[Raj Venugopal]

We just got our first website live this AM.

Very exciting!

We have some tweaking and stuff to add, but please check it out at http://www.theinspiredhomeandgarden.com.

Your comments, suggestions are welcome, either open-posted or by private message.

Looking forward to your feedback.

Thanks,
Raj

[Dale Wiley]

Looks good.. your narratives are good and make your point very well.

I hope it works out for you.

Our new one is up with reduced content, but will be adding more soon.

www.westernsportsturf.com

[Dot Pecson]

Dale,

Looks nice, what is there. Two tiny suggestions: First, make the text font a tad larger, please. Us 'Over-50's' would appreciate that a lot. Second, there is a date in the upper RH corner, and a calendar with today's date selected. Might be good if either both dates agreed or maybe leave off the one in the upper corner?

And you might consider using sub-headlines (think benefits) when you write more text, to pull your readers in and make your text more visually-appealing.

Dot

PS - I totally love your photo at the top. Couldn't suit your business better!

[Raj Venugopal]

In terms of branding, do any/most of you with websites have business cards that have a common look and feel?

[EpicInterlock]

Raj and Dale,

Very nice work on the sites. I'm expecting a complete overhaul of my site as well with new colours, slightly new logo (better graphics), and all designed by a graphics designer. It should be live soon.

Raj, I have new business cards that match my new site (I've seen the new site, just needs a bit of tweaking first before going live) with the new logo and colours. I have to admit it's a neat idea to keep the cards and site looking the same. I'm thinking about redoing my trucks with a full vehicle wrap ($2500 each truck!!! ouch) to match the cards and the site. Check it out.

http://www.vehiclewraps.ca/portfolio.cfm?CategoryID=2

[Stonehenge]

Raj, I like the site. Nice aesthetic.

Dale, this one has a better look than the previous site - I see it's a Wordpress blog, which will make adding your own content really easy - but I'd remove the postbit date.

Congrats to both!

[Dale Wiley]

I just got back from meeting with my web guy.. he showed me how to do the word press thing.. so I will be making some changes over the next few days...

I definitely appreciate the inputs.. my goal is to have a very friendly site.. and I really like the Word Press so far.

The site look sbetter than the junk I put up myself.

That is why I went with a designer this time, and hopefully got started right.

[Raj Venugopal]

We went with a developer as well.

Redcow.com...

The service is excellent, and they have an IP on an admin process that allows me to change stuff on the site incredibly quick for a guy who knows nothing about html. They also consulted us for the design, which carried over to the other stuff like business cards, letterhead... most of which was through back and forthing on e-mail.

I'd recommend them for any landscaping site...rates for design and hosting were very competitive.

[Raj Venugopal]

I hope you guys don't mind me keeping this one alive....

For anyone with a site, check out www.google.com/analytics.

If you're unversed in running a website, this free service google offers help you analyze who's visiting your site, how long they're there, how long they're there, etc...

You might consider the lack of privacy factor, but it's pretty neat nevertheless.

[lasting impress]

This is my first time submitting a reply, but I thought I should give my 2 cents. (and being Canadian, its worth about $6 U.S. lol)

I think this site is right on. Now for my reply.

I attended a seminar hosted by Permacon. The guest speaker, was given advice on image. After an hour or so of website, portfolio talk and company recognition, I came out with this.

1. Make your website simple (there are lots of people on dial up, and wont wait forever to load up pictures).

2. Make your photo album simple (catagories your pics, driveways, patios etc... and only keep 4-5 pics of each). If you have too many pics, the customer tends to get board, especially if they have to look through pics of things they are not interested in.

3. Weed Man. All of Weed Mans trucks are green and yellow, and all of their t-shirts are green and yellow. You know its Weed Man from a mile away. Somebody asks you if you know of a company that sprays lawns, Weed Man always come to mind.
I have painted 2 of my 3 trucks orange, and my t-shirts, fleeces and new business cards are orange. It works. I get recognized for the company that was doing the job down the road, or in that subdivision, just on truck recognition (good work too). My web site is next www.lastingimpressionslandscaping.ca

Hope this advice is helpful,

[Raj Venugopal]

Nice site...where is Long Sault? Close to Ottawa I'm guessing...

[hnbullock]

Hi Raj -

Took a look at your new website - congratulations! it is nice and clean, clear and relatively easy to navigate. I do have a few suggestions.

First, the area where you have an opening photograph on my computer is blank. I am a MAC user and opened in Firefox. it does show up when opened in Safari - just an FYI as some people might be using Firefox.

I think that in your Philosophy section, you might be better served by steering away from negative comments about other landscaping companies, and stick to emphasizing what it is that you do. The sentence below is the one that stood out the most, and it seems to pit you against others in your industry, an "us against them" stance which to me seems combative.

"We do not enter into competitive bidding situations and never substitute quality workmanship or materials to squeeze a budget through, as do many landscaping companies."

Though what you say is probably true, in my business experience, it has never served me well to speak negatively about others, and furthermore serves to alienate me from people who in the end, might learn from what I do and become better business people as a result.

My only other comment has to do with your portfolio. I would prefer, once in that section and looking at a specific property, not to have to go back to the main portfolio page to select a different property. Maybe you can have the menu appear on every page.

Hope the website serves you well!

Hilary Bullock

[LandArts]

Very nice site! I second the motion to up the font size of the text. Funny how web designers don't appreciate the advantage of easily read text.

Our biz cards match the art on our homepage.

[Stonehenge]

I love the project in the portfolio that looks like it's using flagstone, then there's some sort of compass motif inlaid in it. Almost looks as if it's all pavers, and none of it is stone. Neat look.

But you might ask your designers to put the images in some kid of horizontal scroller, because the vertical space taken up by the featured image and thumbnails below makes it nearly impossible for me to mouse over the bottom row of images and still see the entire full image up above, unless I do some tricky mousing.

@Hilary - On Raj's site I'm only seeing about 5 pictures in his portfolio, so seeing every picture (except for the difficulty noted above) is relatively easy and doesn't require any navigation on my part. Are you seeing something different?

[Raj Venugopal]

Thanks for the comments guys; they are very appreciated. I've made some text and font changes which should change the tone. It's been a work in progress, and I suspect further changes will come. I have to load more shots in as well. I'll talk to the designers to see what kind of modifications can be made to change the thumbnails view and the portfolio menu. Not sure what's involved there. The portfolio only has a handful of shots on that one page...the majority of pictures are in the Before and After section.

LandArts- Our busi cards are taken off the exact colour and design scheme of the homepage. Some good points on corporate branding made by Lasting Impress.