I have been building sites for some time and working on sites for others as I can and learning for quite a while. Yet Finally am putting to the test for myself rather than others what I want to do... I would appreciate some feedback as to how my site my main site looks and any opinions. The slings of arrows may be daunting but necessary in this business. Thanks Much, Oh I almost forgot, it is http://www.daddysworkshop.com Thanks again. P.s. If I picked the wrong spot for this request my sincerest apologies.
Read this: http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-2.0-design-style-guide.cfm www.istockphoto.com if you don't have skills.
Hey thanks for the links! I actually did not want a picture as from istock on the site. I wanted something a little plainer. A friend just shed some light for me though. I am presently only on my laptop as my old main computer is down. he commented that the graphics textuals look "Fuzzy" on a monitor that he doesn't adjust. Thought that might be part of my problem and to try different monitors. I already use different browsers to check feel and look but hadn't thought about how I "tilt" my screen to my comfort level. Any other thoughts folks might have for me. They are much appreciated. BTW I have another site that has similar graphics that could use a heads up for me as well. http://www.sarahville.com
Well this website needs some colors. Live it up a little. And what is that on the right side ? A logo ? Plus you should also optimize your website for search engines. some metatags, meaningful titles etc.
i agree with others. the graphical side of your site could do with a form of revamp. If you need any help or work done for you feel free to PM me.
The main site is relatively spartan and not exactly "eye-catching" - however that is not necessarily a problem if you have the content to back it up. Looking at some more specific points: 1. Header - It's very, very hard to read as a result of ultra-thin text and far, far too much drop-shadow. When you layer this over the cracked background I had to squint a little to see what it was meant to say 2. Opening statement - There is a certain irony to the large font opening statement proclaiming the lack of a sales pitch immediately followed up with a fairly intensive sales pitch for your gazette and free report. 3. Coherency of Pitch - I may not have read your site exhaustively - but I'm still a little bit perplexed as to what you do and what you offer. I do understand it's marketing/business oriented but was unsure where you fell on the spectrum of self-help guru and internet marketing scheme advocate. This should probably come across from the first page 4. Shields as backgrounds - A couple of times you've used shields as backgrounds with a page that is black text on a gray-back fill - this is really hard to read as well 5. Meta-Tags - Particularly on the front page - look at tryin gto target your title keywords - at the moment I'm simply welcomed to Daddy's Workshop. What do they do? This will help both the search engines and visitors understand that fact far more quickly. 6. Gray Menu Bar - The Gray menu bar along the left-hand side changes its width as you scroll through the pages - its not a major issue - but consistency is probably better design sense 7. Link to other pages - If I'm browsing through the main menu of a site and click on a menu item I generally expect to stay within the site - linking to a domain sales company is a little bit disconcerting - might be better to flag this. Kinda random I know - but hope that helps! Dylan
Hey Thanks Folks!!! Keep 'em Coming. The last three posts have given me great insight I have been looking for!!! I really appreciate this. To be Perfectly honest a father with two lil' ones going back to schools trying to get his site online and trying to plan it correctly doesn't always get it right the first time. Your advice is super. Once again I appreciate all of it and any more you can give.
I have a question on my site for you great folks. Do I want to metatag every page or just the front page? Or would I meta the pages I want crawled only? How should I approach that?
Put meta tags on each page based on what the page is talking about. This is important that you dont use the exact same meta tags on every page. Even more important is to make sure the page title tag has the keywords you want within it. This is very important.