Matt1987

Hi, ive been working on a small site trying to sell a specific house for a building company. I would like some feedback, and advice, thank you.

aestheticloveinc

Features: the text overlaps the footer that bottom
Features: I think one static photo doesn't seem that much of a "sell," I know a lot of people don't have flash (I know I don't), and I can't afford it any time soon, but this stuff works just as well and is what a lot of flash users make their stuff do anyways: http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamici...epcarousel.htm or http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamici...ogjs/index.htm. I think it could provide extra pictures of the house while they're reading about the features of it. Like when you discuss the bedroom, en-suite, and other things you can have rotating pictures of it as well.

Layout: PDF can be annoying, and I've read (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030714.html) that many other people don't like them. The gallery could work perfectly for this anyway.

Gallery: I say use this: (http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamici...box2/index.htm). Having it link to a new window and then having to click back to the old window can get tiring by the 5th or 6th click. Plus the gallery can be implemented on that page rather than led away from the web page like it is now.

Location: This is something I did for a website (http://www.precious-pets.net/), I made it to where they just type their address and click 'get directions' and it pulls up a map and everything on how to get to that location. I think that would work great for you site too.

Contact: Email would be good too.

Alex Rehm

Hiya,

I think the overall layout and feel for the site is already nice. There are a couple of things I would look at though:

• General: the text should never be left-aligned
• Home page: it isn't until I read the text below the image that I knew what this site was about. I think the title tag isn't strong enough, if it said "Harby-House-Hanthorpe - for sale in Linconshire" then at least there would be something to go on with. The header "welcome to a rare opportunity" is the same wording as you see in a lot of spam emails. I would rephrase that to something related to you actually wanting to sell that property.
• Home page: you are referring to an estate agent named Quentin Marks who is selling the house on your behalf (or you might actually be an employee of Quentin Marks), yet you do not direct-link to their site, let alone to that particular property on their site, nor do you have their company logo on the site.
• Description: the page title "description" is confusing with regards to property selling. Instead I would rename this to "about this property"
• Description: this is actually the first time you mention the price. I think this would be something you need to be clearer about throughout the site. You're talking over half a million for a house, so you need to not only have a site up, but market it properly on it
• Features: you have a nice list there, but is it going to sell with only an image of a kitchen? Would a slideshow help? Would having small thumbnails or images next to each item help? Would a more detailed list help? Remember, we are talking over half a million GBP here, and up until now I am not parting with that kind of money to buy it
• Layout: these mini-thumbnails are not really working, moreso, you are not even showing PDF links properly! This is a usability issue, as explained here. I would recommend looking at that article and fixing that issue. In fact, I would look at how to either use bigger images, or bigger images using a lightbox, followed by a link to download the floor plan as a pdf
• Gallery: while the gallery is functional, it is not designed within the site's template, making the jump from the other pages to this one a bit annoying. Plus, there is no back-link either on that page. When clicking on an image you are now on a third template, white backhround, differnent link styles, etc. Why? I would really look at that and improve that part
• Contacts: this is rather "location and contact" isn't it? The information here is okay, but I would make the link to the Quentin Marks website clickable, and I would also make the phone number more visible, after all, if I have made it this far without leaving then I might be considering contacting you / the agent, so make sure that call to action is clearer. Speaking of which...
• Call to actions: your site has hardly any! You are trying to sell a house worth half a million GBP to a potential client, yet the only way to get in touch is by actually clicking on the contact page (provided that client isn't bored yet), just to see a small phone number and a web address that in its current state has to be copied, pasted in a new window and then searched through the site to find it? Come on, at this stage you lost pretty much everyone apart from the ultra-desperate hardcore buyer! Instead, why not have a contact number and link to the Quenting Mark's website (as in the link to the actual property, not the main site) in the header and footer. Why not have a link at the bottom of each page's content along the lines of "click here to find out more or to book a visit"?

I think overall the whole site needs a lot more work with regards to layout of the pages, the gallery layouts and definetly the call to actions. Remember, you are talking quite a bit of money for that property, especially in this recession we are steering towards here in the UK, so you need to make sure your message / property is presented in the best possible way, with detailed information and good call to actions

Hope this helps,
ALEX

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Alexander Rehm - Web Architect
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Matt1987

thanks guys. all very valid points indeed. as i said its a work in progress but you have definately point some stuff out that i had missed.