Check Out My Detailing Website. Need Feedback

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01bluecls

New member
Hey all,



I created a website for my detailing business I do over the summer. Now please keep in mind that I work pretty much fulltime and go to George Mason fulltime so time spent creating the website has been limited. I signed up with 1and1.com and they are providing the domain server and their service provides an online website builder including templates. Unfortunately everything such as fonts, designs, etc are very limited. Even when I try spacing paragraghs a certain way, everytime I publish it to the internet the spaces dissappear, that's why the spacing isnt very good. :(



Anyway, Im not trying to promote my business on this site, I just want to get general feedback on what people think. I know there are probably many clerical errors and what not, but feel free to point them out so I can fix them. I plan on adding much more to the site, especially the FAQ's page.



Another note, please dont hate me for my prices, I dont detail for primary income so that means I have to take time off work in the summer to do details and 30 an hour is pretty reasonable.



Here's the Link:



Kindly Read and Abide by Our Policy, Thank You



Let me know what you all think!
 
Nice, simple, easy to navigate design! You might want to use a different resizing program for your pictures though-the one you are using now is distorting your pictures.
 
I would edit your personal statement to something like this:

"Personal Statement—



I have always been a car enthusiast and as such, auto detailing has always been something I enjoy and take great pride in. The work I provide is professional grade and the service you will receive is impeccable. All products and equipment are of the highest quality, selected from years of testing."



IMO your initial statement sounded too informal and unprofessional. You could use what i wrote if you want, though I'm sure you could come up with something better. Regardless of what you use, i would change it from what you have now.
 
on the FAQ section, under the swirl part, there are a couple of misspelled words, and the first sentence is missing a word.....also the pictures arent doing you any justice like Scott said....
 
Wow, they certainly like Japanese cars in your part of the country. (I am not an American car fan, just an observation) Nice site - I agree with the resizing.



Also do a spelling and punctuation check, some people guage how intelligent a person is by how they write.



Take the exclamation point out of here -"I have lived in Ashburn for the past 8+ years. I currently work for Carmax (Dulles) and have been working there for over 4 years!"
 
Thanks for the general feedback guys. Something I dont understand though is the distortion of the pics. They seem clear to me. Can you guys be more specific? Other people I have showed hadnt complained about the pics yet...
 
I uploaded these two pics to the gallery here on autopia. Unfortunately the website builder I'm using will only allow the last picture the below to be the that size. I will see what other photo gallery options the builder template has and see if there are any that will allow bigger pictures. I do realize that the top picture of the Ferrari is distorted because the template Im using resizes the image to fit the entire rectangle. So any piture I put there is seems to happen that way. Like I mentioned before, time has been a factor when putting the website together. I have finals the next two weeks, after that is done I will def revamp the site.



eric77-- I might use that. Thanks for the sugesstion.

toyotaguy--Thanks I will double check that section.

jsatek--haha never even realized that before. I have detailed a Suburban and a Prowler before just never got pics of them :(



miata_hood_during.JPG




miata_hood_during.JPG




_wsb_453x341_90Miata.jpg
 
The third pic is direclty off of my website, the other two are from autopia's gallery. I wish I could size them like the first pic I posted but the website builder template Im using will not allow me. It might also be my crappy camera I have taken all my pics with. Its a cheaper Casio 3mp I bought 3 years ago :( Looks like I will need a new camera.
 
Site is nice and smooth looking. The home is great, it's short sweet and to the point. I agree with the pictures being a bit distorted. The pictures above shows the degradation quite well I think. You can see the progression of pixelation formation from the first to the third. What page builder are you using?
 
Maybe my computer just sucks as far as resolution and clarity of pictures. My computer is a pentium two and bought it about 5+ years ago and the monitor just plain sucks. I plan on getting a new laptop this summer and possibly buy the Dreamweaver site builder program. All in due time I guess.
 
Oh by the way, its a site builder that came with the sign up service with 1and1.com. So basically a free program but VERY limited.
 
01bluecls said:
Maybe my computer just sucks as far as resolution and clarity of pictures. My computer is a pentium two and bought it about 5+ years ago and the monitor just plain sucks. I plan on getting a new laptop this summer and possibly buy the Dreamweaver site builder program. All in due time I guess.
Click to expand...



The free image optimizer from www.xat.com is your friend. I am taking 1800 x 1200 1.2 to 2 MB file size pics and reducing them to 750 x 506 and around 125-150 kb file size and still have excellent quality.
 
I like the site a lot. Definitely take Scotts suggestion though, or maybe grab a copy of photoshop. Just re-sizing that original pic and "saving for web" nets this:



woo.jpg




@80kb
 
Wow, now I can definetly see the difference. Let me try the xat.com suggested. I know my father has photoshop pro or watever so if it comes down to it I will give it a try. Thanks for the sugestions. I'm glad though that everyone is at least finding the site pleasant and easy to navigate. Even though I dont have much time to devote to it right now, its good to get the feedback you people are leaving so I know what I need to change.
 
miata_hood_during_optimized.jpg




Is the Autopia Gallery re-doing the compressions or what? Scott exactly what steps do you do to resize your photos using the XAT program (compression ratio and other factors)? Above photo is using the XAT to resize the original image, on my computer the resized image looks great like what picus posted then when I upload it to the Autopia gallery it kinda distorts it again. Arg, sorry for all the questions.
 
Hey lady and gents again...I have taken everyone suggestions and updated my website since Im done with finals I have a little more time to spend on the website. I was wondering if you all could take a peak at my website and give some addtional feedback.



Click on my user name to view my profile and click on my "HOMEPAGE" to view my website.





I have properly resized and compressed all the images except for the "ferrari picture" on the top of the page, and I havent gotten to the photo gallery "program window" pictures yet. I have made some changes to some clerical errors, but im pretty sure there are plenty more that Im missing. I would also like to know what you all think of the pricing I have set (low, fair, high, etc.) and just want general feedback and suggestions. Thanks to all for the previous suggestions. (Specially scott for recommending the XAT program, the pic I reposted are A LOT better quality then the previous ones!)
 
And since Im done with school until this fall at least, I plan on detailing a lot more cars and taking plenty of pictures with my new camera!!! :) :bigups
 
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