Web review

[henryfraser]

Hi


I have recently built a site to allow users to find and contact me via the web so that I can access more potential clients for small scale web design. I understand that I am asking for something when new and aim to try not to be the new guy that always receives but never gives.

I have tried to go for the flat UI design as you will see.

Aside to a review of the site, would I also be able to ask for a point in the right direction towards creating a custom error 404 page (that others have found helpful).




Site URL: (Edit: found the url box and deleted move request by henryfraser)


Thank you very much and apologies for the URL inconvineince.
Henry

[TheGAME1264]

A custom 404 page would depend on your server, any programming language(s) you know, and what you're trying to accomplish. So those would be the three questions I'd ask you as far as that goes.

Don't ever, ever do things because they're trends. Do them because they work. That's the only reason to ever embrace (or ignore) a trend. It works, or it doesn't. You have to try it to find out.

As far as your design goes, I don't mind it. I don't like your company name, though (development is the word), and I don't like the generic content you've put there so far. Put something there that says who you are and what you have to offer, not ad nauseam copy every corporate wannabe would put on there because (s)he lacks anything even remotely resembling a soul.

Again, though, you're 17 and learning. This is part of the process.

[henryfraser]

So I need to go for more originality?

[TheGAME1264]

Originality is first and foremost. You can worry about the other stuff after, but you always need a hook.

[henryfraser]

fantastic, so as I work on it I will try to put together some items that sets it apart from others. Thanks for the feedback game!

[Webzarus]

So, I don't know if the full site is any differnt than what I see on an iPhone ...

as TheGame said, generic statements and really no idea what the site is about at first glance.

1. Design and develop is pretty generic term, I know people that design and develop industrial equipment, and know people that design and develop network deployment services .... On and on and on...

2. Your contact page should at least be a form that people can fill out and hit the submit button.

not everyone's browers is tied in with their email, so someone would need to copy / paste your email or god forbid... Actually type your email address into their gmail, ymail, etc...

3. Speaking of email adresss, You're in web design / development and you're using a big pond email adresss ? Why not an email address associated with the site ?

Thats usually a no go, for many people... Email address different than the domain they are on.

at least for first contact ... Should be that way.

Forget the custom 404 page... They are handy and sometimes needed if you're serving up content from a DB, where you may be passing variables in the URL string, but for static pages... Shouldn't be needed. And from what I've seen 90% of custom 404 pages are done incorrectly, and actually hurt a site, when it comes to search engines.

4. You need to have a phone number posted where people can actually call you. You may not want to, but I know a very specific group of people that won't do anything via email only... A phone # on the site gives potential clients an idea of where you are, that you are at a fixed location ( even if you're not ), but I know of another demographic that look up everything on the Internet, but will only call the number on the site...


all points above are basically to give any potential client multiple ways of contacting you... That being said, you should have a physical location listed as well. This is generally for search engines so they can list your site in the appropriate "location"

i know, I know ... Web design is a global business ... But until you had one heck of an impressive portfolio highlighting your skills... Don't sit around waiting for people in other locations contacting you for work... That leaves local business ... And many smaller companies only deal with local designers that they can actually meet with, do some face time and feel comfortable with doing business with you.

[henryfraser]

Yeah, my target market is local business as i would like to start out as small as I can to get a feel for what I am doing. There are also tens of locals around my area without a website that (in my opinion) would benefit from one.

So originality, contact forms, something to show the viewer what the site is about at first glance and a site related email address would go a long way?


Thanks for the help