Great idea for a site.
Firstly, being a photographer, yep you need some photos!
Its very wordy, and times font can be hard to read, as is black text on a white background - something a dyslexic web designer friend told me, use arial as its plainer.
I would have a map on the first page - even if its a styleized one that shows the area you cover, outline of the M25 or north/south circular, river thames through the middle and then some of the services you offer- and have some fun with it - a shelf in sherness a plumber in pimlico a handy man in harwich.... off the top of my head!
also who are your target clients? is it older people who cant climb a ladder anymore or is it the city exec types who dont have time, but have the money?
just some thoughts for you , hope all goes well...good luck
Michael
www.mrbird.co.uk

I love the simple style; it reminds me of a parish newsletter advert - ignore the recomendation about colour, what you have is something that is easy to print out in black and white and stick on the fridge for when you need it. Which brings us to the problem; it needs the contact details on every page!
If you click rapidly between pages (Wlecome, Service, etc) you will see that the whole page jumps slightly to the left or right. This is due to an inconsistency in the way that you have used the tables to position the text in the page.
Lose the dodgy javascript - the function that isn't called, the call to the function that doesn't exist...
Get somebody to check the grammar and tidy up the punctuation: exactly what does "I am working properly" mean? Not siezed up? Not slacking?
Finally, the website is by "Handierman" Why not add a mailto: link for those of us who would prefer to email rather than fill in the online form?

hi,

thought the idea is great - and I will definately keep your details!!

Home page: too texty - maybe some bullet points?

Otherwise, I would have thought some straight exposure would do the trick

Yeah, took me a while before realised you did plumbing and electrical work. First impression was, "small jobs" = hanging a picture, or putting up a shelf.

Also, it was too difficult to see you are London based. This frustrates.

I agree with Glenda's comment. It took me 2 pages of reading and a mouse link before I could figure out what you provided. Most people take <5 secs to evaluate the site and will leave unless really interested in your offering (i.e. captive market). That's not what you want.

Apart from that, your site functions. It's clear and concise. You don't need an all singing all dancing flash site for the services and message you're portraying.

Your full name and contact number(s) should be clearly visible on every page, especially the first. You don't have an identity otherwise. Being in the trade, that's important to separate you from the cowboys.

Keep up the good work and I hope the work comes rolling in.

Nick, you advertise a great service in a very convincing way but it took me a while to find exactly what you did and if I wasn't being constructive at your invitation I might have given up. I would have liked a one line introduction (the sort you would use at a networking event when asked what you do). Your USP is then immediately obvious in what you've written.

I agree with those who say it would be better to appear to be a company rather than just one man and you've got the name in your domain name!

I also think you need to reassure me that you have the skills and qualifications to fulfil your promise especially in view of the new regulations on electrical work.

You've got a great business concept but I'm not sure how many potential customers would search the internet to find your service (I think Yellow Pages is the more obvious, if expensive, route). You'll therefore have to work hard to promote the website but you've clearly made a great start today!

I wish you lots of luck I'm sure there's a great demand for what you do and just hope you are in West London! (I did try to click on the revisions you mention in your response but the link didn't work)
Glenda Shawley
www.thetrainingpack.co.uk

Edited by author 21-04-2005 07:52 PM
Thanks to everyone for the comments, I really appreciate them and intend to make maximum use of every piece of advice.

So far every second person says I need to put my address details on the site, and make them easy to see. Luckily, this is not hard to do so it becomes the first thing on my list. Thanks Debbie, Jane, Jan, David, Robin, Andy, Geoff, Susie, John Garghan, Lee, Odtaa, Julie, Sampa, Lee Carnihan, Jim, Paul Jennions.

The second most recommended change is some more "wow factor", as Nancy Brown has put it. This is not so easy, but was quite obvious to me as well, so I'm already working on it. If anyone can be bothered to have a look, I have placed a couple of images, working versions of a new design here. Thanks Chris Price, Jane Hogan, ,Hugh Wormington, Liz, Andy, Geoff, Nancy, Sarah, Paul Lakeman, Sampa, Paul Jennions, Glenn.

Next is a photo of myself - I was afraid I would make myself too important by putting a picture of me on the site, but obviously it is not such a bad idea. Thanks Liz, Sarah, Lee Carnihan, Jim.

Then with equal importance come the suggestions to get rid of the computer stuff and use less words/text. The first couldn't be easier; the second couldn't be harder... I will see what I can do. Hugh Wormington gives me an idea in this direction, which I most likely will use. Thanks Matt(not Weston), Andy, Geoff, Lee, Odtaa, Julie, Barry, Hugh.

Chris Wormington, I have tried before to use absolute positioning, which is much easier compared to building a complex table, but it doesn't work in older browsers. I remember seeing all my layers in the top left corner on top of each other and that was the last time I used absolute positioning. May be it is time to revisit the idea though.

Chris Wright, I don't really have any important information that my clients would be pleased to read. If that changes, I would consider starting up a newsletter, but right now my newsletter would end up in people's junk mail folder.

Big thanks to everyone again, you have been very helpful, I hope there are more comments to come.

Good Layout...

Could do with an injection of colour.

Company Formation Wizard

Edited by author 21-04-2005 06:49 PM
Hi there,

I agreed with most of the previous posts pictures are a must. What's your landline number? e-mail address?

Your say your area is London? Big place that!!

I've just started out, 2 months ago who said you look like a "Jack of all trades" and whats wrong with that? I wonder.

http://www.jackofalltradesnw.co.uk

Good luck - Paul

Hi
Nice clear web site -I know what you do and how much you charge.
I don't know where you operate from - forgive me if its there but since you had asked me to crtique the site I probably spent longer looking than I would have done in real life and I still didn't find it. Your service is personal so location is important.

I agree with the other comments about pictures and colour, work you have done, - before + after would help to convince us that you are capable, maybe with an indication of the cost to the customer. A picture of you working would also help. Hopefully you turn up looking smart and leave the house clean - say so since most tradesmen don't.

Any qualifications would persuade me to use you, as would trade memberships if appropriate. It might be worth presenting the site as a company rather than an individual.

Finally the pages did not load quickly but as other people said they were good hopefully that was a glitch.

Nick your site tells us everything but for my taste a little to wordy, a picture paints a thousand words (I sound like Telly Savalas). Business concept is excellent though.

Good luck - Barry

Hi there,
Your site loads extremely quickly - which is always a bonus!!! It has all the necessary information too. These two things alone make it good but not not great. I recommend using some photography or graphics to make your site more visually appealing - people make a lot of decisions based on what they see, and not on what they read (rightly or wrongly). The "any comments" part is a nice idea but I think you need to be more specific about what you want people to comment on.

The "prices" section is of course essential and plainly worded - this could either be interpreted as straight to the point or a little austere. I'd of course tell people how much things cost but perhaps you should also focus people's attention on how much they'd be getting for their money i.e. the "VALUE" to them of paying what you're asking - if you only focus on telling people the price then you will be judged according to price. (Perceived) value, just like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder - keep your "price" attached to the "reason to buy".

I hope this helps.

Lee

http://www.carnihan.co.uk (web designer)

Edited by author 21-04-2005 05:18 PM
Good site and good business concept. I am sure the simplicity helps with the quick loading (which was really good!), but the web is a visual medium and you ought to put some images in there to make the site a bit more exciting.

It took some navigating to find out exactly where you operate and what services you offer. I think that ought to be on your opening page.

It would also be nice to know immediately one gets to your site what qualifies you for this work - training, eperience, professional certification etc. The guarantee is good, but it only comes in after things have gone wrong - I would like to trust that things will not go wrong because the reason I would go to a specialist in the first place is the guarantee that there is little chance of things going wrong.

I think this site has potential, but it is too wordy at the moment. Consider bullet points, or highlight key words out of the text. Putting your prices up front is good as it gets it out in the open.

The testimonials are good, but probably need a location after the name to give the depth. Plus your location does need to be clearer.

I also think you need to put a landline telephone number on. I would never trust a website that ran from a mobile number only. (you could always set your landline up to ring your mobile anyway).

Finally, I agree with the previous comment - the web design bit is confusing. Put it on a separate website - it is always best to stay focused on what the consumer wants (and expects) and if they are clicking on handiman, they are not expecting web design.

Hope this helps - good luck.

I strongly agree with Lee Choules views. You need

location

I would suggest if you want to do web design do it as a seperate domain with a link from your site.

If the site only used your description of services and prices with the Ronseal 'exactly what it says on the can'approach would have got me to give you a call if you lived near me.

But the web design etc would have put me right off.

The site is clean and clear and understandable. I have acouple of comments, firstly there are no address details, I find that this can put people off, not actually having an address to refer to. Plus it is not clear where you will work. Also, are you a handy man, or are you a website/pc person, I was surprised to see ads for web page design and pc repair, to me it implies your a jack of all trades...which may not be the right impression you want to create to people. Some pics of previous work, of you and your van etc wouldnt go a miss either. Best of luck!
http://www.londonlifeclinic.co.uk