VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Festus · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:01 am Post subject: Website Critique Wanted

I just put up my website and would like your feedback on it. What's good, what's not so good. I know the VO samples are horrible and will be re-done soon. Your comments are appreciated. Thanks. Larry
http://www.seniorvoiceovers.com
_________________
http://www.seniorvoiceovers.com
e-mail: info@seniorvoiceovers.com

Philip Banks · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:56 am Post subject:

In order to create a sustainable business you need to re-think every element of you site.

My main concern would be how many times you tell people, imply or actively invite potential clients to get you to work for nothing. Never do it or alternatively NEVER DO IT. Should people want a free demo, let them ask.

"We offer a complete professional digital recording studio and royalty free music library to create advertising messages that are both informative and entertaining." Ever known anyone claim the opposite? It is NOT and it will never be a selling point. What do you bring to the party? Sell that.

In the UK we often refer to older people as being in their Autumn years so images and backgrounds in keeping with that thought would ceretainly help. Give the site a story to tell with contact details to ensure, for you and clients a happily ever after.

Festus · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:34 am Post subject: Website Critique Wanted

Hi Phillip: Thank you for taking the time to review my cite. You made all very good points, which I will correct. You have a great voice and well done website. I appreciate your help. Thanks, Larry
_________________
http://www.seniorvoiceovers.com
e-mail: info@seniorvoiceovers.com

JoeActor · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:48 am Post subject:

Hey Larry,

I like that it's a very targeted site, with a specific audience and message.

From a design perspective, a one-page is a great idea. You may want to find a more aesthetically pleasing template to give a more professional look to the site. Plenty of HTML templates out there to start with.

Also, once you get your new audio samples squared away, check into getting an in-page player. JW Player is a good one (and free or low-cost) - here's a link:
http://www.longtailvideo.com/jw-player/

I like it because it works on most platforms (PC, Mac, mobile, etc), and is very configurable. You'll also want to provide direct mp3 links for download just in case.

Your page might also include a resume (or pdf link), client list, news or testimonials. Keep it brief, however, as one-page sites can get overloaded.

Hope this helps Wink

Joe
_________________
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com
www.SoundsGoodToYou.com

Scott Pollak · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:28 am Post subject:

I, too, like the one-page site idea, but just as a client should never voice his own project, so, too, should voiceovers never attempt to create their own website unless they're skilled graphic artists/web-designers as well (My wife and I both were, at one time)

To be blunt, your page looks extremely homemade and amateurish. Sorry if that stings, but nowhere on it does it holler out "PROFESSIONAL!!" to me.

Spend a few bucks, get someone who knows what they're doing to create a PROFESSIONAL looking site so that someone won't be scared off at first glance thinking "Whoa.... Home-made!"
_________________
Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

Festus · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:30 am Post subject: Website Critique Wanted

Hi Joe: Thank you for taking the time to review my site. I agree with what you pointed out. I have been struggling with Dewplayer and couldn't get it to work so just went with this simple flashplayer/button idea. I didn't think about letting someone be able to download the link if necessary. Your sites look great and you have a fabulous voice and excellent background.
_________________
http://www.seniorvoiceovers.com
e-mail: info@seniorvoiceovers.com

Festus · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:39 am Post subject: Website Critique Wanted

Hi Scott: Thanks for taking the time to review and comment on my website. I agree with what you are saying about the look of Website 101. I am using Web Easy Pro 9 and they don't have any flashy pre-set pages. You have a nice voice and your site is uncluttered and simple to use. Thanks. Larry
_________________
http://www.seniorvoiceovers.com
e-mail: info@seniorvoiceovers.com

JoeActor · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:12 am Post subject: Re: Website Critique Wanted

Scott Pollak · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:23 pm Post subject:

Larry, my wife - who admittedly is a top-notch artist - created my site on Wix, which has a ton of nice templates. You might want to go browse around their site to see what they have.
_________________
Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

AlannaOBrien · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 2:31 pm Post subject:

I understand that you're in the senior market, but your opening text does lay it on a bit thick, in my opinion.

The layout of the text might help it look more professional, too. If you put a line or break underneath your header and change the block of text to something more user friendly (maybe bullet points of sorts? Maybe just space in between)... I'd like to know in a glance what your business is, rather than reading a block of text.

As said above, wix.com is a great website. And it doesn't require you to know code or anything technical.

Best of luck!

Festus · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 3:23 pm Post subject: Website Critique Wanted

Alanna: Good point. In trying to keep it to one page, so that people don't give up or drift off to another site, I am combining the mission statement, with my biography statement, with my services provided statement and how to contact me all in one paragraph. As you know, most web surfers have the attention span of a gnat and probably won't read more than two lines, so it is a gamble. Thanks for taking the time to give me your sincere evaluation. I'll have to keep that in mind when I do a revision. Larry
_________________
http://www.seniorvoiceovers.com
e-mail: info@seniorvoiceovers.com

Shiromi · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 5:59 pm Post subject:

Hi Larry, I'd say I agree with pretty much everything that people have said here so far. I don't think you necessarily have to hire a graphic designer to design a site for you, but I would look at Joe's suggestion and seek out a more aesthetically pleasing template.

Also it is very information heavy up-front. I would rethink the copy, and space it out a bit so it's easier on the eyes.

DougVox · Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:20 am Post subject:

Hi Larry,

And welcome to the VO-BB!

I think that there's a lot of valuable advice in the responses you've gotten so far. Especially as regards having your site professionally designed. Since you're targeting such a specific niche, you've got every opportunity to present yourself as the Senior Voiceover expert. Your current site does nothing to help people believe that that is the case.

As for the the text-heavy paragraph at the top? (Stay with me here...)

There are a total of 9 sentences in that 'graph. For the sake of argument, let's ignore the sentence, "We understand about "old time" values." Now group the remaining 8 sentences into pairs. (1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, 7 & 8.) Re-read each pair together, and it seems to me that the second sentence in each pair is just a redundant re-wording of the first sentence in each pair.

I'm a big believer in a minimalist approach to web design & copy, so I don't point out the above to encourage you to combine those sentence pairs into longer sentences, but rather to eliminate lots of the words on that page.

(Also the word "receive" is misspelled in the last sentence of the second paragraph.)
_________________
Doug Turkel (tur-KELL)
Voiceover UNnouncer®
UNnouncer.com

Scott Pollak · Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:00 am Post subject:

Festus · Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:29 pm Post subject: Website Critique Wanted

Shiromi: Thank you for your comments. I did just go to WIX and they do have some amazing templates, and one which I would like to adapt to my site. I just have to figure out how to transfer their code into my Web Easy Pro 9 software so I can tweak the copy. Thanks.
_________________
http://www.seniorvoiceovers.com
e-mail: info@seniorvoiceovers.com