Hi JenJen It appears your design is comming in for a lot of stick, and sadly I agree with most of the comments here. I won't try to analyise and crit it but maybe these are a few pointers you should look at. Is it easy/simple to understand what is being offered? - slightly, but it's not that clear. You have a "small" headline included in the logo graphic that says "sell your stories here"! the first thing you MUST do is take that out of the graphic and use real text. The best thing to do would be to use the html code <h1>Sell your stories here</h1> (drop the exclamation mark it's not needed). make the logo smaller your not selling Story Club, your selling the story club service - there's a very big difference. as said make the logo smaller but use a good graphic to represent people reading or viewing Video. A picture tells 1000 words. I would change the colours. To me the combination is very "flat" and not inviting or inspiring. You can get great colour ideas/themes from Adobe Kuler (kuler.adobe.com). is the website attractive to you? - Sorry no, it looks like a standard wireframe that I would use to then design and develop a site from. i.e. want this here and that there. is the website offer interesting to you? - It could be but I will be totally honest (and I'm a writer - not stories) if I arrived at the site I would switch off just because of the design, regardless of the content. do you think the website offer would be interesting to others? - I recon same as above do you have lingering questions about the offer, which you did not readily see on the website? - not realy but ... it just doesn't quite hang together for me. do you have any advice as to how to make it better? yep fraid so. Firstly take a look at the may other "similar" sites, find ones that appeal to you, then look at their design, how they deliver their message etc. In the first instance it may be a good idea to to look at WordPress (or similar) to create your site, get it going, get visitors etc, develop your content and find what works what doesn't before you spend too much time worrying about your design. However, it's not all bad, you are doing a great and sensible thing in getting people to look at it first. That is something too many people don't do, they just assume what they come up with is - well the best; usually it's not. So good point no1, your asking for opinions, well done. I would change your questions a bit though. At this stage don't worry too much about the design ( and changing it after "x" answers here), try asking what message does the web site tell us? Does it tell us we can sell our stories? Does it tell visitors where to get the stories? is it easy to see those messages? at this point the answer for me is no, it may be different for others. Get the messages clear then start concentrating on the design, let quality content be the driver for the site.
Hello all! Thank you for taking so much time to not only view my site, but to also give me feedback. I have read each one of your comments and tried to make changes accordingly. At this point, since I posted on this thread, I have totally revamped my website design for the 3rd time. I have done this on the basis that first, my website was too busy, and later, because it was too dull, so I've tried to brighten it up a bit and make it more simplified to understand quickly. Because I am new at this, I do not really know about html errors and the consequences of having those type of errors. All I know is that the visual aspects look okay to me. I am guessing that it is not showing up in some browsers as it is showing up in mine. I have primarily concentrated on design and making the text clear and understandable before I go on to other things. The other things that I intend to add to the site, which I am clueless about at this time, are the following: 1. I need a sign in page for people to view their accounts. 2. I need a way to let people know that their chapters/videos have been purchased without wondering if I've sold some without reimbursing them. I think I will be able to find the answers to my questions with a little more research, but if you happen to have a dazzling idea, I would love to hear about it. To the answers of some of your questions: I do have Photoshop, and I made my website using Bravenet. I have not really had much luck with templates. I prefer to remake my site without a template until it turns out right. Please don't hesitate to tell me all of the bad things about my website that you want to. That is what I am here for. I need help and I know it. Again, if you will, please take the time to view my website again and let me know if you think there has been an improvement. I appreciate all of your comments. Jenn
Dude change the template , have look at other websites may be that will help you understand how to choose a template.
1. ...is it easy/simple to understand what is being offered? Yes 2. ...is the website attractive to you? NO 3. ...is the website offer interesting to you? NO 4. ...do you think the website offer would be interesting to others? Not sure 5. ...do you have lingering questions about the offer, which you did not readily see on the website? no There are no suggestion all are already proided to you by different members