Please review the re-launch of my main corporate site www.charitydispatch.com

[rogercbryan]

Charity Dispatch Car Donation

We just relaunched after 2 months of work... let me know what you think!

[rogercbryan]

Damn... the center section just went out of frame... this is a work in progress

[Encrypted]

Not really a fan of the design colors nor the design in general.

[rogercbryan]

Not really a fan of the design colors nor the design in general.

What would you change?

[forbes]

I really like it! just that the center section is not aligned

[TheKrigger]

I'm not a web designer, so this is my personal opinion only.

As its already been said, the page isn't completely on center. Also, I'm a fan of more neutral colors, so green isn't one I often go for. Although I think you make the green work well for the most part, I felt like the bottom (news articles, about us, etc.) is a little overpowering. Other than that, I felt like it was easy to read and didn't feel terribly cluttered.

The part on the footer of the pages that says "Car Donations Improve Communities And Tax Season

Donating your car can have a lasting positive impact on your community." is written twice.

The portion on the "Newsletter" page that says "latest 5 blog entries of our blogs" might read better if it said something along the lines of "the latest five entries in our blogs."

These are the things I noticed looking through the pages. Again, I'm not a web designer and am just giving you my own opinion. This is a lot better than I could do myself. hehe...

[JKansas]

I am not a website designer although I do have experience in graphic design.

The site feels generic and I don't trust it upon first impression. You are asking people to give things to you and I just feel the website should have a more personal feeling.

Second look: Honestly I would still think it was a spam site if I found it on google. I got past that and looked and I like the information you provide. I'm not really sure how to describe it, I guess it's just I wouldn't feel comfortable giving your site my personal information, let alone a car.

I mean no offense by any of this by the way! You asked for criticism and I hope I can help a little. My suggestions would be:

Consider new colors, blue is traditionally trusting although that's arguably effective. Green is really associated with the green movement right now and I don't think you're a part of that although it could easily work.

I might be okay with the colors if you cleared out that header! Anyone can copy/paste logos so ditch those, send them to the bottom. It may be a personal thing but it will look cleaner and I don't think they're more effective at the top vs. teh bottom of the page.

Get rid of the donate now button in the header. I can see a Donate Now link three times in my screen and I have it on half of my monitor with outlook on the other half. I think the bottom two are sufficient... again I like clean headers.

I do like the phone number up there. It frustrates people when they cant find your contact info. I would also consider listing your business info under about us so with one click they find where your from and where you operate.

Third Look: It's growing on me! I like the content, I just think the initial view is too standard or oddly generic. Make the site look more personal and I think it will be great!

Hope this helps

Jared

[rogercbryan]

I am not a website designer although I do have experience in graphic design.

The site feels generic and I don't trust it upon first impression. You are asking people to give things to you and I just feel the website should have a more personal feeling.

Second look: Honestly I would still think it was a spam site if I found it on google. I got past that and looked and I like the information you provide. I'm not really sure how to describe it, I guess it's just I wouldn't feel comfortable giving your site my personal information, let alone a car.

I mean no offense by any of this by the way! You asked for criticism and I hope I can help a little. My suggestions would be:

Consider new colors, blue is traditionally trusting although that's arguably effective. Green is really associated with the green movement right now and I don't think you're a part of that although it could easily work.

I might be okay with the colors if you cleared out that header! Anyone can copy/paste logos so ditch those, send them to the bottom. It may be a personal thing but it will look cleaner and I don't think they're more effective at the top vs. teh bottom of the page.

Get rid of the donate now button in the header. I can see a Donate Now link three times in my screen and I have it on half of my monitor with outlook on the other half. I think the bottom two are sufficient... again I like clean headers.

I do like the phone number up there. It frustrates people when they cant find your contact info. I would also consider listing your business info under about us so with one click they find where your from and where you operate.

Third Look: It's growing on me! I like the content, I just think the initial view is too standard or oddly generic. Make the site look more personal and I think it will be great!

Hope this helps

Jared

I appreciate your comments here... Here are a few things that I've learned in the past 10 years from working in this industry... This isn't an attempt to change your opinion its just market research.

- On any website you want to have your call to action three times - for us that is the donate now button
- You want your credibility logos to be at the top of your page (if you click these you'll see that they are legitimate- Just checked and that is not working... I'll get that fixed ASAP)

These are industry norms... That doesn't mean they are right

It does worry me that you say you wouldn't trust the site. I've never heard that before.. but if one person says it then more are thinking it.

You are right that the color green is associated with the green movement.. I was trying to appeal to the in color.. most people have not liked my color choice so I'll need to change that.

I like your comment about making the site more personal... I just don't know how to get there. I did research on 10 different competitors to get this design. Not sure where I went wrong..

Any more comments?

[JKansas]

I understand your points, and it's not that i don't trust you from your posts. I'm trying to put myself in this position: if I had an old car to donate, and I found you from google, what would I think of your site. Honestly i just looked up your competitors and I'd be hesitant to trust most of them, but I am a cautious person. I would be more inclined to search for someone local and do it that way. I understand the trust buttons, I have just seen a lot of scams that all have those, their value to me is limited since anyone can copy paste and run a link. I understand your's are legitmate though, and if someone clicks and it takes them to your status on that site then it would be very helpful. As for the call to action three times, I did learn that and it doesn't neceasarily mean you need three buttons. A couple of your competitors have only one large button, but almost all had the call to action three times.

Car Donation Charity Donate Cars for Kids Causes - Car Donations is information overload and too cluttered

CAR DONATION > DONATE CAR + Free Hotel Voucher | Kars4Kids Car Donations looks simlar to yours, a little cleaner, the design that I like best out of all of them

http://www.carsforveterans.orr/ I love how simple it is! But it doesn't have the official feel to it

Donate Car for Charity uses your car donation to help those in need wow, this one is bad. Old design, awkward pics, doesn't name a charity at all

So now that I've looked at your competitors (albeit briefly!) I like your site a lot more and definitely have the most trust in it!

How do you think it would look if you put the header donate now button under the phone number and made them the same size? Also shrinking down the official trust logos slightly and placing them under those two buttons to make it all fit? It would leave some blank space between, but I think that space would bring attention to the logo and make it pop.

The color is up to you, it's not bad, I'm just trying to think of ways to make it more appealing and personal. One other thing I thought of is your Mission Statement. As a banker that seems likes a good plan. As someone wanting to donate a car to charity though, it has less meaning to me! Myabe you could replace it with a slightly longer vision statment that plays the good you are actually doing.

These are just ideas and I am just one person. You have way more experience than me and this looks a million times better than my site! I hope my comments are helping and not detracting from your effort as well. I think it's great and overall my observations are pretty small.

[rogercbryan]

I understand your points, and it's not that i don't trust you from your posts. I'm trying to put myself in this position: if I had an old car to donate, and I found you from google, what would I think of your site. Honestly i just looked up your competitors and I'd be hesitant to trust most of them, but I am a cautious person. I would be more inclined to search for someone local and do it that way. I understand the trust buttons, I have just seen a lot of scams that all have those, their value to me is limited since anyone can copy paste and run a link. I understand your's are legitmate though, and if someone clicks and it takes them to your status on that site then it would be very helpful. As for the call to action three times, I did learn that and it doesn't neceasarily mean you need three buttons. A couple of your competitors have only one large button, but almost all had the call to action three times.

Car Donation Charity Donate Cars for Kids Causes - Car Donations is information overload and too cluttered

CAR DONATION > DONATE CAR + Free Hotel Voucher | Kars4Kids Car Donations looks simlar to yours, a little cleaner, the design that I like best out of all of them

http://www.carsforveterans.orr/ I love how simple it is! But it doesn't have the official feel to it

Donate Car for Charity uses your car donation to help those in need wow, this one is bad. Old design, awkward pics, doesn't name a charity at all

So now that I've looked at your competitors (albeit briefly!) I like your site a lot more and definitely have the most trust in it!

How do you think it would look if you put the header donate now button under the phone number and made them the same size? Also shrinking down the official trust logos slightly and placing them under those two buttons to make it all fit? It would leave some blank space between, but I think that space would bring attention to the logo and make it pop.

The color is up to you, it's not bad, I'm just trying to think of ways to make it more appealing and personal. One other thing I thought of is your Mission Statement. As a banker that seems likes a good plan. As someone wanting to donate a car to charity though, it has less meaning to me! Myabe you could replace it with a slightly longer vision statment that plays the good you are actually doing.

These are just ideas and I am just one person. You have way more experience than me and this looks a million times better than my site! I hope my comments are helping and not detracting from your effort as well. I think it's great and overall my observations are pretty small.

What if I got rid of the 'ranking' and 'validated site' logos and just kept the BBB and TrustE Logs.. make them smaller and clear up the header a little bit by removing the donate now button from up there. I think that would look a lot better. I'd put the BBB and TrustE logos under the phone number button. I think people know BBB and TrustE while the other two not so much.

I like what you said about the mission statement as well... The way it is written is for the non-profits to know what we do.. it doesn't necessarily make sense when a potential donor is viewing it. I'll have to maybe create a 'donor mission statement' that is different from our overall corporate statement..

Thanks!

[rogercbryan]

Take a look at the header now... just changed a bunch of stuff... I think it looks a lot cleaner now. Thanks for all the great advice! We still have a ton of work to do but we are getting there....

[JKansas]

Definitely getting there! I like it, I think it looks a lot cleaner. Anyone else have an opinion on it? After looking through your competitors I like your site a lot. Your hard work is definitely showing!

[Stone]

Hi,

Please Note: I am not a web designer I have more o0f a marketing eye

I really like the site, I find it easy to navigate, I like the scrolling thing - adds credibility
I like the easy 123 steps
I like the clear call to actions
All these are above the fold (top part of site) great!!!

The number one thing I would suggest that your site is lacking, is a clear and strong USP and I would place it in the middle of the header where there is all that dead ( and very valuable) space (between the logo and the phone number)
and if I had to pick something else the green at the bottom of the screen (the footer) is a little too bright and slightly hurts my eyes, but i do like the green despite what others have suggested, i just think it is a bit bright or there is too much or something at the bottom.

But a great sites guys, good luck with it I think you have something really good there.

[rogercbryan]

I like the idea of putting a USP in the header. I just emailed my staff to ask them to come up with something. Right now I'm thinking 'Donate to the Charity of Your Choice' or something along that line.

I do agree with you about the News Section being a little bright. I may try making it white like the rest of the site. It already has the bright footer below it and the title tag is also bright green. This may make it a little easier on the eyes.

Keep the info coming! I think you all can see that I am listening and I've made some pretty amazing changes based on all of your feedback!

[myrtlebeachwebdesign]

Needs pictures of a car/cars illustrated.