Web site needs updating?

[brucehwalker]

After reading the recent CLA article' "Poll: Today's Successful Laundry Owners are Online" I wanted to get your comments and suggestions about my website. Anything I should change? Confusing? More emphasis needed?

I have changed very little in 6 years and I always read- keep it fresh! I'm out of ideas as to keeping it fresh!

Also- any ideas on how twitter and facebook actually help? My facebook page is lame and I see no real benefit to having one. Anyone having good results?

[Adamski]

Bruce,

I like the idea of sticking the kiddy play area back behind the restroom. They can be so anoying at times.

How much do you charge for flags in your flag vender? I'm always looking for a good value on flags for my store.

Just a little kidding here ... actually it all looks pretty nice.

[MrMachine]

Very nice store and very nice website. Your truck looks good too!
I wouldn't change a thing.

[surfflite]

Coin operated laundries are becoming a thing of the past

I like it. :) Your website looks fine to me Bruce. I don't see any need for improvement.

I also have a Facebook page.....totally useless in my demographic. Sure I have 20-25 "friends" but they are really all just my friends/relatives. Not a single one has ever been there. I get monthly stat emails from it and each month it says you have had ZERO visits to your Facebook page. Twitter? Well I don't do Twitter and I'm sure if I did it would be the same result as Facebook.

I would love the have a van like yours. I think that would help my business, nothing like a mobile billboard.

[YoungJedi]

Bruce,
I'm not a site design expert, but I do enough work in the digital space to be familiar with current best practices.

First off, your site is one of the best that I've come across and have "borrowed" a few things for my own site, which I hope gets finished sooner rather than later.

The big opportunity for your site, from my perspective, is related to navigation on mobile devices. More consumers are using their phones for basic search. In N. America there has been a 140% increase in mobile use from 00 to 09. That's a very general number. There are other data points out there that tell a more impressive story, so you'll just have to trust me. :)

Anyway, in terms of site design, below are a few thoughts:
-Simplify your home page. What's the primary message you want to convey? what can you get rid of? I think you have over 20 messages on the home page. That's a lot to take in on a phone or a PC.

-Tab navigation should be simple. You don't need the animation that you currently have. Simple tabs work.

-Think about what's easiest to read on a phone. Consider just a simple white/black contrast for text and background

-Your bullet points throughout the site are good but they could be shorter to make it a quicker read.

-When in doubt, keep it clean and simple.

Hope this helps, and again, your site is one of the best out there. Just my two cents.

Jason

[MrMachine]

Bruce,
I'm not a site design expert, but I do enough work in the digital space to be familiar with current best practices.

First off, your site is one of the best that I've come across and have "borrowed" a few things for my own site, which I hope gets finished sooner rather than later.

The big opportunity for your site, from my perspective, is related to navigation on mobile devices. More consumers are using their phones for basic search. In N. America there has been a 140% increase in mobile use from 00 to 09. That's a very general number. There are other data points out there that tell a more impressive story, so you'll just have to trust me. :)

Anyway, in terms of site design, below are a few thoughts:
-Simplify your home page. What's the primary message you want to convey? what can you get rid of? I think you have over 20 messages on the home page. That's a lot to take in on a phone or a PC.

-Tab navigation should be simple. You don't need the animation that you currently have. Simple tabs work.

-Think about what's easiest to read on a phone. Consider just a simple white/black contrast for text and background

-Your bullet points throughout the site are good but they could be shorter to make it a quicker read.

-When in doubt, keep it clean and simple.

Hope this helps, and again, your site is one of the best out there. Just my two cents.

Jason

I have a terrible website that I designed myself on Yahoo about 4 years ago.
I'm now in the process of switching my domain to "Go Daddy", and I'll probably pay them to re-design it.
I will say this: I customized my Google listings a couple of months ago and they actually look better than my website. More importantly, I'm getting decent hits (as reported by Google) and some new customers.

[SonomaJoe]

When building my website, I hired a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) consultant. He researched Keywords-words potential customers are using to search for your business. We then used this info in helping build the website. If you have claimed your business on Google Places - Formerly Google Local, they give a a report on the queries near the bottom.
After we built the website, we implanted a Google algorithm - Google analytics, & I get real time analysis on many matrix of my website.
I'm not a tech guy (obviously) so maybe Jason or someone else can explain it MUCH better. All I know, there are very positive measurable results because we have a presence on the Internet.
Over the next month we will be incorporating a much bigger presence in all the social media outlets
Bang for the buck, the Internet is a great value
Jw