Hey everyone! I needed some help regarding my website`s design... If you could visit it and critique it a little, it would help a lot! Thanks! The URL is right Here: www.thelaptopcentral.info
For starters, you need to look into all of your interior pages. When I click on any of the topics or sub-topics all I get is a HostGator 404 error page. I assume that the site will sell all of the products eventually so you need to make it look more like a store. Currently it looks a lot like a directory. Your header/logo is way to big an takes up too much height in the header. You have way too many tabs at the top. Try and consolidate them into major headings with dropdowns. Think about adding images of the products on the homepage. Not all of them, maybe hot deals of the day/week/etc. Do not copy their site but I think that newegg.com does an excellent job of organizing their content and is in the same niche that you are trying to get into. I would navigate around their site for UI inspiration as it works.
Thanks very much. I`m glad you brought up the fact about the HostGator Error 404... I`m looking into that now.
Right away I notice that your logo was awkward looking so you probably want to rethink that. The color scheme I wasn't to fond of either with the dark red on red. I can't really see the items because the dark red is too dark and things are hard to see because of spacing issues. Think quick, simple, easy, and click it and buy it. Nobody likes being confused when ordering products and people will look away and click on another website if they find them to confusing. If you need any help on graphics I would be glad to help for a fee! Good luck
Your top menu should have drop-down elements on hover, so that the users can navigate straight to what they want. The background on the main content bit makes it very hard to read, black on dark red is a big nono. Your logo is too tall, as previously mentioned and not of very good quality (not design wise, look wise; seems like you've shrunk the file too much for the size of the image). This might be going off-topic to functionality rather than desgin, but it says that i am browsing 1-10 of over 11,000 items with the pages "1 2 3 4 5 6 .. 400", what if i wanted to get to page 200? Those are just a few things i noticed browsing through, if you want a more detailed "thought" just say.
Thanks for the suggestions... I took out the dark red body background and replaced it to white so it should be easier to read.
in my opinion maybe you could do it in a plain white BG.. then put some light gray divisions for the sections and minimize the size of the logo and you can place it on the top left of the site.. basically, white BG, grey navigation bar with red mousover effect and light grey dividers for the contents section.. i hope i was able to help you .. cheers!
I would say change the background OR make the logo not have a white border but make the red part have a black border around it so it looks semi-transparent.
You should look at other laptop/computer shops online and compare. Also, red is a hyperactive color, and since you have a bright red background, the affect of it will make your website visitors rush and move on to another website instead of taking their time to browse through all the things you're selling in there! If you like red, you may add a splash of it here and there but as for a background, I would suggest to lean more on neutral colours or even plain old white, as somebody here mentioned.