Is my website good enough?

28 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
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Greetings, Everyone.

I have been working on getting my website up to par, as well as, developing and offering a free report on my site to get people into my sales funnel.

I am about to start promoting it and looking for ways to optimize it. The link to my site is in my signature. I would appreciate it if you would take a look and let me know if you see any huge red flags before I move forward. It is really time for me to get out of preparation mode and into action mode. Also, if I am posting to forums as one way to promote the site, is the tag line below, ok? Should it be different?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated! Also, any ideas or recommendations for how you might approach promoting it are always welcome.

Thank you again for your help! :-)
#good #website
  • Profile picture of the author kandabrewer
    Hi. Your signature line has a lot of words and none of them are really catching my attention. Try cutting the words down to just ones with the most impact and maybe make the link boldfaced so it stands out more. Shorten "Microsoft Excel" to "MS Excel" - also, try using words like Discover, Easy, Proven, Results, New, etc. to make your program stand out (among all the other programs) for the prospective student.

    On your webpage, there is no immediate call to action - until the pop up. Also, there is a lot of precious space in the header that is just blank - try putting your offer in that space? Also, all the best info is too far down the page. Some of us still have smaller monitors so bear that in mind :-)

    Hope that helps!
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thank you, KandaBrewer!

      I appreciate the feedback. I modified my signature. Hoping it is better. Also, you confirmed what I was thinking about the website. I need to have a call to action there on the site, outside of the pop up. There is a good deal of blank space, as you mentioned. I do not know a lot about Wordpress, so I have to figure out how to access it.

      Also, I will think about what I can do about the info at the bottom of the page.

      Thanks for your feedback!

      Best regards,

      Cynthia
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  • Profile picture of the author eComCoder
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thank you eComCoder.

      Thank you for taking time to reply. The linked text is: "Stop struggling and get Results!"
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  • Profile picture of the author uce
    To be honest I would choose a different wordpress theme or hire a designer. The wordpress theme you are using looks a bit tired and not really enticing. It is not only the content which counts but also how the content is being wrapped. If you have two Christmas presents, one a diamond wrapped in newspaper and one parcel with something cheap but wrapped in shiny paper and with a ribbon, but you do not know the content, you most likely would choose the one with the most beautiful wrapping. That is the same with websites. If the presentation does not look professional, people are not very likely to take the effort to read the content or buy from you. Best Regards, Christina
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thank you, Christina.

      Actually, I did use a designer. He put the website together and I have been working on it once he handed it over. I can use Wordpress, but not very well. Thank you for your feedback. I get your point about presentation. Thank you for taking time to reply. :-)

      -Best regards,

      Cynthia
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  • Profile picture of the author RefuseToLose
    Let me give you some advice about your page. Don't take any of this critique in a bad way. You are doing more than most people and you are heading in the right direction so I want to give you some advice to keep you moving forward and not discourage you.

    With that being said let me jump right in...

    1. The top of the page has way too much wasted space. 40% of your space is wasted on a white background with tiny letters you can hardly read. Your logo is the only thing that stands out and it tells me nothing about the THREE W's...

    Where Am I?
    What Can I Do Here?
    Why Should I Do It?

    Your top half of the page doesn't answer the question once I land on the page.

    I just see your logo, small text and a big generic stock photo of people smiling. This tells me nothing about 'Where Am I and what can I do here?'.

    So you need a good headline and relevant information to what people can expect once they land on your website.

    2. Below that is a section about what you offer.

    First of all get rid of that lousy testimonial. It screams fake and you haven't even presented an offer as to what you are even doing on this website. Why would you put a testimonial there?

    That point also applies to the section where you have the 3 training courses. You haven't explained to me who you are, what you do or even gave me any reasons why I should even consider training at this point.

    The 3 courses you offer are laid out great. But the benefits are all very weak and since you haven't highlighted why I should even consider training for these 3 areas. You have no shot of convincing anyone to care enough to read any of this information.

    There are other things I could nitpick like the call to action and bottom part of your page are lackluster, but it's all pointless to address those points until you fix the problems I mentioned above.

    If you need some further help I can go into more detail with you. Feel free to reach out to me and I'll see what I can do to point you in the right direction.

    But don't let this discourage you. You are halfway there. You just need some structure on your site and some little know how with sales copy techniques and you'll have a great site to build off of.
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thank you, Refuse To Lose!

      I so appreciate the feedback,. Almost everything you are saying really resonates with me. Thank you!

      I was using a tool called LayerSlider for Wordpress and I had text overlaying the picture on the Home Page, however, the page seemed to be loading slowly so I began deleting layers so that there was just the photo you see. I will see if I can add another layer that answers the 3 W's you mentioned.

      I also need to figure out how to edit the white space you mentioned. I noticed that, as well. My Wordpress skills are not the strongest, so I have to figure it out.

      Good point about the testimonial. I collect evaluations when I teach. Most people say things like, "Great class!" or "learned a lot, thanks!" This was a longer comment, so I decided to use it. However, it would probably be more appropriate on the "Register for a Workshop Page". I am only using comments that people have actually made, and most of them are pretty short.

      Good point about the information at the bottom of the page. At the very least, I need to let people know what the benefit is and how I can help them before going into the information about the courses.

      Thank you for your feedback. it is very helpful. You have not made me feel discouraged. I am in a position where I have to begin selling my courses. Right now, I just have to do my best to address the issues you brought up, and I need to address them as quickly as possible.

      I appreciate your offer to offer further advice. I will definitely reach out to you.

      Thank you,again!

      -Cynthia
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  • Profile picture of the author Regional Warrior
    Originally Posted by C and E Vincent View Post

    Greetings, Everyone.

    I have been working on getting my website up to par, as well as, developing and offering a free report on my site to get people into my sales funnel.

    I am about to start promoting it and looking for ways to optimize it. The link to my site is in my signature. I would appreciate it if you would take a look and let me know if you see any huge red flags before I move forward. It is really time for me to get out of preparation mode and into action mode. Also, if I am posting to forums as one way to promote the site, is the tag line below, ok? Should it be different?

    Any assistance is greatly appreciated! Also, any ideas or recommendations for how you might approach promoting it are always welcome.

    Thank you again for your help! :-)
    Just so you know this type of thread could be looked at as self promotion and signature spamming there were rule changes back in March and June this year...
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thanks, Regional Warrior.

      I was not aware of that. I will check the rules.

      Best regards,

      Cynthia
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  • Profile picture of the author FreelanceBaron
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thank you so much, FreelanceBarron.

      I appreciate your encouragement and feedback :-)

      Best regards,


      Cynthia
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  • Profile picture of the author shaunybb
    Hey there!


    Your site loads pretty fast so that's good!


    However that generic looking image of the office people is a turn off...


    Try and add a personal picture or at least a branded picture!


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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thank you, Shaunybb.

      When you say branded picture, what do you mean? Are you thinking perhaps a picture with my logo? I also use other stock photos of people working on computers. I also have pictures of just hands on keyboards.

      Thanks again for your help :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author shaunybb
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    ====>READY To Be Successful Online? FIND OUT more!?<====
    You FAIL online because you have the WRONG information.....
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  • Profile picture of the author Gambino
    A few quick observations (note: I viewed it on an iPhone).

    1. The logo looks kind of strange in my opinion. Doesn't seem to have any uniqueness to it or even be related to computers, teaching, learning, education, etc.
    2. The green buttons on the homepage don't show in the correct area on mobile. The show underneath all of the course descriptions instead of each button showing under the appropriate course description.
    3. The sales funnel seems strange to me. I would have them commit to signing up for excel training and then have them select the year they want after they sign up. There are a lot of barriers like that that you can move to after the customer has opened their wallet. Personally, I would record the training as I think it would be hard to get more than a few users to sign up for a certain day (especially at the beginning) then offer a consultation period where you answer questions 1 on 1. In my opinion, it'd be easier to get sales that way.

    As far as your signature, I'd change "Stop struggling and get Results!" To something like "Master Microsoft Office in 2 Hours!"
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thanks, Gambino!

      I appreciate the feedback. I was also not aware of the issue with viewing the site on mobile devices. You have also provided great feedback regarding the logo and the sales funnel. I will take another look at the site keeping in mind your feedback. I am currently, just teaching the Excel course, so it may be best to remove the other courses from the site, to simplify it.

      Thanks, again for your feedback also on my tag line. One of the struggles I have been having is that the courses I teach have been adapted from a course I was teaching as a contract instructor at a local college (they outreached to businesses, so I wasn't teaching students) it is an in depth training. so each level, beginning, intermediate, and advanced will take about 5 hours.
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  • Profile picture of the author essentialzdesign
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  • Profile picture of the author ronitv318
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  • I have to agree with most of the points above. The website does load quickly and that's awesome. Try to rework the typography of your site.

    More specifically.

    1. Try to make better use of the section above the fold (the hero). If registering for your workshop is the most important thing you could have your visitors do, then put up a button for them right there, on top of the fold.

    2. The footer is incomplete. The social buttons seem like they are cut into two.

    3. Keep the copy consistent. There are sections of copy that's in bold and the rest of it is normal. It's too distracting.

    4. You might want to choose to go with full-width pages for each of your actual courses?

    Ash
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thank you, Ash.

      All very good points. I have been trying to figure out how to clean up the text on the bottom, I noticed the difference in the fonts.

      Also, thank you for the feedback on how to use the white space at the top of the page. I am still working on how to edit that part, but for me, a link to the registration page would be most important.

      I will review the site and each of the points you made. Thanks again for responding to my post.

      Best regards,


      Cynthia
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      • Originally Posted by C and E Vincent View Post

        Thank you, Ash.

        All very good points. I have been trying to figure out how to clean up the text on the bottom, I noticed the difference in the fonts.

        Also, thank you for the feedback on how to use the white space at the top of the page. I am still working on how to edit that part, but for me, a link to the registration page would be most important.

        I will review the site and each of the points you made. Thanks again for responding to my post.

        Best regards,


        Cynthia
        You are welcome, Cynthia. It's commendable that you took initiative. That puts you far ahead of many people already. Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author kaaregarnes
    You shouldnt use that much real estate on a stock photo.

    also: consider if your second paragraphs are better than your first, (Do you really need to tell people that Excel is a powerful and widely-used tool?)
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    Music and beer afficinado with a keen interest in UX and copywriting,
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thank you, Kaaregarnes. I appreciate your post. I will probably need to use a stock photo, but perhaps, as you suggested, I should not have it span the whole screen. Perhaps, I might add the free report form (and if possible a register now button?) to the left and have the picture on the right. Please let me know your thoughts on this, if you would. I just have to figure out how to do this in Wordpress.

      Good point on the feedback about the paragraph! :-) It almost seems as if I can get rid of the first paragraph all together. I will revisit the text about the courses. Thank you so much for taking time to post.

      Best regards,

      Cynthia
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  • I checked out your website and overall it looks very, very professional. Your popup window also looks great and should get you a decent opt in rate.

    One small change that I would recommend that could have a huge impact is your headline.

    As it is, it's not bad.

    But instead of "Don't Be Left Behind" I would try the following headline instead:

    Mastering Microsoft Office Can Make The Difference Between Getting That Promotion...Or Getting Left Behind

    And With Our Advanced Microsoft Office Training Tools You Can Become A "Master" In Just A Few Weeks Time!

    I think that could help you a lot but you should definitely split test it against your current copy first and see what works best.

    If you have any other questions, let me know
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    "The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do"
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Greetings, Zachary. Thank you. I love the headlines you wrote. I agree, they are much better! Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts and these headlines :-)
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      • Originally Posted by C and E Vincent View Post

        Greetings, Zachary. Thank you. I love the headlines you wrote. I agree, they are much better! Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts and these headlines :-)
        Awesome, I'm really glad you like what I created for you. I think you will get a much better response.

        I would strongly recommend investing in better sales copy than what you have now. This kind of investment can pay off very, very quickly.

        In any case I wish you all of the best!
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        "The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do"
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  • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
    I would suggest you pay a visit to this section of the Warrior Forum and do some studying of the Sticky's It will help you improve your site Copywriting. A good headline and a few decent bullet points will help improve the interest in your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Luke Dennison
    It looks nice sure, but I think if you're trying to sell Excel courses (broing no offence) then you should try to make it seem less boring.

    Maybe a quiz "How much do you know about MS Word", and then when you reveal there score, be like "and this is the score needed if you want a job".

    Something to make it a little more interactive. Cant put my finger on it really but im sure you get what I mean
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thank you, Luke. I actually use to have a quiz pop up rather than the Free report pop up. I decided to put the form pop up on the home page and then use the quiz within my sales funnel. I am not getting a lot of traffic; however, I have had people take the quiz and say, "I need to take your course!"

      I am going to keep in mind what you are saying and see how things go. It could be that I need to put the quiz back on the home page. Maybe a video on the home page? I need to find someone who can modify the home page for me, because the person who created the site is not getting back to me, and I think that I do need to make some changes to the home page.

      Thank you for your feedback :-) I really appreciate you taking time to comment.

      Best regards,


      Cynthia
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    • Profile picture of the author C and E Vincent
      Thank you, DWolfe.

      I am checking it out, right now.

      Thank you for your post!

      Best regards,


      Cynthia
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