another semi web site shot to hell?
in [Design]
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From: John Larkin on 28 Sep 2006 11:14 On Thu, 28 Sep 2006 06:47:05 -0400, Boris Mohar <borism_-void-_(a)sympatico.ca> wrote: > >Why this stupid trend of re branding of companies? Today Phillips >Semiconductor is NXP. Tomorrow, who cares? BTW that talking green shirt >really annoys me. I consider it way to invasive. At least they had sense to >put a little "do not show this page again" I almost tossed my cookies > > Don't toss the NXP.COM cookie, or the Green Man will come back! John
From: Joerg on 28 Sep 2006 11:52 Hello Frank, >> >>>BTW, how would you rate your own website? Doesn't look like a >>>brilliant marketing instrument to me. Don't even want to think >>>about the lost in sales you suffer from that ;) Of course there >>>is no point in telling a deaf person to listen up. >> >>What's wrong with it? It's plain and simple. No need for fluff. That web >>site is only there for initial information. Anything beyond it needs a >>chat on the phone or in person anyway. And no, you will not find a "sorry >>but you don't have a flash player installed" message on any web site of >>mine. > > It's not that it needs Flash. But I doubt if people can find it, > and how long they stay on your site and if it brings you new > business. Some projects descriptions with some pictures would > be nice. Don't have to be detailed, just some brief information. > The impression I get from your website is that you do only > paperwork, paperwork and paperwork. That impression is wrong. > Yes, I thought about some pics, schematics etc. The one problems most consultants have is that they aren't allowed to do that. Often they aren't even allowed to use a successful relationship as reference. One of my current contracts with a large company goes as far as prohibiting the disclosure of the very existence of that contract. > The first link 'Services' is an insult to the visitor. After reading > a list of services on the home page, one is directed to a more or > less identical list of services. > Good point, thanks. Got to do something about that. > The second link, "Where can Analog Consultants..." gives me a > dull page with a long lecture. It is unreadable, as it prints > too wide, all over the screen from left to right. After reading > the first paragraph, I feel lectured, and what hangs is that I > probably have wasted a lot of money, and am facing a redesign > from scratch. > What browser are you using? It doesn't do that with Mozilla, Netscape, Opera and my copy of IE. Re redesign I just want to be honest. About half of my assignments begin when it's really too late from a biz point of view and require a redesign of crucial parts or of the whole thing. Something that was clearly avoidable had they called me or someone else in half a year earlier. There are a few sad stories there. > Skip reading the 2nd parapgraph (I already lost interest) I'm told > that something has worked in the past and that there is an > oppertunity for my own engineers to learn something. Yawn. > Have to stop reading, because my neck starts to hurt from > all that turning my head from left to right. If I continue, > my head might unscrew itself and fall off. > Ok, can't understand the neck thing but one of the fears many clients have is that a consultant does his or her thing and then the company is hooked for life. Because none of their engineers is "in the know" afterwards. I don't work that way. But I could give you some horror stories where others did that to clients and I had to pick up the pieces. Or whatever pieces they had. Undocumented reems of assembler and so on. > Rolling down to the bottom, still feeling lectured and that my > own thoughts aren't much worth, you say "If you think that > analog consultants might be the answer....". Sheesh! > Well, sometimes they are the answer. Even when the problem appears to be SW or FPGA related. That's why I give example and those are cases that really happened. Got to have a punch line but you are probably right, I may have to think of a better one here. > I could go on for hours and hours. This web site does not > invite customers, it scares them away. In that respect it > is indeed brilliant. > > Stop ranting about dollar calculators and hire a consultant > yourself, this time for your web site ;) He won't advice > Flash - no worries. He'll make a nice sober design that does > you justice, that is inviting, that is not lecturing, that > looks trust worthy, that can be found etc. > I might try that again. When I tried before everyone absoultely wanted to convince me that the site needs frames and all that stuff. Which I don't want. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com
From: Joerg on 28 Sep 2006 11:55 Hello Robert, >>The second link, "Where can Analog Consultants..." gives me a >>dull page with a long lecture. It is unreadable, as it prints >>too wide, > > That just means that you've got your browser window set too wide. > Typesetting is the job of the client, not of the server. > > I agree that Joerg's website is dull and boring and even ugly (the > background - youck), but, most importantly, it conveys the needed > information and it works -- which is more than can be said about a > growing (!) fraction of manufacturer's websites. > What kind of background would be suitable? Ok, ok, my arts teacher in school already told me that I would never become an expert on that :-) > A consultant's website has a different job than a manufacturer's. > Essentially it needs to be google-able and contain some contact > information. > > A mfgr's site needs datasheets, pricing information, parametric search, > and besides that it can be ugly as hell. This is a feat that less and > less web-droids seem to be able to face. > Amen! -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com
From: Frank Bemelman on 28 Sep 2006 13:33 "Joerg" <notthisjoergsch(a)removethispacbell.net> schreef in bericht news:9dSSg.19360$IA.5739(a)newssvr11.news.prodigy.com... > Hello Frank, > > Yes, I thought about some pics, schematics etc. The one problems most > consultants have is that they aren't allowed to do that. Often they aren't > even allowed to use a successful relationship as reference. One of my > current contracts with a large company goes as far as prohibiting the > disclosure of the very existence of that contract. You don't have to list all your projects, just a couple. You can use pictures of different boards, different schematics. You can alter the story a bit. That is not a blatant cheat, it's only to show/tell that you are for real and to do some justice to yourself. >> The second link, "Where can Analog Consultants..." gives me a >> dull page with a long lecture. It is unreadable, as it prints >> too wide, all over the screen from left to right. After reading >> the first paragraph, I feel lectured, and what hangs is that I >> probably have wasted a lot of money, and am facing a redesign >> from scratch. >> > > What browser are you using? It doesn't do that with Mozilla, Netscape, > Opera and my copy of IE. Re redesign I just want to be honest. About half > of my assignments begin when it's really too late from a biz point of view > and require a redesign of crucial parts or of the whole thing. Something > that was clearly avoidable had they called me or someone else in half a > year earlier. There are a few sad stories there. The first paragraph ("It isn't possible to furnish...") is displayed as 3 lines and a 4th line with just one word. That is what I call impossible to read. Newspapers print their articles in columns, because otherwise they would also become unreadable. > Ok, can't understand the neck thing but one of the fears many clients have > is that a consultant does his or her thing and then the company is hooked > for life. Because none of their engineers is "in the know" afterwards. I > don't work that way. But I could give you some horror stories where others > did that to clients and I had to pick up the pieces. Or whatever pieces > they had. Undocumented reems of assembler and so on. Yes, but advertisement talk quickly turns into a stupid lecture, insulting the reader. Be brief. And no need to rub in disasters. Use a bit more positive language. And cut 95% of the text as it is. Short texts, some bulleted lists, etc. >> Rolling down to the bottom, still feeling lectured and that my >> own thoughts aren't much worth, you say "If you think that >> analog consultants might be the answer....". Sheesh! >> > > Well, sometimes they are the answer. Even when the problem appears to be > SW or FPGA related. That's why I give example and those are cases that > really happened. Got to have a punch line but you are probably right, I > may have to think of a better one here. It reads as too negative. You are a damn good expert, so don't be shy, or use reservative language with to much use of 'if' and 'might'. >> Stop ranting about dollar calculators and hire a consultant >> yourself, this time for your web site ;) He won't advice >> Flash - no worries. He'll make a nice sober design that does >> you justice, that is inviting, that is not lecturing, that >> looks trust worthy, that can be found etc. >> > > I might try that again. When I tried before everyone absoultely wanted to > convince me that the site needs frames and all that stuff. Which I don't > want. Of course, make clear what you (don't) want. Extensive use of high end designer pictures, like glass sky crapers and business men in front of it, is not what you want. It would give a false impression. But a good picture of a breathtaking view in your neighboorhood is nice and useable. Couple of small insets of pictures with (perhaps) parts of your desk with some notes and diagrams, part of your lab or workbench, a circuit under test, a close-up of a scope probe in use, things like that. May seem silly, but now you only have loads of dull text and I don't even know if you can handle a screwdriver. Oh, and you don't need frames indeed. Most layout tricks can be done in tables. OTH, a page with frames is not the end of the world. Your current web page has 82 errors in it, so stop pretending as if you know what is right or wrong about frames. Simply demand from your web designer that the final result generates zero errors : http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.analogconsultants.com And once your website looks better, you have to make sure it can be found. Did you ever tried to find yourself, not using your name as a search parameter? -- Thanks, Frank. (remove 'q' and '.invalid' when replying by email)
From: Jim Thompson on 28 Sep 2006 13:51
On Thu, 28 Sep 2006 17:44:56 GMT, Joerg <notthisjoergsch(a)removethispacbell.net> wrote: >Hello Jim, > >>> >>>>Joerg, [snip] >> >> My site is bland, but not as bland as yours... got two consulting >> inquiries TODAY from the site ;-) >> > >That is indeed pretty good. Are those serious ones or just tire kickers? Actually both today were law firms seeking expert witness help. They appear serious. >Do you think it happened because of the embedded key words? Yes. My oldest son helped me do the site originally, with lots of advice on how to "play" the keyword game. > >However, chip design is more popular these days. I receive head hunter >requests but mostly they are looking for permanent staff, I get a lot of that also. >plus I am not >a chip designer. When it's ASIC consulting I remind them that there is >someone in AZ who does this stuff... Thanks! ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food. |