My first site

For a beginner it is nice and clean.The placing is also good.Try to be a bit more professional next time

 

Hmmmm... thought I did center it on the page. Is not showing up that way? It is when I view it...

 

Thanks, but what exactly do you mean by "try to be a bit more professional next time"?

Not sure how to take that, or what you're trying to say...

 

Pretty good start

Just a couple pointers though (if you're open to it)

You don't want all your links in graphics or flash. Use graphics and/or flash to enhance the overall look and feel, but not as the main menu.

Frames or Iframes is not a good idea for a page's main content.

Good job with the rest, and enjoy your journey

 

I do not think I have ever seen a button effect quite like that. I find it rather interesting.

I am just wondering...for a marketting company I guess you gotta "wow" them. But for other stuff...does this kind of "eye candy" actually help get sales?

Pardon me for being so clueless about this, but my background is NOT in marketting. I am here to try to learn. So I ask in all seriousness, does this kind of eye-candy actually contribute to sales, or is it more for "bragging rights" amongst the developers?

Do visitors really CARE about what the button looks like (assuming you are starting with at least a professional looking button)? I mean, I note really cool buttons, but I cannot ever think of an instance where one tipped my desire to return to a site or to make a purchase.

The buttons ARE cool and I am impressed...but since my focus is on attracting sales, I am wondering if the effort is worth it (again,for your site you are showcasing your company's web skills so you definitely WANT to lay on the eye-candy).

Thanks.

 

Here is the live link www.smggo.com

I like the layout is clean and easy to move around.
My recommendation to you is the Contact section, it will be easier for people to submit directly the questions or requests rather than copying the email then send it to you.

Nice site

 

Thanks, Mirage!

Of course, it's hard to say what "all" visitors would say about the buttons... I'd imagine some are "wowed" by it, and others don't care... and still others may even think it's overkill. But, as you mentioned, because we are a marketing company with a good portion of our income coming from the design work we do, I thought it made sense to give a little more attention to making it look cool, and have that "wow factor".

I don't think there will many cases where we actually can say we got more sales from the site having the look that it does (it's only been up for a couple weeks)... BUT, I can say with 100% confidence that if we had a site that was poorly done, or had no quality design elements, we would definitely NOT get more business. So to me, it's a no-brainer for a design firm to have an eye-catching site. I've done a lot of searching (as we all surely have in this business) of design websites, to see what the competition has to offer. Many are incredible sites, very cool to look at/play with. If I were a client, that alone wouldn't necessarily make me want to do business with them... but some of the sites that are poorly done definitely make me think "They can't even do a good job on their OWN site, why would I want them designing something for me?"

Of course, the great/horrible thing about graphic design is that is so subjective!!

I appreciate your input!

 

Thank you, JC007, and thanks for posting the live link.

I appreciate your compliments, but I don't understand your recommendation. Are you suggesting I should put a comments section on the Contact Us page, so they can type comments right on the site, and they would get sent to us? I like that idea, but not sure if that's what you were saying...

 

Try putting html links at the bottom of the page, while the flash buttons are great it is easier for google to follow the html links.

This will help you get more pages indexed.

 

Good call, tecolote! I noticed that the other day, that I didn't put html links at the bottom... but I didn't realize that they helped with search engines. Thanks!

 

Not bad man,for a first design,its really good.I am very much surprise to see flash,though the fact that you are only a beginner as of now.However,assuming the website content..i am not sure if the design really goes well with that.Still,you did a fabulous job!