best place for it but I couldnt find a better spot

Yes you do, lol just saw it...make a separate link for compare packages...will save you time in the long run.
Click to expand...
 
I have a few observations, but overall it looks well. First take 24 hrs and re read the website again. Look at your repeating words. On the home page you use "Specialized" within 2 areas of each other.

I would move the phone number under your company logo, and make it just as large. rather than the small text you have up by the search logo. Because this page remains at the top each time you change tabs, it will always be in the customers eyes.

On the detailing page you have no pictures showing. One of the things most of us drool over is the before and after shots, 50/50 shots, and the reflection shots. You have done a great job showcasing the services and packages you offer. but I am a little confused as to which note I should follow by the dual asterisks in the first sentence. Do I need to use the note at the bottom of the page, or are you referring to the excessive soil?

Maybe list all the disclaimers and notes at the bottom of the page and explain why you would need the disclaimers?

As a consumer, and looking at your website I would like to know if you do mobile, or are you a brick and mortar. It is not until I get to the contact page that I can find out if you are basically a permanent location.

One other thing that you may need to add is what protection do I as a consumer have bringing the vehicle to you? Are you licensed... bonded...Insured? These are things a consumer worries about dropping off a car to a shop.

And one last thing to think about. If i get a gold package, what can you sell me to keep me coming back? Maybe a maintenance plan?
 
TheCamel said:
I have a few observations, but overall it looks well. First take 24 hrs and re read the website again. Look at your repeating words. On the home page you use "Specialized" within 2 areas of each other.

I would move the phone number under your company logo, and make it just as large. rather than the small text you have up by the search logo. Because this page remains at the top each time you change tabs, it will always be in the customers eyes.

On the detailing page you have no pictures showing. One of the things most of us drool over is the before and after shots, 50/50 shots, and the reflection shots. You have done a great job showcasing the services and packages you offer. but I am a little confused as to which note I should follow by the dual asterisks in the first sentence. Do I need to use the note at the bottom of the page, or are you referring to the excessive soil?

Maybe list all the disclaimers and notes at the bottom of the page and explain why you would need the disclaimers?

As a consumer, and looking at your website I would like to know if you do mobile, or are you a brick and mortar. It is not until I get to the contact page that I can find out if you are basically a permanent location.

One other thing that you may need to add is what protection do I as a consumer have bringing the vehicle to you? Are you licensed... bonded...Insured? These are things a consumer worries about dropping off a car to a shop.

And one last thing to think about. If i get a gold package, what can you sell me to keep me coming back? Maybe a maintenance plan?
Click to expand...

I think you read my mind. I was thinking of moving or adding a photo album on the detailing page as well just like the home page. Almost the same photos would be on there, but just another place to showcase them. I was also thinking about moving the disclaimers to the bottom of the page as well to make room for said gallery and also redo them for less confusion.

I do need to add the insurance and all that somewhere as well. Like I said I just feel like some stuff is missing from the detailing page.

As for a maintenance plan... it's a good idea, but I'm not 100% sure what I would even do for it. Any ideas?
 
I viewed the site and it seems like you have a very good starting point.

On a good note, the site seems to have pretty good organization, it's clean, and it's not too boring. You've thrown in a few extra colors but not too many. Overall, I like it.

On the not so good note, I'd double check your text. I saw a few places that seem to have extra spaces, etc.

And the one quirky thing I saw... if you click the services tab at the top (the tab, not one of the two drop-downs), it loads a blank page. Might be a good place for a quick summary and link to the extra services you offer? Could just remove the link too.

Oh, and another thing, I like the contact information at the top of the page. However, I think if you're stationary an address might be a good addition. Might look good before the hours on the right, below "Serving Metro Richmond, VA".

The number one thing to remember is to take customer feedback about the site into full consideration. If people say something doesn't make sense, and it's not just one person out of 1,000, there might be a problem. Don't be afraid to ask users if they would like to provide feedback on the site. Don't bombard them like a lot of places do anymore, that's annoying, but maybe a quick hint on their invoice or something similar.
 
Others in the thread make some very good points.

Pictures are impactful. If you do great work, take great pictures and display them to fully show the quality of your workmanship.

The Credit Card pic's at the bottom of the main fold and other pages are hyperlinked. You may want to take another look at the page those c.c. pic's are hyperlinked to.

Under "What We Specialize In" --- Sub Categories of each --- You could hyperlink each and show pics of you and your team in action performing those services. Videos are helpful also.

Some of the fonts appear to be very small. Maybe I need new glasses.

Good Luck.

Ray
 
On the comparison chart rather than dashes I'd have the spot that aren't included blank... For the older folk haha
 
bump. any more ideas or suggestions? I just added a gallery with a bunch of photos last night. Just need to start getting my name out there more. I NEED to be busy with detailing this year.

No longer on a business plan at the moment so ignore the lack of a footer or favicon on the top of the website.
 
To me, it is a bit confusing that you have "Detailing" and "Services" as two separate links at the top.

If you offer services other than detailing, it would seem to make more sense to me if you had a "Services" tab as you currently do, and list Detailing as one of the options in the drop down menu.
 
Also, consider being more direct in your statements.

Rather than:
"If you are interested in any detailing services, please give us a call and schedule an appointment! "

What about:
"Contact us now to schedule your appointment!"


More Examples:
"Although we specialize mainly in automotive detailing, we can also detail motorcycles, boats, jet skis, trailers, etc. Contact us for a quote!"
....
"Motorcycles, Boats, Jet Skis... We do it all, and we do it right!"

"If you would like something that is not on the list, we will do our best to accommodate your needs. Please feel free to give us a call and we will let you know if we can help!!"
...
"Custom services are available. If you don't see exactly what you are looking for, contact us to schedule a free consultation!"


The idea here is to direct the customer to contact you. Don't ask them to contact you if they maybe possibly kind of are sort of thinking about getting a detail... CONTACT US NOW! :)
 
I don't remember looking at it before, so can't compare vs your original one, but to me it's a good starting point. - your website will be something that is constantly changing and getting updated over time.

A couple of things from looking it over from a first time perspective:

The text on a lot of pages is pretty small, a lot of detailing customers can be older (they are more likely to have expendable income). Small text + older people (worse eyes) isn't a great combo.

On your packages page, I would start with the smallest package and work your way up. That is pretty common on most website for any business, so when a customer see's your first package as the most expensive, they might think that's your cheapest and not even look to see the rest (lots of people move very fast with little patience online). Also, I was confused on the titles the packages, to me platinum would be your highest package, not gold. Naturally I would think it would go bronze, silver, gold, platinum, but maybe that's just me.

If you're trying to get your name out there more, I would highly recommend doing whatever you can to improve your SEO, and then improve it more, and then more. I tried looking for you on Google and went through ten pages of listings for auto detailing in Richmond VA and Mechanicsville VA and you didn't show up. Get your business listed on things like Yelp, Google Plus Google maps, and any and every other listing site out there, ask for reviews from customers that use those sites and this will definitely help your rankings. Any work on your SEO will pay off ten-fold, people find you online by being near the top of search results, do whatever you can to get there.
 
zmcgovern45 said:
Also, consider being more direct in your statements.

Rather than:
"If you are interested in any detailing services, please give us a call and schedule an appointment! "

What about:
"Contact us now to schedule your appointment!"


More Examples:
"Although we specialize mainly in automotive detailing, we can also detail motorcycles, boats, jet skis, trailers, etc. Contact us for a quote!"
....
"Motorcycles, Boats, Jet Skis... We do it all, and we do it right!"

"If you would like something that is not on the list, we will do our best to accommodate your needs. Please feel free to give us a call and we will let you know if we can help!!"
...
"Custom services are available. If you don't see exactly what you are looking for, contact us to schedule a free consultation!"


The idea here is to direct the customer to contact you. Don't ask them to contact you if they maybe possibly kind of are sort of thinking about getting a detail... CONTACT US NOW! :)
Click to expand...

Advice taken! Probably much better to "force" them to call rather than have them think about it. Check it out now and let me know what you think! Changed a few things around too.
 
jarred767 said:
I don't remember looking at it before, so can't compare vs your original one, but to me it's a good starting point. - your website will be something that is constantly changing and getting updated over time.

A couple of things from looking it over from a first time perspective:

The text on a lot of pages is pretty small, a lot of detailing customers can be older (they are more likely to have expendable income). Small text + older people (worse eyes) isn't a great combo.

On your packages page, I would start with the smallest package and work your way up. That is pretty common on most website for any business, so when a customer see's your first package as the most expensive, they might think that's your cheapest and not even look to see the rest (lots of people move very fast with little patience online). Also, I was confused on the titles the packages, to me platinum would be your highest package, not gold. Naturally I would think it would go bronze, silver, gold, platinum, but maybe that's just me.

If you're trying to get your name out there more, I would highly recommend doing whatever you can to improve your SEO, and then improve it more, and then more. I tried looking for you on Google and went through ten pages of listings for auto detailing in Richmond VA and Mechanicsville VA and you didn't show up. Get your business listed on things like Yelp, Google Plus Google maps, and any and every other listing site out there, ask for reviews from customers that use those sites and this will definitely help your rankings. Any work on your SEO will pay off ten-fold, people find you online by being near the top of search results, do whatever you can to get there.
Click to expand...

My SEO went a little to #### when I stopped my business plan. I still haven't really figured out the SEO portion yet which is why I think business is slow. I am on google maps right now, just not a priority for them. I am on google + & yahoo business as well. Just put my stuff in for yelp too.

The problem is SEO. I have tried but it's never enough. Still haven't gotten that far yet. And I only know the basics of where to begin with that.

I also reorganized my site a little. Put the least expensive at the top. And then made the text a little bigger. Is it any better? I had the text relatively small so I could fit a lot more on one page of my screen.
 
SEO is a beast in and of itself. Here are a couple of suggestions that may help.

Don't try to optimize the content of your site to get better ranking, write it focused on your customers. Don't stuff your content with keywords hoping to rank better for those; I didnt read your entire site, but I wanted to get this other there for anyone who reads this later on. Google changes their search algorithm constantly and by trying to trick it into getter a better position you could be hurting yourself in the long term.

Try to focus each page on a very specific topic. The more specific you get the easier it will be to rank for that topic. Think about how hard it would be to compete with all of the car retailers in the world. Now think about how it would be to rank for car detailing in {your city or town}. There will be less people looking for that topic, but those that are looking will be more qualified customers. Plus, your only competing with others within your geographic area.

I would start a blog as well and document some of your jobs. The blog should be under your current we site address. Something like of detail.com/blog. This will make sure the blog pages are factored into your overall sites ranking. Blogs can help expand your website "net". Instead of having just 5 pages this would grow your site over time. This also helps Google determine your website topic.

If you go the route of the blog, don't forget to post a link on social media when you create the blog post. This gets the link In front of everyone following you, but it also creates one more references for Google to follow.

If I can think of anything more, I will add it. I know this is a ton of information to take in, let me know if you have any questions.
 
Site looks good! Everyone's comments and inputs are very valid. This will definitely be an ongoing thing (updating your website).

The only suggestions I have are to maybe use a more professional font for your navigation bar and make the buttons and text bigger. This will be more clear and bigger buttons is definitely the trend.
 
Do you use google webmaster tools?
If not... do it.
If so:
Google analytics?
Have you uploaded a sitemap in xml format? http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/
Do you have a robots.txt file?
On social media, blogs, etc.. link to interior pages, not just the home page.
 
Looks nice. Perhaps add a "Testamonials" or "Reviews" tab? When I look at websites and contemplate goods/services, it's always encouraging to read about others experiences. With Testamonials, you don't necessarily have to have it uncensored. Just contact a handful of former clients and have them write a short paragraph that you can include as a quotes.

And I agree- phone number under "premier auto detail" in the title bar. It'll make it easier to find the number on mobile devices (maybe).
 
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