Hello, All, I am new to this forum and completely new to website designing. I've started making a website using webs.com and have absolutely NO prior experience. If you have time, I would greatly appreciate any constructive criticism and advice you have to offer. Here is what I have done so far: www.alicepitts.com Thank you!! Alice
Not bad at all for a first timer..course I love music, and the scripture you have at the bottom of the page, so I may be bias =)
It is vere nice, but background picture is a problem. Background attracts attention, but it gives no information, without background picture should be much better.
First up, you get +rep for being a fiddle player The world needs more of 'em 1. Websites with auto loading background music belong back in 1997. 2. Your background tile is awful. 3. Disabling right click is annoying and futile. 4. Lots of validation errors. Something to consider: The psalm on the front page. I understand that most people won't even give this a second thought - but there will always be a few people that will immediately disregard your music once they see this. If you put your religion in the way, you may push people away before they get a chance to listen to your music. Of course, if your religion is central to your music, then my point is moot. Just my 2 cents - something to think about etc... ----- This thread belongs in the reviews forum: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=23 Aerobatic flying is the work of the devil!
Hi Alice, nice website, but... I find the bgd a little distracting from the content (design is not only a way to make your website shine but to convey the right message and help the visitor find what he wants) More than that, what are you trying to achieve with this website? Is it to share your music with the world and get enough attention so you can live from it (ie sell your work)? Cause you should always know your outcome and start with the end in mind... If you want to promote your music online, here are a few pointers: remove everything that doesn't help you achieve your goal (weather widget, word of the day...) move the optin form above the fold so you can get better conversions make an offer: why would I want to subscribe to your site? offer me something in exchange for my email adress make some videos of you playing music and put it on the front page then tell people to subscribe to get more videos or audios find websites from artists who are trying to achieve the same outcome as you and learn from it (ie - spy them and use the same strategy) learn Internet Marketing - that's the only way to get your stuff out there and maybe someday live from your work I realize my advice will not help you if you don't want to promote your music, but I couldn't resist... BTW, thanks for your Music, we need more of you artists! Have a great day. Damien
Fastsvc, I only put it in the Guestbook-- should I put it up on all of the pages or take it off the Guestbook? newyears1978, thank you! webvinay, lol I tried to match it to my background. OK, I can do that... never thought it might be hard to read... mapAffiliation, first, let me ask what you are seeing as a background... I've been having trouble with the site and some people would see a horrible picture of violins as the background. Are you seeing that or the blue background? What do you mean that it gives no information? That it is distracting and diverts attention to somewhere unprofitable?? If so, are you suggesting more of a plain background? SevnthSin, thank you! Kerosene, 1. I'll take the music off. 2. See the questions I asked mapAffiliation. 3. I'll undo the disabling rightclicking. lol 4. What are validation errors and how can I fix them? 5. Well, my faith is central to my music, so even if it does "push someone away", I'm going to keep it on there. 6. Can I move my thread or does a moderator have to do it? 7. Aerobatic flying is FUN!! Damien, Is bgd "background"? Again I ask: what you are seeing as a background... I've been having trouble with the site and some people would see a horrible picture of violins as the background. Are you seeing that or the blue background? Are you saying it is distracting and diverts attention to somewhere unprofitable?? If so, are you suggesting more of a plain background? What I am planning on doing with the site is setting it up to be able to teach online. I'll be uploading a lot of learning videos that I can, hopefully, pw protect for my students. I want the site to encourage people to take lessons from me online. For instance, (and about the give and take on subscribing to my thread) I'm going to have people subscribe to my site for a free entry to get a free violin with 3 free online lessons as 1st prize, 2 free lessons as 2nd prize, and 1 free lesson as 3rd prize. BUT, though that is what I want to do right now, it is not what I am going to do for the rest of my life. I've been teaching for a while and I enjoy it, but it isn't what I love to do-- eventually I'm going to quit teaching and the site is going to be focused on just me as a musician, not a teacher. I'll remove the weather and word of the day widgets. "Move the optin form above the fold so you can get better conversions." I'm not sure what you're talking about? Thanks again, everyone for your help!!! Alice
The background for me is "notes" - blue. Not distracting at all for me. What he means by "above the fold" is to move it so that it appears on your monitor without having to move down the page. So visitors will see it when the get to your site, they won't have to scroll down or look around.
Nice work. I believe it is a fine site. My honest opinion is that I would change the back round. Its a little distracting and I believe that you could find something a little more professional. Agian thats only my opinion. Good music to. and thats one of my favorite psalms
hey! This is my first time using this forum too! I'm pretty new to the web design world, but I do have a general background with design. soo I guess I'll suggest a few things that you may want to consider. Like a few of the comments, I agree that the music note background doesn't not work. It's a little overdone. With the music and the image you have in the header, that already indicates that this sight is about you and your music. so having the background isn't necessary. I suggest using just a plain blue background. possibly the same color as the text. Also, make sure your site doesn't have too many different kinds of fonts. hmm, that's all i can think of for now...try it out and see what happens. there's no harm in trying. let me know what happens!
If you are first timer, then congratulation because I believe you will have the potential to make it better in the future. I remember when I first create website, it was awful.
Take a look. I've made a few of the suggested changes. I'm not done yet and I'm probably not going to keep that background (I prefer a slightly darker blue), but at least you can see what it looks like with more of a plain background. Tell me what you think! Alice
i definitely like the plain background better, and i'm glad the music has been taken off as well. If you really wanted to incorporate some music, u should allow the viewer to make that choice. I'm not sure what the proper term is, but it's like when someone embeds a video, u could do that, but with audio instead. I'm not sure if that makes sense...