My website - finally finished, constructive criticism welcome!
Thread poster: Anna Sarah Krämer
Anna Sarah Krämer
Anna Sarah Krämer
Germany
Local time: 01:54
Member (2011)
English to German
+ ...
Mar 27, 2015

Dear colleagues,

I would really appreciate your opinions about my website. Does it look professional?

Are there any obvious glitches I overlooked?

Anything you would do differently?

Thanks for your feedback and ideas!

Best regards,
Anna


 
William Tierney
William Tierney  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 20:54
Member (2002)
Arabic to English
Where is your name? Mar 27, 2015

I checked your website and couldn't find your name anywhere. I would also want to know why I should use you instead of other translators or agencies. Some examples of your work would be good.

 
María Carda
María Carda  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 01:54
English to Spanish
+ ...
Nice site Mar 27, 2015

But you could include your email and telephone number in your Contact page. Also, do your images on the homepage slider relate to your translation? If so, make it clear to your visitors. That space is really important and people should be able to relate those images to the services you offer.

 
Diana Obermeyer
Diana Obermeyer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:54
Member (2013)
German to English
+ ...
Nice personal touch Mar 27, 2015

in the "About" section. I really enjoyed reading that and hope it will help to educate some clients.
I mainly work with small direct clients and I would expect it to appeal to that type of customer - small businesses or private persons who are passionate about their work.

I would have though that the fact that the website is available in three languages is sufficient proof for a potential client. I don't think I've ever seen work samples on a translator's website.

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in the "About" section. I really enjoyed reading that and hope it will help to educate some clients.
I mainly work with small direct clients and I would expect it to appeal to that type of customer - small businesses or private persons who are passionate about their work.

I would have though that the fact that the website is available in three languages is sufficient proof for a potential client. I don't think I've ever seen work samples on a translator's website.

One thing that jumped out at me though: "European Countries". European countries.

Have I earned a custom-build robot???
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Triston Goodwin
Triston Goodwin  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
Good job! Mar 27, 2015

I like it ^_^

 
Jan Kovačič
Jan Kovačič  Identity Verified
Slovenia
Local time: 01:54
Member (2020)
English to Slovenian
+ ...
Well done Mar 27, 2015

Anna, that's a really nice site with some interesting writing. As previously mentioned by Maria and William, I too miss a name and your contact information. I would put it all over the place, so client can find you quickly without digging around. Include that and you have a perfect website.

 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 00:54
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Found it! Mar 27, 2015

Jan Kovačič wrote:
I too miss a name and your contact information. I would put it all over the place, so client can find you quickly without digging around.

It's in the Disclaimer link (down at the bottom of the screen).


 
Peter Linton (X)
Peter Linton (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 00:54
Swedish to English
+ ...
Google search Mar 27, 2015

I did a Google search for Translations English Portuguese into German. Your website did not show up. Have you done anything about SEO - Search Engine Optimisation ?

Probably not. I notice that the heading on each page "Your Language Translations - English and Portuguese into German is not text but graphics - so won't be detected by SEO.


 
NecdetB
NecdetB  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 03:54
German to Turkish
+ ...
Yes, professional, friendly and nice! Mar 27, 2015

I found the text about you too long, however. Unless you make it more interesting, e.g. with pull quotes, I doubt that your prospective clients will read it to the end.

And it is not a good choice, I think, to use different text aligments in the portfolio section. Guide your visitors how to go on reading (left-to-right or top-to-down first?) your project groups by aligning the text left (or center) only and placing/arranging those groups accordingly.

My two cents.


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 21:54
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
A few comments Mar 27, 2015

I'm not sure whether you haven't yet translated the Disclaimer/Impressum into PT. If you have, the link on the PT page is not working. BTW, it says "Disclaimer" there.

I'd suggest you split it in two pages: Info and the Disclaimer itself

Maybe it's taken for granted that if you translate into German, the default is the Deutschland variant; I wouldn't know.

However it would be good to mention that you translate into European PT, otherwise a naive client migh
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I'm not sure whether you haven't yet translated the Disclaimer/Impressum into PT. If you have, the link on the PT page is not working. BTW, it says "Disclaimer" there.

I'd suggest you split it in two pages: Info and the Disclaimer itself

Maybe it's taken for granted that if you translate into German, the default is the Deutschland variant; I wouldn't know.

However it would be good to mention that you translate into European PT, otherwise a naive client might hire you to translate for Brazil.

Be my guest to use anything you like from my page http://www.lamensdorf.com.br/ptxbr.html or create your own content about it. My experience has been that non-PT speakers usually don't understand the difference; and when they finally do, they simply don't believe it!
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Jennifer Levey
Jennifer Levey  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 21:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
OK so far ... Mar 27, 2015

Like other commentators, I like the look. I like the texts – especially in the ‘About’ section.

I also agree that you need to ‘unhide’ yourself – you are anything but a ‘disclaimer' clause , even if ‘legal disclosure’ is a requirement in your country. At the very least, I suggest you stick your name (maybe using the variant/contraction you prefer to be known as in business correspondence, if approp
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Like other commentators, I like the look. I like the texts – especially in the ‘About’ section.

I also agree that you need to ‘unhide’ yourself – you are anything but a ‘disclaimer' clause , even if ‘legal disclosure’ is a requirement in your country. At the very least, I suggest you stick your name (maybe using the variant/contraction you prefer to be known as in business correspondence, if appropriate) under your photo in the About page.

Now you need to look at a few technicalities, behind the scenes.

Peter has commented on the lack of results in Google. I’m not surprised. The problem here is that Google (and other search engines) do not read either an individual page or the site as a whole in the same way we ‘mere human mortals’ do. That is especially true when we try to build a truly multilingual website.

I have looked at the source code of your pages, and there is precious little information in there for Google to latch onto – either linguistically (links between language versions) or in terms of search-worthy information within a language. Although other search engines work differently, they will also be ‘disappointed’ if they visit your site.

This is reflected, in part, by the fact that if I go (for example) to the Sobre mim page in PT, and then click on “This page in English”, I am sent to the English Home page, not to the English About page. You might want compare that with what happens on my website here: www.mediamatrix.cl (go to the Contact page in English, switch to Spanish and – you immediately see the same page (Contacto) in Spanish without passing via Home (or 'jail', as they say in Monopoly-land). You can even switch languages while filling in the contact form, without losing any data. Likewise, if you go to my T&C (any page, footer bar) and switch languages you’ll be taken directly to the T&C in the selected language.

Although these technicalities are quite difficult to handle – and may even be impossible in WordPress and similar web-apps – they do very much enhance the effectiveness and usability of a multilingual website. It's certainly worth investigating these technical enhancements.

HTH
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Anna Sarah Krämer
Anna Sarah Krämer
Germany
Local time: 01:54
Member (2011)
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Wow! Mar 28, 2015

So many really helpful hints! You will have to excuse me if I don't answer each of you separately - but rest assured that I really, really appreciate all your input - you mentioned so many valid points and I will address them as soon as I have time.

You certainly all deserve a custom-built robot - unfortunately I just ran out of stock of custom-built robots...

Kind regards,
Anna


 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 08:54
Chinese to English
Name of company, stock images, static vs. dynamic content Mar 28, 2015

1) In your title on the front page, I would change the font of the name of your company. Looking at the English page, "Your Languages" genuinely confused me - I thought it was just a rhetorical device to reach out to the reader. If you just set it in a different font, that will sort it. Obviously the problem doesn't exist in the other languages, but changing the font won't hurt there, either.

2) The notion of having pretty stock images on your front page seems very old fashioned to
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1) In your title on the front page, I would change the font of the name of your company. Looking at the English page, "Your Languages" genuinely confused me - I thought it was just a rhetorical device to reach out to the reader. If you just set it in a different font, that will sort it. Obviously the problem doesn't exist in the other languages, but changing the font won't hurt there, either.

2) The notion of having pretty stock images on your front page seems very old fashioned to me, so I was wondering what you could do to make them come to life. How about making each of the images a link? If the image is connected to a translation you've done, you can either link to it (if that doesn't break confidentiality), or link to a little description of it. If I could click on the puppy and find that you've done veterinary translation, I would be amused and interested.

3) In fact, the whole notion of a static front page seems old fashioned now. I would put a blog, or some updated information on the front - at the very minimum a "latest projects" ticker.
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Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 01:54
Italian to English
Too much text Mar 28, 2015

Building a website is hard work! And I think it takes guts to bare one's soul (or website) to colleagues and ask for advice.

I think the page "About" has too much text, not everyone will want to read it all. Consider using a larger font, and making the different sections clearer, because I think the content is good.

NOT sure about the line "When working for you, I will bother you with questions". I know what you mean, but this may be offputting to some customers. No-one
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Building a website is hard work! And I think it takes guts to bare one's soul (or website) to colleagues and ask for advice.

I think the page "About" has too much text, not everyone will want to read it all. Consider using a larger font, and making the different sections clearer, because I think the content is good.

NOT sure about the line "When working for you, I will bother you with questions". I know what you mean, but this may be offputting to some customers. No-one wants to be constantly bothered with questions - after all they have their own job to do. So you may want to consider rewording that part.

Good luck!!
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Malin Algers
Malin Algers  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 20:54
Member (2015)
Swedish to English
+ ...
I like it! Mar 29, 2015

Now I wish I had one too... I really like your text in the About section and would hope clients actually read it, but maybe it is a little long, like some people have mentioned. Maybe there's a way to keep the text but single out the main points more? So everyone who glances at the page gets the gist, and those who like to read more can do so. In any case, nicely done.

Malin


 


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My website - finally finished, constructive criticism welcome!







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