My Lawyer Website.

jtracking · #1 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 12:51 PM

Well guys and girls be gentle and as harsh as can be. The site is http://www.linda-joe.com and her keywords are oakville, halton, lawyer...

let me know what you think...

Cheers

JuniorOnline · #2 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 01:15 PM

Hiya

I love the design, its so nice.. a few comments though which you might want to consider:

- the top nav menu needs a better font. something with smoother font lines. at the moment the font looks faded.

thanks
Tala

jtracking · #3 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 01:18 PM

thanks man...i appreciate that...i understand about the fonts in the nav menu, at the moment i cannot edit it, i lost the original template...however...

i may take sometime tonight and just redo them again...

thanks again...

garettharper · #4 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 03:36 PM

I particularly like that background...sophisticated and subtle (according to my wife, qualities I lack). I agree on the nav bar, you should do something to make them stand out a bit more. Not much though...

Is there a reason for the 3 links on the front page? They don't direct the surfer anywhere new. I would remove the links there. If they will redirect to new sites that you will develop later, wait until those sites are finished to add them.

I also like the images, very sharp and appropriate.

jtracking · #5 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garettharper

I particularly like that background...sophisticated and subtle (according to my wife, qualities I lack). I agree on the nav bar, you should do something to make them stand out a bit more. Not much though...

Is there a reason for the 3 links on the front page? They don't direct the surfer anywhere new. I would remove the links there. If they will redirect to new sites that you will develop later, wait until those sites are finished to add them.

I also like the images, very sharp and appropriate.

Yes i have to get rid of those no where links...

thank you for your feedback...once again...

iany · #6 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 07:12 PM

Stunning looking site thanks to large image. I actually like the nav buttons. But move the Google ads at top(they don't zoom well) really spoils the look of the site. You lose the classy feel of the site with naff google ads.

Not sure about colour of the font in the main body.

While we are it. Please, specify a doctype at top of the page and validate with W3. Pity you didn't choose a tableless design but even with tables you really should validate.

At least use:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

at top of page and then go to http://validator.w3.org/ and validate.

Cheers

apalmer123@msn.com · #7 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 08:39 PM

Why do you have all the ads: at the top and the bottom? I assume most lawyers are well enough off that they don't need ad revenue... I think it clutters up your site.

The form on the contacts page is WAY too small. Any word over 8 characters wraps and you end up with only one word per line. Pretty useless.

Your fixed size window looks good, but you should perhaps add another page for the contact form or let the center area of the page be bigger.

I like the color scheme and the images are crisp and relevant.

HTH

eltonx99 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 10:09 PM

I like the clean look. Not sure if you can do this....but on the Google adword links, maybe opening them up to a new window so they don't "lose" your site when they were trying to click on one of the true top nav options.

tiley · #9 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 11:24 PM

The first thing I noticed was the Google ads. Then I saw the site was for a lawyer. My immediate thought p is this lawyer so bad off or so revenue concious she needs the revenue from google ads? If so, I don't want to hire her.

Design wise:
Gray text on gray background could be difficult for some viewers to read.

The line-height is tight - also difficult to read

pages are hard to scan - there are no devices used to direct your eye. All the text is about the same size and color. Nothing stands out.

Many "areas" on page. You have 5 boxes that all look about the same.

Eye does not know where to look first. My eye goes to photo as it is largest, brightest. But shouldn't you eye go first to the information you want to convey? What is most important? The photo? What is purpose of the site?

Overall design is pleasing; colors and tone appropriate for the subject

photo quality is good and subject is appropriate.

HTH

hrvoje461 · #10 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 02:03 AM

Nicely designed site, I also agree with forum members regarding ads, I don't think lawyer office needs those kind of ads on the site.

noel_x99 · #11 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 02:06 AM

Your page titles could be more effective. Use a variety of your keywords (including locations) in your page titles.

dakster · #12 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 05:04 AM

Pretty good.
Linking in from your other sites and listings (Tripod, etc) and it should get a pretty good search engine ranking.
Definately revisit the grey on black.
ditto the google ads - perhaps put them on a links page out the way. Not sure exactly how big Oakville is - my uncle used to run a petrol (gas) station out there - very nice place!

jtracking · #13 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iany

While we are it. Please, specify a doctype at top of the page and validate with W3. Pity you didn't choose a tableless design but even with tables you really should validate.

At least use:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

at top of page and then go to http://validator.w3.org/ and validate.

Cheers

thanks for reminding me, i usually declare the doctype...i've added it and will validate soon...

jtracking · #14 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apalmer123@msn.com

Why do you have all the ads: at the top and the bottom? I assume most lawyers are well enough off that they don't need ad revenue... I think it clutters up your site.

The form on the contacts page is WAY too small. Any word over 8 characters wraps and you end up with only one word per line. Pretty useless.

Your fixed size window looks good, but you should perhaps add another page for the contact form or let the center area of the page be bigger.

I like the color scheme and the images are crisp and relevant.

HTH

thank you. im added the ugly looking ads at the bottom and the google ads at the top so i could get spidered faster. do you have another way, i heard thee are some tricks to the trade of getting listed with google quickly...

jtracking · #15 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiley

The first thing I noticed was the Google ads. Then I saw the site was for a lawyer. My immediate thought p is this lawyer so bad off or so revenue concious she needs the revenue from google ads? If so, I don't want to hire her.

Design wise:
Gray text on gray background could be difficult for some viewers to read.

The line-height is tight - also difficult to read

pages are hard to scan - there are no devices used to direct your eye. All the text is about the same size and color. Nothing stands out.

Many "areas" on page. You have 5 boxes that all look about the same.

Eye does not know where to look first. My eye goes to photo as it is largest, brightest. But shouldn't you eye go first to the information you want to convey? What is most important? The photo? What is purpose of the site?

Overall design is pleasing; colors and tone appropriate for the subject

photo quality is good and subject is appropriate.

HTH

thank god my client doesn't know what you know...i MUST keep these points in mind with my next project...stay tuned...! (thanks for the tips)

EArmand · #16 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 12:15 PM

Like the subpages (no ads), don't like the homepage (because of the ads) - get rid of all the ads, it makes the attorney look unprofessional.

Not only that, but the bottom ads seem to be about websites, urls, web traffic, web directories, and everything else that has nothing to do with her law office do not belong on that site.

I'd also get rid of Google's ads on top that are advertising other law firms on her website.

jtracking · #17 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EArmand

Like the subpages (no ads), don't like the homepage (because of the ads) - get rid of all the ads, it makes the attorney look unprofessional.

Not only that, but the bottom ads seem to be about websites, urls, web traffic, web directories, and everything else that has nothing to do with her law office do not belong on that site.

I'd also get rid of Google's ads on top that are advertising other law firms on her website.

yes i am going to get rid of the ads as soon as i find the site has been listed with google etc...

as per my post: >> wpw topic

jtracking · #18 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 02:19 PM

ok the ads are gone, that was ugly !

iany · #19 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtracking

yes i am going to get rid of the ads as soon as i find the site has been listed with google etc...

Never put anything on the page that is only for search engines. It will put proper users off. A well put together page, optimised, and with proper links will get it indexed by Google in short order. I have never had any problem getting sites indexed and have never found much use for the Google ads (only have on one site now). Nothing more annoying for user of quality site than horrible Google ads. Yuch

tony · #20 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 08:49 PM

Where's Linda!

If I am going trust my hard earned money to a lawyer. I want to see what they look like i.e. trustworthy,confident...

Apart from that the site is very smooth.

Good work

perpetuum-mobile · #21 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 09:38 PM

A few comments:
- I would have included 'law' or 'lawyer' in the domain name. Linda-Joe appears to be just 2 first names.
- The pages load slow for their apparent screen size, 12-18 sec on DSL. Maybe a temporary server problem, check it sometimes.
- The large dark gray fill area around the page at 1280 res. looks ... how should I say, dark.
- Services page spelling errors: <meta name="description" content="Linda Jow Layer Services ........ Alt: ... lawyer services in halton, oaville ......... (I did not check the rest)
- Overall the site looks nice

brander · #22 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 10:01 PM

Wow, there are many really good ideas here. Good work everyone is doing with their commenting.

I wondered about the possibilities that someone could download a word doc from the legal resources section and make changes that could have negative repercussions towards the reputation of the site and owner/operator.

I would never give away those doc files. The PDF's yes. The doc files are a part of your intellectual property and should be filled in and filed by yourself as part of your professional services portfolio.

If you were to leave the pdf's there and offer assistance filling in the blanks or even mention that you can and will make sure that the forms are filled in correctly and filed correctly, it would go a long way towards helping your visitors understand that you are a professional and expect to get paid for your services.

While we are at it, I would post a disclaimer that spells out the limitation of liability that you as operator of the site and offerer of the documents holds if said documents are used for anything other then informational purposes.

I would then place the link to the pdf documents as files directly under the text descriptions of the documents for SEO purposes. That way every one of your document descriptions and services are all text links that actually link to something relevant.

The links on the front page need to be deleted or to be pointing to something that is relevant to that term. Spiders will not take them into consideration as they lead no where.

At least that is my take on it. Graphically, the site is nice with only some small problems in continuity such as varying font types. And within the red section the word "estate" is misspelled. Some may have mentioned that earlier here in this thread.

jtracking · #23 (**permalink**) 10-04-2006, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tony

Where's Linda!

If I am going trust my hard earned money to a lawyer. I want to see what they look like i.e. trustworthy,confident...

Apart from that the site is very smooth.

Good work

we'll be getting a linda pic up as soon as i meet with her again, i need to take the pic...you're right though!