Client Site Critique

[The Tech's Touch]

I apologize in advance if I posted this in the wrong section. Please forgive me. I have a client that has a website that they've paid this company over $4,000 for and they are very unhappy with it. I pointed out some things that I saw that could have been improved and my client and development company had a meeting today about it. The company got a bit defensive when they were called out on it.

I had some regular folks who aren't technically knowledgeable to give me their opinion of it and they all said that they didn't like it and it looked bad. Just to make sure that none of us are too far off base, I'm requesting another set of professional opinions about it since the development company seems to be in some form of denial. The site is http://onecallhouston.com and your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

[Y.F.N.C.G.]

Yeah, that's a pretty shoddy job. It looks like maybe a developer with very little design experience put it together. At just a quick glance here are some problems I see:

1. The margins are inconsistent in the header....the logo is within the overall site wrap margin but the nav menu has no margin and goes all the way to the right.
2. On the home page, three of the nav menu items are highlighted blue as if you were currently on that page.
3. Header font and sizes are inconsistent across the different sections of the home page and they don't cascade appropriately (the header at the top is an h2 and the header in the middle of the page is an h1.
4. Hovering over certain elements will change the background color of the element and then when the mouse gets over the text, an underline appears, not very slick.
5. The 3 boxes under the appointment request have uneven padding and look thrown together.
6. The header does this weird drop animation when navigating the pages.
7. The items at the very top of the header don't align right in mobile.
8. The nav menu in mobile is all screwy when it drops down.

I mean I could just keep going on and on.

Honestly, they should have paid closer to $10k for a site like this, so I hate to say they got what they paid for. A well-designed website for a home services company like this will bring in well over $10k/month in business, so it's nothing to invest that in a properly put-together website that actually converts and looks professional.

 

[The Tech's Touch]

Yeah, that's a pretty shoddy job. It looks like maybe a developer with very little design experience put it together. At just a quick glance here are some problems I see:

1. The margins are inconsistent in the header....the logo is within the overall site wrap margin but the nav menu has no margin and goes all the way to the right.
2. On the home page, three of the nav menu items are highlighted blue as if you were currently on that page.
3. Header font and sizes are inconsistent across the different sections of the home page and they don't cascade appropriately (the header at the top is an h2 and the header in the middle of the page is an h1.
4. Hovering over certain elements will change the background color of the element and then when the mouse gets over the text, an underline appears, not very slick.
5. The 3 boxes under the appointment request have uneven padding and look thrown together.
6. The header does this weird drop animation when navigating the pages.
7. The items at the very top of the header don't align right in mobile.
8. The nav menu in mobile is all screwy when it drops down.

I mean I could just keep going on and on.

Honestly, they should have paid closer to $10k for a site like this, so I hate to say they got what they paid for. A well-designed website for a home services company like this will bring in well over $10k/month in business, so it's nothing to invest that in a properly put-together website that actually converts and looks professional.

Thank you so very much for your response! I really appreciate it and you. I actually listen to your podcast and subscribe to all of your material. It is very great information to digest. Your feedback helps a lot. Again thank you for your eyes on it.

 

[mraikes]

So your customer is unhappy because they think they paid too much?

Yeah, it's not a great site, but it's also not as horrible as I expected it to be before clicking the link. Although I could definitely do without those colored backgrounds with diagonal lines that make me think the rabbit ears antenna isn't adjusted correctly.

Edit: I think there's actually quite a bit of work invested in that site. There are a lot of pages, lots of graphics, a lot of information. The more I look at it, the more I think they got some bang for their buck. And largely the things "we" might complain about aren't that obvious or important to the Houston homeowner with a clogged drain.

 

[The Tech's Touch]

So your customer is unhappy because they think they paid too much?

Yeah, it's not a great site, but it's also not as horrible as I expected it to be before clicking the link. Although I could definitely do without those colored backgrounds with diagonal lines that make me think the rabbit ears antenna isn't adjusted correctly.

Edit: I think there's actually quite a bit of work invested in that site. There are a lot of pages, lots of graphics, a lot of information. The more I look at it, the more I think they got some bang for their buck. And largely the things "we" might complain about aren't that obvious or important to the Houston homeowner with a clogged drain.

Thanks for the feedback! The biggest thing is that appears to be the issue is a breakdown in communication. The designer didn't follow my customer's vision for the site and rarely communicated with the them which my customers acknowledged was partly their fault as well. They were really upset because the product looked rushed and put together in comparison to other sites the designer had in his portfolio. They'd been saying the site didn't look good but the changes weren't made and they were presented with another invoice wanting more money when the corrections weren't made.

 

[The Tech's Touch]

So your customer is unhappy because they think they paid too much?

Yeah, it's not a great site, but it's also not as horrible as I expected it to be before clicking the link. Although I could definitely do without those colored backgrounds with diagonal lines that make me think the rabbit ears antenna isn't adjusted correctly.

Edit: I think there's actually quite a bit of work invested in that site. There are a lot of pages, lots of graphics, a lot of information. The more I look at it, the more I think they got some bang for their buck. And largely the things "we" might complain about aren't that obvious or important to the Houston homeowner with a clogged drain.

I was just out in ABQ a couple of times in the last 3 months and it is very beautiful out there. Much different change of pace and scenery from Houston!

 

[mraikes]

I was just out in ABQ a couple of times in the last 3 months and it is very beautiful out there. Much different change of pace and scenery from Houston!

Huh, that's funny. I'll be in your neck of the woods (College Station, Corpus Christi, San Antonio) in March.

 

[The Tech's Touch]

Huh, that's funny. I'll be in your neck of the woods (College Station, Corpus Christi, San Antonio) in March.

I live in College Station about 300 yards across from Texas A&M University and take care of clients in Houston! When you get here gimme a shout and we'll get you some Texas hospitality.

 

[mraikes]

Thanks for the invite, but time will be too short this trip. We're only going to be there about a day and a half visiting my sister in law & her husband before heading for Corpus. They both graduated from A&M and he teaches middle school in Bryan.

 

[Archon Prime]

That website hurts the eyes. I can't even stand looking at it. The colouring needs to be changed fore sure. The graphics are horrendous too. I didn't even want to look at it because it was so fragmented with the information on the site.

 

[The Tech's Touch]

That website hurts the eyes. I can't even stand looking at it. The colouring needs to be changed fore sure. The graphics are horrendous too. I didn't even want to look at it because it was so fragmented with the information on the site.

I thank you for your look at it! After all of the feedback from here and others that was brought to the designer's attention, he mysteriously per his spouse worked too much and decided that he wouldn't come to my client's location to work on it as agreed to earlier in the week. Needless to say, my client wasn't very happy about it and promptly relieved him of duty and is looking for someone else to help get it all straightened out.

 

[Movax]

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