Debt Collection

[Ashbazzman]

I am now starting my own business collecting debts on behalf of other companies.

I have registered my company name and even managed to pull my website together.

I would really like some advice on the website as i have never built one before and its a bit daunting knowing what i should and shouldnt add.

Any suggestions for improvement would be gratefully received.

www.barrettbrown.co.uk

Also if anyone needs any debts collecting then drop me a line or two..

Thanks
Ashley

[factor-fiction]

Reported, I'm afraid, Ashley. This isn't an advertising site and breaches the Site Rules you signed up to.

[factor-fiction]

Perhaps the AB Editor is on holiday as this advert hasn't been removed since I reported it on Saturday. Or maybe not enough people have reported it yet.

[Ashbazzman]

This isnt an advert i am a genuine user and want some advice on the structure of my website.

I am currently advertising on google adwords and have received a good response to my add. I hardly think that the answer bank is going to produce the 3000 hits a week i need do you?

Get a life.

[factor-fiction]

That's odd, I thought your posting included your website address and said "Also if anyone needs any debts collecting then drop me a line or two.. ", which sounded like an advert to me.
Did I mis-read it?

[Buenchico]

Well I don't mind offering a few thoughts even if others won't

The site is quick to load, uses a clear and simple design and seems to steer clear of the spelling and grammar mistakes which pervade so many other websites.

However, the use of mid-blue text on a dark blue background is probably not a good idea. (With the way that many people have their monitors set up, the text might disappear altogether on some screens).

The 'Site Map' link should either be moved to the bottom of the list of menu items or to the bottom of the page altogether. (Site maps should be there to assist people who can't find their way around a web site. With your simple site, it's hardly necessary anyway but putting it near the top seems to shout 'Here's some help because you're bound to get lost'. That's not a good advert for the site content!).

The 'Privacy: All rights reserved' notice, at the foot of most pages, is fairly meaningless. It's presence is a visual irritation. (If you insist upon keeping it, make it less prominent through the use of a smaller font and/or pastel colours).

The 'Accountancy' page needs further information about the services available, possibly as a set of links from that page.

It's refreshing to find a business website which actually states the fees charged by the company. However, there's no reference as to whether these include VAT.

On the 'Credit checking' page (and anywhere else you decide to put 'request details') there should be a link to the 'Contact Us' page.

On the 'Book Online' page, perhaps there should be a field where clients can provide 'Additional information'?

When I clicked on the 'Companies' link, I wondered what it would be about. Perhaps, I wondered it might be about (for example) company formation? Instead I just found a web form. I assume it's to do with getting a credit report on a company but the

[Buenchico]

. . .purpose isn't clear. (Actually, now I've looked again, I see that it can't be to do with credit reports because there's nowhere to send the report to. So I still don't know what the page is for).

Chris

PS: Just one more thought:
When you refer to 'Britain's largest container port', perhaps you should mention where it is. Not everybody knows that it's Felixstowe. (I do, because I'm just a few miles down the A14 from you, but people shouldn't have to click on 'Contact us' to find out where you're referring to).

[Ashbazzman]

Thanks Chris,

Its really helpfull to have others opinions on the site and the thought of what resolution others may be viewing the site at hadnt actually even crossed my mind. The companies form is part of my telephone marketing technique, where by i get people onto my site once i am on the phone to them and ask them if they are interested to add the name to the database.

I am deffinately going to take some of your sugestions on board and modify the site later today.

I will drop another line here later once i have finished, if you would like to have another look and see what you think?

Thanks and Best Regards

Ashley

[Ashbazzman]

Have made a few changes to the site, see what you think.

Thanks everyone

Ashley

[Buenchico]

(2 part post):

Much improved.

A few small points:

On the 'About us' page, 'britain' requires a capital letter

Conversely, on the 'Debt collection' pages, 'Excluding' would look better with a lower case 'e'.

On the 'Accountancy' page, it looks a little odd to have 'Accountancy' (which seems to embrace all types of accountancy) and 'Small Company Accountancy' listed separately. Perhaps a descriptive term is required ahead of 'Accountancy' to clarify why it's different to 'Small Company Accountancy'? (If so, the two terms would look better placed on successive lines).

Also, what exactly does 'Cash Flow' actually mean? Cash flow planning? Cash flow control?

On the 'Legal Action' page, the use of 'tend to' reads as rather indecisive to me. Similarly, 'its in our experience' is cumbersome. (If you insist upon keeping it, an apostrophe is required since "it's" is used as an abbreviation for "it is"). My preference would be for something like the following:
"Barrett Brown regard legal action as a last resort. Our experience shows that the threat of such action is usually sufficient to secure payment".

(Incidentally, it's arguable as to whether that sentence should contain 'regard' or 'regards'. Barrett Brown is singular so, strictly speaking, it should be 'regards'. However, if 'Barrett Brown' is regarded as a collective noun, then 'regard' is correct. Even if you don't adopt my suggested sentence, similar considerations apply to other references to 'Barrett Brown' on your site).

Also on the 'Legal Action' page, 'up' would look better if it used a capital letter (or, alternatively, if the lower case letter was retained but preceded by a hyphen).

[Buenchico]

On the 'Contact Us' page, it looks inconsistent to put brackets around '01394' but not around '0871'. Unless you're expecting of all your clients to come from Felixstowe and Woodbridge, the '01394' part of the number is just as important as the rest of it, so I'd recommend ditching the brackets throughout the site.

On the 'Site Map' page, get rid of 'contact.asp'. It goes to an incomplete web page. Also, on the 'Site Map', 'Web' would look better with a lower case 'w'.

You've still got the company name, at the top of each page, in a colour which doesn't really stand out from the background. (The full stop after 'LLP' looks out of place as well).

Lastly, it's unfortunate that your website doesn't use 'address masking'. If it did, the snappy web address given in your question would remain in the user's address bar (as they move from one page to another), rather than the unwieldy 'true' address which actually appears as each page is viewed..

Chris

PS That's a pint you owe me in the Buregate ;-)

[littlechub]

Hi Ash,
Excellent response from Chris, and I agree with everything he's suggested.

Just a couple of extra points:
You need to change the spelling of 'tariff' throughout - you have it on several pages with a double 'R'.
You have 'judgement' spelt both with (Debt Collection page) and without (Legal Action page) the 'E' after the 'G'. Either is fine, but for the sake of consistency you might like to stick to one.

I like the site - simple but effective, well done.
Good luck!
littlechub