http://www.drjplowman.co.uk

carju1 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-08-2003, 03:16 PM

OK all payback time. I've savaged (oops I mean reviewed) a number of your sites and you can now get your own back.

I can not put the site I spend most of my waking hours caring for up for review as I don't own it and the people there would take a dim vew of me saying hey what do you think of their site - That's mutli-national corporations foe you:) So please no Nissan comments in public.

However a couple of years ago I built 2 sites for friends (For free believe it or not) who had neither the time nor the ability to do it themselves. I was changing something on one of them the other day and thought "yep this is an OK site, but it is only OK".

So if you owned http://www.drjplowman.co.uk what would you do with it. Let me know if it needs a complete re-design from the bottom up (There isn't any more content to go on there) or if a few tweaks and improvements would make it that much better. The purpose of the site is simple: To let people know Dr. Plowman exists and for them then to either contact him via the web or by telephone.

Regards and thanks.
Julian

lafe · #2 (**permalink**) 07-08-2003, 04:14 PM

The one good thing I can say about it is that the navigation is consistent, being that it doesn't change.

I personally would first of all, use a better color selection. Unless you have an impressive design those yellows just won't do. I would suggest using some basic complementary colors, since design doesn't seem to be your focus.

I would also, suggest getting rid of the frames. Frames suggest old to me. The look is more or less something I would expect to see in the late 80's when the internet began to take off.

Try using a higher quality pic of the doc. If you want to sell business you have to look professional. I'm not sure what the internet market is like in South Wales, but site quality generally represents your quality of business. Also, try putting an identifier on all the linked pages, something that represents the doctor.

The Yellow block highlights on the side need to go. That color is just not doing it for me.

I would maybe use a graphic for the titles to give a smooth and less pixelated look.

A nice clean presentation is the key. Work on that and you'll have a better site. By the way it looks like you did the site for free :). Maybe he'll pay you for a better one.

Lafe

**rah** · #3 (**permalink**) 07-09-2003, 03:44 PM

Hello Julian,

Well I'm going to have to agree with lafe on his opinions about the site. It is obvious that you didn't spend a lot of time on this site. Maybe that is because it was your friend or just because you weren't getting paid for it. Either way though it shows that not much thought went into this site.

The site should reflect the personality of the person it was built for. With that being the case your site doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the doctor. After seeing this site, I honestly wouldn't go to him for help. I'm sorry to say that, but it is true.

Ok Now onto the site itself. For starters I would consider removing the frames. I'm not a big fan of frames, and they suffer when it comes to search engines. If it would be possible try to incorporate the navigation into each page that you have.

Both pictures that you have on your site are either blurry or pixilated. Since you only have two pictures on the site consider using higher quality photographs. A few extra graphics wouldn't hurt either. The site is just so plain, and boring. Try to spice it up a little. Make me interested in what the doctor has to offer. Create another page where I can read what others have said about how good (or bad) the doctor is.

Your choice of colors could also use a little work. It has potential, but fell short of reaching its possibilities. Try using complementary colors, and stick to soft cool colors that invite me to stay on your site. As it is now, I would not stay on this site very long. It is visually unappealing, and looks a little too amateurish to be serious.

Thanks,
Rah

cooper · #4 (**permalink**) 07-10-2003, 03:10 AM

Julian,
Rah and lafe have it nailed. Your site needs to be completely redesigned from the ground up. Consider taking a look at Webmonkey's tutorial on this sort of thing.

If you are serious about redesigning your friend's site then take some time and effort to do some research and bring the site into the new millennium.

Some other ideas:
- Partner this site with other like-service web sites. Perhaps other sites that deal with PLR or related therapies, etc. Get some inbound links to improve your standings in the search engines, specifically Google.
- Change the contact email to the same URL. This is a dead give away to me that a site owner is not comfortable with technology and makes me question his/her overall abilities. Everyone has email and to not use one's own domain for that web site's business is not someone I typically want to do business with.
- Save the phone number for the general contact page. Unless you have the type of business that does a great deal of business over the telephone (selling electronics or high-priced commodities) AND you have a toll-free number, just leave the phone number for the page where people express interest in contacting you.

That's it for now. Good luck!

Cooper