Please Critique my site

lolostx

Hi everyone,  I`m hoping to officially launch my site and business by the end of the month, but I wanted to get my website critiqued before doing so.  A little background  - I own a web based personal shopping service for gifts.  When people visit my website I want them to get a professional and creative vibe.  I also want them to feel that the services I offer will help make their lives easier in some sense.
 
I hired someone to do the design for the site, but I used a WYSIWYG editor to input text and images.  There is still a lot of work to be done on the positioning of the text and images. Also, the forms are not fully functioning as yet. And the content needs to be cleaned up as well.
 
My site is www.thatperfectsomethingnyc.com. Please let me know the following:
 
1. whether the look of my site accomplishes my goal
2. whether the site is easily navigable
3. whether the content is search engine optimized
4. whether the site encourages you to purchase my services
 
Thanks in advance for your input and advice.
 

lolostx

Thanks for your input.  I was concerned about the homepage being sort of just "there" and not really explaining what my business is about.  That`s why I added the the links Gift Consulting - Gift Concierge - Gift Shopping Companion to the top of the homepage.  But I see now that might not be enough.  So I think I`ll add some sort of tagline or message to the homepage.  Thanks again.

Webline

Personally, I would do away with the index page altogether. Really, it is just a logo with links around it, not really serving any purpose.Also, I get ( from a guys point of view, anyway ) that the site is aimed more towards women, in that it has a softer look, pink text ( I`m not trying to be chauvinistic here, its just traditionally a more feminine color ) and lighter accents. I`m not saying you should add pictures of bikini clad women drinking beer at a football game to appeal to men, but guys that could use this service might not really get into the overall look of it right away. I`m not saying you should change it, just something to think about, and its just my personal opinion.Also, a pattern I notice on the 3 gift pages ..... 1) You ask questions 2) You make a statement 3) You tell how to proceed and give payment information.Its like only a third of the page actually shows what you can do for a customer. I would suggest expanding on this area so that you can sell your service; tell me how many ways you will benefit me.

Nuevolution

Indeed,
It is a new service and I`m pretty sure it`s going to be a growing trend. But when I landed on your page,[the index page] I didn`t know what to do.. Until I started hovering my mouse over the page. Although,  you have links on the top and links on the bottom... Webline is right, it doesn`t server any purpose. I would use this page to tell the customers what your services are all about. To be honest I didn`t think that there was such a service out there, but like they say for "every need, a business is born"
I could have used your services this past Christmas...
Have you ever thought about using flash in the front page? just to get customers attention? Although, I wouldn`t advise it, but at least you can get customers attention to stay and read more about you. At least until your business grows.. You might have to have some sord of Video explaining your services since it`s a failry new industry. Perhaps a Podcast, or videcast.
There are various companies out there that offer this service for free and all you have to do is copy the code into your page [not flickr or youtube]  try PODANGO
I like their services.

lolostx

Thanks again for the great input. 
 
Personal Shopping Services are utilized in many big cities, but yes it is a fairly new business and I am taking it a step further by focusing on gifts.  My market is mainly NYC so I think the majority of people in this market will recognize and understand what my services are.  But of course I want my services to be easily understandable to those who may not be familiar with this type of business.
 
As for the possible use of flash on the home page- I initially considered using flash, but I read that flash sites load slowly and are not easily searchable, so I decided against using it.  The idea about the podcast is really good though. 
 
I was also concerned about using pink - I hoped the brown background and text color counterbalanced the pink.  I certaintly don`t want it to look to "girly" - I want it to appeal to women and men. So hopefully it isn`t to offensive to men.
 
Ok so everyone thinks the home/index page is a no-go or needs to be redesigned to include more explanation of what my business is.  Darn I really loved the way the logo on the page.  But your comments make sense. 

holycowcreative

You have a nice frame for the site, but the bottom line is you need to show more, tell less.

lolostx

Thanks for the input everyone.  This is really great.  Craig - love the idea of providing "case examples".  Definitely on point - most people want to sample before purchasing.  Will work this in somehow.
nhgnikole -  if I were to keep the home page but added a tagline/more description of the services I offer- what should the logo on that page link to? The About Us page? or Services?