Website Example

[SecTrainer]

I like simple but highly useful and informative websites that have good "flow". I like websites that "get after it". They don't waste your time, but they also leave nothing out that a visitor would reasonably want or need to know. When you look at good websites, you get the immediate impression that whoever designed the site has really thought about the people visiting the site, and has a very clear idea what they want the website to accomplish.

Here's one that I think that security guard services, consultants, etc. could emulate http://www.miamiinjuryfirm.com/

This one happens to be based on a Wordpress install (wordpress.org, not wordpress.com) using the "Thesis" theme, which is very popular for its functionality and customizability. It's not free, but not many really useful Wordpress themes are free. However, they're usually not that expensive either - for what they do.

Didn't know WordPress is more than a blog platform? Well, now you do. With its thousands of available plugins, WordPress is actually almost a full-blown Content Management System, or CMS. (For those who don't know, WordPress plugins add all sorts of functionality, from shopping carts to email newsletter opt-in forms, to Paypal payments, etc. and a lot of site management functions like enabling unique page tags for blog posts to rev up search-engine optimization, keeping track of visitor page clicks, etc.)

In fact, with an appropriate theme and the right plugins, you can have just about any kind of website you want using WordPress, and a number of major sites do just that. Even better, if your web host has the Fantastico installer, you can install WordPress on your site with just a couple of clicks. HostGator is the hosting provider that I recommend.

Themes and plugins can be added fairly easily as well. None of this requires much in the way of technical skill (I call it a mile wide and only an inch deep in terms of skills required), and there are tutorials as well as forums all over the web for advice about running a Wordpress site, including YouTube videos, of course. Basically, once you know how to upload files (like theme and plugin files) to your WordPress site folders, and once you know your way around the WordPress admin panel, you've got about 90% of it licked. It takes a bit of experimenting with settings sometimes to get things just the way you want them.

Google a phrase like "10 top WordPress plugins", "10 must-have Wordpress plugins", etc. and read some of the suggestions that you'll find to get an idea of the myriad functions that plugins can give you.

Or, if you want to be doing other things than site admin (and it can tie you up), there's a crapload of Wordpress experts out there who will set up and admin your site for a very reasonable cost. Find them on eLance, etc., BUT BE SURE TO CHECK THEIR REFERENCES THOROUGHLY. It seems counterintuitive, but you probably want an admin who is already fairly busy with some other sites, as long as s/he isn't too busy. Then, you just handle the content part of things with new blog posts, new entries for your "News" section, etc. A lot of the content will remain fairly static, though.

With regard to this site, I'm not sure what specific plugins they're using. Obviously, they're using one of the many available "photo slider" plugins (top of page), one of the available "social/Facebook Like" plugins (left side), and one of the many "contact form" plugins (right side), as I don't think any of these are Thesis theme functions. In each case, there are numerous similar plugins available and you can pick the one you prefer. Like themes, few of the really well-coded useful plugins are totally free, but they aren't expensive either.

What you see is that plug-ins provide you with "widgets" for your web pages, and you can move them around, etc. to your heart's content to get just the look you want.

Anyway, this site could be emulated in a variety of ways other than Wordpress using different CMS platforms like Joomla. The important thing is that I think this model probably offers all the basic functions for a basic but very useful website in our own space. When you first look at it, it doesn't seem to be particularly remarkable, and in some ways it's not. But when you break it down into its component parts, you begin to see that it packs more of a whallop than you might have thought. Do you know what it is that fooled you when you first saw this site? The relative simplicity of the home page, and the speed at which it loads, that's what. (Incidentally, if you hate lawyers, overlook that!)

NOTE THAT THE CONTACT FORM, PHONE NUMBER AND FREE CONSULTATION OFFER ARE ALL LOCATED "ABOVE THE FOLD" - an old newspaper term meaning toward the top of the page rather than the bottom. Editors knew that articles, etc. placed "above the fold" would receive more attention than things "below the fold". This is one clue that this site designer is very user-savvy. Someone who just knows that they need a lawyer FAST has everything they need hitting them right in the face the instant that the page loads. I think I might set the image gallery/slider at the top of the page to cycle through the images with just a bit less delay between images (they all have a setting for this), but that's just my opinion. There also does seem to be a bit of an issue with the contact form since the "Submit" button is barely visible, but that's easily fixed.

[SecTrainer]

40 views and no comments? Hmmm...I thought this was a topic of greater interest to many of us. Well, we live and learn don't we?

Anyway, for those who are interested, on checking further I found that the problem with the "Submit" button that I mentioned above only shows up in Firefox. It's completely visible in both IE and Safari.

This points up the need to check your web pages in a variety of browsers to make sure they format properly.

[SheepdogProtective]

While we are on the subject of website design, I would like to ask a question about a lot of private security company pages. Why do private security companies like to use stock photos of obviously law enforcement vehicles and personnel as a representation of their (the private security company) services? One photo in particular belongs to a security company in Pennsylvania that has a stock picture of a Dodge charger with red and blue lighting on it under the title "patrol vehicles". When I say stock, I mean it's Dodge's own picture with their Dodge symbol on the door, hood and all. The picture was clearly designed to sell the Dodge police package chargers, why use it on a private security page? Can someone explain this to me, I am missing some sort of valuable web marketing tip here?

I ask this because IMHO, such use of stock photos would be a turn off to potential businesses, not a turn on.

[SecTrainer]

While we are on the subject of website design, I would like to ask a question about a lot of private security company pages. Why do private security companies like to use stock photos of obviously law enforcement vehicles and personnel as a representation of their (the private security company) services? One photo in particular belongs to a security company in Pennsylvania that has a stock picture of a Dodge charger with red and blue lighting on it under the title "patrol vehicles". When I say stock, I mean it's Dodge's own picture with their Dodge symbol on the door, hood and all. The picture was clearly designed to sell the Dodge police package chargers, why use it on a private security page? Can someone explain this to me, I am missing some sort of valuable web marketing tip here?

I ask this because IMHO, such use of stock photos would be a turn off to potential businesses, not a turn on.

Nope, you're not missing a good marketing idea. If the company does have Dodge patrol cars, they should have no problem putting up their own photos. If they don't, they're misrepresenting themselves. It might be considered a "white lie" (where did we get the idea there are white lies?), but it's a lie nevertheless. My guess is that their own patrol cars are probably some crappy, rusty, dented up old police CVs that they don't dare to show.

Legally speaking, I'm sure that Dodge owns the copyright to their publicity photos and could demand that the company remove them from their website, but they probably don't know about this, and even if they did they'd probably just think it was a bit of extra publicity they don't have to pay for and leave it alone.

And if someone says "Hey - where's that cool Dodge I saw on your website?", why "It's in the shop right now", of course!

[N. A. Corbier]

Here's the deal with stock photos. They drive me insane.

The reason that guard firms, like any firm, use stock photos is because they either pick some "cool photos" out, or they instruct the developer to just "pick some photos." The additional cost of shooting video and/or taking pictures is not usually factored into the website bid.

For example:

A standard Joomla based website where you provide all the page copy and images (and also sign off on our form that you own the text and images or have a license to use them, and assume all liability if you don't) and we put together a brochure site is about $390 USD. This includes mandatory things you should be doing like social media linking, like boxes, twitter feeds, etc.

Brochure sites like this are building legos, I can crank them out in about a day.

If you want me to send a professional photographer to your company and take sufficient shots for the thing, we're talking 700 to 800 dollars more in photography fees, image manipulation fees, and other fess. This is on top of your website dev fees. If you do the photos yourself, and actually have someone take good quality photos, then the additional cost is only what it costs in getting access to the camera and paying someone to take the photos.

I always tell clients that they need to beg or borrow a good DSLR camera from a friend and get some training on it. Training, mind you, is ask that friend how to work it and how to set it to take pictures in your environment. Bring as many SD or CF cards as you can get, because you should be taking hundreds of photos.

Some simple tips:

1. Take lots of photos.
2. Sort through them only after you're done.
3. Don't send 10 photos after taking 100 to your web designer.
4. If you're indoors, or at night, you need more light.
5. Experiment, its digital, you're not wasting film.
6. Tell a story with your camera.

[LV_PSO]

+1 on the awesomeness of WordPress.

+2 on how annoying it is to see stock photos. Major red flag for me.