Good evening everyone,

My website is finally done. I'm so excited. I really love the way it looks. I'm thinking though, that my name on the header needs to be another color - maybe navy? Do you think its getting "lost"? I would love any constructive criticism, suggestions and ideas that you may have for improving it.

http://www.myvirtualassistantservice.com

Thank you!

Jody

Hi Jody,

I think you are well on your way to having a great site. You put much time into getting it up and running...so congratulations as I know this is a huge first step.

I have a few suggestions for you...

I think the blue is too light and the font could be more remarkable. I'd beef that area up a bit with something really special and memorable. Consider a unique tag line and/or perhaps a logo.

I think the S is missing off the top title; Services.

I'm confused if it is Services or Service. I see both throughout the entire home page. I think Services would be correct since you offer more than one service. Not sure.

I don't think the first line makes sense. "If you have found my page then you probably own a business and realize that paperwork and to do lists are slowing you down and taking up valuable time." It is two separate thoughts that do not connect.

If they found your page it may mean they are looking for assistance..it doesn't necessarily mean they found your page and they already know that to-do lists are slowing them down.

This is a very important first line on your page. I'd work that over again with something really striking and catchy.

I would suggest just leaving off the first paragraph and beef-up the bullets points below that paragraph. They make more of a benefit statement than that first paragraph.

You have an entire section in bullets devoted to potential clients 'speaking'. I personally would put any statements in which someone is speaking in quotes. That signifies speaking/talking.

It is my personal preference not to use contractions in business writing. I'm 'old school' but to me, contractions are slang-ish. If you agree, do a find and replace.

I would add images, pictures..something visual to the home page.

What is it that makes your business special? What makes it stand out from the rest? I don't see this in your home page and I feel that is an important point to make.

I also suggest a 'call to action' on this page. What do you want people to do? Sign up for your newsletter? Download something free? Connect to your Facebook page? Once they leave this page, you may lose them so I suggest getting them to do something while you have their attention. (I see that you ask people to call you but I think you should connect this to a contact page rather than expect people to call you on a non-800 number.) I would provide that link to a contact form page on that home page.

I briefly scanned the other pages and I believe they are too verbose. I'd scale it down to a few bullet points and make it easier to read. Use images and make the pages interesting.

Make your About Me page about your accomplishments tying in what you have achieved into what you can bring to your clients' businesses. Your first line about being from Michigan is not the most important information a potential client would want to know.

I would remove the Skills tab and replace with Services. On the Skills page, remove My Skills and Abilities; they are one in the same. I would suggest removing 'I am learning more everyday..' You may be learning everyday but I feel no one needs to know this. You want to be the expert, so downplay any inexperience. Stick to what you do know.

Look at the site from the client's perspective. It's not all about you...it's about the value your bring to the table.

I know my thoughts are about making changes but I also feel you have a good foundation from which to really pump up the volume.

Good Luck!

__________________
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The only other suggestion I would make in addition to what Janine has told you is that you mention that you graduated college with your AA. You didn't say what college or what the degree was in. Your college degree is something to be proud of. I would also switch it to your about you page.

One last suggestion. Don't be discouraged by the constructive criticism. From what you have written on your site, I would guess that you haven't created a site before. You will make it better Websites, IMO, are a constant work in progress and should be and need to be updated regularly.

Best of luck with your new site! And congratulations on taking the plunge and doing it yourself. You will be so happy you did and proud of it too!

__________________
Serita Diana, the List 2 Close Assistant
REVA Academy

Good observations Janine. My addditions are:

Change font colour of page title links from green...too difficult to read against the blue
An error 404 - not found is returned when clicking on your sitemap - check the ref it is pointing to.
Footer - home page - are they your SEO keywords? They should be hidden in your HTML
Footer - other pages - what is "serving______________"?

definately needs a bolder header colour.

Cheers

I agree with everything that has been said above.

Good luck with your business and webpage!

Thank you all so much for the suggestions. I will definitely look at and consider each and every one of them. This is exactly what I was looking for and I am not disappointed in getting this constructive criticism. I really value anyone's opinion from this forum - we are all such intelligent and savvy business women. I definitely agree about the company name getting lost in the header - I thought this too - my company name doesn't really stand out. Its just not "readable" - the cream is too light on the blue background. I'm glad someone else has validated that for me. I'm so grateful that you all took this time for me.

This is my first website but I didn't build it, a friend did it for me, but I really want to learn how to do this myself. I did put together the content. I knew that there would be huge changes since this is a first time go around and I have never written copy for a website - I am just a bit worried about the time it will take to get it the way I want it. I know that when it is really the way it should be, it will be amazing.

Thank you so much...if you have any more suggestions please be sure to share them and I will let you know when the changes are made for a second go around. I really appreciate the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th set of eyes...LOL.

Have a wonderful day,

Jody Higgins

I would like to say that your website has a very soft warm caring feel. I agree with every suggestion addressed so far, but your story like descriptions made me create a picture of who you are and how you could help me. Loved it, I would think the ability to create that connection on a website will work in getting you clients.

I agree with YourEverydayVA. I loved reading about the dogs, it gave me a great mental image and made me smile and want to snuggle with my dogs.

I also think that there were a lot of great suggestions made by everyone else. I think you're off to a great start and good luck.

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Jennifer Hansen
http://www.tangled-webb.com

I'm just a little behind in giving you any feedback, but I would agree with alot of above.

The one thing that I think you want to be careful of is having too much narrative where people have to read and read...especially on your home page. They need to get "it" at a glance and then if they want to read further you can link them to more information in another section on the same page or to another page, or to a pop-up. Columns of shorter information (no more than about 68 characters long) allow people to read your content at almost a glance. Make sure this content is precise and is that content that is going to grab their attention.

You also want to make sure that the colors match your target audience. It's known as color psychology. You can find a lot of information by just using that search term...(color psychology for websites).

BTW...I'm still working on mine...so don't take mine as an example right now. I've been busy just trying to get the leafs to work, so the content is rough and just kinda dumb period. LOL.

I hope that this was at least a little helpful. I love your information!! I had to giggle at myself because when I first saw "my furry boys" I really had to process for a minute. I must be tired.

__________________
Pam Blackman - The Process Coach
Get more done in less time by streamlining!