Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

*forgot

Good comments form Puru

There is a problem with firefox 1.0.5 (see screen shot) on the chapters page.

https://img328.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chapters7ka.jpg

It seems to be inconsistent, some pages it looks normal and some it doesn't.

https://www.barberbooks.com/comments.htm another bad look, (seen screen shot)

https://img316.imageshack.us/my.php?image=comment1sd.jpg

Home page should not link to itself

The buttons at the side the control the chapter display only goes up to chapter 6 ad not up to chapter 16 like it says in the chapters section.

The site could do with some pictures.

It is a little boring

For the chapter 14 where is says "READ THIS CHAPTER" there is no link!!!

The Home button is is a different place than it normal would be on a standard page.


Having a look in Opera 8.01

This happens on the comment page:

https://img326.imageshack.us/my.php?image=commentoprea9ss.jpg

The chapter thing on the right hand corner still only goes up to chapter six.

1. Lots of copy, not lots of visual interest. You could use some images, photos, diagrams, anything to make the site more visually appealing.

2. The banana is hidden. You need to put it where the monkeys can find it without working too hard. (See Seth Godin's "The Big Red Fez." It's important reading for website designers.)

3. Remember the old adage from print advertising about "everybody remembers pictures, some remember what's in the caption, a few read headlines, and almost nobody reads past the first sentence of copy." You have no pictures, no captions, no headlines or sub-heads, and lots of copy. Something isn't quite right!

Hope this helps.

Hi Marcus,

* How it navigated (ease etc)
A: Easy to navigate basically because it isn't really deep. This is O.K., but as mgoodman says, you do need a "banana". Check out Godin's sites and see how he promotes his books.

* Your overall impressions
A: Nice beginning, but not overly compelling to want me to buy at first pass. Check out what Hugh Macfarlane does at Math Marketing to promote his book, especially with the Funnel Calculator.

* What you might add
A: Your photo!

* What you might change
A: I would just look to beef it up more with content and some images and graphics, it desperately needs some visuals to break up the text, and a banana or two like Hugh does.

* What steps you would take to promote it.
A: Right here at the KHE when appropriate to the questions. I know that has worked for some of the author/contributors. Maybe get some copies into the hands (autographed of course) of some of us so we can read it and promote it!

Good luck Marcus.

hi marcus

great response from experts above.

in my 2 cents, i will first give my impression on the site, one page at a time, and then will answer your questions.

HOME PAGE

1. i use IE with Windows XP and i couldn't see the logo of barberbooks. tried to refresh the page a number of times but didnt work. it always shows a red-boundaried box. so cant comment on that part of the home page.

2. in the home page, i suggest you could use some bullet points on the summary of benefits a reader will get from the book.

3. also you can make a list of books that are/will be available under your site, preferrebly by author name

4. the comment from readers in the box could be a little more prominent if you use colored " " and highlight the name and other info of the referring person.

CHAPTERS PAGE

1. Like others mentioned, too much text and its gonna get boring. need some pics and color.

2. you can highlight the most important terms of each chapters and hyperlink them with small definition elaboration, to create interest.

3. there are some typos in Chapter 14 (tomes instead of terms). pls correct that. also you could hyperlink the READ THIS CHAPTER to a summary of the chapter for extra interest creation.

-AUTHOR-

1. as said before, too many texts. create hyperlinks to elaborate of all the terms you have used. example: you have mentioned being the creator of Global currency and Global Currency Map. what are these???? if you hyperlink them i could learn more about those terms and increase the believability of the author.

-OPINIONS-

1. you dont seem to promote your referring persons, as you have used the smallest possible font to mention their name. if you had given some testimonial to a page and see your name written in such manner what will you do???

2. highlight the comments each has made, they are too dull in looks

3. highlight, bold or color, anything to highlight the commentators' names, designation and organization.

4. i suggest you use more space between or someshow differentiate between the comments, as they are too closely positioned in the page

-NAVIGABILITY-

its easily navigable. the tabs are well placed and of the right size. although we have seen all the sites to have HOME on the left most corner, which you are different.

-OVERALL IMPRESSION-

nice start, the color contrasts are good, but after some time due to monotonous color for text it gets dizzying and boring.

-WHAT TO ADD and WHAT TO CHANGE-

all the points mentioned above, i believe, you can add or change

-HOW TO PROMOTE IT-

1. you can refer to your site/book when related questions are asked here in this forum, specially student questins and strategy category.

2. you can submit this site as a RESOURCE in the library under those categories.

3. talk to Val, and promote your site thru' the KHE newsletter as well as Marketingprofs Today that we all receive every week (all the general + premium members)

4. lastly a painstaking one, you can initially send email to all the experts of Overall 100 Experts (thru' theri profile) to promote your site. when you are doing this, ensure you have used "MarketingProfs.com KHE" in the subject line, so that the recipient doesnt trash the mail (at least i wouldnt).

5. later you can do the same with all those who participate here in this discussion. as i said this is a painstaking slow process.

i hope this helps. do let us know what you think.

cheers!!

First impression...what's this about? Is it the "barberbooks.com" main page? If so, is this their only title? Are there more to come or is this a first-of-more edition?

Since the html lets the browser choose fonts, it'll look different on EVERY computer. Is that what you want? The header for every page requires Macromedia's Shockwave with Flash installed, not a good idea if you're planning on a large audience. The chapters 1 thru 6 are featured in flash with a brief description, but didn’t take me there, was it supposed to? What about the book’s title? It’s part of the paragraph text, but not prominent on the overall page. This site needs a contact and a “help” or FAQ page, giving the clueless a chance to figure out how find out more.

If you’re going to offer a free chapter, don’t bury it below the first screen length. Feature this upfront as part of your header. Your tagline is weak: “Success to grow your business.” What’s this supposed to tell me as a potential business owner looking for a self-help success book? I’d rewrite this whole paragraph to captivate the reader. I should be hungry for more info, not scratching my head trying to figure out what to do next.

How will anyone find this page or site? There’s very little here for search engines to chew on. Who is your target audience? Anyone with a business or specific kinds of businesses? Owners, or wannabes, consultants or managers? Or all of these? Where’s the book jacket? Any diagrams or tables (graphics) in the book you could share which might better SHOW the reader what’s in it? Any break-out concepts (lists, questionnaires, examples) you could post to whet the appetite?

What if I wanted to buy your board game? Do you sell it separately or license it for other’s to incorporate in their consultancy? What about a comments or query function? This would allow your readers to actively show their interest in your material. Is this your consulting website as well as for your book? If not, where is it? Do you maintain a blog somewhere? Why not have a hotlink for your email and page for your next engagement (if you give presentations or attend conference where someone could meet you in person)? Do you travel internationally or consultant virtually? Who markets the strategist? These are questions that could be addressed better in an interactive forum, but I hope these help you to fine-tune your site.

Referring back to your 2004 question which lead to this site, you already have a great idea here for providing incentives to marketers of your book. Where's the "Affiliates" link to tell me how to make money? Marketing offline for an online product still makes a lot of sense. A couple of audio file of you (and maybe your references) might be a nice add-on. Speaking of add-ons, what about offering a free (or reduced-price) session with you?

Hi, Marcus! I'm late to this party, as usual. ;]

I'm so glad to see that your website is up. I know you've been wanting to do this for a very long time.

I have to contradict the last response here... please do NOT add inane snapshots of smiling strangers from stock photo sites. What a waste of space and bandwidth! Those things always remind me of huhcorp.com.

However, I think it's imperative that visitors get a glimpse of YOU. Sure, it's clear that you aren't eager to put your face up there, but maybe you can get creative and get someone to sketch your portrait, or do a pixellated newsprint image of yourself a la Wall Street Journal.

Or you could do what I saw on a consultants's website that I thought worked really well. There was a photo of him on every page of his site, but each photo was different. NONE of them was a typical necktie-and-head shot that you'd see on an insurance salesman's business card. They were all in relaxed settings, obviously taken by a pro. Wish I could share the link, but I can't find it.

I'm not going to add to the huge volume of commentary about the site because I agree with most of it. Oh, except for one thing -- I think it's brilliant to keep your email spelled out with the AT. Just make sure you put it in the footer of every page, not just on the Contact page.

Best of everything,
Shelley