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What do you think of our redesign?

HostQuackHostQuack subscriber Posts: 1
edited August 2008 in Website Critique
Hello Everyone!,
 
Website: http://www.HostQuack.com
 
We have recently lauched our newly designed website. I was not satisfied at all with the old look of the site so we started from scratch and drew everything out. The logo was also redesigned and is 100% original. I would like anyones thoughts or opinions. Although we have been around for a little while some questions that I have are:

Do you trust this website? Feel confident in our services?

Do we look like a new company or like we have been around for a while?

If you needed web hosting (website provider) would you signup with us?

I appreciate your input. It seems that our current customer base likes it and most of our new visitors have made good comments.
 
Website: http://www.HostQuack.com
 
Thank you for your time!
 
Cameron
HostQuack8/4/2008 9:56 PM

Comments

  • WeblineWebline subscriber Posts: 13 Bronze Level Member
    Overall I like it. Easy to navigate, clean look ( although the background green strip is just a tad bright for me personally ), and the main text could be just a bit heavier for better readability, but mostly I like the look of it.
    For the trust issue, maybe a list of sites you currently host, or at least the number of them, could help. Show off a little and it should help out. The same with your services; get some samples and testimonials. Things like BBB and associations/groups you`re part of would help also.
    Old, new .... many people probably won`t care, but a basic company information page would help.
  • HostQuackHostQuack subscriber Posts: 1
    Thank you for the comments. Now that you mention the text I do agree. Good catch. I thought about an About Us but the home page really says it all for me. Maybe a box or something that shows some of the recent websites that signed up or something along those lines might be an option. We do use a SSL certificate for encrypted communication which ill add that.
     
    Thank you again!
     
    Cameron  
  • maddoxoncologymaddoxoncology subscriber Posts: 1
    What I most look for when choosing a web host is quantifiable numbers and facts about how they are better than others. There are a million web hosts out there, you absolutely have to differentiate yourself. You talked about how you want to provide the best support, the best quality, and so forth but there were no hard numbers that let me know you were not BSing me. For example, the host I have now made a big deal all over their page that their support was available 24/7/365 and that`s what sold me.
    I`ve never liked black backgrounds on webpages. It seems unprofessional to me.
    I would probably not trust you because you don`t have any host review site affiliations. Every host I`ve ever signed up with had an affiliation and I checked the reviews there before I signed up.
    Hope that helps. Best of luck.
  • HostQuackHostQuack subscriber Posts: 1
    Ok. Thank you for sharing. I have just recently requested my clients to review our services and submit them so that I may share around the web. There are a few sites that are actually web host review sites that we plan on submitting to so that may help. I will think about your standing out suggestion. I have been trying to differentiate myself but now I`ll make that the focus.
     
    Thank you for your time,
     
    Cameron
  • annikaannika subscriber Posts: 0
        hi thanks for your sharing.I have more trust about this website.
    =========================================
    annika
      http://www.orkut.comannika8/5/2008 5:45 AM
  • HostQuackHostQuack subscriber Posts: 1

    I went around and looked at the cost of domain registration. I wonder why there isn`t a dropdown option for the number of years?

    The site looks nice, it seems trustworthy, but the far bigger question is your branding. What`s your special distinguishing factor---your so-called unique sales proposition? What makes you different from the thousands of other hosting companies? How will you step away from someone like GoDaddy?

     
     
    We currently offer one year registration only. I will create a knowledge base topic for visitors that would like a longer registration.
     
    I would like to think of a slogan for HostQuack but I am not creative in that sense so I`ll ask around. My competitive edge.. when your a customer you really see a unique type of customer service which has made our customers really happy. I have worked with quite a few hosts so my service is quite different than others. For paying $5 a month for a hosting plan we spend a lot of time with our customers to get them setup and ready for traffic. I guess what else can I add to that and how can I show that on my website..
     
    Thanks for your input. You got me thinking, hopefully I can put some ideas together and implement them soon.
     
    Regards,
     
    Cameron
    HostQuack8/5/2008 4:07 PM
  • HostQuackHostQuack subscriber Posts: 1
     The amount of services and the variety that will be offered to our customers will be unlike any of our competitors. I do not wish to delve to deep into the topic until it is implemented on our website. But we have big plans for our business and I can definitely say we aren`t going anywhere but up from here.
     
    I really appreciate your insight. Its always great to have another`s opinion.
     
    Thank you,
     
    Cameron
  • stonesledgestonesledge subscriber Posts: 608 Silver Level Member
    I like the look, what will be the dedicated options. Are you reselling from hostgator by chance? I think it looks pretty cool.. and looks like a host company should.. and is also very simple and to the point and uncluttered.. which is great!
     
    erin
     
    Pricing REALLY great too!
  • HostQuackHostQuack subscriber Posts: 1
    Hello,
     
    No reselling here. We run our own servers which are located in two seperate datacenters in Canada. We are currently choosing which types of servers will be best for our dedicated options. I think just a few different servers would be very effective but there might be some trial an error trying to see what our guests want.
     
    Thank you for your comments. The goal was to stay uncluttered and straight to the point.
     
    Regards,
     
    Cameron 
  • kathleenfasanellakathleenfasanella subscriber Posts: 0
    My perception is positive. It looks crisp, professional but not standoff-ish. What would push me over the edge is endorsements (mentioned already) and a public forum. I really like these. Problems are inevitable so I`d be looking for patterns and how management responds to them and issues I can avoid with foresight. It also creates community and if you can get some good contributors (perhaps resellers?) helping on tangential topics, shoppers can get an idea of the support they can expect from you and others. Negative forum entries aren`t necessarily bad. I learn a lot from the negative reviews on Amazon. For example, someone complains the book is too complex or simplistic but that`s what I may be interested, complex or alternatively, simplistic.
    I know there`s debate about this but I also like an "about us" page. I want to know your name and a succinct one paragraph bio. I also like staff bios, down to whoever mans the phones. If you like dogs or are a vegetarian or a runner, that could be the impetus for some customers but it wouldn`t turn others off. Do avoid any political , religious, or controversial social activities. If you support a charity, make sure it is not controversial (!). An example of the latter is an organization called "Autism Speaks" that businesses are increasingly supporting but they don`t realize the organization is highly offensive and boycotted by people and parents of those on the autistic spectrum. 
  • HostQuackHostQuack subscriber Posts: 1
    Hello,
     
    Thank you for your comments on the site. Very useful information. We are already planning on implementing a forum. There is a lot of work to make a forum successful and live up to our expectations. It is in the works and once we have everything we started done that is next on the list.
     
    Before the redesign we had testimonials on the website. So we already have some that we could use on the new design. Did you have a particular place that you feel would fit well without causing clutter? Just so I get some input on that.
     
    Also since you are the second person to suggest an "About Us" page I`ll think about the idea more. Definitely could not hurt. Thanks for your tips for the new page.
     
    Any other thoughts or comments are definitely welcome. Any suggestions on the location of the testimonials to keep everything flowing without clutter would be quite helpful.
     
    Thank you all!
     
    Cameron

    www.HostQuack.com
  • infiltainfilta subscriber Posts: 8
    Hi,
    Most hosting sites look same. Yours looks same with a dozen or couple hundreds hosting sites, too.
    There are a couple hosting sites that actually look cool. Here are two that come to mind:Elief and Liquidweb
    Your site makes an impression that you`re some kind of "hole in the wall" hosting company with a couple servers colocated in Vegas.
  • HostQuackHostQuack subscriber Posts: 1
    Hello,
     
    Thank you for your opinion. The only real comment I have for that is I wanted to keep somewhat to conformity when it comes to the general layout. Although everything one coded from scratch a few things I did want to keep the same.
     
    Thank you for sharing,
     
    Cameron
    www.HostQuack.com  
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