Kate, I know these are a lot of work. Thanks again for doing this thread.
Kate,
I sent an email, but here is a link to mine http://top2bottomhomeinspect.com
Nice work Kate.
Howdy, Members –
Just checking in to let you know that Billy was right – the requests have been flooding in! Thanks for your interest.
I’m reviewing your websites in order of your request, and I have about two dozen on my list now, and it will take me a few days or more to get through them all. Please don’t post your request more than once. I’m getting to these as fast as I can, so please be patient.
If you have emailed me directly with your request, I’m reminding you that you must post your request here on the message board, along with a link to your website. This random freebie is for members only, and only for members willing to have my comments posted in this thread. (But that’s not such a bad thing, is it?^)
While you wait for me to get to your website, I hope you’re taking some time to read the feedback that has been posted so far for the other members, since that’s the point of this exercise – much of the feedback will be useful to many members, so do take a few minutes to look at the members’ websites and my notes about them, and feel free to post any comments and questions.
Thanks again for participating – hope to have a couple more webpages knocked out today.
David Macy
http://www.hshinspections.net/
Always glad to have someone give me advice.
Take your time, no hurries or worries. And if you do not have time, that is OK too.
That news feed on page 1 has gotten me a lot of inspections!!
Hi, David –
Here are my comments for the main page of your website at http://www.houseabouthome.com
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The action shots of you at work and of your vehicle are excellent!
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Your entire tagline at the top of the page should be italicized. (The emphasis of “a home” is implied.) Also, “A” is an article and should be uncapped x2. I would also change the comma to ellipses. Furthermore, make it much bigger than the surrounding text – this is part of your branding, so don’t allow it to be swallowed up by keeping it the same size as everything else. So, it should look like this:
*More Than a House… a Home!*I’m also a fan of exclamation points, and buying a house is exciting, so engage your prospective clients with some enthusiasm. -
Change “Serving” to “Providing”
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Change “Area” to “Areas,” since you’re naming multiple cities.
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Uncap “With”
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Delete your tagline on the right side over your photo – you already have it at the top of your home page, and you don’t want to dilute its significance by repeating it every few lines of text.
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Make the phone number above your photo bigger – again, you want the really important stuff to be larger than the rest of your text. You might also use a different color so that it stands out better.
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Under your photo:
a. Delete the comma after your name.
b. Put your license number all on one line under your name. Also, delete the period after “License,” and delete the space between the number sign and the numbers.
c. Make all of this text bigger – it’s important information! -
Insert an exclamation point at the end of the heading beginning “Thank you for your interest” – this is a complete sentence, so it requires some punctuation at the end, and you want to enthusiastically welcome your site’s visitors.
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The second sentence (beginning “Maybe”) is actually a continuation of the first sentence, so move the question mark to the end of “qualified inspector.” Also, insert a comma after “Upstate New York” – also note that I’ve capped “Upstate” because it’s a recognized region/nickname, not just a location.
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Change the two ampersands to the word “and”
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Delete your name after “Rest assured” and change “home inspector” to “home inspection company.” It’s bizarre to read you referring to yourself both in the first person and in the third person.
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Delete “potential” (the buyers are potential; the home is actual).
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Insert a comma after “thoroughly”
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Change the next sentence to: “I encourage you to attend your inspection so that I can explain my findings and answer all of your questions.” (Don’t say “I don’t mind” – you shouldn’t mind, so don’t imply that you’re doing your customers a favor.)
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Change “2 to 4+ hours” to “around three hours,” – this splits the difference, which you also qualify with the rest of the text. Also, these numbers should be spelled out.
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Change “on size” to “on the size”
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“easy to read” and “in depth” should be “easy-to-read” and “in-depth” – adjectival phrases need those hyphens.
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I prefer “photos” to “photographs” – “photographs” is more artsy-fartsy, as well as antiquated, like saying “cellular phone”
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Insert a hyphen between “hard” and “earned”
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Instead of “you’ll want,” say “so you want” – you need a conjunction there to avoid a run-on sentence, plus they want a home inspector now, not in the future.
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Change the comma after “Don’t hesitate” to the word “to”
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Change “contact” to “call”
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Don’t split up your phone number – put it all on one line so that it’s easier to read.
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Change “via email at” to “or email me at”
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Insert a comma after your email address.
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In the heading over the photo, uncap “Of The”
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Use a complete sentence for the caption, and make the text bigger:
This large opening under a bench on the second-floor deck is a safety hazard for children and pets.29. Render your tagline per the instructions in edit #1. The size is great! -
Nick will understand when I tell you that your state license number should appear before your InterNACHI affiliations, so move that information up so that it’s right under your company name.
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If possible, increase the size of that comic strip so that it’s more readable. (You must have the eyesight of a jet fighter pilot!^)
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In the text under the comic, change “Home Inspections in” to “Serving.” Also, cap “counties,” and delete the period at the end.
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That’s cool that you have a print function at the bottom of the page! That’s a very convenient option to offer.
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Your copyright notation should include the current year. It will also demonstrate that you’re keeping your site updated. As a consumer, I avoid online vendors whose sites don’t have a current copyright year.
On the left panel:
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I would change “Home Inspection Service Areas” to just “Service Areas”
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Delete the link “Contact The Home Inspector [phone number]” – this just takes up space, since you already have your phone number on this page in a couple of spots. Plus, there’s no reason it should link to anything – it’s your phone number. The fewer links, the better.
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The “Home Inspection Defect Photo Gallery” should be much lower in the lineup, near the articles at the bottom – your testing services (radon, water) are more important.
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Move your “Client Testimonials” down, too.
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I would argue that the NYS SOP and COE should be higher in the lineup.
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Very nice adding those articles – this is the kind of stuff your prospective clients want to know about.
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Your “Have me call you” button should be MUCH higher – maybe even before the informational articles, if it’s possible to move it there. If not, at least put it in first position above all the other icons and seals.
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The “How Green Is Your Home?” link should appear with the other text links, after the informational articles. It’s lost here, as well as out of place.
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All in all, this is a solid home page!
Kate, these are really fun. Thank you.
Kate,
I, and I’m pretty sure everyone else really appreciates what you are doing for us, but isn’t this after hours for you? I sure hope you’re getting paid overtime for this.
Nick, I hope you are treating her well, because if you aren’t, you just may have to answer to the whole membership. (Not sure if I have all the commas in the proper places)
Kate, can you check my site. It’s in my signature line.
Thanks Kate…
Thank you, Nick, and BLESS YOU, Dan, and your immediate family, your extended family, all of your descendants, favorite neighbors, favorite sports teams, people you like, etc., etc.! 
Wow, I am blessed!
Hi, Michael –
Here are my comments for the main page of your website at http://homeinspection.meekerindustries.com/ (I’m giving you feedback only for the first website link you posted):
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So, yes, you need to change the title of your website so that the tab doesn’t say “index.” This will be especially annoying to prospective clients who are multi-tasking online with multiple browser windows and tabs open while doing online research during their home-shopping.
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You do an unnecessary amount of self-referencing. Please stop doing this. Thank you. (See next comment.)
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Home-computing has been around for a generation, so you don’t need to have the word “Site” (or “Website”) in your page name – I know I’m on a website.
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On that point, you might want to change your name (if possible) to “Meeker Industries Home Inspections” (plural), or use whatever your company’s actual name is in your main heading.
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Your CMI seal, photo, company name, the two newspaper references, and the text below your photo are all crammed together (and I had to increase my browser window size just to see everything). Please give all of these elements some breathing room – there is no need to crowd everything together like this. It gives your site an unintentionally homemade look.
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I would recommend moving the two newspaper references to your left panel and link them. Otherwise, I don’t know what your point is in including them, and neither will your site’s visitors. Hopefully, they’re newspaper stories or interviews, and not merely ads. (And if they’re ads, delete these references because it’s disingenuous of you to imply that they’re something that I’d want to read, especially because they’re three and four years old.)
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I’m sure you have your reasons, but if you’re promoting an “alternative” home inspection that’s “half as much” (not “1/2 as much”) as your Standard Home Inspection, why do I need to read any further? People buying homes are freaking out about money whether or not they’re actually “price-shoppers.” You’re a CMI, so promote your expertise, not your super-low prices. You do yourself a disservice, in my humble opinion. I think you need to present this alternative much later in your page as a true ALTERNATIVE, not as the first choice you give your visitors.
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In that text, make your phone number stand out better, perhaps by using that same bright blue color.
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Change “Free Wind Mitigation Inspection With Every Full Home Inspection” to:
FREE Wind Mitigation Inspection with Your Standard Home Inspection!
Use the same terminology (“Standard” vs. “Full”), uncap the preposition, and say “Your” instead of “Every.” I’m one person looking for one home inspection, so speak to me, not to everyone. And lose the period – this is not a sentence. But it’s OK to use an exclamation point instead, since this is marketing language.
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Another point about this freebie is that I have yet to find out what your Standard Home Inspection entails, so you should offer this freebie after you explain a little about your Standard Home Inspection. (It’s also why your Alternative Home Inspection should appear later.)
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Several comments about your paragraph below (between the free Wind Mit and above your signature below):
a. TOO LONG! Think like a person shopping for a home inspection – they’re looking for short bits of easily digestible information that gives them what they’re looking for and tells them what they need to know. When I see a long paragraph like this, I’m liable to click off and keep looking elsewhere for a website I can get through more easily.
b. That’s great that you don’t have a lot of annoying bells and whistles, but making me actually read that you don’t have the bells and whistles is just as annoying as having them!^) Again, don’t self-reference; if you don’t have something, there’s no reason to explain that you don’t or why you don’t. It’s non-essential information.
c. You start talking about your report before you tell me about your inspection, and this is backwards. Think chronologically and present the information that way. What if I’m a first-time home buyer and have no idea what a home inspection entails?
d. This entire paragraph needs a major overhaul, starting from scratch. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to approach this like a news story and present your services in the order of the “5 Ws”: who (you, your licensing and qualifications), what (home inspections and your different services), when (your hours and availability), where (your service area/s), and why (why I should hire you/your experience, and why I might need your different services, such as for first-time home buyers, investors, retirees, new builds, 4-Point, Wind Mit, Citizens, etc. – explaining why I would need these). Keep these elements separate so that the paragraphs are short and easy and quick to get through. You want to make it as easy as possible for your visitors to find the information they want so they’ll hire you.
e. The “You may not get to meet me until you hire me” text should be its own paragraph, but its usefulness here is negligible. You’re using it as a lead-in to the whole issue of licensing HIs in Florida, and as a consumer, I don’t care about this. It’s essentially industry politics, and it’s old news. Are Florida HIs required to be licensed? They are? OK. Are you? You are? OK. That’s all I care about. I don’t care about grandfathering, I’m not going to visit a different website to find out about what the State of Florida requires (really, I’m not – I’ve had a long day and I’ve been online all night trying to find a dang home inspector). Plus, why send your visitors off your site? That’s crazy, Michael. You know what’s even crazier? That you’re telling your visitor, “Make sure whoever you choose has some verifiable experience.” So, you’re okay with me continuing to look around, to hire “whoever” instead of you? Are you TRYING to get rid of me? ‘Cause I’ll keep looking, if that’s what you want!^) Seriously, stick to the task at hand, which is to get the job. It’s not to vent about licensing, it’s not to compare HIs to contractors, it’s not to randomly accuse contractors of being unscrupulous and unethical, etc., etc. (And I have all the chances I want to take “to hire the right person for the job,” by the way.) Your job is to get the job. Period. Don’t make me read your bitter manifesto – sorry, but that’s how this comes off, especially because you’re offering half-price inspections before I find out anything about your Standard Home Inspection. Plus, this paragraph is all over the place – it lacks focus because you’re talking about too many things, none of which is driving me to the decision to hire YOU. Delete this entire paragraph and start from scratch. Then rewrite it. Then rewrite it again. Then have someone read it. Then rewrite it. THEN post it.
f. We do not put quotation marks around our name. We’re just the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI).
g. Spell out your name under your signature.
- You have a lot of misspellings (and punctuation errors) on your main page, including “Certificates.” However, your “certificates” don’t qualify you; your certifications do, so swap out those words. Also, uncap the following words: “Of,” “The” and “To.”
a. Also, delete “Next” (I haven’t hired a home inspector before, so why are you “next”?)
b. Change the period at the end to a colon.
c. This heading in red starts in the gray panel at the left and goes across – this is a poor visual. It should be in the white/main field only.
d. There’s a ton of extra space between the certificate jpgs and your keyword list in the gray panel at the left, as well as between the keyword list and the bottom of your main page – delete ALL of this unused space so that your visitor doesn’t think that you have a really long page – they’re liable to click off if they think they have a lot of stuff to slog through. And it just looks amateurish to have a page that has so much empty space.
On the left side:
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This panel is way too wide and forces me to increase the size of my browser window. One common complaint I have for most of the websites I’m reviewing so far is that the text is too small. Your text is a good size, but it doesn’t need this much space around it.
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“Please click on area of your choice below:” is another self-reference. I don’t need instructions to click on links, so delete this heading.
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However, your links should not be the same color as your non-linked text. It looks like the only link is the “Home Inspection Alternative.” Change the color of all of your links to the conventional blue so that I understand that they’re links. Again, this is a convention, and your superfluous heading is a worse option than simply changing the color of the linked text.
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Your “Home” link should be first, not last.
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Again, don’t be too desperate to push your “Home Inspection Alternative.” You may feel strongly opposed, so I invite other members to chime in about this.
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Say either “4-Point” or “Four-Point” – stick to one rendering and use it throughout.
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Your “Contact Information” should not be a link – your actual contact information should be prominently displayed near the top of this page.
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Change “E-Mail” to “Email”
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When I hover over a link, it doesn’t say what it is; it just gives me some random page number. You should rename your links so that their names reflect what they are instead of their page number according to your website editor. This is an admin thing that you can get to last, but I think you should do it in case someone wants to bookmark a specific page deeper in your site.
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The box for clients to enter their email address to find their report should be much bolder, larger, and prominently placed – this looks too subtle and is too hidden away.
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Re the text below that box:
a. What’s the difference between your “Home Inspections” and “Home Inspection Services”? Just call them all “Home Inspection Services” (and delete your misspelling of “amd” – where’s my ruler??).
b. You shouldn’t be repeating your list of services here – they should ALL appear as links at the top only.
c. Delete the repetitions. What’s the difference between a “Full Home Inspection” and a “Pre-Purchase Home Inspection”? Also, it should be either “Full Home Inspection” or “Standard Home Inspection” across the board – use one rendering and stick to it; don’t confuse your visitors.
d. Do you want “4-Point” (remember to include the hyphen) or “Four-Point”? Choose one and stick to it.
e. It’s not “Citizen’s” with an apostrophe; it’s “Citizens.”
f. Move your Child Safety Inspection to the top list and link it.
g. Your last two paragraphs should be combined – they’re repetitive of each other. And this is the stuff that tells me why I should hire you, so why are you hiding it here where I might not see it? This is the information that needs to be in your main paragraph up top on the right, along with your licensing information (with the HI license first, not the contractor one). Also:
i. “Construction Industry” is not a proper noun, so uncap it.
ii. Correct the spelling of “experience”
iii. Change “normal home inspector” to “average home inspector”
iv. Why are you bashing home inspectors who join associations?
v. “no real life experience” – what does this even mean? They’re alive, right?^)
vi. Un-bold “Home Inspections” and “Home Inspector.”
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Move your keyword list up, cap “list,” and delete your apology and explanation. I would also delete “low price home inspector” near the end of the list – that’s a little sad to read!
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Insert a copyright notation at the bottom (once you’ve deleted all the extra space). It should include the copyright symbol, your company name, and the year.
Thanks for all the suggestions, it is really appreciated.
I struggle with editing my site as I am a computer dummy!!
Looks like I have some work to do!!
Thank you for the review Kate. I have made some changes to the page. Because of limitations on the site I cannot make all the changes you suggested but I have made a lot of them. I am now looking over the rest of my website to see where I can improve it. Thanks again.
Crimea River? Love it. Link
Hi, David Macy –
Sorry for the confusion – I posted feedback for David O’Keefe’s site (see link in post). Yours is on the list, though.
I’m going in order of receipt of request, some of which were emailed to me directly before all the members understood the “post your request on the message board” rule.
I have been emailing (or private-messaging) members to let them know when I’ve posted my feedback for their site on the message board, so you’ll know first-hand when it’s up.
Thank you all again for your kind comments and patience!
Sorry, shows what a dumb head I am sometimes:oops:
Kate, this really is an awesome thread. Thank you!