I am just starting out and awaiting my ICB practise licence and insurance etc but would like some thoughts on my website. What can I do better, what looks rubbish. Just peoples general opinions would be great....but don't be too harsh! Thanks
1) you can ONLY advertise your business on this site when you are a long standing member and have asked for the permission of the site Mod. (SHAUN!!)
2) Why are you advertising the AAT element when you have not got a licence from them? That goes against the AAT regulations which can attract severe penalties.
3) No gdpr policy
Ive not looked at the rest.
You need to add your name so that it appear on your posts under the signature bar pls, saves people looking it up every time.
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
1) yes no problem, its my first post and didn't read up on the rules yet. Sorry can only apologise for that
2) I have amended/removed the AAT section until the licence comes from. I am MAAT but obviously need the license as well.
3) I was thinking about this but seems that its rare to find a bookkeeping website with a GDPR policy so its either not a legal requirement or everyone just hasn't bothered to put them on the sites yet...
So I tell you the site rule, YET you STILL add your business name under your name, which wasnt on there before! EDIT - since removed (just the web bit to move now)
You are basing your website on what others do? Or following the new laws? You are collecting data, so need to show your policy surely?
You do realise that this is not the ICB dont you? Lots of ICB folk wander in thinking it is. If you are MATT, why are you not getting their licence?
-- Edited by Cheshire on Friday 8th of June 2018 02:50:04 PM
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
No I didnt "wander in" but if i knew you were going to be so rude I would have looked elsewhere. Yes I was after advise on the website, where I was going wrong, what needs adjusting etc but Jes!
I added my name....yet still getting grief!
Does it matter if I get MAAT licence or ICB licence. I thought ICB was directed more towards bookkeepers. Can I not do ICB qualifications as well as AAT?
You'd know about it if Joanne was being rude! To be fair it would have been better to have asked permission before putting your website on, this site has good seo so google would pick up your site which would help your ranking, that's why it's seen as advertising. It would have also helped if we had got to know you first, then I don't think there would have been a problem.
Anyways I've looked at the website and I want to sue you for copyright!!! It's exactly how I envisage mine when I eventually get round to building it, although I'm not sure that the top pics will be as large.
Good points
Well laid out. Easy to read, good use of graphics and colours.
Small criticisms
I think the logo's are too big. I'm not keen on your auto enrolment blurb. Not all employers have to put certain staff into a pension, as they may not have any entitled workers (I knew what you meant btw, but the empoyer probably wouldn't)
Also your blurb on outsourcing sounds a bit convoluted. These are just my personal opinions, others may disagree.
I would have a web form so people can contact you direct from the website, and again just a personal thing but I don't like seeing gmail email addresses when it's a business. You've got a domain name so tony_at_risebookkeepingservices dot com is much more professional I think.
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John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
You broke site rules (again) after me mentioning it so I pulled you for it. (so a fair comment)
I mentioned about not being the ICB site because many ICBers think they are on the ICB site when they join. (so a fair comment)
I asked about the AAT licence out of interest and frankly because your post and the website information was a bit contradictory. You stated in the OP that you were getting an ICB licence, yet your website indicated (via use of their logo) you were AAT licensed, then in your 2nd post you stated you have removed the AAT section until the licence comes in yet at no point did you indicate that you were licensing under the AAT. So I had valid Q, although I probably could have phrased it better as in (are you getting an AAT licence/why are you getting both?)
The rest of the feedback I gave you could be saving you money/preventing you from being in breach of regulation and Law! Yet did I get a thank you - no. So it is you who is damned rude.
Given that it appears to be ok for you to have already breached rules, regulations and laws (BKN, AAT and GDPR) I would also add that you MAY be breaching others:- 1) You have the ICB crest on your website, which I understand is only for licenced members you dont have it yet therefore you do not have permission (Garry Carter will be happy). Happy to stand corrected. 2) Do you have Sage partner accreditation or their permission to use their logo? Without it you are in breach of copyright and they love a bit of litigation that can earn them easy money. 3) Brightpay as (2), although they may be less strict. Maybe Karen from Brightpay might see this post and comment, although Ive not seen her on here for a while unless the post is an obvious one from the title bar.
Ive restricted my mini critique to the legal/regulatory matters.
Edited to add 'regulatory' in the last sentence
-- Edited by Cheshire on Saturday 9th of June 2018 09:12:46 AM
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
I like the pictures and graphics, havean't got time to look at it much today I'm afraid.
One thing I will say though is it took me a while to get your logo (RISE), I wasn't sure about it being backwards as well as forwards, that is just a personal opinion though.
The pictures do take up quite a bit of space though. But like the concept of what they are meaning.
One thing I will say though is it took me a while to get your logo (RISE), I wasn't sure about it being backwards as well as forwards, that is just a personal opinion though.
I am glad you mentioned this Amanda as I had a quick look at the website over the weekend and didn't have a clue of what the logo was all about (I must have had a few)
Joanne has picked up on a few legal matters but as a whole the website comes across okay, only had a quick look but I would change some of the wording as in I would change 'we can't all' to 'not all of us can' (hypercritical I know after using didn't above) and where you say 'while it might not seem' I would prefer 'while it may not seem'
Not criticism at all just a few personal changes that I would make
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Doug
These are only my opinions of how I see things and therefore should not be taken as advice
One thing I will say though is it took me a while to get your logo (RISE), I wasn't sure about it being backwards as well as forwards, that is just a personal opinion though.
I am glad you mentioned this Amanda as I had a quick look at the website over the weekend and didn't have a clue of what the logo was all about (I must have had a few)
I sussed that straight away, and quite liked it. However that's why it's good to get feedback because I would now be taking your's and Amanda's comments seriously and either toning it down so it becomes a shadowed reflection, or removing the mirror effect altogether. First impressions are very important, and that hits you as soon as the page loads.
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John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
Which were so clearly read, as the website went down for a while, back up the next day with hey presto the sage/BP and ICB logos stripped and the privacy policy added. Good, am glad to help even though the OP thought I didnt flower it up a bit and is trying to stay off the radar, despite all the input from folk.
Not that Im sure he cares but I dont like the logo, too big and boring, needs pizzazz. The strap line doesnt flow linguistically. The site brings nothing new to the content used by lots of Accountants/bookkeepers but then its a dry old matter to deal with (and why Ive never bothered with one). I do like the colours. Maybe add something more personal about you (work or none work related). Small tweaks.
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
Agree totally - the logo is awful. Other than the fact it contains the word Rise, it has no relationship to either the word or the business itself.
Going by the domain name and contact email address*, I assume the business is trading under the name Rise Bookkeeping Services - so a loose initial idea off the top of my head: if I was creating a logo for it I'd use the full name, mapping it over the rise of a hill. Don't just curve the letters to imply it - because what you imply and what people seeing it will infer aren't necessarily the same; put the letters over an actual hill of some kind. (Start with a photo, but simplified as necessary - ideally turned into a vector so it scales up well without degrading.) And if you're aiming for local businesses (which "Your Local Bookkeeper" suggests), the ideal starting picture would be a recognisable local hill.
(Bear in mind, though, how I envisage that idea in my head, and how it might actually look in reality may not be the same thing - it's just an idea.)
The pictures: I agree they're too big - but the modern trend is to have more images and less text, because that's easier for people with phones and low attention spans to digest. Or something. (Pet hate).
The pictures on the pages after the home page - they just seem to be random, and have no direct relationship with the page (other than the one on the contact page). At least those on the home page are relevant because they reflect the things you (potential customers) love. But why a tor on the payroll page, for example?
Also, on one of the ones on the home page - the harbour - the text is almost unreadable.
A question: Where did you get the photographs from?
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Vince M Hudd - Soft Rock Software
(I only came here looking for fellow apiarists...)
