Belcher Homes' Home Page Gets A Critique

Now is the time to beef up your sales and marketing tactics. So how's your Internet image doing? A panel of marketing experts volunteered to critique the Belcher Homes' home page at www.belcherhomes.com. Here's what they thought and what they suggest.

Richard Elkman, President, Group Two Advertising

Design-wise, the plain green and white color scheme, while probably intending to suggest eno-friendliness, merely looks bland and uninteresting. A warmer shade of green — perhaps an additional color to break up all the green — and a nice background color would help jazz things up a little.

MaryAlice Wideness, Project Manager, The Bernard Partnership

A lot of the most important elements are present in the ad but they are not coming together in a way that would speak to today's trendy buyers. The site looks too old fashioned.

Scott Teel, Marketing Director, Simonini Builders

The main page is very text heavy. Perhaps use more photography to draw visitors in. ... The video presentation is great and deserves front page placement. Good job getting in on the main page of the Web site.

Jan Mitchell, Senior Editor, Sales & Marketing Ideas Magazine

I do like that the logo incorporates the green concept via a leaf. However, like the homepage itself, it's a little dated. ... Green homes and communities are very forward-thinking, so I think a company that has this message needs a more forward-thinking logo.

Richard Elkman

We question why the only photos of Belcher homes are tiny and at the bottom of the page. These homes are one of the primary reasons why people are coming to the site. Put them up at the top and make them bigger.