Instead of selecting a site to analyze by complete randomness today I decided to change things up and take a request. Yes that’s right, this guy takes requests. One of my avid followers asked me what I thought of this “special” website so I decided t humor him a bit and give it ago. Boy, was I amazed at what I found.
WEBSITE: APCO Employees Credit Union (www.apcocu.org)
Show me those rates on the abacus please
Am I in a time warp? Did I really just see what I think I saw? I know credit unions don’t have the reputation of being financial institutions with tons of glitz and glamor but come on, this just looks ridiculous. Where do I even begin? Okay, I know where.
First off, where do I log in? They claim “PC Banking is now available” (who calls it “PC banking” anyway? What about “online banking”) but there is no indication of any entrance to their web banking portal. Oh wait, there it is, directly under the image that says “Map” in yellow letters. How intuitive! Totally confused here – not a good sign. If you want people to actually use your online banking, make it easy for them to access. I can’t stress enough how websites need to be simple to navigate. If I am confused, there is a good chance there are many more just like me.
Second, I do like the fact that the navigation is very easy to see but the accompanying images couldn’t possibly be any cheesier and low budget. Is that an abacus they are using for the rates navigation image? Oh that is definitely how I want to portray my bank – the modern look of an abacus. Seriously, this is not the type of impression you want to make on new or existing customers. First impressions of websites say a lot and what you’ve got does not help your cause. Please update those graphics and you’ll immediately update the look of your 1994 website.
Finally, what are all of these banners in the middle of your page? You already want people to leave your site? I just got here and I’m having such a good time I don’t want to go! Having all of these links to various sites tells me as a visitor that nothing on this page is worth sticking around for. There is absolutely zero valuable content on the home page and any valuable content you do have is buried in the links. What about brining some of the helpful information right to the home page, like perhaps some “About Us” information or even a listing of the products and services, maybe even some financial calculators. Whatever it is, it has to be something that you feel your visitors would find the most helpful. So rather than making a user choose between some navigation links or banners that link to another destination, keep them on the site and show them what APCO CU is all about.
After being inspired by seeing PGA Tour player Stuart Appleby’s 59 this past Sunday, I found myself wondering what golf ball I should use to give me the best chance of shooting a sub 60 round. Did I say sub 60? Okay, how about sub 80? I couldn’t possibly fathom shooting a round in the 50′s but I still was curious what type of golf ball he used. This thought led me to my next random site pick
He beat out who?
Keyword: “best golf balls” -Page 1 in GOOGLE SERPs
www.golfballsreview.com/best-golf-balls.php
Ugh, trying to make money from Google Adsense right off the bat huh? The huge ad 5 lines under the main paragraph on the home page is a sure fire way to upset any readers. Okay, I understand you want to monetize your site, but at what cost? Loss of readership? Frustrated visitors? I am fine with having paid ads on your site but keep them away from your key content – its distracting and annoying. If you make it a better experience for the user, people will return to your site or even better, link to it, which as we know will improve its authority and likely generate more traffic. Keep those ads to a minimum.
Now if you look beyond the fact that there are more advertisements than content, the site is actually laid out in a very simple and efficient manner. Overly simplistic and boring, yes but nonetheless navigable. The navigation elements are straightforward and easy to identify though I’m not a fan of the dark text on a dark background – lighten it up a bit and people will find it much easier to locate and click.
Now I can’t knock this site too much because it showed up #1 in Google when I searched “best golf balls”. That is right, #1. Ahead of Titleist the “Number one Ball in Golf“, Callaway, TaylorMade, Nike and dozens of others. In fact, the first ball manufacturer that shows up on Google for this keyword is Top Flite. Excuse me? Top Flite? That rock of a golf ball is showing up before Titleist, TaylorMade, Nike and Callaway? Time to step up your game a bit big players. I don’t care how big of a brand you are, there are 12,100 monthly searches (according to Google) for “best golf balls” and all of you are losing out to Mike Pederson, golf fitness instructor. Ahh, the power of SEO! Good work Mike!
This guy looks good
Hello Minneapolis!! Despite the name, Bryant Lake Bowling’s website completely exceeded my initial expectations. I was expecting some horrific graphics, uber-cheesy copy and blinking buttons. Instead I saw some interesting color choices, a cleandesign and a relatively easy to follow format. First impression – 5/10 (thats actually not bad considering the majority of sites are around a 2.
What nearly instantly changed my initial enjoyment was my inability to get back to the home page. I had to hunt for a button or link and only after a few seconds of searching did I see what appeared to be their official logo. Now since I am not a native to Bryant Lake, I didn’t pick up on this so please forgive me. But if you want the other 99.9% of the population to navigate your site with ease, at least make it somewhat apparent how to return to the home page. And while I’m complaining about navigation, whats up with your balls? Bowling balls I mean. It would be ten times easier to read and understand your navigation elements if they were just text without the bowling ball graphic. Keep your logo, lose the balls and pick either the top or the side, not both. Change the orientation of the text on your home page and you might get some more satisfied visitors AND prevent neck strain…way to go!
The menu pages is decent and even the party page has a a sweet 360 degree view of the joint. I’d reorganize the content on the right side of the page because its completely unnoticeable. People love happy hours, I love happy hours so give it more attention and you’ll be surprised how many more Byrant Lakers (?) stumble in. And as glad as I am that you’ve included pictures of the place, the first one paints an extremely boring picture of the bar. Could those gentlemen be having any less fun? Is that guy sleeping?? You get my point. ‘A’ for effort, ‘C ‘ for execution.
Thats it! All in all, Bryant Lake Bowl more than impressed me. I don’t have much of a point of comparison because I have NEVER been to another bowling site before but I could only hope they’d be as good as this. Next time you are in Minneapolis, be sure to stop by, roll a few games and have a beer. Hmm…where are my bowling shoes?
