Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

Nancy,

This last one is much better. The layout is crisp and clean. I like thus one much more than the previous sites. This is definitely headed in a good direction.

I am assuming that you have just changed the home page. The subsequent pages should follow the same theme, whatever you settle on. I also think you need to continue working on your copy.

The collage of images is cool, but many of them are distorted. The key on the web is to make every image the size it will be used on the page. This means that some of the images will need to be cropped or shrunk. Most photo editors have and option to lock the horizontal and vertical zoom. Many of your images appear to have been shrunk unevenly, making people look very distorted. I personally like Adobe Fireworks for editing images for the web.

Keep up the work, you are headed in a much better direction.

Mike

Yes, absolutely you should. You have to look at your site as if someone were seeing it for the first time.

In addition, what's a "Vaboomer?" What's a "reFIREE?" (I see now that you define the second one further along, but I don't know if most people are going to make it there.)

I have to say...the words "Vaboomer Viosks" do not exactly roll off the tongue.

I think you've made a wholesale improvement in your site, though. I just think you should hold off on using too much of your self-made lingo until later in the copy.

It is looking better... but I would like to see you work on the message of "this is what we do" and "this is what we would like for you to do".

It's looking better, definitely. It looks like you took a template and are making changes to it, which is a great place to start.

The width of your template is too big, as is the size of your header, and most of your fonts. 800x600 is still a very popular monitor resolution - if you look at your site at that resolution, it's absolutely HUGE!

You want to make sure people don't have to scroll side-to-side to see your page, and that the fonts are a more normal size so it doesn't look like you're shouting.

I am also confused with your unique terminology. When people don't understand what you're saying, they leave. If you want to introduce them to one new, special term, define it the first time it shows on the page. Don't make them look for the answer.

If you're trendy and popular, and hip, people will want to learn your language. If you're new and unknown, they want something familiar and comfortable. You're asking too much of them to try to understand all your terms while they are trying to figure out what you're about.

You need a name that's easy to remember, and easy to spell. Vaboomer Viosks is neither.

You still have a ways to go. The colors, and the background image in the header, don't give me a sense of a "tea shop, book shop, bakery." The content needs to be more descriptive and welcoming, so I'll want to stay and get to know you.

This latest effort is a huge step forward. Somebody questioned your color palette, so I thought I'd give another opinion. While it's not what I would have picked, I think it's pretty darn nice and will appeal to your audience (I'm a member of your target market). Your copy is easy to read and friendly, which is I suspect what you wanted to accomplish. As everyone has mentioned, get rid of all of the cutesy language like Vaboomer Viosk, reFIREing, etc. You will have people from all parts of the world visiting your site (you hope) and if the language is incomprehensible to us born in the US, imagine what it will be like for people for whom English is a second language. People aren't going on your Web site to learn a new language. Remember that a Web site isn't about what pleases you and your partners, but what will please your target market.

Try not to make the page too long . . . cut down on how much we have to scroll. If you get rid of the definitions, including the Boomeranger one in the box, you'll shorten the page. You don't need to get everything on the home page. For example, organize your pages on the sidebar into primary links and secondary links. The primary links should be about 5 or 6. When we get to one of those 5 or 6 pages, you can put your related secondary links there.

By the way, you can talk about viosks, reFIREing, and so on in your Blog pages, and even in some of the interior pages, where it would be relevant to do so. But don't make it a significant part of the site as you're doing now. Your purpose is to display your products and sell them. If people can't understand you, they'll go away. So make it simple.

Someone already mentioned this, and I have to agree. Your domain name is not easily remembered. I suggest you consider a domain name that at most has three syllables.

Whatever you do, don't use Wordpress or any other blog template to construct a Web site. A blog and a Web site are two different things with different layouts and formatting, and different purposes and goals.

Test your site for how it will look on different browsers. If you search for "Test for browsers," you'll find some free resources. Note that the delivery time of results depends on how many browsers you choose to test for, so you may have to wait a good while for all to be displayed. You might want to test for two or three at a time.

Someone also already mentioned that you should design the interior pages compatibly with the home page. I agree.

Use some marketing techniques for Web sites. For example, people scan pages rather than read them. So you should have well structured, informative headings (without cutesy, play on words), and when relevant, sub-headings also. Use calls to action (you don't really have any). Even "click here" is a call to action, although this is just an example and you should use more useful, valuable calls to action when possible. A "call to action" means you directly tell your audience to do something (that "something" is whatever your goals are). Use color contrasts and/or use colors to mean certain things. You've done a nice job of that already by devoting brown to headings and menus and green to page links. Another marketing / design tip is to use bullet points to highlight key information or calls to action, etc. (but use them intelligently, of course), and only when necessary. Because people scan pages, bullet points stand out. You obviously already know that the most important copy should be above the fold. Just remember to add some calls to action to get your readers involved.

You've done a nice job of personalizing your copy by using "you" and "your," etc. and also with leaving white space, but try not to use clip art because it takes away from the more "professional" look. The coffee cup image, for example, doesn't quite fit in with the really nice photography you display on the site. You want to maintain a consistent, high-end, high quality look and feel to fit in with the quality products you offer. The best designers take photographs and then rework them for the Web. Since you're teaching yourself so much, why don't you try this yourself? Start small and simple. For example, a boomer age person with a cup of tea or whatever is much more appealing than a coffee cup. Do you want people to call you? If so, an 800 number at the top of each page is important.

Because you're selling products, you should add a Legal Statement and also a Privacy Statement. At some point, get yourself a merchant account. The PayPal payment system gives the impression of small-time.

By far, however, the biggest mistake you're making is to not provide contact information. Few people are going to purchase from you if they don't even know who you are and where you are. The first thing I do when I propose to purchase something online is to look for sale policies (refund information, etc.) and a real address, telephone number, email address, fax number. Testimonials and/or endorsements help to support confidence that I'm actually going to get what I purchased.

By the way, I also look up the address provided in the Contact sections on Google maps. These days we can actually see the street. I once discovered that someone had given an empty lot as an address.

I think you're making good progress. Keep up the good work.

Don't obsess over the graphics. Get your text copy focused first. That's what people (and search engines) read/care about.

As others have mentioned, focus specifically on your target audience. Someone just clicks to your home page, and doesn't know a thing about you (other than you somehow came up in a search they did). In a couple of seconds, you need to say who you are and why the reader should care. Vaboomer Viosks might be a fun name, but these words don't tell me what I need to decide if I should read more on your website.

I agree that you should have done all of this in Wordpress. All you do is follow a few simple instructions and then upload the files to your server.

You can change the header images to look customized similar to my Wordpress blog below.

www.SpunkMarketing.com/blog

You also need to fix your meta tags.

Color choices look good together.

If your "Contact" button is going to open directly to an email, then you should let people know that. Otherwise, people who use, AOL, Yahoo, or some type of mobile email software then it is going to be annoying to them. Just let your users know that it is an email link... and not an actual contact form.

O... the actual website needs some major help, along with the flash.

You'd be better off buying a $50 website template from Template Monster or something and editing the images and content on it. Cheap and fairly easy to do if you have basic web knowledge.