Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

The home page doesn't tell me who your website is targeting: businesses? tourists? It's also unclear what your website is immediately offering the web visitor and why they should trust your information to be accurate.

The menu structure is also too hidden to be useful to the casual visitor.

Dear Info,

The animated logo takes too long to load and the fact that it IS animated does nothing to add to the user experience: it simply shows of how clever your designer is.

The scrolling text at the top of the page is distracting and jerky: consider omitting it.

The map gives NO other geographic information: neighboring countries, region, etc.,. and the pop up names add little to the overall design. In place of the map consider using images of places people can visit and make those images link to other pages where visitors to your site can then read more.

And the little sliding elements that add information to the map? I'm not sure what they add, other than, again, showing off how clever your designer is.

A site like this must TELEGRAPH information. All the Flash animation adds little of value to the person looking for solid travel information: flights, hotels, currency, social do's and don'ts, local customs, language, money, safety, resorts, how to get there, where to stay, what to see, what to do, what to avoid, and reviews from people that have traveled to Syria.

Hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer

Like the others, I'm lost when I get to the site. Who is your target audience and what is the main message you want to communicate? And definitely lose the Flash animation unless it is absolutely essential to your communication (which I don't think it is).

You need to start with a clear understanding of the objective and your strategy. Who is the target audience? What do you want them to know? What action do you want them to take?

And if you're trying to reach an English-speaking audience, you'd be well advised to get a copywriter whose native tongue is English.