Home & Pet Sitter Website Review: Auburn Home Watch
Here's a website review for Auburn Home Watch. Overall, they've done a nice job and we can make it even better with a few tweaks on their home page and navigation.
As of the date of this article, they are already in process to make some updates. It will be interesting to see a "before & after" comparison.
Watch the video below to get some ideas for how you can make your own site better.
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Clarity
Does the visitor know exactly what you do within the first few seconds?
The home page is a critical component of any website. It's typically the most viewed page on the entire site, so we want to make it as effective as possible.
On this site, the home page is where we can most easily improve the clarity. We can easily add additional information because the only thing on this home page is the logo.
We should add more information about what the company's "unique selling proposition" is for sure. In addition, further clarification of what services you provide and some testimonials would be great.
These simple modifications can help a visitor more quickly realize exactly what this site is about.
Readability
Visually, is it easy to read the content on the site?
This site scores well on Readability because there are minimal fonts and each page looks pretty much the same, which is what we want.
The FAQ page is laid out well, too. This is often a page with tons of content and the way this site is structured with drop down boxes for each question is great.
The major adjustment to make here is to reduce the size of the header image on each page. This image is unnecessarily large and not only does this make it harder to read, but Google actually does not like it either.
Also, break up some of the longer paragraphs into smaller chunks. This, along with increased use of bold text to create sub-headings and/or highlighted information will make the text a bit easier to read.
Appearance
Does the site look professional enough to build trust with the viewer?
This site looks pro. It has a contemporary look, quality photographs, a nice-looking logo, and a pretty clean design.
The major update to the appearance would be to minimize the header on each page (see description above) and to work a little more on the text on each page (see description above). These simple adjustments would make this 5 stars.
User Experience
Is the site easy to use?
A normal user is going to have a relatively easy time getting around this site.
It loads fast, looks good, and the major components of what you're looking for are easily found.
An adjustment to the home page by adding information is going to help. As it is now, there is only a logo, which is odd. Further, some people may be confused by the fact that the home page doesn't scroll with more info, as most sites will do.
The biggest factor for where we can improve user experience is the Navigation and how easily information can be found on this site.
Navigation
How easy is it for viewers to find what they're looking for?
I like the big phone number in the upper left of every page. This makes it easy to see how to contact them.
For the navigation menus, I'd recommend moving the FAQ to its own button instead of buried under other sections. I'd also make the Contact page its own button instead of buried under the About section.
I'd also adjust the drop down boxes somehow to make it more clear that not only can the drop down pages be accessed but also the main navigation button page can also be clicked on.
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About the Author John Reh
John loves animals and business. He put the two together and built a multi-million dollar dog walking/running and pet sitting business with hard work, systems, and great people. He now teaches everything he's learned in the Pet Business Masters! community.