Would like some feedback on my website, Please

Looks nice.
I’m no web designer so take what i say with a grain of salt. About the only thing i would change is the gradient color of the navigation buttons. The color of the buttons are almost (to my eyes) the same color as the text until you mouse over them. I’d just make the text a different color or the background darker. My vision isnt so great so it may be just me. Other than that IMO the site is easy to navigate and well laid out. Cant comment on drawing traffic other than keywords.
Your projects are very nice btw

-- Woodworkers theory of relativity - the quality of your scrap is relative to your skill level

Lot of good content, especially the photos. However, IMO——

First view is blah – suggest some photos so viewer will know they have arrived.

Noticed several photos used more than once, which is waste of resources.

Seems to load slowly.

Your work is impressive – I’d hire you if I was in the market.

-- Joe

I like your site and the most important part is done. You got it up and running. Nice job.

My suggestions would be to have more consistent photo quality. It takes practice but adds the attention to detail you’re trying to promote to your customers.

Try fewer photos per page. Just as with text, if you have too much on the page sometimes you will lose your customer’s attention. A few well thought out photos that communicate the quality of your work will suffice. If you want to have more photos to show the process of the work consider linking a photo of a before and after to another page with the build-out step by step (like your project page). That way you can have as many pictures as you want without cluttering up your main pages.

I would change the home page a bit. When the customer arrives at the home page they should be able to see exactly what you want them to see without having to scroll down the page. Inmagine your home page as the window of a shop you’re passing by in the mall. Uncluttered, main ideas communicated, eye appealing.

I would drop the counter at the bottom of your home page. It might sound harsh but no one makes a buying decision based on how many people have visited your site. It’s fun to watch the number but it doesn’t add to your message.

Consider instead adding a newsletter sign up link. This gives you some very powerful tools. First, you get to know who’s interested in remodeling services. Second, you get to communicate with them regularly (maybe monthly) to remind them you exist and give you an opportunity to show off more of your work which helps build their confidence in you.

Good luck with your site. You’re off to a good start.

-- Allen, Milwaukee, WI

First the buttons are annoying to use. If you move your mouse over the button letters it wont let you click, you have to move down a bit.

The home page is a welcome page.
Move your photos to the other work page.

I would change the background to black or something darker.

-- shdesign3.com

How much traffic you get doesn’t have much to do with your site design.

Keyword usage and meta-tags may affect traffic a bit but the question is –
from who?

You’ll be hard pressed to ever sell any hand-crafted goods from a website
without driving specifically targeted traffic and having a specific path visitors
should follow. There’s a lot to it.

The site is not very polished-looking but that may not matter to your local
market – what does matter is a message that tells your prospect’s their
needs come first.

Offering 20% is a meaningless discount because it’s not in context of real
dollars. Without a specific reason to jump at a special offer, 20% off
reads as a ploy to drum up work – which it is. If you’re really going to
undercut all your competition (which I don’t recommend as a growth
strategy because you’ll put yourself out of business doing it), tell how
expensive they are compared to your el-cheapo special, using real dollar
figures.

Rather than using a counter at the bottom of the page, I recommend everybody try out analytics.

https://www.google.com/analytics/

Loren is correct—keywords and meta-tags are the way to go. You may want to dip your toes into the world of SEO, but it’s a very deep pool with lots of crazy people in it..

-- Lis - Michigan - http://www.missmooseart.com - https://www.etsy.com/people/lisbokt

This is another hobby of mine so I have a few pointers.

1. Move all of your page up the screen…the 1/2” or so at the top that has nothing in it is a waste of space and you want as much of your site on the screen as possible, right away.
2. Given the slow rate at which your site loads, I’m assuming you might be using full resolution images. You can keep the same image dimensions yet lower your resolution to 72dpi…this speeds up the load without compromising image quality.
3. Your navigation takes up way too much space both vertically and horizontally (again you want to maximize content on your opening screen). Reduce the vertical size of your navigation buttons and go with something simple…perhaps even lose the gradients. As far as horizontal space, see the next item.
4. Kitchen, Bath, etc. remodeling could all be consolidated by using a drop-down type menu.
5. Your links in the navigation only work when you hover your mouse in the dark area of the gradient.
6. Swap your title and subtitle.
7. Maybe I missed it but I didn’t find a title tag in your code…this is a biggie for all of the search engines, you need a page title that utilizes the appropriate keywords for which you want to rank.
8. Your home page needs a short (single paragraph, maybe two) description of what your company does. Then invite visitors to check out other parts of your site. As an example I’ve pulled the following paragraph together using your very own words.

”TMF Custom Carpentry, Painting & Remodeling is your full-service remodeling company in the Cincinnati area…no job is too big or small. Have a look at our complete service menu to see what we can do for you:

You can rest assured your remodeling project will be completed using the latest in product innovations and the best installation methods and techniques available. We strive to provide a superior customer experience by providing personalized attention from project design to completion…our reputation depends on it!”

The paragraphs above are just one quick and dirty example of what needs to be on your home page as an intro. It would allow you to ditch the service page. Your special offers could be on the home page in a sidebar if you narrowed the main content of your home page (the text).

9. Reduce the size of your text, it’s distracting.
10. Your page appearance (and endless scrolling) could be improved if you place your project images into a slideshow format.
11. Ditto on removing the counter.
12. A photo of the finished product would be nice next to each testimonial.
13. On the about us page re-iterate the paragraph on the home page and add whatever you wish. You might also indicate that you’re licensed, bonded, insured, etc.

Hope you didn’t mind my input. It’s a lot of work but you’d have a nice site in the end.

Brad