What Makes a Good Company Website? - Cleaning Talk - Professional Cleaning and Restoration Forum

**Nathan** · 07-22-2006, 10:28 PM

I see a lot of websites from members and sometimes I'm asked to review them.

Here are a few things I look for when reviewing a website.

Is it easy to navigate
Does the site give good information about your company and the services your preform.
Is the domain name relevant to the company and easy to remember?
Is the design easy on the eyes. This doesn't mean that you have to have some really pretty design but focuses more on if you have something is hard to read or use such as yellow text on a white background.
Does it have some form of contact page so customers can get a hold of you. Preferably a request an estimate form.

There are a lot of times I see people trying to do too much on their site. They have all sorts of things that the customer has no interest in or at the very least takes away from the site. Your website's number one goal is to be a introduction to your company and to give customers a way to get a hold of you such as a request an estimate form. Think of it as a brochure for your business.

Some overdone things to avoid!

Hit Counters - Nobody cares how many people have visited your site and more than likely it's going to look less than impressive.
Page Transitions - This is when the website makes your browser fade or swipe from one page to another. Very Annoying!
Jokes/Current Events/etc... - Your website is a brochure about your busienss... not a social place for people to hang out.
Advertisements - I've been on a few sites that have ads on them. For some this is because they are using a free host and if this is your ONLY option then it's ok (if its not a pop up)... However I have also seen a few people actually charging for ads on their sites or advertising other services on their sites for vacation homes or realtors. I think this looks really cheap and I doubt you will get any money out of it anyways. Stick with your core business.

What do you look for in a good website?

**Nathan** · 07-22-2006, 10:42 PM

Posted this on ContractorTalk.com too and someone suggested "service area and phone number on every page".

Good suggestion...

PressurePros · 07-22-2006, 11:14 PM

Pictures portfolio
Professionally designed header
Easy Navigation

**Nathan** · 07-23-2006, 02:25 PM

Picture portfolios especially before and after shots are always great to have.

Barry M · 07-23-2006, 10:32 PM

Must look professional
Must carry your biz color and identity
Must be informative(people want info or they wouldn't be there)
No cheesy "Balloon" font
No typos
No links that say "coming soon" if your site isn't complete don't publish it.

**Nathan** · 07-25-2006, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry M

No links that say "coming soon" if your site isn't complete don't publish it.

I agree and have been guilty of this before.

However sometimes it can be good just to get something up and let the search engines index it. Then you can add graphics and finalize it later.

I've done this and am doing this on several sites. Just letting them grow for a while until I'm ready to launch.

greencleaning · 10-04-2010, 10:33 PM

just make sure your website is easy access to every user that comes...

Foremo · 10-05-2010, 10:37 PM

For a business website, how often do people think that the base content should be updated?
Personally I find that if a website has changed from the last time I saw it, I would read the new content. But for many in the cleaning and restoration business there is rarely never any new information to post.

Content that I would avoid include:
- Any page rank/visitor counters/seo tools or content
- Too much content. Keep it short and direct to the important content
- Any non-relevant links

HBF · 10-20-2010, 10:30 AM

One of the most important things to avoid adding to your website is Music! I hate going to a website and getting scared half to death.

You want to make sure the website is easy to read. Larger font, Arial Font, black font with a white background.

Make sure you have all the important information on your home page in bullet point. This would be a list of what you offer and where you are located and how to contact you. Most people are in a hurry and don't want to read through paragraphs of info to find what they are looking for. They want all of that on the home page. They don't want to go to other pages.

greg/sd · 10-23-2010, 05:05 PM

Thanks for the information. I helps to know the things not to do.

jaycar · 11-03-2010, 01:43 AM

Above all else, make your website clean and simple to navigate. no one wants to read about how you will clean their toilet step by step.

cutegirl · 11-03-2010, 07:15 AM

Thanks for sharing, it help us to know about the thing not to do, thanks again.

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olivemac1 · 11-10-2010, 02:13 AM

Content, Proper designing, color and combination of the site and navigation make a good company website because these things attract customers to visit your website and it looks like professional.

heyvt2580 · 02-26-2011, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olivemac1

Content, Proper designing, color and combination of the site and navigation make a good company website because these things attract customers to visit your website and it looks like professional.

Right.. I agree with you

Nikisclean · 02-28-2011, 01:46 PM

I'm having trouble with my website. It looks generic. Is there anyone else that has used a template and had success customizing it?

april1979 · 03-22-2011, 11:14 AM

Personally, I think that if you are offering an in-home service it may be beneficial to show a picture of you or the staff that will be coming into their home - make it more personal. Customers often like to see a picture of the potential cleaners and read a little background info about them before deciding to let them into their house. Now if your company is a larger janitorial company, you can make your website more impersonal and more business oriented. It really depends on the type of cleaning service you are providing.

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lisaheader · 04-08-2011, 02:14 AM

really good tips here! Thank you for sharing

Total Clean · 04-13-2011, 12:02 PM

All very nice tips and you must keep them in mind when getting a website done for your business.

But you guys missed on very powerful tool, a Blog. Blog are extremely powerful tools that will allow you to share your knowledge and show your industry you really are an authority in your field. Not to mention that it will have great influence in your search engine rankings and help drive qualified traffic to your website.

Racebum · 04-13-2011, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HBF

One of the most important things to avoid adding to your website is Music! I hate going to a website and getting scared half to death.

You want to make sure the website is easy to read. Larger font, Arial Font, black font with a white background.

Make sure you have all the important information on your home page in bullet point. This would be a list of what you offer and where you are located and how to contact you. Most people are in a hurry and don't want to read through paragraphs of info to find what they are looking for. They want all of that on the home page. They don't want to go to other pages.

i would even one up this. i absolutely HATE sites that have some woman walking across the screen talking to me. the second i go to a site and it starts talking to me i click the X

SwissClean · 04-19-2011, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikisclean

I'm having trouble with my website. It looks generic. Is there anyone else that has used a template and had success customizing it?

I did . Try template monster .com It has lots of nice templates , easy to customize if you have some knowledge about this