Hi
I am a marketing consultant and writing and designing websites are one of our things. Here are my thoughts both from a professional and cat lover point of view.
I'm not sure what you can do with 'freeweb' stuff so some of these things may not be possible to change.
General - when you have copy going right across the page it is not as easy to read and not as visually appealing. It is usually better to have two columns.
Homepage:
Menu bar - 'Contact us' and 'Other useful sites' should be the two last items on the menu bar. I would change 'Cats in their new homes' to 'Success stories' - it shorter. 'Other useful sites' could be shortened to 'Useful sites' - you don't need to say other. If you make these titles shorter the menu bar will fit on one line.
I would have the copy in columns and add a couple of pictures of cats with caption - 'Casper is looking for a new family' or something similar. Pictures grab people's attention and tell them exactly what your site is about instantly, without having to read anything.
Not sure if the plant thing in the top right corner is part of freeweb or if you can change it. I don't think it says anything about cat rescue - if you can change it I would. Maybe an image of a cat.
Copy - I would be happy to make a suggestion for the copy if you like. I would say that a lot of people won't know what a 'trained VN' is. I think it would be better to say 'vet nurse'. I would also have the contact email or phone number on the front page so people can get it straight away. Also you would get better hits if you had more key words that people are likely to search under. (Usually these words would be in the coding and the actual copy but not sure how that works in Freeweb - I'm not the techie person)
I would get rid of the the 'THank You' graphic with the cats. SHowing pics of real cats has much more impact.
'How you can help' page
I don't really think you need this page. The first paragraph is really what you say on the first page. The second para you could add on the homepage and highlight in some way. You want the site to be a simple and clear as possible. The less clicking people need to do to get the info, the better. If the rescue develops and you have more information for volunteers and fosterers you many want this page, but don't think it is necessary now.
Homing pages
I would have the picture of the cat/dog on one side and the copy on the other side of the page. So the page is essentially split into two columns. The current way wastes quite a lot of space. You could alternate the pictures and the copy so they are in a checkerboard style so not all pics are on one side.
Cats in new homes page
Put the pics and copy in same style, pics on one side, copy on other. If you can I would also write a story about the cat in its new home. I know this may not be possible but people do like to read about success stories.
I would actually put a line at the bottom of every page that says something like 'Please contact us at xxxxxxxxxxx if you would like to meet any of our cats or have time to help out.'
These are my main comments.
If you want help with writing copy or anything with regards to this I am happy to volunteer some time. I am in Brighton so would have to be on long-distance basis, but I was born just outside Blackpool so have a connection. I also think you could do with a logo. Our designers are quite busy at the moment, but I could get them to do some ideas when we are a bit quieter. (It's my business so I can donate their time if you're interested)
I apologise in advance if I have offended you.
Anne
