Thanks for reply Mark. I guess my concern is that I send a mixed message via the site.
While I still do a few Computer Repairs, Sales and Upgrades (the market is dying with the advent of Ipads/Handhelds etc, and people are drifting away from a big box in the corner of their office) - my main line of incomethese days comes from testing 'Perimeter's' for my Clients and the MESSAGE I am trying to 'sell' is Small Business/Home Office 'security'.
Am just concerned that maybe theres too much going on re: Repairs and not enough to attract new customers for my Pen Testing service.
Do you think I should have a 2nd site or should I add the Pen Testing as a Sub-directory ?
I hope you are well I've just taken a look the site and from first impressions i haven't a clue what it is you do as a company on the site. I had to really read through and investigate. So you are right, it gives so many mixed messages and really isnt clear on the services you offer, which i can imagine turns alot of visitors away as they dont have time to sit and read through your site to find out what it is you do. They want it to jump out at them as soon as they enter the site.
If you are trying to attract new customers for your pen testing service i would suggest setting up a basic, clear, simple but attractive site for this. If you were to include it within your sub directory it would still take customers effort to find it. I personally think your site is overcrowded and has far to much information on. There's hardly any attractive-ness to it and as an end user i think i would be very confused.
If you need help with designing a new site or the SEO then we can provide you with some costs for this?
I was confused from the off. "Networking people, not systems". I thought you did computer stuff not networking stuff? The site looks like a magazine site - ie it doesn't jump out at me that you are going to be selling a product or service. Nor am I a fan of those bar things at the bottom of the window (but that's a personal preference thing I suppose).
Can't really say much more as I didn't go further.
What are these bars at the bottom deigned to do? Are they put there to confuse people?
Innovation is OK when you are trying to impress someone, not when you are trying sell something. Your site is built on wordpress, it looks like a blog and I doubt that anyone would spend much time on there. they would not know what it was all about.
There are form fields and ads at the bottom of the page that are wider than the space available. Your services are listed in tiny text underneath your slogan. This really tells people nothing about what you do. Swap them.
You really need a clean up and a redesign, which looks like a Salisbury PC repair service website rather than a blogging platform.
ONLY add images if they are going to have a purpose rather than just for the sake of it!
I am not sure I agree with you Kevin. Images can help to make the page look more aesthetically pleasing.
From Wikipedia ... "A common slang term for visually appealing persons or effects used to draw mass attention is eye candy.[2] The implication is that they are eye-catching in a superficial fashion, for example due to adding an element of sexuality. Like actual "candy", this addition is seen to be neither nutritious nor substantial, but rather provides a potentially addictive appeal which will sustain the attention of a wider audience, possibly despite their better nature."
Images can help to make the page look more aesthetically pleasing
Therefore in adding them for a purpose Adding them for the sake of it may not produce the expected results.
For example adding in stock images is one of the frowned upon issues nowadays and white space would most likely be better or better still something related to what is being put on offer.
Just using them as a space filler without looking at intended actions/results is just wasted.
My first impression was that your link was just one person's personal opinion and he does not really provide any conclusive evidence. I was already aware of the DUP problem, which was widely reported at the time. I do take the point that many stock images are being overused and I have been guilty of this myself in the past but I was not necessarily talking about stock images per se. I was talking about the use of images in general as eye candy.
Getting back to the OP's website, it looks like a blog and if it were a blog images would not be necessary. I fear that people arriving there will see a standard WordPress template and think, "Oh it's just another blog! No good to me".
If you are using Wordpress as a website you have to make it look like a website. This has not been done. nothing jumps out of these pages to provide a strong message about what you do. You need a call to action.
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I want to improve it and the only way to do that is by hearing what you folk think!
To be frank you need to get rid of this and get a proper website with a focus on the areas you want promote. That is those areas that will put food on your table.
Why don't you use a fixed home page if you want to use wordpress ? You can explain your business and have fixed pages for your services and the blog as a seperate category. I agree it does not look like a business at the moment.
Site is messy and don't really know what you do and I hate the bottom toolbar.
I would rather see a fixed page as a home page with the blog as another page. If not that, at least make use of the "more" option in each post so that when a visitor arrives at the site they see the first 50 or so words of each post. This will tidy up the front end and hopefully match the length of the right side bar with the main content. At the moment the right of the page looks really empty most of the way down.
There also doesn't seem to be enough distinction between posts, apart from the huge gap between the first two. It just appears to be a long, long, long page.
Finally, you haven't posted for 2 months and this is never good for a blog website. You should aim to post regularly - at least once a month to keep the site worth visiting again.
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Ray Stewart
"Got an accounting or tax question? I'll answer it personally for you here: Ask Me A Question"
Free of charge and no obligation
I want to improve it and the only way to do that is by hearing what you folk think!
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Finally, you haven't posted for 2 months and this is never good for a blog website.
But I think point is that it's not a blog website Ray. It's supposed to be business website and the menu links to the services offered are all below the fold. I don't mean to be harsh but I would say it's a perfect example of how not to do things.
In any case the OP has not commented on the feedback we have given and he has not been back here for about ten weeks so this thread is probably a dead duck.
Hi everyone.
Firstly- thanks for the responses, Ideas and suggestions.
@BDW - No, the posts not a lame duck - I felt that its best to allow some time for a proper debate/discussion - so I could get as many viewpoints as possible.
And some greattips and advice too - amazing.
Free advice is always welcome- Good free advice is invaluable.
The site is being redesigned completely - using a lot of the information gleaned from you guys- and my Target launch is 30th September.
I would really love to know what people think once they see the new site.
THANK YOU ALL!!
i visted you site, it appears to be a typical made of affiliate/adsense site... even though i dont think it is..
the most eyecatching think on the site is the facebook toolbar.. you need to redesgn the site so that the most attention grabbing aspect of the site is the core features that lead to sales and conversions, and not the banners and addon bars.
having said that though, you need to split test, the only good feedback is the feedback from people who tig their hands in their pockets and pull out money to pay you. Everyone else's feedback should be taken with a grain of salt. Pay for ads from google, spend a fair amount to get a lot of traffic, and then tweak the site design and see what gives you more leads and conversions.
On a sidenote I think your goal should be to get people onto a newsletter, and send them useful insider tips on a bi-weekly basis. This can help you build buyer confidence and lead to contracts later down the line..
It also keeps you fresh in their memory. Someone looking for IT services might not be urgently in need, and they're just window shopping when they visit your site, and only become serious buyers a month down the line, so if you have regulalr newsletter ou will be in ther inbox when they turn from window shopper to strong prospect.
re: the toolbar, for b2b sites these toolbars are pointless, they're designed for sites that have potential to go viral/social. think big brther fansite, failblog type sites etc.. they're completely pointless for a serious b2b site. I would suggest removing it.. Take off everything that doesn't serve a clearly identifiable commercial purpose....
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Would love feedback re: my site
I've just taken a look the site and from first impressions i haven't a clue what it is you do as a company on the site. I had to really read through and investigate. So you are right, it gives so many mixed messages and really isnt clear on the services you offer, which i can imagine turns alot of visitors away as they dont have time to sit and read through your site to find out what it is you do. They want it to jump out at them as soon as they enter the site. 
