Mini reviews of Yorkshire Mafia member websites

I went to the Yorkshire Mafia Drinks “do” in Harrogate last night and I looked over some of the websites of people I met there…with their permission. Whilst there is always plenty of room for improvement, why am I not surprised that many of them are really quite good.

http://www.johngoodyear.co.uk/
Ideal for the target market, excellent use of attractive photos, very arty, good staff photos, obvious contact details, trustworthy image,  no real SEO in evidence, navigation…a bit random. Interior and architectural design at its best.

http://www.grgprint.com
Site being redeveloped. Leaving up the old site is a good idea. “Disappearing” doesn’t do you any favours with Google. Francis…send me your new copy BEFORE publishing and I’ll check it over for you. Remember, changing copy and tags after publication is highly destructive. G like reliable publishers.

http://www.thefuse.co.uk
Attractive little site, good staff photos, friendly and approachable image, not quite sure about their unique specialities as everything is bunched at the bottom of the homepage, no SEO in evidence but that’s not a sin, I would trust Cath.

http://www.ohgroupuk.com,
A  bit plain but functional. Not quite sure about their target market as their building portfolio covers such a wide spectrum, No staff pictures, nice online brochure, word of mouth marketing will be their strong card. Localised SEO could bring in lots of enquiries. I met Jamie who is the MD and many things are going well whatever I say about their website. Castles are a speciality!

http://www.smilessms.com/
The company that sent us all a nice reminder about the drinks do. I now understand more about SMS marketing and how not to annoy people with it. Their website: small blue writing is difficult to read, no staff pictures, no SEO, but Mark  knows his stuff about SMS marketing….I hadn’t seen it the way he described it to me.

http://www.mikeeastwood.co.uk/
Mike, I’m an exhibitionist, Eastwood. Great use of the ‘You’ word and ‘What’s in it for me.’ A very clear proposition with testimonials and statistics. Mike has obviously been in this business a long time. It shows.

http://www.dfaproductions.co.uk/
Their impressive large AV capabilities and other skills don’t exactly show up on their website…I just happen to know what they do and how well they do it. Needs staff photos and calls to action on every page. Some statistics £££ in the case studies about improving corporate relationships (or whatever other benefits) would also add some value and demonstrate ROI to potential future clients.

It was a good evening at The Balmoral in Harrogate. I enjoyed it and look forward to meeting more people at the next Harrogate event.

For an in depth and more challenging review of all your online activities, my website review criteria are here.

Enjoy the Bank Holiday!
Charles.