Website review appreciated

[Rich]

Hi all,

Quick background - Typical small/medium business - person with the most computer knowledge (just above average) nominated as IT guy - thats me (useless but love it) thats why I'm here to get some feedback on our website.

We are an entertainment company and our website hasn't changed in years so I gave it a facelift to try and make it lighter and brighter and would appreciate it if you could have a look and see if I am on the right track.

Now my website design ability is limited to Frontpage (stop laughing you in the second row) but stick to your limitations I say so I know the coding ect is cr*p but google dosn't seem to mind as we are page 1&2 for most keywords so I am more concerned about making it appealng for our customers.

ps: As a picture tells a thousand stories especially in our business I know that some of the pages are probably a bit slow to load but I don't know how I can improve that without sacrificing the quality of the pics.

So your thoughts much appreciated

Ooops might help to include url
www.bubblingwithenergy.com.au

Kind Regards
Rich

[Chrissie]

Hi Rich,

Congratulations on taking the initiative to refresh your company's look. I'm currently in the design stages of a website, so I'm frequenting this section of the forum a fair bit, to try and learn from everyone who's gone there before me!

First off, I really like the colours you've used - the pale blue background is nice and makes the logo stand out against it, and from what I can see, you've included all the necessary information.

However I would bring the layout to your attention - at the moment it's too busy and all over the place, which makes it hard to focus on any one piece of information.

My suggestions would be to centralise more, put the scrolling pics and details about what you offer (the pink writing currently at the top) further down the page, and put the links to the different webpages and the information about who you are and what you do at the top.

Also, I would say that contact details should come below the logo, because your name is the first thing that should grab people's attention.

And one more thing (this is one thing I'm really pedantic about ) get everything on the site proofread - there's not a lot of things that need correcting, but it's important to make sure things read clearly to outsiders who don't necessarily know what you're trying to say.

I hope that this is helpful, and don't be shy about arguing with me - that's all just from my personal viewpoint!

Good luck,

Chrissie

[Rich]

Hi, Chrissie,

Thanks for taking the time to review the site, your thoughts on the layout eg; busy and centralise are very interesting as I have been to preoccupied with getting the colour scheme right.

I think you are correct about the name and contacts being reversed and I will look at how I can achieve some of your other suggestions.

My other concern is that the home page is a different layout to what you see when you enter you enter the site but I didn't feel as if I had enough white space using the same template to convey what I wanted to on the home page, it felt a bit claustrophobic.

I will do a test page based on your suggestions over the weekend and I look forward to more comments from yourself and others.

ps; thanks also to Lucki for the comments on the new Member section they are not dis-similar to yours

Regards
Rich

[Renee Barber]

Hi Rich

I love that you're giving it a go too, which probably sounds strange from a website designer, but I think it's worthwhile for people to try new things.

I have to say ... honestly ... that my first reaction was 'Yikes' followed by the desire to scurry away. It's just, as Chrissie put it 'too busy and all over the place'.

I'd suggest that you, first of all, change the font size (increase it) and also the font itself. I also wouldn't put that many font colours on the page as the eye is pretty swamped already with the 'slideshow' on top.

There was something rather claustrophobic about the page and I think it may be the body text being 'bookended' by images.

You might actually want to do a test case with the moving banner at the bottom, just to give the eye a rest and the ability to take in your logo and what you're actually selling before being barraged.

OK, that's it for my suggestions/first impressions. I hope they help.

[Rich]

Hi Renee,

Thanks for the feedback, the general view so far is busy busy busy and the font size and tooooo many colours, so I will address those and see what happens.

What I was trying to achieve was having the home page fit onto the the sreen without having to scroll down, this has probably a mistake??.

Re the font sizes, I was also trying to cater for to many screen sizes eg; on a screen at 800x600 the page seemed to in your face but of course as the screen resolution increases every thing looks smaller, so who should I cater for??.

Could you's be so kind to have a look at the Corporate Events or Private Parties Menu page and see if I should change the main page to the same type of template.

Again I appreciate you help and encouragement

Regards
Rich

[Benedict]

Hi Rich

Firstly thanks Chrissie & Renee for throwing the "first punch" on this one. I know that is a hard thing to do. And hard as the receiver but you seem to be taking it in stride, so good on you too Rich.

I also will say far too busy and cluttered. It makes me want to leave instantly.

As such there is nothing terribly wrong with using Frontpage or similar altho it can make some things harder for you. What you are lacking here are the skills and understanding to build clear and easy to get content.

There are a lot of articles on my site esp under "How To" that may help you a lot http://www.brmwebconsulting.com/articles.htm

You need to develop a clean and clear template that is applied to every page so there is no 'culture shock' as you move from page to page. When choosing or developing a template be sure not to let novelties lead you. You sell novelties but the usability of your site has to to be universal and professional.

If you are not a self-learner then you may get your boss to spring for a tutor to speed your progress and his/hers.

:-)

[Rich]

Hi Benedict,

Thanks to you and the others who have taken the time to review the site, I will now digest all of the info plus check out the links you supplied and re-evaluate the best way forward.

I have no doubt that I will end up with a pretty good website as I am to stubborn not to keep at it till I succeed

I will BE BACK

Regards
Rich

[Benedict]

Good on you Rich.