Inspector Central website

[Chad Fabry]

I asked for help on Facebook and received a bunch of good input.

I'd appreciate it if you folks would take a minute to make suggestions on how I can improve the website. Hopefully you won't stop short at, "I don't like this or that". Suggestions on how to improve the appearance or content would be really, really helpful.

If you're inclined, please share the link with your inspector friends.

I know I need better photos and I'm working on that today.

www.inspectorcentral.com

Thanks to Mike Brown at www.DevWave.com - he really went above and beyond to get me started.

[Marc]

I can't think of anything besides photos except maybe adding some instructor credentials. You'd have made a sale on me already if I weren't so far away but folks not familiar with you might judge your offering by your credentials. They need something on the home page to tell them that they will be pleased with your service.

And what's that big white empty space just below the heading on the home page?

Marc

[Chad Fabry]

I can't think of anything besides photos except maybe adding some instructor credentials. You'd have made a sale on me already if I weren't so far away but folks not familiar with you might judge your offering by your credentials. They need something on the home page to tell them that they will be pleased with your service.

And what's that big white empty space just below the heading on the home page?

Marc

Better?

[Marc]

Yes. I don't know what else to add. Maybe move your credentials from the 'Class Schedule' page to the home page. Folks need to see that up front, within 10 seconds of landing on your home page.

Marc

[kurt]

Who is it? No credentials, no picture of you, no Fabry CV. You're telling me more about the NY State Thruway, horse racing, and restaurants than you do about yourself. Get a pic of you in front of a class, in your cool building. Mentally put people into the space.

Also, sales pitch your building....tell folks how cool it is to be in it, let alone taking classes in it.

Passive voice is not appropriate; talk to your students..... as in....

"The curriculum is designed to be interactive and participatory. an immersive approach to ensure all questions are answered. I want you to be engaged and actively participate so that all of your questions are answered."

Or something like that.

[John Dirks Jr]

Put your phone number under the title in the header. This way it shows up on every page without anybody needing to click on the contact link. Sometimes the internet is slow or peoples computers freeze. With your number in the header, it will more likely be visible when systems get botched up.

[Bill Kibbel]

1st page: Add space to the text cell in the table. The text is jammed against the building pic.

Add lotsa pics. Instructor's pics w/ bios.

[Nolan Kienitz]

I know the first page is short, but when I'm at the bottom and I keep moving my scroll wheel the page starts jumping up/down. It does not do that when I'm on the other pages and at the bottom of those pages and still moving my scroll wheel.

I'm using the Chrome browser.

I just tried your site in Firefox and the "jump" did NOT do the same thing.

I'm also using Windows 10-Pro.

You should also consider adding re-Captcha to your "Reserve a Seat" page. You have a similar application on the "Contact Us" page. I added that to two pages of my site and it literally stopped all of the bogus bot fillins I was getting.

Consider adding more emphasis on "Inspector Central" that you have as part of the first line of text in the box. It sort of blends in or gets lost with the text following the hyphen. Repetitive emphasis of the "name" will help burn it into memory.

FWIW, when I'm visiting a website and click on a link or new page for that site I like it to open in a new "tab". That way the original page from the website I started at is still there for me.

This is just a "me" thing that I like as sometimes I can forget where I started ... UGH, that age thing again.

[John Kogel]

Last 2 sentences should be 1, separated by a comma.

After the word "Lodging" use a : or -, not a comma. maybe "Lodging is available at ...."

The white background color is not very attractive. As mentioned, text needs to be separated from the pic. If that proves difficult, try a border down the side of the pic.

[Chad Fabry]

Last 2 sentences should be 1, separated by a comma.

After the word "Lodging" use a : or -, not a comma. maybe "Lodging is available at ...."

... As mentioned, text needs to be separated from the pic. If that proves difficult, try a border down the side of the pic.

That stuff is mostly fixed. Thanks

I know the first page is short, but when I'm at the bottom and I keep moving my scroll wheel the page starts jumping up/down.

It does that to me using Firefox, I don't know why and haven't yet fixed it.

You should also consider adding re-Captcha to your "Reserve a Seat" page. You have a similar application on the "Contact Us" page. I added that to two pages of my site and it literally stopped all of the bogus bot fillins I was getting.

Consider adding more emphasis on "Inspector Central" that you have as part of the first line of text in the box. It sort of blends in or gets lost with the text following the hyphen. Repetitive emphasis of the "name" will help burn it into memory.

Some of this is done, working on making the business name more unique. Thanks

1st page: Add space to the text cell in the table. The text is jammed against the building pic.

Add lotsa pics. Instructor's pics w/ bios.

When I sat down this morning, some elf had already fixed the text to pic issue. I'll add pics and my bio as time permits today or tomorrow. If you send me your pic and bio I'll add that too as a future presenter.

Put your phone number under the title in the header. This way it shows up on every page without anybody needing to click on the contact link.

Good idea

Also, sales pitch your building....tell folks how cool it is to be in it, let alone taking classes in it.

Passive voice is not appropriate; talk to your students..... as in....

"The curriculum is designed to be interactive and participatory. an immersive approach to ensure all questions are answered. I want you to be engaged and actively participate so that all of your questions are answered."

I changed the mealy mouthed text, I'll add a bio, I pimped the building a bit. Thanks

[kurt]

Do more than a bit. It's an awesome building. Make it a player in the experience. I bet you could run some classes that use the building as the lab. It ain't pimping; bad connotations with that word. You saved a historic building. It's a lab into the past. Don't go smarmy, but emphasize what you got. It's a cool thing.

[ghentjr]

I think the building pix should be improved, eliminate the distortion from the camera angle and bump up the picture size by removing the few text lines above it.

Sit with a type font book and pick three or four different fonts. Make a page with each font. The sans serif is not sexy. Start paragraphs with a larger bold face first letter. And why is the type greyed down?

Can you get better shots, all the same size of the stained glass? Make them link with the different headings.

[ghentjr]

Like this example: Also what Kurt said. Make it sexy. you could even find a picture from the historical society.

Download Attachment: Untitled.pdf

45.86?KB

[Erby]

Much more about you as an instructor on the home page. A picture of you instructing in the classroom. Link that to a full CV.

It's a nice historical facility but it's much more important to know I'm going to have a good instructor than it is to know about the room I'm going to be sitting in.

Put your contact information in your page banner so it's on every page.

Click to Enlarge

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[Tom Breslawski]

I see the dates, but not the start time for the courses.

[gtblum]

Thought about adding a place for reviews?

Fabry did an outstanding job presenting an 8 hr course on Advanced Exteriors and a 16 hour course on Electrical inspection of existing dwellings, based on the information in the book of the same title written by Douglas Hanson, with Redwood Kardon and Jim Katen.

Chad was one of my licensing school instructors, nine years ago, so I knew I could expect nothing less than a professional presentation with encouraged class participation to ensure the information was understood.

This was the first time I felt like I got my money's worth from any CE courses I've taken. The Electrical inspection book was included in the price of the course and since it was the course, it won't end up becoming another dust covered, partially read reference manual on my desk. I know what's in it, and where to find it. If you don't already own this book, you need to buy it.

Maybe, the best part of the whole experience was the venue. Rather than walking into the store front of a typical strip mall, decorated with VCT tile flooring, a luxurious suspended grid ceiling and the type of furniture you might remember from middle school, this majestic jewel of historic significance was a three day trip back in time, and nothing less than a treat for me. The pictures posted do not come close to seeing this place in person.

I would strongly urge anyone looking for more than just fulfilling a required CE obligation to seriously consider the quality and value this school offers.

[Chad Fabry]

Thanks for the kind words, Gary.

The truth is, I got really lucky and had participants who actually cared about learning instead of just whiling away the required hours.

Great questions spur great discussions and great discussions are both stimulating and educational.

[Mark P]

I've never spent time in NY and southern IL bores me, so maybe when things are slower take a trip Albion NY and attend one of the classes.

[kurt]

Upstate NY is one of the more beautiful corners of our country. It'd be a good trip.

[Tom Breslawski]

I attended the classes last week at Chad's building in Albion, NY. The trip would be worth it to see the building alone. It's a real piece of history. The continuing education classes were excellent as well.

I'd recommend Chad's "Inspector Central" school to any inspector who doesn't want to snooze through another boring continuing ed class.