Check out my website - Page 2

Jean-Claude · 09-21-09, 08:40

Maxsimum and Bryan, I took both suggestions and applied them.

After/Before fixed.

Google Analytics applied.

Thanks

5150kon · 09-22-09, 06:57

i agree with the wow factor. i saw the before/after pic, awesome car but(no offense) the pics arent all that great on showing the hard work you pput into the vehicle. i would try to find a more "extreme" change in a vehicle. other than that i think the site looks put together well and professional

Jean-Claude · 09-22-09, 08:05

I have some correction images with 50/50's in them. Not many though. Of all the cars I've done work on, I only have images of my last 3 full correction jobs. I lost EVERYTHING on my hard drive. It makes for a very frustrating experience.

You think an image like this shows off attention to detail?

I showed a car enthusiast this image and he said he could not tell what had been worked or not.

I feel as though I am in a stuck position when it comes to a gallery right now.

DetailnByDustn · 09-22-09, 08:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaksimumAuto

Add some more meat to your home page. You want to have a low "bounce rate". A bounce rate is how often a person visits your site and leaves instantly. You can reduce this rate by making it as interesting as possible. Such as a video that plays instantly....text about your business and your goal...pictures of customers and some "wow" cars....some crazy before and afters. You want to make your customers astonished within the first 3 seconds of them seeing your site. I accomplish this on my site by having a picture of a Lamborghini Countach being detailed. It's a wow factor. At the end of the day, it all comes down to numbers.

How many people saw your site?
How long did they stay?
Where did they find it?

Use google analytics. It's CRUCIAL to your success. It'll tell you where your hits are coming from and how often your being visited.

Spend as much time as possible researching Search Engine Optimization. It will pay dividends. No matter how good your site is nobody cares if they can't find it. Spend some time googling keywords you'd use to find your business. Some directory links will come up such as "rate it all" or something like that. Sign up on as many as possible. Add pictures and all the info you can to those accounts. When the keywords are googled...your website probably won't come up but those links will...and your business will be there. So basically....DO EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING POSSIBLE TO GET AS MANY PEOPLE TO SEE YOUR WEBSITE AS POSSIBLE.
You can't make any money hiding in a cave.

Rant....over....

I would listen to Max he has a kick a site! You can add sport cars to draw attention to your work, I would feel at ease if I seen a vette, porsche, or in max's case lambo/ferrari

the more the better! Not saying your bmw on the front page is not a sport car. Add a simple slide show or a flash gallery showing recent work to the home page you would be surprise the responses to your website.

Irkie500 · 09-22-09, 03:03

Personally I would get a better before and after picture. While I was able to tell the differance at quick glance it doesnt look much differant. Get a nice reflection shot of a hood on a black car, that will really pull people in. Other than that the design of the site is nice, but perhaps on the services page you could make the serivices themselvs a bit easier to read, I think the centered text has something to do with it. Thats my advice take it or not.

MaksimumAuto · 09-22-09, 05:37

Alright I'm ready for another rant.

This time it's about images on the site and how you should use them.

The only images you should have on your site are ones where there is no gray area. No "yea i see a difference"....instead get some "holy **** that looks like a new car" images. You want images to add CREDIBILITY to your name. Not filling for your website. Think of it this way. Pretend that you have a potential customer and before he lets you do his Ferrari Enzo he wants to see a before and after shot of your work. Only one picture. Make sure that you can randomly choose any picture from your website and it'll convince him. DON'T HALF ARSE YOUR IMAGES. I make this mistake sometimes because I've done 100% corrections and didn't take the pictures in the right lighting conditions. When you build a gallery of some fairly "ritzy" cars such as Jags, Porsches, and other impressive rides, start weeding out the sub-par cars you have in the gallery. I'm in the process of doing this. I'm hoping to get to the point where I don't need to have any car worth less than $40k on my site. I do this because I want to create an image of exclusiveness and of elegance. I want potential customers to see my detail operation as a luxury. Try to impress your visitors with your pictures. Attempt to raise the bar for your site constantly. The more expensive cars you can add, the more credible you appear IMHO. (Just make sure the work looks top notch).

People enjoy "splurging" sometimes and when they do, they want something that the people that make more money then them often have on a regular basis. If your site has great pictures of great cars, you appear as a detailer that has skill, experience, and the trust of the people who let you do these cars. Keep in mind this is how I run my business. I portray it as a luxury, I aim for the upper class and attempt to make the middle class wish they could afford me. I'm fairly cheap though. An average full detail runs around $250. Hence...the middle class can afford me...and the upper class can easily afford me and be confident in me because of the cars I've done, my references, and how I carry myself.

Summary: People want what they can't have. Make it appear as though your the "rich guys' detail guy" and at the same time make yourself affordable to the middle class.

(Oh here is my site: Home | Maksimum Auto Detailing - Professional Mobile Auto Detailing Serving the Baltimore Area )

Jean-Claude · 09-22-09, 06:54

I suppose repeating that I lost a hard drive full of images would do no good.

Even if I had not lost my HD I still could not use pictures of me working on a Ferrari, Lambo or a Bentley as I've never detailed one.

I've done lots of upper end Mercedes, Jags, Porsches, Range Rovers, BMWs out the wazoo, Lexus, Audi ect...plenty of paint correction....I had tons of images from my 3 press release events I worked for Volkswagen from Atlanta to SanFran to NC....In other words I had those great pictures that make people say "wow". But I don't anymore.

I only have 4 or 5 detail job image sets to work with right now. Which were the jobs that were still in my camera. So unless I plan on stealing someone elses pictures or I post up pictures of random cars that I've not done, I won't have those pictures to work with. I refuse to do that so it's a moot point.

It's part of growing as a business in my opinion. When the F-cars ask for details then I can proudly post that up. Till then I take what comes my way. The F-car details pay the same as the Lexus details pay. (I do understand the image of working on supercars but that's not an option for me for the stated reasons)

So really, can we get off the whole image thing?

I said I was working on it. I don't know how to fix my predicament except with time. Unless you have a better idea?

**I do appreciate all suggestions and everyone has been swell about it. But the whole needing better images, having them a few weeks ago and losing them, explaining why I don't have them and how I intend on fixing it and having some not listen is frustrating.

Jean-Claude · 09-22-09, 07:12

These are the exact cars/jobs I have pics from TOTAL.

Hellrot z3 full correction.
Jetblack 335i full correction.
z4 m coupe full correction.
199x white 7-series 1-step.(interior was trashed and got cleaned up nice)

That's it. It's been raining/flooding here for 2 weeks and I've had no new pics. I have about 4 jobs lined up but no special cars that are noteworthy.

oh and a few low megapixel cell phone pictures of some cars that got washes.

2 years worth of details are lost due to losing my hard drive and not having a backup.

DetailnByDustn · 09-22-09, 07:54

[quote=Jean-Claude;1312321]I suppose repeating that I lost a hard drive full of images would do no good.

Even if I had not lost my HD I still could not use pictures of me working on a Ferrari, Lambo or a Bentley as I've never detailed one.

I've done lots of upper end Mercedes, Jags, Porsches, Range Rovers, BMWs out the wazoo, Lexus, Audi ect...plenty of paint correction....I had tons of images from my 3 press release events I worked for Volkswagen from Atlanta to SanFran to NC....In other words I had those great pictures that make people say "wow". But I don't anymore.
[QUOTE/=Jean-Claude;1312321]

Okay, good luck on your site

mose · 09-23-09, 11:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jean-Claude

I suppose repeating that I lost a hard drive full of images would do no good.

Even if I had not lost my HD I still could not use pictures of me working on a Ferrari, Lambo or a Bentley as I've never detailed one.

I've done lots of upper end Mercedes, Jags, Porsches, Range Rovers, BMWs out the wazoo, Lexus, Audi ect...plenty of paint correction....I had tons of images from my 3 press release events I worked for Volkswagen from Atlanta to SanFran to NC....In other words I had those great pictures that make people say "wow". But I don't anymore.

I only have 4 or 5 detail job image sets to work with right now. Which were the jobs that were still in my camera. So unless I plan on stealing someone elses pictures or I post up pictures of random cars that I've not done, I won't have those pictures to work with. I refuse to do that so it's a moot point.

It's part of growing as a business in my opinion. When the F-cars ask for details then I can proudly post that up. Till then I take what comes my way. The F-car details pay the same as the Lexus details pay. (I do understand the image of working on supercars but that's not an option for me for the stated reasons)

So really, can we get off the whole image thing?

I said I was working on it. I don't know how to fix my predicament except with time. Unless you have a better idea?

**I do appreciate all suggestions and everyone has been swell about it. But the whole needing better images, having them a few weeks ago and losing them, explaining why I don't have them and how I intend on fixing it and having some not listen is frustrating.

Soooo.......maybe post up more pics? LOL!! Totally kidding! The site looks great! My site is very bare bones and I would love to punch it up some. What I do like about my site are the before/afters. It does need some pizazz though.
Home

Jean-Claude · 09-23-09, 01:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by mose

Soooo.......maybe post up more pics? LOL!! Totally kidding! The site looks great! My site is very bare bones and I would love to punch it up some. What I do like about my site are the before/afters. It does need some pizazz though.
Home

*******!!
haha

ctrent86 · 09-23-09, 03:37

Ok here are some thoughts that I have:

1) Better images. I know your situation and others have mentioned it, so wont beat it to death.

2) Usability- Your navigation is not easily recognized. Once people have bought into you as a provider or want to learn more, they will want to do just that, try to learn more. If you make it difficult to find the information or navigation, you are going to lose them as a customer. Remember unlike the real world visiting a competitor takes little effort (a back click or typing google in the address bar). So make the navigation visible.

3) Readability- Centered, same font, same color, no bolded pieces of text = I dont want to read that. In addition, studies have shown that people on the net just scan your content. Bold your good copy items so you have control of the items and communication pieces your want them to read. Break up the content with headlines and other items.

4) Incorporate testimonials throughout more of the site. Do not assume that people are going to see or go to the testimonial site. Marry testimonials to pictures as it helps people make that personal connection with impersonal pictures.
Also scatter them throughout the content. I would say off to the side to complement the site will be best. Having said all those thing about testimonials, use them intelligently. If you are putting it next to an image or copy make sure it make sense in the location that it is. Also, if you can get them pictures of clients along with testimonials or video testimonials, through my testing (I work in website optimization and usability) have converted quite well.

5) Leaving a way for a person to stay in contact with you. A common problem that I find with sites is they do not make an effort to keep communication going after the visit. Sure you leave a email and a contact number. I am talking about add me as a fan on Facebook or Twitter. Keep these up, posting pictures of details. Have an exit popup when someone tries to leave the site offering to mail them a business card for their convenience etc. Yes perhaps these seem annoying, but they work and typically people appreciate the effort.

I will end there for time sake, but feel free to ask any questions.

Ok just kidding, if you are looking for a good platform for a site and do not have the sharpest HTML skills, Wordpress can provide a good platform for a site. There are tons of themes and walkthroughs out there.