Website Feedback
I’m in the process of completing my website for my catering company and would like some feedback on what the public thinks. So please feel free to stop by and check it out and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome! This is my first attempt at building my own web page, and do to a lack of funds (which is always the case) I’m trying to keep my overhead down by doing it myself.
Here’s the link www.alacartcatering.net
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20 Comments:
very nice! i think it's great! my only comment is that i'm not a big fan of the effects that are going on with your slideshow, from fading from one pic to the other (not sure what that's called...obviously not a techie) but i think that you should stick with one effect and have uniform throughout...that way people are paying attention to the pics. seriously great though - am very impressed that you did that yourself! i never could!!!
ceforrester at 9:45AM on 10/04/07
I have to say honestly, the site did not wow me.
It might be helpful to say exactly what A La Carte Catering is right on the homepage, something like "A La Carte Catering is a full-service catering venture run by Chef Jason Schnur in Medina, Ohio." Even though it says "A La Carte Catering," I was thinking, "what is this company?"
My other thought is that the name of your company should be featured more prominently. The visitor counter jumps out more than the actual name! The visitor counter looks a little out of place - I would ditch it.
K at 10:05AM on 10/04/07
If you're comfortable with scripts at all, I might suggest implementing Lightbox JS for that photo gallery. I'll be brutally honest with you when I say that, what you have in place now detracts from the rest of the site (which is really nicely designed and tastefully done).
Chaoss at 10:20AM on 10/04/07
P.S. And as K said, lose that counter. It could be detrimental to business if you want someone to thing you're the next hot property, and they see that you've only got 85 hits on your site.
Chaoss at 10:21AM on 10/04/07
Ok, here are a couple other things ... The falling leaves on the home page are making the scrollbar in my IE7 go all wonky, bouncing up and down depending on when a leaf hits bottom. That kind of effect, and the counter, are things people used early-on in developing sites. You really don't see them anymore, particularly in sites promoting professional services.
One thing we've found with recipes is that people either like to copy-and-paste them into Word, or print them directly. For this recipe page I developed printable 3 x 5 cards that should print correctly on most printers.
And as has been said about the counter not showing many page hits, any events you have planned should be listed immediately in the calendar so visitors to your site will see how busy you are! :-)
LunaPierCook at 10:57AM on 10/04/07
SPELL CHECK!!!!
susanl at 10:58AM on 10/04/07
It looks nice, but I'd say "lose the leaves."
Also, it's a bit confusing that your company name has a different spelling than your website.
Best of luck!
Kerosena at 11:26AM on 10/04/07
I did not like it. I would lose all of it. Take some pics of your food with a good camera on a good set table (talk to some food bloggers about food porn) The menu has to be a clickable link AFTER they see the food.
I like this catering menu style http://www.southernseason.com/menu.asp?id=25
it is clean and does not leave room for error in ordering.
When people are thinking of catering based on referrals who have not had your food they want to see food porn. Those who have had your food want to have ease in ordering.
Set your menus up like the site I referenced, each menu, the options, choices. Don't forget starters and a per person and per dozen price. Some people order 12 dozen rather than per person.
Do some research.
JerzeeTomato at 11:38AM on 10/04/07
Great job on the site for being a non-techie, Jason! Here's what I think:
* I agree, lose the leaves and the counter.
* I agree with Luna about making sure the recipes are printable.
* I agree with Luna about the calendar. And would add, lose the page if you don't have anything yet.
* Lose the guestbook too.
* Do you have testimonials or quotes you can put on your site? If not very many, then perhaps it can be a different quote on each page (maybe in a different font and separated from the body copy for the page. If there's a lot of good stuff, then consider putting it on it's own page.
* Make the "A La Carte Catering..." on the top left, above the photo and nav bar, clickable to your home page. People will try to click it to go "home." (But do keep the "home" link in the nav too.)
* Complete the signature on the home page instead of leaving it simply "Sincerely, Executive Chef." Consider adding an image of your signature or at least of your first name ala Emeril. (Oh wait, I guess you did complete the signature with your name. In my browser your name is under the photo in a larger font. I would move it to the same line as Executive Chef and decide which font and font size you want to use for the entire line.)
* For better search engine optimization, you need just tad more text on each page of your site, you should consider changing your page title tags to make them specific to the page at the very least.
Put in a short paragraph on each page (ending with a call to action) to help search engines "understand" the page as well.
For example, on the Sample Menu page, you can put in a short paragraph about how you (or A La Carte Catering?) can customize a menu for any event. Or something about your Italian leanings in your cooking style. And then end with a call to action, like "Contact us for the perfect menu for your next event." (You can change it up per page.)
On the Contact Us page, you might say something about all the things people can contact you about in a short paragraph. Like get a quote, request a sample menu for XX type of event (if you have some), media, references, whatever.
On the subscribe page, put in a paragraph to tell people why they want to get your recipes. Are you recipes going to be quick & easy? Are they going to be seasonal to Medina, Ohio? Are they going to solve a problem like what to cook for a tailgate party? Maybe all of these things? Then tell 'em.
And the page title tag on each page should support whatever copy is on the page.
* I think you need a Services page (or whatever you want to call it). Specifically what kind of events do you do? List 'em. How far will you go? Will you do an event outside of Medina? Outside of Ohio? Because people will type that into search engines and you want them to find you because you do in-home chef parties or something.
* Also good for search engines is cross-linking to other pages in your site. Like maybe link to the recipe page within the copy on your subscribe page (and vice versa link to the subscribe page within copy on your recipe page), link to About Us on the Sample Menu page, etc.
Hope that's helpful. :)
jtakasaki at 12:03PM on 10/04/07
I also meant to comment about the pix. I didn't understand what I was supposed to be looking at in the Mercury event photos. I would lose those. Event shots are fine to include to show the breadth of the types of events you do but make sure they're good professional shots like your food photos and that we know what we're supposed to be looking at.
What are you trying to say with each photo? And then make sure the photo says it and the caption supports it. Like, the Mercury event...were you trying to communicate that you can do large cooking demonstrations or that you can do a full kitchen set-up outside? Neither point was clear in the photo.
If you don't have great event photos, don't use 'em. Use food porn like JerzeeTomato suggests.
JerzeeTomato makes a great point about menus. I too would like to see more than one sample menu with sample pricing. It seems to me that your style is to customize each menu based on preferences and event so you don't want people to pick an existing menu necessarily. So even showing a sample menu for different types and different size events with approximate pricing would be helpful. If possible, each menu should have different items so people can see all the different kinds of things you can cook.
jtakasaki at 12:16PM on 10/04/07
Sorry. One more thing. Put your phone number and email address somewhere on every page of the site. It can be in the footer. Make it easy for someone to figure out how to get in touch with you without having to click to a form.
jtakasaki at 12:20PM on 10/04/07
Although the rather vociferous "SPELL CHECK" comment was a little overwrought, it is good advice. While it may be argued that it is your cooking and not your grammar that is relevant, it speaks to the professionalism of your company. For myself, spelling errors are a major turn off as they indicate that the company is happy to let "unimportant" things slide, and what if our definitions of this term do not agree?
such great tips from other people!
i8alot at 1:06PM on 10/04/07
I'd echo a lot of what's been said (lose the guestbook and leaves, better pix). Agree highly on the spell check especially - when I see errors like that I'd be hesitant to use a company (seems unprofessional to me). Also, if you have nothing on the calendar, I'd suggest omitting the calendar all together. Why? Because now I see you don't have any business - and if you don't have any business, that's a red flag to me as a customer not to go there. Agree also with the testimonials and think you should work to personalize the site a little more - show action shots of you in the kitchen cooking or something (especially on the About Us page). OK, final two cents: The web address really ought to match the name of your company. This is a key bit of business - if I had your food somewhere and then tried to do the website so I could use you, I'd give it up when it doesn't work. Most folks are struggling just to remember the name of a company at all..
alyssa at 3:12PM on 10/04/07
I am currently working on the menu page, which will have several menus for every type of event, and you will be able to pick the items you would like, set the date and time of the event and it will come to me via email and cell phone.
The leaves are gone and so is the counter.
I do have testimonials (food critics)and I will add them, thanks
As for spell check I did that and so did my wife with a professional spell check, I see no errors, if you do please let me know what words are wrong.
And yes I have done large cooking demos
And for naming the site the same as the company, its already been taken for .net .org .com .biz etc.... trust me I tried
Thanks again for the input, I will lose the not so hot pix as well, I was just trying to use up some space, I only have 4 pro pics that were taken by Cleveland magazine so I guess those will be the only ones for now, till I get some more.
Thanks again everyone, well except for susani lol
DevlChef at 4:50PM on 10/04/07
Also add some keywords and description to the meta tags in the head. This will also do wonders for search engine optimization.
Chaoss at 4:59PM on 10/04/07
On the photo descriptions, the whole box (and hence, the words) is cut off; I'm using IE.
One of the very first things I noticed was the difference between your company name and the spelling of the site. Since I'm a biyatch when it comes to simple spelling errors like that, it would turn me off very quickly. Are there ANY potential options, i.e. alacartecateringOH.net or something like that? I'd really try hard to get one.
Separate of that, I agree about the footer, as I had to go searching to find out if you're in my state (no). Other comments above are great too.
Curlz at 6:16PM on 10/04/07
"Appetizers," not "Appitizers."
DaveFaris at 7:55AM on 10/05/07
"Wafers" not "Waffers"
I didn't catch the appetizer gaff, but if I were looking for a caterer and saw that error on your page I wouldn't even consider your company for my event. Attention to detail is vital, even if it is words and not food.
I also suggest losing the "w/" on each menu item description. I feel it is unnecessary and a bit unprofessional.
AuntJone at 12:43PM on 10/05/07
Thanks all for pointing out the spelling errors, and for your input all-together. Some of you had legitimate input and some I felt were just grumpy nitpickers. For the legit ones I say thanks, to the nitpickers I say, “then let me see the site you have designed (if you’re a non-techi) and I will learn from you”. I am not trying to be rude, but some of you were. I do not spend my day fishing around blogs to find someone to rag on. I have two kids, a 4 y/o girl and a 2 y/o boy which I currently watch during the day while my wife is at work and while I currently try to get this thing up and running (while supervising them). I took them out of day care to save $300.00 a week to put back into the business (which I just started several days ago). Anyone who has kids can surely identify with that, and the chaos it in tales. But anyways thanks again for the input and constructive criticism and I look forward to more interesting conversations on serious eats.
DevlChef at 1:27PM on 10/05/07
Also..
Unforgetable - should be unforgettable
On your opening page, need to fix the spacing after comma on needs and wants. Or on your "about us" page, should read: "With over 23 years of professional culinary experience, Chef Jason.." (missing "of" and a comma"
Little things throughout, like missing accents and hyphens (i.e. award-winning chef, sautéed). Fairly picky, I know, but I'm a professional proofreader - that's what I do!
This might make me a grumpy nitpicker in your book, but I'd kindly point out that you did ask for people to give their feedback..and if you ask for feedback (and constructive criticism), it might sting a little.
alyssa at 3:13PM on 10/08/07