www.eriskay-associates.co.uk

[Mark Taylor]

Hi Everyone,

I would really appreciate some feedback on my website. In addition to any technical or design points, I want to know if it communicates a clear and effective message to viewers.

Please don't hold back on your feedback - all criticism is valuable (but I'm not averse to positive feedback either!)

Best wishes,

Mark.

[pete]

Optimisation - nil

Design - below average

Vague offering
minimalistic in all aspects
costs???
Enhance performance by what methods ?????????
illegal (privacy policy & terms of use)

As an electronic business card it may work as a website that is used for capturing online leads, nothing works. In fact the site is that bad it undermines the services on offer

On a positive note you do make reference to your trading status :-)

[cheaper accountant]

I like the design of your site but the Homepage needs revamping:

- the text is too large
- what do you do? I don't think this is 100% clear.
- nothing jumps out of the home page that makes me think "I must call this company"

Logo looks good and can easily find contact details.

[jonathan]

About page should be a sep page. It links back to the home page.
Should be 2 buttons - home & about
Picture of key people? WHO are you ?
I agree with Pete - It will NEVER be indexed because the pages are just lists of random words pulled from a management jargon book.

Quite simply, it is impossible to plan effectively for the future without a realistic understanding of the changeable forces acting on an organisation.

is just gobbledegook - It sounds like WORK and EXPENSIVE

Seek out a good (or even a bad) copywriter and get some proper pages that spell out your offer

Design and layout is not too bad

[Mark Taylor]

Hi Everyone,

Many thanks for your feedback so far - it really is useful to get a range of impressions on what we are trying to put across and I am impelled to the view that we need a significant redesign and rewrite!

There are two aspects of the website we have never been 100% clear on:

1. Is it simply a 'brochure' to support our offline marketing or should we be trying to generate leads?
2. Broad or narrow appeal? Parts of our offering are quite specialised and greatly appeal to a relatively small number of clients. However, the language/jargon that appeals to them can switch off others (as Jonathan rightly points out). Is there a way to engage both camps?

Again, any views on this will be appreciated.

Best wishes,

Mark.

[pete]

Ask yourself this question

Would I like leads to be delivered to me on a plate or would I prefer to go looking for them?

Invariably the answer to this question is yes.

So why do people use the words like, 'brochure website' personally I feel it's a get out term that should say 'failure' we built something that didn't work as originally planned. There is nothing wrong with failure, it happens, we need to learn from it and move on.

Good luck

[Mark Taylor]

Hi Pete,

That's a good question. And whilst my instinctive answer is 'yes', the thing I've been wrestling with for five years is the question of whether people really buy consultancy and training from a website. My experience is that they do not, but this could simply reflect the limitations of the site.

My experience is that I've had no more than 3 leads in over four years. However, a fair number of clients that I have met at networking events, etc, have used the website to support their decision to hire me. Hence the idea of the 'brochure'.

I really think I need to nail this question before getting a redesign.

Thanks again for your feedback.

M.

[pete]

Do people buy consultation and training online?

Generic - not a chance

Broken down into the smallest elements - yes

Designing a platform, one that will work and be visible would be interesting, good luck with it

[Mark Taylor]

That's an interesting idea Pete - can you point me to examples that demonstrate this?

[pete]

Client confidentiality and years of private research prevent me going into the finer detail of this successful strategy

let me see............. demand is easy to gauge, in search it's keyword related, attainability is down to competitiveness.

The common mistake is targeting generics, when the aim should be to mass tackle the uncompetitive areas, basically taking a venture apart and breaking it down into it's smallest particles, delivering a page for each of these elements. (a page that converts)

Small particles can also be related to geo-specifics

[Mark Taylor]

Hi Pete,

Yes, point taken. Granularity is clearly important. I am perhaps just unclear as to how this might apply to my business. I have traditionally presented quite generic options with the view that this gives a broad picture of what we do and how. We then develop a more specific intervention once we are in dialogue.

I like what you are saying here, but I have a concern about being too product driven - my own view of consultancies that try this is that they feel quite commoditised rather than presenting a more relationship-based approach. However, maybe it's something I need to experiment with.

Thanks again for a great response.

Mark.

[pete]

Thanks Mark

I've worked with one business consultant a few years back, research back then indicated there was areas worthy of exploitation outside of generics. (I tend not to follow the pack) as you're aware most people go generic, most ending up down the road of networking full on or PPC.

[Docio Design]

Don't get me wrong, your site looks acceptable and professional, but in my opinion would need some changes to make it look better.

Design is ok. Text seems abstract and doesn't explain in an understable way what you exactly do. I would change stock images for any real images of your company, as this is more personal and trustable. Main page has to be eye-catching, because it will determine if the possible customer will keep interested in your content. Try to use personal names and show customers that people is behind the company with a closer approach.

At a first sight I thought it was a page about forestry or social company about nature. I guess you wanted to use the concept for "growing" as something natural and healthy, but maybe you pushed it too hard.

The information looks ok, but I would use a different approaching in your language, more common terms which encourages people to be interested in. It seems to scientifical or corporative.

[Mark Taylor]

Hi Docio,

Many thanks for your feedback. The key thing I am taking from this is the use of language - I think it's something I really need to work on. For me, the balance is getting something that is rigorous and robust from both a commercial and academic perspective - it can be quite hard to keep the language 'Plain English'.

I take your point about the images, too. I was speaking earlier to a videographer who is going to get me in front of a camera - I guess that could go one of two ways!

Watch this space!

Thanks again for your feedback - it really is valuable.

Best wishes,

Mark.

[jonathan]

Come back on this a bit late but to answer your question brochure site vs lead gen

This site should be DRIPPING in testimonials and case studies showing your expertise. Downloadable "how to's" etc - (which obviously make it so hard that they just ring you)

What I though Pete was going to say was that a brochure site would be just like all the others. "We are XYZ and we sell ABC" zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Mark Taylor]

Hi Jonathan - thanks for this... we do have a lot of testimonials and other resources but I think they need to be repackaged and presented more accessibly. I take the point about generic brochure sites (zzzz) but sometimes boring is safe! In any event, I am clear that I need to overhaul the site and really get something more modern, content managed and better designed... thanks again for your input. M.