PLEASE CRITIQUE OUR WEBSITE

by CambriaCorp

Posted: 15 years ago 26 replies

WEB DESIGN

Hello my fellow warriors!

I have been trying to convince my big boss to agree on re-designing our website but he always end up winning (he is the boss, naturally). I am thinking if I can get feedbacks, comments and pointers from all the other experts I may be able to present a more reasonable argument as to why there is a need to revamp our website which is Custom Software | Custom Programming by Cambria Custom Software Experts.

I am hoping for your generous and honest response.

Thank you and more power!

#critique #redesign #website

rawservices 15 years ago

Very basic, way to much text, not enough headlines that explain what you are.

Someone must know what you are, and what your offering/doing within 5 seconds of coming to your page.

Hope this helps,

-Ryan
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vrostad 15 years ago

I agree that there need to be more outstanding headlines that tells what you do in 3-5 seconds.

In my opinion there is not too much text, but you need to have something to lead the reader to that text. People usually wil not start reading if they are not capture by the great headline.

Try reading the great e-book of Mark Joiner called "The Irresistable Offer - How To Sell Your Product or Service in 3 Seconds or Less". Here it goes into the issue of catsching the customers attention right away. You can find the book on amazon.com or in almost any bookstore in the US.

Warmest regards,

Victor A. Roestad
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CambriaCorp 15 years ago

Thanks guys...my boss will be visiting our Philippine office this week and what I plan to do is print out all your comments and suggestion and discuss it with him together with our web design team based in Makati, Manila PH office.

They seem to be so busy with the current projects and the need to re-design the website is not a given a lot of importance. I've lost several proposals because the client-to-be are so concerned about the look and feel of our website (even though they are really asking for a custom software and not it is not a website design that they require).

More comments are welcome.
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indigo 15 years ago

The pictures aren't techie enough. Due to smiling women they seem to be more suitable for Family\Mom\housekeeping site, not for programming and computer-related services.
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CambriaCorp

15 years ago

thanks indigo, I will make a note of that comment. actually there are some members of our team who wishes to use photos of our staff and the other half insist on using something else not the faces of smiling women.

Don't you think it is more personable if we get to post the real photos of our staff? What can you suggest?

Btw, i think the warriors are too busy to give out their comments. I am not asking people to just visit our site because we are already receiving reasonable numbers of visitors on a daily basis. The thing is they don't turn out as leads, meaning we are not catching their interest even if we honestly provide the perfect combination of services etc...

Thanks
2 replies

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"Let's have it your way, let us create your software!"

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Loren Woirhaye 15 years ago

Blah. How boring.

This site is written like a technical manual. The site doesn't
look bad but as a sales tool it is weak - which is exactly what
you'll get emulating "corporate-looking" sites as your writer
and designer did here.

The content here reads like it was written by a computer.
No spice. No passion. No excitement... and no reason
for anyone to do business with your company instead
of 1000s of competing companies who do the same stuff.
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Loren Woirhaye

15 years ago

Originally Posted by CambriaCorp

The thing is they don't turn out as leads, meaning we are not catching their interest even if we honestly provide the perfect combination of services etc...

That's because your site doesn't do anything to sell
visitors on becoming clients.

Get a writer who can sell. Like me.

Thanks

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CambriaCorp 15 years ago

Thanks Loren., I guess truth hurts huh!

Anyway, we have our own copywriter that we just hired recently on a per project basis but I will still mention your comments and input to our boss when we get to discuss this over.

More comments are welcome, I am only trying to gather enough feedback to convince them on the revamp. DM will be here by Thursday, thanks!
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"Let's have it your way, let us create your software!"
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- jimisan 15 years ago
  
  I would suggest that you change your navigation from example to sample. I think sample sounds better.
  
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CambriaCorp 15 years ago

Thanks jimisan, I think I agree to that because whenever I reply to client inquiry I normally use "sample" to pertain to our example then followed by a link to that page.

Again thanks for the helpful input...
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"Let's have it your way, let us create your software!"
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clarke1000 15 years ago

I'm sorry but I have to agree that there is far too much text and too few headlines - too little whitespace - low impact - it is basically awash with words with virtually no attention grabbing "visuals/headlines" to explain why one should read.
It is very clean looking however
Clarke
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CambriaCorp 15 years ago

Thanks Clarke.

Appreciate your comment....
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CambriaCorp 15 years ago

Again, I would like to thank all of you, kind-hearted warriors for your willingness to share your thoughts about our site, I was able to discuss it with my boss and here's what we have come up....This is not the final site but your thoughts are welcome and much appreciated.

http://cambriacorp.com/index.asp

Please let me know what you guys think...
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Loren Woirhaye 15 years ago

Still basically the same. I wouldn't expect a boost
in response at all. Minor changes like removing
staff photos because they aren't in line with
Cambria's "professional" image is not likely to
help the company differentiate itself at all. In
fact the new website is colder and more devoid
of involving content than before.

I happen to like pictures of staff on websites
and in catalogs - and pictures of people often
boosts response.

In any case, you've missed the target with these
theme changes - it's the writing and response
mechanism here that are ineffective.
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- justinjp 15 years ago
  
  the new design is a bit better but still.
  Don't want to offend you ,but the website design is a bit boring. Those kind of pages people just close them right away.
  Good luck
  
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Eric Stanley 15 years ago

Looks super clean. I like the color scheme and flow of the content. Perhaps you could offer some interactivity to engage your customers.
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- ladystrange 15 years ago
  
  I guess the problem is that you need to tell the customer what you can do for him now. First sentence in bold writing- no one cares what you did in 1984.
  
  The words need cut down and more action words in place
  "Cambria has been developing software since 1984. Over time, we have developed a library of software that we can modify to a client's purposes."
  
  this should read something like this
  "Cambria has been developing software since 1984. We will develop a library of software modified to your specific needs."
  
  under this should be a customer testimonial.
  
  I now you are dealing will businesses but you need to tell the customer Immediately what you can do for them now. They do not want to read through all the words to figure it out as a matter of fact. I think you could shorten it even more.
  "Cambria will develop a library of software modified to your specific needs."
  the 1984 thing is a good back up point just lower down in the copy.
  
  I have to tell you that site looks extremely cold boring and corporate for a web hosting service and website design service. I think you guys ought to take a look at the competition. People want cutting edge technology- and the style of your website just says outdated.
  
  sorry
  
  Thanks
  
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thefreelancesquad 15 years ago

Hello, the website is extremely basic. It lacks the flair of current web design. In addition, there is no call to action on the website, and not a clear picture of what your website has to offer. Actually, at first glance I thought you were in the health field
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- CambriaCorp 15 years ago
  
  Thanks to everyone for all your inputs. This thread will still be on for another week so comments are welcome. I really appreciate it. I will share this once again with our Design team and will keep you all posted.
  
  Let me know if I can help you with anything and if I could I gladly would.
  
  More Power my fellow warriors.
  
  Thanks
  
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  Custom Software, Mobile Applications, Web Design and E-Commerce
  **Mountain View, CA**
  
  "Let's have it your way, let us create your software!"
  
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susanwu 15 years ago

it looks too simple and basic... use some related images to your business so it looks visually more pleasant
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- webdesignservice 15 years ago
  
  I agree with the comment above.
  Although the revised site is way better than the first one but still its not enough.
  
  The text color in the side bar doesn't blend well. Try another color combination.
  
  Cheers.
  
  Thanks
  
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dawnpeterson 15 years ago

Hi,

I agree with most of the comments above. If you need any help with the redesign, I'd be happy to talk with you about some options.

Dawn.
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jimisan 15 years ago

I don't know whether it's the problem with my ISP's server or something else....It's taking more than 2 minutes to load and appear very busy.......
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in51der 15 years ago

Hi
The site looks professional but a little old fashioned. I agree with the comments regarding too much text. You probably need to make the design more punchy and direct with bold use of graphics and colour. More "web 2" if you know what I mean. Hope this helps.
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SethTheUBotGuy 15 years ago

you need a hierarchy of attention grabbers. the way it is now, the first thing my eye notices is some pictures of women smiling. the second thing is cambria corporation. the third is the main headline, and at that point I still have no idea what it is your guys do. the first place your eye goes to should tell the whole story with one glance. the second thing should explain a little deeper, and so on
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francesro 15 years ago

A little plain. Would be nice if you could hyperlink your headings. Agree with the above post.
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