Website feedback
Thread poster: Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:21
Dutch to English
+ ...
Jun 15, 2014

Hi,

I finally have a website - would anyone be prepared to take a look and give me some feedback?

Is there anything I could change to make it better?

Website is here: http://www.rachelwaddington.co.uk/

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Rachel


 
Phrase9
Phrase9  Identity Verified
South Africa
Arabic to English
Nice Jun 15, 2014

Nice site Rachel, simple and to the point. I would suggest however that you add one or two articles with your main keyword "renewable energy translations" as well as adding this keyword to your front page for SEO purposes so that google can pick it up easier. If your aim is to be found on google easily for your main keyword then I would suggest also creating social media pages and linking them to your website. If not a facebook page or a twitter account, then at least a Linkedin page and a googl... See more
Nice site Rachel, simple and to the point. I would suggest however that you add one or two articles with your main keyword "renewable energy translations" as well as adding this keyword to your front page for SEO purposes so that google can pick it up easier. If your aim is to be found on google easily for your main keyword then I would suggest also creating social media pages and linking them to your website. If not a facebook page or a twitter account, then at least a Linkedin page and a google plus page.

Congratulations!
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Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:21
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Jun 15, 2014

Thanks for your feedback Phrase9 - I do already have LinkedIn and Twitter accounts that have my website address on them. I guess my website should also link to those pages! I hadn't really thought about that, so that is useful feedback.

Thank you for responding,

Rachel


 
Peter Linton (X)
Peter Linton (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 01:21
Swedish to English
+ ...
My comments Jun 15, 2014

I do not claim to be an expert web designer, but . . .

- There is an awful lot of text on your front page. Put it on another page such as About me?
- Front pages should be simple, colourful, inviting, with some keywords.
- Some short samples of your work (rendered anonymous) would help. Particularly as you have such impressive qualifications.
- Looking at View Page Source, you seem to have very little material for Search Engine Optimisation. Very few keywords. Sp
... See more
I do not claim to be an expert web designer, but . . .

- There is an awful lot of text on your front page. Put it on another page such as About me?
- Front pages should be simple, colourful, inviting, with some keywords.
- Some short samples of your work (rendered anonymous) would help. Particularly as you have such impressive qualifications.
- Looking at View Page Source, you seem to have very little material for Search Engine Optimisation. Very few keywords. Speak to your web designer.
- You mention the Institution of Translation and Interpreting. Actually called the Institute of Translation & Interpreting.

Overall: good effort, needs some tuning.
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Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:21
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Oops Jun 15, 2014

Hi Peter,

Thanks so much for picking up that embarrassing error regarding the ITI. I am not sure how I could miss that!

The front page was called 'About Me' originally, then we changed it for some reason. Maybe we need to look at that again.

Work samples is a nice idea - I will think about that.

And yes, we haven't looked at SEO yet.

Thanks again - I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Rachel


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 02:21
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
I like it! Jun 15, 2014

Clear, specific information. I disagree with the colleague about having too much text in the front page. If I was looking for someone who is specialised, this kind of immediate full information is what I would need.

One thing I don't like is not being able to see your contact information (address, phone, email) and having to use a form. In today's odd electronic world, it always adds to a good feeling to see that you are an established profesional with a physical address and not som
... See more
Clear, specific information. I disagree with the colleague about having too much text in the front page. If I was looking for someone who is specialised, this kind of immediate full information is what I would need.

One thing I don't like is not being able to see your contact information (address, phone, email) and having to use a form. In today's odd electronic world, it always adds to a good feeling to see that you are an established profesional with a physical address and not someone under cover of cyberspace somewhere.

If you happen to add an email address, make sure you use a graphical image of the address or at least never use a "mailto:" tag, since it would be picked up by crawlers, with the potential of having your inbox full of spam in a short time. Instead of your email address, you could also add a link to your Proz.com profile, so that people can contact you via Proz.com's email. This way you enjoy a higher degree of protection.
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Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:21
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Contact form Jun 15, 2014

Hi Tomás,

Thanks for taking the time to look at my site and comment. I insisted on the contact form because I was worried about getting spammed. But my partner (who did the site for me) said the same as you, so maybe you are both right - the contact form doesn't give a great impression, I have to admit. He tells me that there is a special way to enter your email address so it doesn't get picked up by the crawlers (using JavaScript I think).

Thanks again for your very
... See more
Hi Tomás,

Thanks for taking the time to look at my site and comment. I insisted on the contact form because I was worried about getting spammed. But my partner (who did the site for me) said the same as you, so maybe you are both right - the contact form doesn't give a great impression, I have to admit. He tells me that there is a special way to enter your email address so it doesn't get picked up by the crawlers (using JavaScript I think).

Thanks again for your very useful comments

Rachel
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Edward Vreeburg
Edward Vreeburg  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 02:21
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Maybe have a Dutch and a German version Jun 16, 2014

Since your clients are Dutch and German, that is probably the languages they will be searching in... ( you don't offer any other languages like French or Spanish, so your clientele is Renewable energy + Dutch + German ) ((even if it is only the SEO)...

 
Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:21
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Dutch and a German version Jun 16, 2014

Hi Edward,

Thanks for responding - you are quite right about German and Dutch versions as most of my clients now are from the Netherlands. I want to make sure I am happy with the content, then I will get the site translated. I'm still considering changing things round a bit.

Thanks,

Rachel


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 01:21
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
who are you writing it for? Jun 16, 2014

I lke what's there, though I think it will be improved by the feedback. But I wonder who it's addressed to. It's certainly an impressive professional showcase: you've covered the "about me" well. But clients need to know more than that. They need to know about your reputation, your availability, your time zone, your CAT plus other tools' usage...

So, I don't agree that they need specifics such as your telephone number or email address, but I do think they should know they can conta
... See more
I lke what's there, though I think it will be improved by the feedback. But I wonder who it's addressed to. It's certainly an impressive professional showcase: you've covered the "about me" well. But clients need to know more than that. They need to know about your reputation, your availability, your time zone, your CAT plus other tools' usage...

So, I don't agree that they need specifics such as your telephone number or email address, but I do think they should know they can contact you in the first instance via the website or one of your profiles, but that you also use Skype, IMS etc.

Agencies and publishers will want a good deal more info than you've given them, I believe. Maybe on the home page should be a few one-liners pointing to sections about you, your experience, your services, your technical knowhow (CATs etc), your portfolio, plus a few words about what you can do for them. That's the bottom line - and I don't see it on your website.
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Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:21
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Who for? Jun 16, 2014

Thank you Sheila, that's very valuable feedback and you put your finger on some of the things that concern me about the site. It should probably be more "Here's how I can help you ..." rather than "I did this, I have that". And it's tricky because the site is aimed at agencies, publishers AND direct clients, so it's a tough job to write for all three audiences, or at any rate not exclude any of these.

So I think it definitely needs some more work and thought. I've never really done
... See more
Thank you Sheila, that's very valuable feedback and you put your finger on some of the things that concern me about the site. It should probably be more "Here's how I can help you ..." rather than "I did this, I have that". And it's tricky because the site is aimed at agencies, publishers AND direct clients, so it's a tough job to write for all three audiences, or at any rate not exclude any of these.

So I think it definitely needs some more work and thought. I've never really done much marketing (I guess that shows a bit) as I have always relied on some loyal agency clients and a trickle of new enquiries that come from my ITI profile. But I have done a lot of studying over the last few years and would like to make that pay by becoming a much more specialized translator and hopefully gaining some new clients.

Anyway, your feedback has definitely made me think, and I will try to incorporate some of your suggestions. Thank you!

Rachel
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