Index page details 5

[audiopro]

I am updating a site which I designed a few years ago. My client has enlisted the help of PR consultants to hopefully improve his business.
We have a design issue regarding the contents of the index page and I thought I would ask you guys for your comments.
The site is paintings, artwork and picture framing and is the internet arm of an established retail business.
I want to enphasise the fact that the business is established and that customers can buy with confidence from a company based in a retail environment rather than just on the web.
I have included the owners names, the business address, telephone number and email address in the header images.
I think it advantageous to clearly display these details on the index page with a different header for the internal pages but the PR company suggest that they be moved to an internal contact page.

I would be interested in your comments

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[ca8msm]

I think a physical presence helps to ease any concerns your users may have. As long as these details are not intrusive and don't draw your users attention away from what you are trying to sell, I think it's a good idea to have them displayed.


____________________________________________________________
Mark,
[URL unfurl="true"]http://aspnetlibrary.com[/url]

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[monksnake]

I want to enphasise the fact that the business is established and that customers can buy with confidence from a company based in a retail environment rather than just on the web.

I can understand exactly why you would want to emphasize that.

But a sad question is, "Is that what the PR company wants?"

I have to make changes to stuff that I do because our boss wants it a different way. Even though he has no idea what he's talking about and I have good reason to keep something the way I make it, I have to change it cause the person paying me wants it changed.

That is the sad reality.

<.

 

[audiopro]

The main reason for asking you guys was to get an unbiased opinion. My client is not a designer so is stuck between mine and the PR company's suggestions. They have had some very good suggestions for his business but I do get the idea they are trying to steer him towards their own web designers. I will do it however the client wants it but I hope they make up their minds before I am too old to care.
This is the part of web design I find the most difficult.
I do not have a problem with any of the back end functionality stuff but getting these 'designer types' to aprove a layout and colour scheme is very hard. They use terms such as 'it requires some design input', what does that mean?

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[monksnake]

'it requires some design input' means they don't trust your opinion.

I think your idea of putting the business info on the page as the paintings is a very good idea (as ca8msm said though as long as the details are not intrusive).

I imagine the business owners (of the paintings) would agree with you too as it's a very good advertising ploy for them.

<.

 

[traingamer]

A real address and phone number on the initial page gives me some confidence that this is a real business.

I just asked my wife not to order some cell phone accessories from a web site that had no phone number anywhere and only a mail inquiries to... physical address.

So tell the pr guys to **** off. The address and phone number on the main page will bring in more business. As to whether it belongs in the header or the footer...

Greg
"Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught." - Winston Churchill

 

[Foamcow]

Note a PR firm is not by default a design agency.
Having worked for a design/advertising agency with it's own sister PR company I can tell PR people write stuff and don't design it. They often make a right mess.

Whether your site needs design work, I can't say but to keep contact info visible right through the site can never be called a bad thing. From a web design (note I didn't say graphic design) perspective it is probably better than putting the contact info on a contact page.

I'd go further and say that if this is a full service agency (i.e. PR, design, advertising, marketing) they may not have real web skills. Their design team might be great at laying out work for print or coming up with great ads and DM work but what's their web pedigree like? Not what the sites look like, but how successful they have been from a sales/conversion perspective.

A hunch tells me they make lots of pretty brochure sites that look good and may function well, but they aren't web designers.

<honk>*:O)</honk>

Tyres: Mine's a pint of the black stuff.
Mike: You can't drink a pint of Bovril.

 

[ecobb]

Why don't you just go along with the PR firm, build it like they want, then in a few months if your client is not satisfied with the results, suggest some changes and do it your way. That way, there's no friction, everyone's happy, and you may make more money in the long run.

Give the PR guys a chance. If you bang heads with them, they may try to get rid of you in favor of another designer (as you already suspect may be happening). If you accommodate them (for now), they may decide they like working with you and even pass future customers your way.

Make it as easy on your client as possible. If you stick him between a rock and a hard place, he gets bad vibes for both you and the PR folks.


Hope This Helps!

ECAR
ECAR Technologies

http://www.ecartech.com

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher

 

[Foamcow]

Playing devil's aardvark here but isn't it your duty to do the best by your client?

Agreed it's not good butting heads but you should at least advise the client that perhaps it's not such a great idea. Let the client make the choice but give them the facts so they can make an informed decision.

After all, shouldn't the PR agency listen to the client? And there is no guarantee they won't continue to usurp the web design duties.

What they are suggesting defies logic and is, I believe, purely for 'prettiness' purposes. Been there, seen it, done it, suffered it. So many agencies just don't 'get' the web. They think of it in the terms of the world they are familar with and really don't see a difference.

Maybe the current execution isn't quite right but it makes infinitely better business sense (especially for an ecommerce site) to include at least a contact phone number throughout the site.

I'll stand by my guess that this is an agency with a print/DM track record that is applying the same 'rules' you would apply to print to online work. You don't have the same sort of time to grab attention an retain interest with a website that you have with a brochure or catalogue.

<honk>*:O)</honk>

Tyres: Mine's a pint of the black stuff.
Mike: You can't drink a pint of Bovril.

 

[audiopro]

Thanks for that, there is some good advice here from you experienced guys. I have spoken to the client about it and he is in favour of keeping the details on the page, although the I have moved the address from the top to the footer. The original site was a bit of a mess (one of those table based layouts with far too much source code) but the frame work of the new site is taking shape.
I am happy to listen to the PR people as they have far more experience of design than I have and I am hoping I can learn from them. There comes a time though, when a decision has to be reached and the process moved forward. The back end stuff is all done and fully working, we are now trying to get it to look pretty. I will post a link to it, once it is tidy, then you can all have a poke at my design skills.

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[Foamcow]

Thanks for the star fest!
I will reiterate though that PR!=designers.
If they have some in house designers then fair enough but don't let a PR specialist get involved with graphic design unless they have a track record in it.

<honk>*:O)</honk>

Tyres: Mine's a pint of the black stuff.
Mike: You can't drink a pint of Bovril.