Hey fellow Marketing Maniacs! This is the first post in my new blog series where I will be reviewing the real websites of my readers (by request, of course!). I encourage you to take the time to read each one, as many of the issues your fellow business owners have with their websites are likely present in your site as well. My hope is that this series will train all of you to immediately spot the problems in your (and any) website, so you can fix them, get more sales, and make more money!
Alrighty, let’s get into it! Here is my first website review of www.JimMalmberg.com. Jim is a real estate agent in Los Angeles who specializes in distressed properties.
First Thoughts
Ok, my initial response when I look at the site is that the design looks very homegrown. What I mean by that is that it doesn’t look like a professional was hired to build it. It looks more like the business owner or a friend who “knows websites” built it. I’m confused by the images, the snapshots in the header, the changing-text box, and the starburst. It’s all a bit much and it doesn’t tell a cohesive story. This initial impression is important because you’ve just made your first impression on the visitor. And I’m looking at it from that viewpoint.
Eye Path
One of the most important aspects of design is eye path, what you are drawn to look and in what order. For me, the first thing that catches my eye on this site is the changing text box in the top right portion of the header. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It tells me what the site is about – real estate – and what areas Jim services. However, he’ll need to decide if that’s really the first thing he wants people to look at. I’m not so sure it is.
Next, I am drawn to the starburst to the far right of the header. I like the idea of this, but the content in the starburst isn’t strong enough to draw in the reader. The report will need a more compelling title, but more on that in the next section. Rather than having the report in the starburst, I would encourage Jim to put the guarantee he has at the bottom of page in there. People love a guarantee and that is a great thing to have them look at right when they come to the site, because it builds trust and credibility.
Content
The headline to the body copy of the page is too long. By the time I read it, I’m not interested in reading the rest of the copy. Which brings me to my next point: Even a good headline isn’t going to make me want to read all of that copy. The copy is good that’s not the issue it’s just that it is overwhelming, especially for someone who just landed on a homepage and doesn’t know anything about you.
As for the report (currently advertised in the starburst), it needs a new name. “Guide to selling your home in a short sale” isn’t enough to warrant a click. The idea and content are fine, but it needs a more attractive name. Something like “3 Mistakes you DON’T want to make when Short Selling” would be more enticing.
My last note on content is that instead of the static, non-clickable picture of a home next to the copy, there should be a list of Jim’s current listings. That is content that the prospect will be looking for, and you want to give them that right up front, so they hang around for a while.
Offer/Form
The current offer on the site is for the short sale guide. As I said, that’s fine. I think with a more enticing title that could work great. But that only reached the selling half of the prospects coming to the site. There should also be an offer (a way to collect contact info) for buyers. For this, I suggest a “listings newsletter”. Jim could offer the free newsletter to prospects and then send out an updated newsletter whenever he gets a new property on the market. I would think this would be a very enticing offer for prospective buyers.
Secondly, for both offers there should be a form right on the page where a prospect can get them without having to click around. The more times someone has to click, the less responses you’ll get. That’s just the way it is.
Blog
One quick note about the blog. Visitors should not be directed away from the site to visit the blog. It should open in the same window so that they can simply click the page and be right where they were before. I like that the look and feel of the blog and website are similar so there is no “where am I” shock, but that would be enhanced if it operated like it were a page on the site, not a separate site.
Alright, that’s it for this one! Thanks to Jim Malmberg for having the guts to take critique and learn from it! That’s how learning happens. Heck, I only know how to fix marketing problems because I’ve made most of them. You don’t have to learn that way. Read these reviews, be proactive, and GROW your business and your marketing.
Is there anything else you would recommend that I didn’t cover?
Best,
Joy
Source: http://www.postcardmania.com/wordpress/2012/05/website-reviews-jimmalmberg-com/
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