New dropzone website criticism appreciated

[rhys 0]

Hi everyone,

We have just made our new website live,

there are still a few things to add and subtract;

Gallery photos - will be doing outside camera soon and will add more photos to sideshow and subtract some.

team -add photos and add staff!!! Craigs' profile is not finished yet either.

Video - have NZ music, we are in discussion with an NZ band to use their music.

etc.

But any criticism will be gratefully accepted.

Our market is predominantly tandems, in fact not one fun jumper has called or shown up since I have been here, and slots are available.

tell us what you think

Skydive Franz website

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

[NWFlyer 2]

Not bad. It's simple and easy to navigate unlike a lot of dropzone sites.

One minor tweak is on your tandem page and your price page you may want to provide a way for someone to "take action" - whether it's a link to email for more info/reservation, or saying "call us at ##### today to make your reservation." Yes, you have all your contact info on the site, but providing the information in as many places as possible and encouraging immediate action can only help. On the front page, instead of "Contact" maybe that link can say "Reserve your skydive today" or something that drives the user to take action to jump.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Hausse 0]

Nice design but if you want it to actually make sales do the following:

1. Add your phone number on the first page in the most prominent spot (right above the menu) with a call to action.

Call today: 488-478-1024

2. Get an Aweber.com account and put an e-mail optin form on your site, again with a good call to action. Even better would be if you give away something free like: 10$ off your tandem if you sign up to our newsletter. This will DEFINITELY pay off since you will be able to e-mail all the people that never actually called.

3. Pay someone to do some Search Engine Optimization for it. The site doesn't even have meta keywords so I'm assuming who ever built it has not heard much about SEO.

There's quite a few other things that could be done but these are the 3 most important points.

If you want more input, send me a PM

[theonlyski 3]

I also dont see any info for fun jumpers.

It drives me up a wall when I go to a DZ's website that doesnt have aircraft info or fun jumper lift ticket prices.

But thats just me...

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[JohnRich 4]

"About" page:

What are "braded river beds"? Do you mean "braided"?
"World Heritage Area" has a double-quote on the front, and a single-quote on the back.

"Prices" page:

This is an odd sentence: "All jumps are filmed you can decide once you watch if you wish to purchase or not." You need something like the word "and" between "filmed" and "you can".

"FAQ" page:

Whuffos won't know what "AGL" means - spell it out.
"...purchase the DVD or not we edit the DVD's..." - stick a comma in there.

[turtlespeed 212]

What? No link for Skyride?

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[ZigZagMarquis 8]

1) I loath websites that blast music at you when you simply surf to them. Anyway, yours doesn't. +1. If you want to add a clicky to "play music" fine, but my 2 cents is don't do it the other way around, blast music at folks and then force them to find the mute button.


2) Why no pictures of tandems on the tandem tab? Gearing up, in the plane, exit, freefall, under canopy, landing... just something to think of. Maybe a series of photos, top to bottom, on the left or right of the verbiage? Just a suggestion. Oh, and hot chick tandem passenger... smiles and cleavage...


3) Why no pictures of the folks on the Team tab? But you said you're working on that?


4) On the FAQ page, why a mix of English units and metric? "... We jump from 12000' AGL ..." and later " ... Many drop zones in New Zealand will not take over 100kgs, at Skydive Franz our modern equipment allows us to take up to 120kg ..."?


5) Why do y'all only go to 12,000ft AGL? Why not 12,500ft AGL? I've seen some experienced jumpers nut-up over that 500ft short fall. Serious.


6) Gallery... more photos! Exit shots, formations in freefall - belly & FF & wingsuit, folks under canopy, landing, semi-naked hot chicks partying, etc. But I'm sure that will come.


7) Like some others have said... why no tabs / info for experienced jumpers... aircraft, facilities - camping, bunkhouse?, staff, jump prices for up-jumpers, calendar of events - boogies, meets, etc., local attractions - places to eat, hotels? Or are y'all just a Tandem factory? If so, fine, but say so somewhere on your website... Up Jumpers Not Welcome. If that's the case.


8) Directions? Or is NZ so small, folks can just wander around the islands and find y'all?

[JohnMitchell 14]

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I also dont see any info for fun jumpers.

It drives me up a wall when I go to a DZ's website that doesnt have aircraft info or fun jumper lift ticket prices.

"FUN JUMPERS NOT WELCOME" I believe is what they mean.

[theonlyski 3]

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I also dont see any info for fun jumpers.

It drives me up a wall when I go to a DZ's website that doesnt have aircraft info or fun jumper lift ticket prices.

"FUN JUMPERS NOT WELCOME" I believe is what they mean.

Bastards!

Can I do a tandem, minus the instructor, gear and high cost?

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[Driver1 0]

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I also dont see any info for fun jumpers.

It drives me up a wall when I go to a DZ's website that doesnt have aircraft info or fun jumper lift ticket prices.

"FUN JUMPERS NOT WELCOME" I believe is what they mean.

Bastards!

Can I do a tandem, minus the instructor, gear and high cost?

Now slow down there Skippy!

Make yourself useful to the DZ you want to jump at and you can most likely get more jumps than you can do. Your attitude about up jumpers not being able to jump at whatever DZ without offering to do something to benefit the DZ is the reason why a lot of DZ's don't cater to up jumpers. Step back and look at the business side of it and put yourself in the DZO's shoes, would you rather send the plane (C-182 or other 4 seater) up for a load of 4 up jumpers at $20 per seat, totaling $80, or a Tandem load plus video at $300 + or -? I've heard jumpers bitching about a DZ is not up jumper friendly and I've heard DZO's bitching about Up jumpers don't pay the bills, so it's business decision not to cater to up jumpers, or to at least put them in front of the Tandems. I realize that you are still fairly new in our sport and you may find this hard to accept, but it's the cold hard truth of this business.
Put a camera on your helmet, help promote the websites, be the water boy, You will find that a DZO will often appreciate that and you will get more jumps than sitting around in the middle of the night bitching on DZ.com (and making a horse's ass of yourself) and calling them bastards for making a conscious business decision.
When I show up at a DZ, I always make the effort to let the DZO know that I am available to do video or pack or anything else that he/she may need help with at the time. Hell, I've even washed the planes before.
Give that a try and see if it don't get you further than a bunch of bitching and whining.

There will be no addressing the customers as "Bitches", "Morons" or "Retards"!

[theonlyski 3]

I was just joking with my previous post.


I've got no issue packing or helping around at the dz... and dont wanna get into the whole camera thing, ya know...

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[skydivefj 0]

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Not bad. It's simple and easy to navigate unlike a lot of dropzone sites.

One minor tweak is on your tandem page and your price page you may want to provide a way for someone to "take action" - whether it's a link to email for more info/reservation, or saying "call us at ##### today to make your reservation." Yes, you have all your contact info on the site, but providing the information in as many places as possible and encouraging immediate action can only help. On the front page, instead of "Contact" maybe that link can say "Reserve your skydive today" or something that drives the user to take action to jump.

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions, we have added our free calling number to the homepage and I will add some more information to the pages you suggested.

[skydivefj 0]

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Nice design but if you want it to actually make sales do the following:

1. Add your phone number on the first page in the most prominent spot (right above the menu) with a call to action.

Call today: 488-478-1024

Added number and working on a link for it!

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2. Get an Aweber.com account and put an e-mail optin form on your site, again with a good call to action. Even better would be if you give away something free like: 10$ off your tandem if you sign up to our newsletter. This will DEFINITELY pay off since you will be able to e-mail all the people that never actually called.

Will look into that,

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3. Pay someone to do some Search Engine Optimization for it. The site doesn't even have meta keywords so I'm assuming who ever built it has not heard much about SEO.

we have added key words and SEO was not part of the deal, but it is definitely very high on the priority list, linking to other websites etc is also a priority.

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There's quite a few other things that could be done but these are the 3 most important points.

If you want more input, send me a PM

Will do, I'm waiting to get my internet on at my new house, when it is I will contact you via PM, thank you so much for the suggestions and your offer.

[skydivefj 0]

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I also dont see any info for fun jumpers.

It drives me up a wall when I go to a DZ's website that doesnt have aircraft info or fun jumper lift ticket prices.

But thats just me...

We haven't worked out the price for a jump ticket yet, if a fun jumper shows up we will accommodate them as best we can, as we are leasing aircraft for the moment it is hard to even break even with tandems (single loads until my wife shows up in a week or 2) let alone fun jumpers, we are getting pilatus porter soon and will have plenty of space for fun jumpers.

Fun Jumpers are most definitely welcome here!

[skydivefj 0]

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"About" page:

What are "braded river beds"? Do you mean "braided"?
"World Heritage Area" has a double-quote on the front, and a single-quote on the back.

yes typos, will rectify.

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"Prices" page:

This is an odd sentence: "All jumps are filmed you can decide once you watch if you wish to purchase or not." You need something like the word "and" between "filmed" and "you can".

good point!

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FAQ" page:

Whuffos won't know what "AGL" means - spell it out.
"...purchase the DVD or not we edit the DVD's..." - stick a comma in there.

I'll look into it.

Cheers!

[skydivefj 0]

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What? No link for Skyride?Shocked

not likeley!!

[d_squared431 0]

You should add something about transportation. Actual directions, GPS coordinates, and that you are on the South Island. I am sure most tourists who are not familiar with North and South Islands will appreciate that as well as local accommodations.

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[skydivefj 0]

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1) I loath websites that blast music at you when you simply surf to them. Anyway, yours doesn't. +1. If you want to add a clicky to "play music" fine, but my 2 cents is don't do it the other way around, blast music at folks and then force them to find the mute button.

The only music on the site is with the DVD promo, which is a click to watch action.

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2) Why no pictures of tandems on the tandem tab? Gearing up, in the plane, exit, freefall, under canopy, landing... just something to think of. Maybe a series of photos, top to bottom, on the left or right of the verbiage? Just a suggestion. Oh, and hot chick tandem passenger... smiles and cleavage... Wink

Pictures is something I will be working on over the next couple of days, we only have handicam available at the moment, but will do outside camera soon also.

I have just made a handicam glove that takes 2 go pros so one is dedicated to stills, this will give us more HQ photos to work with and once my wife gets here we will do some nice outside photos.

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3) Why no pictures of the folks on the Team tab? But you said you're working on that?

As above, waiting to get the team all here so we can do that.

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) On the FAQ page, why a mix of English units and metric? "... We jump from 12000' AGL ..." and later " ... Many drop zones in New Zealand will not take over 100kgs, at Skydive Franz our modern equipment allows us to take up to 120kg ..."?

Standard around the metric world except Russia, aviation uses feet and everything else is metric. I had never used feet until I started skydiving, and 12,000 feet sounds Higher than 4,000m

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5) Why do y'all only go to 12,000ft AGL? Why not 12,500ft AGL? I've seen some experienced jumpers nut-up over that 500ft short fall. Serious.

Keep an eye out, once we get our porter we will be unmatched for height!!! C180's aren't really known for good height

12k is the standard here.

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6) Gallery... more photos! Exit shots, formations in freefall - belly & FF & wingsuit, folks under canopy, landing, semi-naked hot chicks partying, etc. Wink But I'm sure that will come.

As above, will be working on that over the next couple of days.

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7) Like some others have said... why no tabs / info for experienced jumpers... aircraft, facilities - camping, bunkhouse?, staff, jump prices for up-jumpers, calendar of events - boogies, meets, etc., local attractions - places to eat, hotels? Or are y'all just a Tandem factory? If so, fine, but say so somewhere on your website... Up Jumpers Not Welcome. Unimpressed If that's the case.

Fun jumpers are welcome (upjumpers? all jumper go 'up' don't they). We don;t have a price for them yet, still in our first month or two of operation and No camping or accommodation facilities, but Franz Josef has plenty of accommodation and activities such as hot pools, glacier walks, hunting, fishing... will add more information on that....

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8) Directions? Or is NZ so small, folks can just wander around the islands and find y'all? Laugh

Directions is a good point, there is only one road down the west coast but i will add more information about that also...


Thanks for your input!!!

[skydivefj 0]

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"FUN JUMPERS NOT WELCOME" I believe is what they mean.Tongue

This is far from the case, fun Jumpers are very welcome but you will have to have at least a 'B' license as our landing areas are reasonably small with plenty of hazards around such as a 2000ft hill 1/2 mile away!

We will look into training once we are more established, there are plenty of paddocks we could use for student landing areas but we want to establish ourselves first.

Fun Jumping is less than 5% of the skydiving market here in NZ, many do not realise the extent of adventure tourism here.

I plan on holding competitions here in the future, Craig is a digger driver and we have high rainfall so a swoop pond will be easy, that all takes time though...

[skydivefj 0]

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You should add something about transportation. Actual directions, GPS coordinates, and that you are on the South Island. I am sure most tourists who are not familiar with North and South Islands will appreciate that as well as local accommodations.

Cool, good suggestion. we provide transport from the village (4mins drive) but this is a very good point, thanks.

[skydivefj 0]

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Now slow down there Skippy!

Make yourself useful to the DZ you want to jump at and you can most likely get more jumps than you can do. Your attitude about up jumpers not being able to jump at whatever DZ without offering to do something to benefit the DZ is the reason why a lot of DZ's don't cater to up jumpers. Step back and look at the business side of it and put yourself in the DZO's shoes, would you rather send the plane (C-182 or other 4 seater) up for a load of 4 up jumpers at $20 per seat, totaling $80, or a Tandem load plus video at $300 + or -? I've heard jumpers bitching about a DZ is not up jumper friendly and I've heard DZO's bitching about Up jumpers don't pay the bills, so it's business decision not to cater to up jumpers, or to at least put them in front of the Tandems. I realize that you are still fairly new in our sport and you may find this hard to accept, but it's the cold hard truth of this business.
Put a camera on your helmet, help promote the websites, be the water boy, You will find that a DZO will often appreciate that and you will get more jumps than sitting around in the middle of the night bitching on DZ.com (and making a horse's ass of yourself) and calling them bastards for making a conscious business decision.
When I show up at a DZ, I always make the effort to let the DZO know that I am available to do video or pack or anything else that he/she may need help with at the time. Hell, I've even washed the planes before.
Give that a try and see if it don't get you further than a bunch of bitching and whining.

You obviously know the nature of the business, it is expensive, but fun jumpers can help pay the bills when the load is not full, this will be the case for us soon as we will not have enough rigs or staff to fill the turbine so the fun jumpers will help pay the bills a little.

we will price the tickets so a fun load can go up if the engine is already spinning, still nit sure how much it will be, will have to do some loads in the plane first as the C180 will not be here all that long.

[mircan 0]

I think you missed the part with "semi-naked hot chicks partying"

As for Pilatus Porter, good luck with keeping the loads full....

dudeist skydiver #42

[rhys 0]

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As for Pilatus Porter, good luck with keeping the loads full....

the porter will allow us to do high altitude jumps, which will bring more customers, they are all about doing the highest jumps so the 180 just won't cut it!

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

[Jumpdude 0]

You guys have a really nice site, but I Googled different searches that should bring your site up, and unfortunately, I could not find it. I recommend that you add some text content to your home page and add more to your . Google can't read images and if there's no content, well, there's nothing for Google to index. If you don't want a bunch of content to show up on your home page, use a Javascript "Read More" Toggle. The user has to click the text link "Read More" and the content portion will drop down and be visible. The sweet part of that is that the content is in the source page and Google reads it just as if it's totally visible.
Here's one site that I used this toggle on. http://adventureskydivingcenter.com
Click the read more and watch the content drop down and the URL never changes.
If you're interested, I'll be glad to email you the files to do this.

Another thing that's good about your situation is that it does not look like you have much competition from other DZ's in your area and none from sLyride. www.skydive.co.nz is Google Site linked, so you will have to contend with that, but it looks like they are the only DZ that shows up in the searches.

Overall, it looks like you guys should do quite well.

Refuse to Lose!!!
Failure is NOT an option!
1800skyrideripoff.com
Nashvilleskydiving.org

[BIGUN 1,053]

Like the others, I like the simplicity of the site.
Clean, fast easy to navigate.
Good luck.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.