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Website Critique     
 
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Would Like Opinions On Our Website
Posted By: btdvis* on 6/27/2005 11:45 AM (CST) 75 Points
I would like opinions on our website.

http://www.btdgraphics.com/


First impressions, does it work, improvements?

It is sometimes difficult to critique your own work. Any comments would be appreciated.

Posted by: NuCoPro Accepted Answer
6/27/2005 12:09 PM (CST)
Quick observations -

1. Your menu is NOT consistent from one page to the next and that is a BAD thing.
2. You need a shorter testimonial. Although this says good things, very few people will take the time to read it, so it's just cluttering up your Home page.
3. Kill the counter in the lower left - it's SO last century!
4. You need to SHOW your current promotion on the Home page. Few people will bother clicking to find out what it is.
5. Remove the Email signin from the Home page; put some text telling people what benefit they will get from "joining the club" then take them to another page to sign up.
6. Move the "certifications" from the Header to the Footer. Your Header is way too cluttered now.

Generally, I like the site. It just needs some refinement.
 
Posted by: Papadoc (Steve)* Accepted Answer
6/27/2005 5:10 PM (CST)
Agree with the above but would also add...

1) Lose the counter - It has nothing to do with converting to sale, it does not impress the customer, and it can only go to show how FEW people have been at your site. Counters are ego boosters for the site owner only. Instead, go visit your stats. You will learn more.

2) The site needs some serious SEO - Lose the irrlevant metas, construct titles that you can actually compete with and which are more relevant to each page, install a robots.txt file to minimize traffic through non-public areas, and you need more text on the home page if it is going to index well. Much of what you have is in pictures whether they be banners or buttons.

3) You also might want to think about optimizing your rolling banner on the right. At 141K for that size image, it's too heavy. It looks like you have 4 frames on it and I'd put that at no more than 25K. If you minimize it, you can add more frames to make it less jumpy and more attractive and still be smaller in size. Also, leave the loop going. Unless somone sees it immediately, it won't be noticed.
 
Posted by: btdvis* Author Response
6/27/2005 5:47 PM (CST)
What you are seeing is the 4th revision of the site (mostly the home page) in the past month.

I have no problem losing the counter - for exactly the reason Papadoc says.

I know the menu is not consistent. The problem is that if I show all the menus, I have a menu on each page that is about 18 rows long. My thinking was to have the 4 main areas on the home page and branch off into the sub-categories when you reach one of the 4 pages.
How would you do the menus?

The rolling banner I agree with. I already have a smaller version. I just wasn't sure if I was going to continue using it.

I had the certifications in the lower right last revision and was told people wouldn't see them.

I am not sure what you mean by SEO. I don't know how to install a robots.txt file. I thought I added a robots meta tag to the home page.

Here was what I was told my a web marketer on the previous version to get to where I am now: Too much text on home page. Email sign in should be above the fold. Make a meta tag for each page. Make the meta tags and page titles match.

I find I have a much harder time being objective about my site than I do others. Thanks for the help.
 
Posted by: Carl Crawford Accepted Answer
6/27/2005 7:21 PM (CST)
Your page has 22 errors in the html

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.btdgraphics.com%2F

If I was you, I would place the page in a flexible table so that it sits in the middle of screen ( like marketingprofs).

I have a menu on each page that is about 18 rows long. My thinking was to have the 4 main areas on the home page and branch off into the sub-categories when you reach one of the 4 pages

Easy you can use Dhtml fly out menus, you can also do it with CSS. Or drop down menus.
 
Posted by: KSA Accepted Answer
6/27/2005 7:37 PM (CST)
Btdvis,

You'll get all kinds of opinions on a site -- you'll just have to bite the bullet and weigh what's important to your company.

I agree to eliminate the counter, but I like the testimonial. SEO means Search Engine Optimization. I think the irrelevant meta tags PapaDoc was talking about were things like the Generator, and if you have a robots.txt file, you don't need the robots meta tag. Can you upload files to your host via FTP as well as Fusion? If so, you could easily make a robots.txt file and upload it.

The Title, description, and keyword meta tags need to be consistent with each other and with the content of the page. Right now, your title on the home page is not focused on keywords. Did you do research on which keywords would be best for each page? And, its true that with no relevant content on the home page, your ranking with the search engines is hurt.

The inconsistent menu is a problem. The best answer would be to have "fly-out" submenus. Fusion 8 has that capability, but I'm not sure about the versions you're using. You've got generator tags for Fusion 7 and MX? Not sure how that works! You can see a sample on a site I am just finishing up: www.Power2Transform.com. You might want to upgrade to Fusion 8!

I think keeping the email signup above the fold is good, but I think people need to know what the benefit of signing up is. No one wants more junk mail. Do you send newsletters? special offers?

So, this is what I'd do. I'd eliminate the image links on the home page. (I'd get rid of the scrolling banner altogether, but that's just personal preference!). I'd write some compelling copy describing what you do and how your customers benefit by working with you.

Within that text, I'd use keywords effectively, and you can provide links to your other pages within the text. You can see a sample of that on the website I referenced earlier. It is good to give people several ways to get to the same place. And, somewhere in there I'd tell them what great things they'll get if they join your mailing list.

I know it's confusing, but hang in there. If I can help, let me know.

Kathleen
 
Posted by: jakelmason* Accepted Answer
6/28/2005 12:02 AM (CST)
Btdvis,

I think the prior posts cover most of what you need to do. Just a few points I want to point out.

First, the pages still seem too cluttered, and especially on the front page there is a lot of different content, but there is nothing to really catch the eye, and it is confusing trying to figure out exactly what I should looking at (Your Products!). It takes longer than it should to see exactly what you offer. Part of this is too much content, but some part of it is that some parts of the pages seem to have no "structure". Instead of neat rows of images or authorization icons we see groups of icons randomly placed for the sake of fitting them in a small space. Most of this can be fixed by removing content which will allow for a more structured page layout.

I do buying for my company also, so try to sell me something, give me a reason to deal with you. I just tried to follow through the ordering process, but along the way there was a java script error, and a problem in a pdf document that crashed my browser. Make ordering easy. I'll need to talk to you so I know you know exactly what I want on bigger items. Small items should have a simple check-out process, I want to quickly order with my credit card on these items.

Finally, I know its been said before, but I must say it again because I feel it is vital. The side menu's need to stay the same. Web surfers are used to things being a certain way, and its confusing to see a side navigation bar that changes.
if your current web design doesn't let you build in sliding-menu's like mentioned above, there are many DHTML pages out there with copy and paste code for nice menu's.

Good luck with site.

Jacob
 
Posted by: ekinyua* Accepted Answer
6/28/2005 1:49 AM (CST)
I like the colours of your web. However it is crowded you need to make use of the space. (I think others adviced on how to space out)


Make the photos larger (people are attracted more by visuals.)
Put in some movement (it looks more interesting. it is also enables you to communicate much more with little space e.g sentence authorised print providers for .... can be communicated that way)

Sales promotion should on front page and very promoninent.
 
Posted by: Jaded* Member Response
7/6/2005 2:43 AM (CST)
In terms of menus, I always think of the phone number convention: 7 +/- is all people can easily remember.

Try to come up with a few more levels in the hierarchy. If you must Hide an show tabs for navigation, it makes sense for them to be consistently placed on the page. I noticed the charit link moves from the 2nd position to the 10th to the 12th and so on. Don't forget about consistent capitalization!
 
Posted by: btdvis* Author Response
7/11/2005 6:07 PM (CST)
Thanks for your input. I was out all last week so didn't get a chance to read most of the responses. I appreciate all the input.

Some responses;

I'm using Fusion 7. I can upload through ftp to my host.

We did research meta tags. I had thought it was more consistent. But I guess it is not.

The menu thing has been a thorn in my side since I started this site.

Not sure why jakelmason ot a javascript error. The order form pdf error can occur if you don't have Acrobat Reader 6.02 or above. This is an Adobe thing I found out after posting the form.

I didn't think the pages (other than the home page and services page ) were too cluttered. I didn't want neat rows of images. I was trying to get a look the was pleasing but did not look like every other web site.

There is a lot of information. Everything we print is large. If people don't set their files up correctly the output will be disappointing. I was trying to give them the info they need.

Can you (any of you) give me a example of a Title, description, and keyword meta tag that are consistent?

I will do my best to incorporate your suggestions.
 
Posted by: KSA Member Response
7/11/2005 7:12 PM (CST)
BT,

Here's your info for the home page:

TITLE: BT&D Large Format Printing; Design; Illustration; Finishing

Description: btdgraphics.com offers trade show graphic, banner and signage printing services, graphic design and illustration and display hardware sales. There is a sample gallery of past projects and tips for setting up your files correctly.

Keywords: large format printing, trade show graphic, display graphic, banner, digital prints, displays, graphics, design, graphic design, graphic services, illustration, mounting, laminating, posters, reproductions, scanning, sign, signage, sign company, vehicle graphic, fleet graphic

You can only optimize a page for 1-3 keywords. You have about 20 keywords. And, since there is no text on the page, the SEs can't figure out which is the most important.

Heres your Printing Services Page:

TITLE: Large Format Printing Specialists; Display Graphics
don't need this one
DESCRIPTION: Custom Large Format Printing. Up to 60 inches wide by 1200 dpi. We print on a wide variety of media.">
KEYWORDS: large format printing, inkjet printing, 48 hour turnaround, 1 to 200 prints, banners, paper, canvas, tyvek, vinyl, window graphics, digital prints, display graphics, reproductions

Are you targeting "large format printing" on this page? If so, the Description should start out Large format printing. And, the text on the page itself should have a H1 header that says Large Format Printing, not "Our Main Business is Printing Large Graphics!" And, you should use that term several times throughout the page. Like where it says "The large format process is geared towards short runs (1-400+) of large, colorful, complex photo realistic graphics", it should say The large format printing process....."

And, all those other keywords are not helping. Keywords should be phrases people will use to search. No one will search for "1 to 200 prints".

If you want to discuss this, give me a call - you can get the phone number from my website by going to my KHE profile.

This takes way too much time to write!!

Kathleen
 
Posted by: carrie77 Moderator Response
7/17/2005 7:11 AM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question since it's more than 2 weeks old. We do this to reward the contributions of participants in a timely manner + to give increased visibility to the newer questions.

Thanks for participating!
Carrie (Production Editor)
 


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