| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | What do you think of my website? Thread poster: Epameinondas Soufleros
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I have just published my re-designed website. I designed it following a so-called mobile-first approach and I applied responsive design principles (the layout adapts to show nicely on smartphones and tablet computers).
My next task is to add much more content, possibly including a blog. But I thought it would be a nice idea to collect some feedback first on its current looks and content.
So, what do you think? Many t... See more I have just published my re-designed website. I designed it following a so-called mobile-first approach and I applied responsive design principles (the layout adapts to show nicely on smartphones and tablet computers).
My next task is to add much more content, possibly including a blog. But I thought it would be a nice idea to collect some feedback first on its current looks and content.
So, what do you think? Many thanks.
Glossotechnema.eu ▲ Collapse
| | | | Phrase9 
South Africa
Arabic to English
It looks great. Congratulations! Don't forget to optimize your SEO so that google can pick you up
| | | | | Looks great, really | Jan 24, 2015 |
Hi Epameinondas,
I love your website. In fact, this resembles what I want my website to look like, one day, when I finish it:).
However, if you permit, your home page makes sense only after one has visited your other pages. At first look I had a strange feeling something is wrong, only I am not sure what this something is. Maybe the message. I don't know. I hope it's only me who sees things like that. Anyway, good luck!
Ekaterina
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Only one remark. I could not find a way to attach a file (in "contact" section).
I guess it is very important to allow potential customers to send you the file together with their message. Of course, they can simply use your email to that purpose, but it is all about the convenience.
Best regards
Merab
[Edited at 2015-01-24 18:12 GMT]
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| Very nice, but... | Jan 25, 2015 |
Clear and to the point, which is something I appreciate.
Personally I do not agree with the three-level rate scheme, o with publishing your rates online, for that matter.
I believe in having one single rate level, that rate that pays all the things you do and offer. You cannot selectively disable your attention to detail, quality, richness of language, or knowledge of Pragmatics or Cognitive Linguistics as if they were modules of your mind: you are you, always use all ... See more Clear and to the point, which is something I appreciate.
Personally I do not agree with the three-level rate scheme, o with publishing your rates online, for that matter.
I believe in having one single rate level, that rate that pays all the things you do and offer. You cannot selectively disable your attention to detail, quality, richness of language, or knowledge of Pragmatics or Cognitive Linguistics as if they were modules of your mind: you are you, always use all your skills, and always produce the same level of quality, even in texts that are very simple in appearance. By publishing a very low rate right besides your desired, higher rate, you are giving the message that, after all, you will accept a very low rate if pressed enough into it, and ultimately no customer will pay your high rate because they know that you will do very much the same work for less money.
In general, I think that publishing rates online is a bad idea since:
- You never have the chance of explaining your qualification and skills to customers who think you are too expensive for them. They will not even contact you.
- You are never approached by customers who think you are not good quality because your rate is below market average.
- You cannot flexibly raise or lower your rate to new customers as a way to throttle your workload.
[Edited at 2015-01-25 07:04 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I liked it very much, it has given me ideas and reminded me that I have to work on my own website.
I do agree with others about the rates, on the one hand it might be useful to give potential customers some kind of idea, on the other hand it will leave you very little flexibility (up or down) and there are other considerations that affect price, e.g. formatting or statements that cannot exceed a certain length, that takes extra time.
| | | | | Want to make sure your language combo is clearly visible | Jan 25, 2015 |
Just accidentally deleted a two paragraph response just before posting (argh!), so I'll do this in abbreviated form:
The color scheme on your home page meant that my eyes looked first at the pink section at the top, then at the black bold header for the white box, then at the pink section at the bottom, and only last at the smaller writing in the white box. So it took me 20 seconds to figure out you're a Greek/English translator. If you find others have this problem too, I would suggest ei... See more Just accidentally deleted a two paragraph response just before posting (argh!), so I'll do this in abbreviated form:
The color scheme on your home page meant that my eyes looked first at the pink section at the top, then at the black bold header for the white box, then at the pink section at the bottom, and only last at the smaller writing in the white box. So it took me 20 seconds to figure out you're a Greek/English translator. If you find others have this problem too, I would suggest either changing the color scheme, or adding your language combo to the slogan at the top, aka: "Greek/English translation services for those who require excellence" ▲ Collapse
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 13:21
German to Swedish
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| Couple of reactions | Jan 25, 2015 |
The color scheme and general appearance are appealing and consistent, but the white boxes aren't - they look low-rent.
In fact, the site would be much better if they were removed entirely! In most cases the text doesn't really add anything, the headlines are self-explanatory.
Start page kind of looks like an afterthought. It needs a large picture.
You have a large client list. This is impressive on one hand, but it also says: I'm not doing any work for most of th... See more The color scheme and general appearance are appealing and consistent, but the white boxes aren't - they look low-rent.
In fact, the site would be much better if they were removed entirely! In most cases the text doesn't really add anything, the headlines are self-explanatory.
Start page kind of looks like an afterthought. It needs a large picture.
You have a large client list. This is impressive on one hand, but it also says: I'm not doing any work for most of these right now. And the reader might start to wonder why. I think the client list should be reduced considerably, perhaps by a third or half.
Odds and ends:
glossotechnema.eu wrote:
I started working as a translator in 2008 and still do
Yes, obviously.
glossotechnema.eu wrote:
This is Glossotechnema!
“Glossotechnema” is the website and business name of Epameinondas Soufleros, a professional Greek translator.
Wordy and semi-amateurish (never use "professional" if you're a professional!).
glossotechnema.eu wrote:
I have you covered
Huh? Are you armed?
glossotechnema.eu wrote:
Translation services for those who require excellence
This doesn't have the vivid brevity of native writing.
glossotechnema.eu wrote:
my continuous professional development and lifelong learning
That's fine, but not quite right for a 30-year-old.
glossotechnema.eu wrote:
Please fill in the form below and press the Send button.
So that's how the Internet works!
glossotechnema.eu wrote:
My areas of expertise and my main (most frequent) working fields are the following:
What does this add to the headline "Specialisms and working fields"?
Do we even say "specialisms" in English? Never saw it before.
You should go through the entire website and remove all redundant text.
I agree with the comment about not publishing rates. You want to leave yourself some room for negotiation. Also, the rates are low. The clients you really want to attract might actually be turned away by that.
[Bearbeitet am 2015-01-25 09:25 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| First impression | Jan 25, 2015 |
I only checked the start page, but here's my first impression:
The color scheme is nice, but the pink is sooo girly Personally, I would replace the pink with a very light brown or not too striking orange/peach.
Important: The white text box on the front page looks like a notice about a technical error. It sounds like an introduction placed there just for the sake of having one.
I would probably include my ... See more I only checked the start page, but here's my first impression:
The color scheme is nice, but the pink is sooo girly Personally, I would replace the pink with a very light brown or not too striking orange/peach.
Important: The white text box on the front page looks like a notice about a technical error. It sounds like an introduction placed there just for the sake of having one.
I would probably include my name, language pairs and even contact data (at least the phone number and e-mail address) in the banner so that visitors can see them all the time.
What I REALLY like is that it loads very fast. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 12:21
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| Charging more for difficult texts? | Jan 25, 2015 |
If you stick to your specialisations, the terminology shouldn't be that difficult. If you're having to do a bit of research then you're learning, and the payback will come in the future. If you're having to look up every second word, wouldn't you and your client both benefit from a "Sorry, I can't provide this translation"?
OTOH there are jobs that require you to spend extra time, over and above the act of translation. File formatting, layout of the text on the page, creating glossa... See more If you stick to your specialisations, the terminology shouldn't be that difficult. If you're having to do a bit of research then you're learning, and the payback will come in the future. If you're having to look up every second word, wouldn't you and your client both benefit from a "Sorry, I can't provide this translation"?
OTOH there are jobs that require you to spend extra time, over and above the act of translation. File formatting, layout of the text on the page, creating glossaries, dealing with clients' own interfaces, etc. But they should attract surcharges, not a higher translation rate, IMO. Just as an email translation for comprehension only might attract a discount. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Some first modifications | Jan 25, 2015 |
Hello and thank you for the comments so far. I will reply to most of you in detail later.
For now, I would like to point out that I have removed the white background from the article header elements (boxes) and changed the pink colour on the top and bottom bars of links.
Thanks for the tips!
| | | | tietzes (X)
Japanese to German
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| professional | Jan 25, 2015 |
Joakim Braun wrote:
(never use "professional" if you're a professional!).
I think this general assertion might be a bit too sweeping. Many very successful translators claim to offer 'professional translation services' or to be 'professional translators' on their websites.
@Sheila: If you stick to your specialisations, the terminology shouldn't be that difficult. If you're having to do a bit of research then you're learning, and the payback will come in the future. If you're having to look up every second word, wouldn't you and your client both benefit from a "Sorry, I can't provide this translation"?
Sorry Sheila, but I don't agree at all. Many translations need much more research than others, even if you stick to your specialisations. That's perfectly normal. General texts don't need as much research as technical texts. For a contract you charge more than for a recipe.
Epameinondas, your website is great, but I wouldn't publish the rates, either. At least not as in detail as you're doing it.
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Epameinondas Soufleros wrote:
Hello and thank you for the comments so far. I will reply to most of you in detail later.
For now, I would like to point out that I have removed the white background from the article header elements (boxes) and changed the pink colour on the top and bottom bars of links.
Thanks for the tips!
It does look better
The boxes still create the impression of technical messages (or even obituaries, with those bold black letters...), but I may be alone with that opinion. You could try converting the box into something similar to the link bar, to make it look like a page-wide ribbon without the side lines, not a box.
Other than that, I do like the design, it's clear.
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What I found a bit strange is that you mention that you can translate from French to Greek as well but that you actually don't often do it. Either French is your working language or it is not.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 12:21
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| @ tietzes: it's the message given to the potential client that's the problem | Jan 25, 2015 |
tietzes wrote:
Many translations need much more research than others, even if you stick to your specialisations.
I accept that there will be differences. But if you charge differently then it should be a surcharge i.e. my normal rate is X, but for this highly technical text I will need to charge you Y to cover research. I don't think it gives a good impression to have "easy, average, hard" rates. That smacks of school rather than a professional translator's website.
For a contract you charge more than for a recipe.
We'll have to agree to disagree about the complexity and pricing involved regarding contracts and recipes: I don't really see why a contract should cost more unless a translator is having it checked by a lawyer before delivery. Bear in mind that recipe ingredients can sometimes be very difficult to localise, as any expat will tell you. (However, I don't think you meant your example to be taken that literally.)
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