# New website...Want opinion



## jimmy20013 (Dec 10, 2006)

Hi, I asked one of my friends to make a website for me and he made this for me hammerscatering.com. I want your opinion on it. I haven't added the menu yet but it will be up very soon. If you think something needs to be added, please let me know.


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

Your link is incomplete would not come up with that web address.

Rgds Rook


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

try to keep the photos on the site your very best.
congratulations on joining the cyber world, it will be a great tool for you and your clients.
:roll:


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## tigerwoman (Jul 18, 2002)

Not to be harsh, but your photos are very boring and don't show much food (the ones in the gallery) and the ones that do show food don't show anything unique. Too much white on white - you need more photos like the ones flashing up on the home page. You write that 
"We specialize in
combining the most exciting and flavorful food we 
could unearth with an unmatched eye for detail of our
staff - a mix guaranteed to create a super fun and 
exciting gathering."

however the photos don't show excitment, or detail and given you have catered for 15 years, I would expect to see many many more photos too.

Even though that food (on the home page) is fairly basic also (BBQ etc) - it has eye appeal and color as well as the closeup factor.

Also you need to show a range of food - to match your blurb on the home page that indicates you do all sorts of events.

You have the following wording:

Give us all anytime at 386-767-9480/386-299-1705
or email us at [email protected] and 
let us plan your next big occassion.

do you only want them to call you for big occasions? Not sure what and who your target is? but it seems from browsing your site that you would do smaller events as well.

Are you planning on being very strict about the 5 days notice, because last minute business can be very profitable as well - if you can handle it.

I might reword that to read something like

"We ask that you give us at least 5 days notice, but will do our best to accomodate last minute requests. "

you also have a couple of typos on the home page (I put the corrections in brackets)

Hammer's catering (should be capitalized) has offered complete catering 
and event planning services in and around the Daytona
Beach area for the past 15 years. We specialize in
combining the most exciting and flavorful food we 
could unearth with an unmatched eye for detail of our
staff - a mix guaranteed to create a super fun and 
exciting gathering.

Business recruiting dinners, formal weddings with
all the trimings (trimmings), intimate dinner for a small group with
a private chef and a custom menu, tail gate (tailgate) parties 
where we grill on site, we do it all.

How about putting the last paragraph in bullet format
starting with

We do it all

•Business recruiting dinners
•Formal weddings with all the trimmings,
•Intimate dinners with customized menus and private chef services
•Tailgate parties and BBQ's with chef grilling on site
and more


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## tigerwoman (Jul 18, 2002)

Not to be harsh, but your photos are very boring and don't show much food (the ones in the gallery) and the ones that do show food don't show anything unique. Too much white on white - you need more photos like the ones flashing up on the home page. You write that 
"We specialize in
combining the most exciting and flavorful food we 
could unearth with an unmatched eye for detail of our
staff - a mix guaranteed to create a super fun and 
exciting gathering."

however the photos don't show excitment, or detail and given you have catered for 15 years, I would expect to see many many more photos too.

Even though that food (on the home page) is fairly basic also (BBQ etc) - it has eye appeal and color as well as the closeup factor.

Also you need to show a range of food - to match your blurb on the home page that indicates you do all sorts of events.

You have the following wording:

Give us all anytime at 386-767-9480/386-299-1705
or email us at [email protected] and 
let us plan your next big occassion.

do you only want them to call you for big occasions? Not sure what and who your target is? but it seems from browsing your site that you would do smaller events as well.

Are you planning on being very strict about the 5 days notice, because last minute business can be very profitable as well - if you can handle it.

I might reword that to read something like

"We ask that you give us at least 5 days notice, but will do our best to accomodate last minute requests. "

you also have a couple of typos on the home page (I put the corrections in brackets)

Hammer's catering (should be capitalized) has offered complete catering 
and event planning services in and around the Daytona
Beach area for the past 15 years. We specialize in
combining the most exciting and flavorful food we 
could unearth with an unmatched eye for detail of our
staff - a mix guaranteed to create a super fun and 
exciting gathering.

Business recruiting dinners, formal weddings with
all the trimings (trimmings), intimate dinner for a small group with
a private chef and a custom menu, tail gate (tailgate) parties 
where we grill on site, we do it all.

How about putting the last paragraph in bullet format
starting with

We do it all from small to large events...

•Business recruiting dinners
•Formal weddings with all the trimmings,
•Intimate dinners with customized menus and private chef services
•Tailgate parties and BBQ's with chef grilling on site
and more

You could add more services - like bar and bat mitzvahs, sweet sixteens, 
also if you do drop off (which it sounds like you do ) might want to mention from drops offs to full service events.

hope this helps
have a delicious holiday!


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

Well I just took a gander at it. Looks pretty good. But there are a few things I agree with Tigerwoman on. LIke putting the last paragraph in bullets would be nice. Basically Tigerwoman has it pegged all I can say but then agian I am no webmaster.

Rgds Rook


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

Tigerwoman brings up good points. I am going to stick with the photos. You really need to change them. Remember the old saying people eat with their eyes first, the same goes with choosing something to purchase, including a caterer. The pictures should be done professionally if not at least done better. They should be crisp, colorful and inviting check out these 2 sites to get an idea of the quality I mean. http://paninicakes.com/, http://www.cakesuite.com/home/
These show high quality, inviting pictures. Check out the backgrounds as well, also very important. In one picture you are showing me fruit, but what I see is a water fountain and a reflection in the glass. It takes the focus away from the food. The picture with the "unsmiling Chef"  If you have employees in the shots make sure they are smiling and having a good time (or at least pretending) lastly, I could care less about your chafing dishes. All caterers have them and they should look good. That goes without saying. If you're going to show me chaffers, show me ones filled with piping hot, inviting food.

That's all I have to say at the moment. It looks like a very promising website, don't lose potential clients because of bad photography.


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## jimmy20013 (Dec 10, 2006)

Thank you all for your reviews. I will fix the typos, put the events in bullet points and put better pics. If you think anything more needs to be added, please let me know.


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## tigerwoman (Jul 18, 2002)

another thing you are missing (especially after 15 years of business) are thank you letters and testimonials from past clients. 

Plus maybe a who's who client list (for corporate only unless you have catered for any Celebrities)

again, try to use bullet format or shorter "paragraphs" mekes it easy and more likely to be read.


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## jimmy20013 (Dec 10, 2006)

Thanks for pointing the testimonials thing. I knew about that and we were working on that. We have so many testimonials and we are sifting through some of the best ones to put on the site.


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## jimmy20013 (Dec 10, 2006)

Thanks for the great suggestions people. I have changed some of the pics on the main site, bullet pointed the events on the first page, added a testimonial page but its not been linked yet. I am having a hard time getting pics for the gallery as we never bothered taking professional shots of our events. All of them are so so. Any more suggestions are welcome.


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## mlansing (Dec 21, 2006)

Looks good, make sure to keep it updated!


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## johnarmr (Jun 18, 2006)

i think the updating is the most important thing for a website. I hate it when i look to a website for info and it is outta date!


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## jimmy20013 (Dec 10, 2006)

I agree about updating. We got some good pictures of the christmas party we did and I will post them in the gallery very soon.

Happy New Year!!!


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## bloodorflies (Dec 30, 2006)

other than the pics...i thought the site looked nice.


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## foodnfoto (Jan 1, 2001)

Hi Jimmy
I've been kind of reluctant to add my 2 cents because I didn't want to seem harsh or snobbish. You've got the start of a really good website-it navigates easily and has lots of useful, helpful information without being wordy. I have difficulty with those sites that are like reading a Phd. dissertation just to find out what they offer for lunch!
Frankly, your photos are doing you more harm than good. There are a few good ones. The soup on the homepage banner is really nice, though the mint garnish draws most of the attention. The chicken halves on the grill/smoker are delicious looking and readily identifiable and the shot of the Huevos Rancheros with the slice of melon is beautiful-nice light, identifiable and yummy looking. 
I work as a food stylist in several different mediums and also have a rather overactive visual imagination, so I can spot details and messages in an image that your customers only register subliminally. 
I thought I'd offer a few general notes on food photography and then some specific ones.

Generally-
Use fewer food shots that really have visual impact and that are readily recognizable. Clear and a concise visual messages will sell your business better than too much vague information.

Show pictures of happy people at happy events. It instills confidence in your potential clients and trust in you that you'll make them happy too.
Show people eating and enjoying your food-even if there are crumbs on their shirts and sauce dribbling down their cheeks (especially if this involves children). Clients will want some too.

Show your facilities in their best light and without too much other stuff in the shot. Add captions that define what is possible there. People already know you can set a table and arrange linens. Be careful about what is in the background-stickers on the ice machine and a thermostat on the wall are distracting.

A few specific food shot notes:

The first image that pops up is a grill shot with some lovely ribs in the middle. However, they are surrounded by raw chicken breasts (?) and a big white tubular thing at the top of the shot (again, ?). There's just too much going on in the shot and mixing cooked and raw food makes me think of cross contamination. I'm not saying that is the case with your establishment, just that the photo could lead one to think that way. Subtle visual messages can leave powerful, if erroneous, impressions about your business.

The fruit shot is kind of weird-the angle and crop is strange and looking at it makes me a bit queasy. Is it printed backwards or upside down? I know it's fruit, but I don't really want to eat it. Also, the piece of watermelon in the very front of the platter looks like someone has already been nibbling on it.

Think about whether that bowl of pasta is going to entice someone to hire you to cook for them. "What? I get a pretty bowl with two colors of fettucini, but no sauce? Does that cost extra?"-might be what the potential client thinks when he sees this picture. 

My best suggestion is to hire a professional food photographer to shoot some of your food. If you have the bucks, get a stylist too, but use a FOOD photographer as opposed to one that does general photography. Food photographers really know how to use light to make a food shot really sing.

If hiring pros is too expensive, try taking your dishes outside in the sunlight, or shoot them next to a sunny window. Don't shoot from overhead, it makes everything look flat and dated (very 1980s). Get right down on table level and look straight at the food-it tends to look more dramatic that way.

Try looking at magazines that focus on the latest food trends-Donna Hay and Vogue Entertaining are from Australia and have beautiful shots. The food photography in Martha Stewart is usually very good, no matter what you think of her and her business. Get some clues from them for how to achieve visual impact.

Always ask yourself when looking at a photo for potential use-
Do I know what this is with a 1 second look at it? If not, don't use it.
Do I want to lick the food off the page? If not, don't use it.

I don't mean to sound too critical here, and if I do, I'm sorry. I offer these observations to be helpful. Good luck.


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## tigerwoman (Jul 18, 2002)

the site looks great much improved.

The only thing I found to pick on was the repetitive use of we do it all from small to big or some such thing under each heading/category. Try to find some different language. Also the headings were in a yellow color that doesnt come across well so basically the same sentence seemed to be repeating 4 times or so.

but congratulations on the new and improved site. and keep taking pictures to add to the site.


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## myron (Jan 18, 2007)

The site is a good start. I noticed a few grammatical and sentence structure issues that deserve the attention of a good editor. Also, the images are generally poor. Distortion, poor lighting, poor focus, etc. detract from what might otherwise be a temptation to the prospective customer. You have some work to do but it's a good start. Many people will judge the quality of your food, which they have never tasted, based upon the quality of your advertising. I know it sounds strange, but many of your potential customers will be strange.


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## token128 (Jan 19, 2007)

Nice design, I'd change the blue text to something more readable though.


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## skimmer (Jan 30, 2007)

This is purely gut level, but in your "mission statement" I do not like the the term "unearth"! It makes me think of either a cemetary or something dirty or muddy or yucky...
Just a suggestion.

:lips:


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## jimmy20013 (Dec 10, 2006)

Sorry guys for not posting for such a long time. I have been very busy lately. Very good suggestions from TigerWoman and FoodNFoto. I will definitely take them in to consideration while revamping my website. I think I will revamp the website in the next couple of weeks. Keep an eye out and let me know what you think.

Thanks again.


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## tigerwoman (Jul 18, 2002)

Hey just took a look at your updated site with your new photos and it looks great. Now you are showing what you do. Keep adding pictures and maybe replace some of the existing ones.

By the way, loved the heart shaped table with the cupcakes. Did you make the table or buy it that way. What's the deal?


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## jimmy20013 (Dec 10, 2006)

Thanks for the compliment. We bought the table that way. I will definitely keep on adding more pictures.


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## norma (Jun 4, 2006)

I think that you could narrow down the number of photos to only the better ones. When taking photos of food, it will help if you don't use flash. Just make sure that the camera is really steady (place it on the table or use a tripod) so that you don't get a blurry image.
I also think that the text size on the website is a little big but it could just be my browser settings. Overall I think you're doing a good job


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