I'd love some feedback. Unfortunately, I'm by no means a designer, despite my technical skill, so I like to have other eyes look at things. http://administrativearts.com/va/

__________________
Jodith Allen
Administrative Arts

It needs some spiff, Jodith. Stodgy is the word that comes to mind when I look at your site right now.

You have that really great brown stripe background. It's chocolatly & wonderful. And you have a great name, Administrative Arts, but your web look doesn't jive with your biz name.

For starters, I would get rid of that light-brown background in your content area - why compete with that luscious choco stripe? Go with a white background with crisp black text. Add some black borders & some black decorative accents. Also, I would ditch the older woman photo. She is sucking the energy right off your web pages. Granted, she's doing the mundane tasks your clients don't want to do, but it's not reminding them of that in a good way.

Your content is very good & your navigation works well & is clear. You are missing a nav bar on your Blog page, though.

Lezly

Hi Jodith,

I recommend the following:

Links
Blog - The blog page opens in the same window, I would change that to opening in a new window. On the blog there is a home page link which does not take them back to your website, I would change that so when they click it, it takes them back to your website.

Recommendations - I would change the link title to Testimonials and create a page with the testimonials you have received. I would remove the link that goes to your LinkedIn profile. If you want people to connect with you on LinkedIn, I would put an icon on your page where they can connect with you.

Great job!
Andrea~

__________________
Action Jackson Virtual Assistant|

One thing I noticed is that the pages shift - this generally happens when one page size is wider than another page causing the page to jump when you move throughout the site (or also when content is longer on one way than another). I noticed this in a few places (it is actually is a pet peeve of mine, and most users may not even notice it -- so please keep that in mind!) I would go back and make sure all of your page widths are the same, the navigation menu is in the same spot, etc. Basically go through and make everything a bit more consistently sized and spaced.

The only other recommendation I have is to lighten up the color scheme a bit. I actually like the maroon/white scheme you have on your blog. I think whatever you do with your site you should do with your blog (in terms of look, color and navigation) because when I clicked on your blog, for a second I got confused thinking I was on a totally different site -- you should bring the two together a bit more so everything is cohesive.

Overall, nice job so far!

__________________
Darlene Victoria Gonzalez
My latest projects

Jodith,

My suggestions would be to make the picture smaller, you are taking up valuable "above the fold" space where you can convey the benefits of using your services.

Also, I would include some call to action or contact information on each of your pages.

On your recommendations (testimonial) page I would put the information there or at the very least have a new page open for your LinkedIn profile.

Hope these suggestions help.

__________________
Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

The first impression is old. The combination of brown and the picture says old to me. It needs to be a little lighter.

__________________
Genevieve Lachance
VA Simple Services

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Let me play with things and see what I can come up with.

__________________
Jodith Allen
Administrative Arts

You are well on you way! You have a lot of content there!

I would suggest that you reduce the size of those graphics. Don't force people to scroll down to read your pitch. Get the important words "above the fold."

__________________
Robin A. Holstein
Robin's Desktop Virtual Administrative Services
My Blog

Hi All,
I need help and advice, please!!! I want to start to be a VA but I hav not an idea where to start.... And how can I ever compete with a web site Yours are excellent! How can I do something like that?:huh2:
Magda

I'm not an expert by any means in web design, far from it. So I'll give you my thoughts as a visitor to the site...

I personally like the color combination, especially the background. I like seeing something other than a plain white background.

I would reduce the size of the picture as it takes over the page. Have more text "up top" to grab your site visitors into wanting to look deeper into your site. Also, I have my monitor screen resolution set so things are big on the screen. When I switch between pages on your site, I can't even tell I've switched until I scroll down. Reducing the size of the picture would help with that.

A purely personal preference for me when I'm looking at sites is I like a little bit about what services they offer on the main (home) page and then more detail on a "Services" page if there are a lot of services or more detail is needed.

As far as the picture you have there? Being older myself, I like the older woman. You don't see that much and it's different than the usual. I think it can give the impression of experience. But if you're trying to say "young" this probably isn't the best picture choice. (If you change it, can I use it? No, just kidding!! LOL)

__________________
Pam Deyerle - Transcriptionist in the Richmond, Virginia area
The Perfect Word Transcription Services