In need of some opinions on new AAMCO web site.

[Papa_D]

I'd like to get some opinions on the web site for AAMCO Total Car Care of Clermont. Please don't be apprehensive about "trashing and bashing it" because you would be hard pressed to offend me and the simple fact is, if I wanted nothing but a bunch of compliments I would go ask some strippers or hookers who wanted my money, lol.

Thanks in advance for the help, now let the mud slinging or compliments commence, I want your worst insults or your honest appreciation so that I may improve it later.

aamcoclermont.com AAMCO Clermont FL Car Transmissions Brakes Air Conditioning Engine Batteries Oil Change Engine Warranty American Imports

[TexUs]

First impression is that it's one of those spammy search portals that are designed to rank high in search results but offer no real information you want.

IE, don't like the layout.

[sudden urge]

The site looks fine to me.

[Lvcoyote]

Grammar, grammar, grammar. Honestly, it sounds like a middle school kid wrote it.

[jessestylex]

first thing i noticed was all the FREE FREE FREE FREE words, free is nice, but on the internet free seems like your up to something. people are going to feel like all the free stuff will be made up for in your service bill. at least thats how i feel when i see free to much.

[sudden urge]

I liked the large coupon box and the ASE certification.

[jessestylex]

also i think if it's family owned you need a picture of the employees and owner on the front page,makes people feel safer when they can see the people behind the business. my local shops do this and it helps them grow a trusted bond with the town.

[Papa_D]

Originally Posted by TexUs

First impression is that it's one of those spammy search portals that are designed to rank high in search results but offer no real information you want.

IE, don't like the layout.

Did you navigate the different tabs or the Facebook link at all?

[Papa_D]

Originally Posted by jessestylex

also i think if it's family owned you need a picture of the employees and owner on the front page,makes people feel safer when they can see the people behind the business. my local shops do this and it helps them grow a trusted bond with the town.

There is a photo of some of the guys on the Facebook link to give people the warm and fuzzies.

[Papa_D]

Originally Posted by sudden urge

The site looks fine to me.

Did you find it at all dull or bland?

[Papa_D]

Originally Posted by Lvcoyote

Grammar, grammar, grammar. Honestly, it sounds like a middle school kid wrote it.

She will be happy to hear this one, lol. A lot of what goes on with web sites these days has as much to do with how words or phrases rank in Google as how grammatically correct they are and at the end of the day, it makes no difference how great the grammar is if the site is on page four of a search where nobody will ever see it.

[sudden urge]

Originally Posted by Papa_D

Did you find it at all dull or bland?

I don't think that type of listing needs pizazz. It's more important to readily see the navigation keys on the front page, and their website does that well IMO.

[Papa_D]

Originally Posted by sudden urge

I don't think that type of listing needs pizazz. It's more important to readily see the navigation keys on the front page, and their website does that well IMO.

The comments I've gotten on the site are interesting and span the gamut from "I hate it" to "I love it and it makes me want to use it," to all points in between and at this point, I am at a loss to tell her how to improve it for the majority of people since the opinions are so wide ranging and in essence, there is no majority so it seems the designer has arrived at an easily navigable site with good functionality that loads quickly and has broad graphic appeal.

I don't particularly like the look of the site personally and find it a bit dull, and although I could have had her change it, I don't believe in interfering once responsibility has been delegated and accepted because interference provides a built in excuse for failure at that point.

I did the AAMCO header which I used on a coupon and that was all I gave her to work with other than the photos which I took. The only instructions I gave her was that the site was not to look like a typical corporate web site and I told her to work with the red white and blue color scheme but not in an overtly patriotic way because I didn't want the site to look like the fourth of July year round.

I also told her to vary the colors so they weren’t typical or too "in your face" like many corporate sites that seem to slap the user around as if they are blind. I told her they were the "neighborhood shop with the nationwide warranty" and to make it traditional looking site without being old fashioned and to make the site conservative rather than contemporary.

Other than those basic instructions and of course the header which we were already using even though I am not thrilled with it either, it is all her site design and I did not interfere even when I didn't like something which is a lot to leave alone since there is a lot I don't like about it. She did a huge amount of background programming and keyword optimization in the foreground as well and all in all I am pleased with the search engine optimization, particularly when compared to some of the SEO abortions I have seen that were so repetitive it was difficult to stomach them.

[jessestylex]

Originally Posted by Papa_D

There is a photo of some of the guys on the Facebook link to give people the warm and fuzzies.

but not everyone is on facebook, going to 2 different sites feels like a hassle to a lot of people. it's like they have to research you just to see how legit you are. IMo i think the Contact Us page looks better than the Home page.


btw is this our business or you just made the web site?

[Papa_D]

Originally Posted by jessestylex

but not everyone is on facebook, going to 2 different sites feels like a hassle to a lot of people. it's like they have to research you just to see how legit you are. IMo i think the Contact Us page looks better than the Home page.


btw is this our business or you just made the web site?

I know what you mean and agree but I had to weigh the benefits of a fancy looking home page containing pictures or animations with the benefits of higher rankings and load times. All the verbiage you see on the home page is going to be crawled by the Google Web Bots and that same verbiage will appear hundreds of other places on the web in the form of tags, keywords and so on in order to boost the page ranking in Google so that it will come up in automotive repair searches in the area. Part of the issue with putting images or animations on the landing page is also slow load times on mobile devices so I opted not to do so for that reason as well and in the future they will have a video made on site that will be on their YouTube channel as well. I am also much happier with the look of the contact page than I am of the home page but apparently, looks alone won't get your site near the top of the rankings in any given search and consequently, some of the very best looking sites are never seen as a result.

The business is co-owned by a family member and I am the marketing and promotions director and although I created the header for the site, I did not create the web site itself. I explained above in a post the extent of my involvement with the creation of the web site and the fact is, I tried to remain neutral to anything the site designer wanted to do provided she followed the basic parameters I had laid out for her and she had a logical reason for whatever she did so for the most part, it is her site design.