Critique please (Swiftmediauk.co.uk)

Looks good from the start. It does look very template-y to me mainly because it's designed in the same style (same style as this site which was recently posted for review). So it's a little genric looking but I think the bright colours and the pinwheel thing help to make yours look unique.

There are a few problems with text readability - especially the light orange text. That should be changed to a darker orange so is stands out more from the background, especially on the left side.

I would avoid using the word "cheap". It's got a junky sort of connotation. Cheap = crappy. Inexpensive or low cost might be better terms to use.

The design overall is very well done. It's hard to find anything to say about it. Very well put together. I don't like pink hover state on the navbar. That should maybe be red or orange.

On the about page (and other pages as well) there should be a bigger margin on the text. Once you learn CSS you'll be able to set custom margins for certain elements on the page. Make sure there's at least a 20 px margin on content like that. This is being written in a way that IMO is attempting to sound intelligent but is really just confusing. Take, for example "With the end result being a product which acts as a vehicle to usher in new sources of revenue and takes full advantage of this medium as a highly effective marketing and business tool." This could be written as "Our aim is to take full advantage as the web as a business and marketeing tool. We will help you to open new sources of revenue and reach new customers."

I guess it depends on your target audience - are you targetting hard core corporate types or regular business owners? This is hard core corporate language that might not work well with regular people. Either way, do some research on good web writing. "New media solutions" might be confusing to a lot of people too. It sounds pretentious without being clear.

In addition, I think it would be helpful to put more of a human face on this. i.e. who owns this company, who am I dealing with etc. I think a lot of people are unsure about dealing with online companies because they don't really know who is on the other end of the transaction. Putting up a more human front might make potential clients feel more comfortable about hiring you.

Skimming over the rest of the content, there should be more opportunities for the visitor to take the next step. Lead them in the right direction by pointing them to the contact us form at oportune times. On the portfolio page, for example, you could have something like "like what you see? Contact us for a quote".

On the contact us page, there is no phone number. That could be a red flag for some. I know I wouldn't deal with a company that won't put up a phone number (and I've advised others to do the same).

Overall a good job. It all looks good but I think it could be improved from a business and marketing perspective.

From an SEO standpoint, if you must have an image menu bar you should also have text menu bar soomewhere else on the page. It could be small but it should at least have a link to your homepage which you currently do not have. That way you are not losing out on the link popularity that your subpages could provide.

Hi swiftmed

I am a terrible web designer by nature (I have a team do this for me thank goodness) but, if you like, I could give you a few technical pointers for the site and also briefly look at your hosting sales pricing/structure.

Brad

The header looks very high end. When you're a web company, potential clients will be judging you on their first impression of YOUR site so this is very important.

The area below the header looks just a touch washed out. I think if you played with the colors of the menu table at the left under the header it would finish it off nicely. Cheers.

Just wanna say I love the look of your site swiftmed! Great use of the logo at the top, easy to follow and understand, all information is relevant! No bad comments from me really!
Good site- all that remains is to see how you get traffic to your site and then what CTR you get! Dont know much about SEO but I'm sure I've heard somewhere that links to too many categories that are different from your own site could hinder positioning- is that correct? Wouldnt it be best to provide links in related categories? Although I'm sure you know more about SEO than myself!
Thanks
Alex

Looks very nice, really like your colors, just the header is a little bit to big for me. On my screen it takes up half the page and on dial-up takes awhile to load.
Also noticed in your CSS, you are using a fixed font size. If you use % someone with visibility issues can resize it for better reading.

Again I really like to colors you choose, the orange and blue look really sharp.

Take care,
nonnie

Yes Andy, in my opinion you should always have a text menu bar because sometimes the search engine spiders do not give you credit for image backlinks. You could ultimately lose pagerank this way.

Hi Primeryder,

Cheers for the advice mate. ill get onto that this evening. Nonnie, also thanks, great ideas you have suggested. Im in the middle of changing the whole site over to CSS, so i will bear in mind to use % not fixed sizes.

Any time Andy, glad I could help.

Here are some good resources on web writing:

From Jakob Nielsen (usablity expert): http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
Another good article: http://www.clickz.com/experts/archives/design/onl_edit/article.php/833861

Thank you Megam, I appreciate it. Cheers guys. what a great website.

I love the layout. I always wished I could have a cool website like yours. In fact, I was thinking that I should contact you about getting at template like the one you have.

I want a template that is easy to use. I cannot stand all these ***-i-ny-ing templates that don't give you any built in tables and boxes already made to put links in. Yeah, I must admit, I would like to be able to learn how to design better, but sometimes...when you JUST don't want to take the time it's nice to see a design like yours.

I always wanted a simple design like the one you have for your site. Your purpose is clear, and you present visitors with quite a few options. That is awesome!! I want that for MY site D***it!!

Not to mention, its a good thing that your website design is set up nice and organized (That is only a pipe dream for me right now) since you offer to design other people's sites. I didn't check all the links, but the one I did click on works, so if they all work you are good to go.

As far as codes and other complicated stuff, I am the wrong person to ask about that. I am just glad to see awesome website designs, and I wonder where you got it.

Julie

Hello Julie

Thanks for the review. with regards to the template and where it originated from, well it was a template, but you wouldnt recognise it now against the original template i used. Evereything has changed, the only thing that still remains from the original template is the grey menu across the top. Everything else i have designed myself. You can check out loads of good templates at boxedart, or take a look at my latest deal for a free template.