Alasdair Murray freelance copywriter

fast turnaround, competitive rates and always 'on brief'
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Your website may have lots of technological bells
& whistles - but how does it look and read to others?       

Whether you want it to be all singing and dancing, or it's there simply to serve as an online brochure, impress potential clients or woo candidates, your presence on the web must make a good first and lasting impression.

And yet, so many organisations focus more on the functionality than the content and look of their site.

As well as having been presented with a 'template' to fill with words on many occasions, I've heard stories of a 'sister's boyfriend's mate' who 'knows a bit about the web' building a company's website because he was cheap. I've also known of instances where a technical wizard with no creativity has been entrusted to produce the finished product, design and all. And, last but not least, tales about web design firms taking ages to fail to come up with something that the client was happy with, only to present them, not with a finished website, but a hefty bill for their troubles.

Get an unbiased, objective opinion
That's why, if you have any concerns about the layout, content or look of your website, it makes eminent sense to get an unbiased review done by a creative professional.

You may well discover you need nothing doing to your site at all. Alternatively, you might need to ask your Webmaster to make a few minor tweaks here and there - maybe to the typeface, layout, positioning of certain elements and the menu bar. Or perhaps you'll need to consider an overhaul, but still be able to use a lot of the information that is already there on the site.

There's often an inexpensive solution
Whatever you need, it's far better to find out inexpensively and quickly, rather than putting yourself in the hands of the sister's boyfriend's mate, the technical wizard or the web design generalists I spoke of earlier. That's where I come in.

You'll deal with a professional
Having started my career in recruitment advertising in newspapers (I sold space for a national and a regional, as well as for a London media sales house where I represented over 100 newspaper titles across the UK) I moved into recruitment advertising agencies as a client account handler and worked my way up to Group Account Director level. Along the way I handled some of the largest recruitment advertising accounts in the business and worked with organisations in a wide range of business sectors. Then, eight years ago, I set up my own business as a freelance copywriter. Since then I have been involved in thousands of writing exercises, including reviewing and producing content for a variety of websites.

Until recently, I worked purely as a third party i.e. I would be commissioned by an ad agency to produce the content, but certain creative aspects, including the final design, were outside of my control. But, because of the experience I have gained down the years, I decided to branch out and conduct a few website research projects myself - give people who are perhaps too close to the project having seen the site a thousand times, some unbiased feedback from a first time visitor's point of view.  And, people seem to appreciate what I had to offer!
Here are a few things that people have said about the service I provided them with:

"Very impressed. Highly recommended"

"Greatly appreciated. I'll take suggestions on board"

"Nice to see my concerns reflected by a third party"

"Many thanks for getting this to me so quickly"

"Just had website review done, now I've really got something to think about! Great service, thanks"

"Very good insights given on our website and with a very efficient turnaround! I like the way you presented them too"

"I really appreciate your points. Your input is very interesting"

"All very interesting comments - some of which we'd already started to kick about internally"

"Your feedback is really useful as a starting point"

 

So how much does all this cost?

Less than you might think. An 'initial impression' website review covering content, user-friendliness and navigation costs just £65.00. For that you will receive a report that starts with my first impression observations and then goes on to review each one of your menu/navigation bar pages individually. Then at the end of the document you will get a summary giving my overall impression and recommendations.

Contained within each page summary may be practical suggestions, easy fixes, positional advice, layout concerns, my opinion about the written content and any buttons, whistles or bells you may have going on. I may suggest merging pages or deleting stuff, or even adding some bits. I won't know until I have seen your site! But, one thing is for sure - all my suggestions will be from the point of view of a first-time visitor looking for a user-friendly experience.

And, if, when you get your report back you're not happy with the advice I have provided then you needn't pay for it. That hasn't happened yet and I am confident it won't, but it's your insurance policy just in case.

So what are you waiting for? Start making your website work harder for you today. Call me on 07932 161392 for an informal chat or download a free sample website review by clicking here