37 replies to this topic

[fisicx]

Seems like forever since I last submitted a site of my own for review but after getting hammered elsewhere I thought I'd get the opinions of the experts.

Anyway, the site ranks #1 and converts well but something isn't right and I can't put my finger on it.

Suggestions please: website-assessments.co.uk

I feel there needs to be something in the top right corner but I'm not sure what, everything I've tried looks wrong.

Ta muchly,

Graham

PS: I know I do website assessments but it's easier to analyse someone else's than to do your own!

PPS: I really ought to spend more time here and not be drawn to the darkside

[DonnaFontenot]

Just a fast reply in the fast reply box here.

I'd put a small square of vertically scrolling testimonials in the upper right corner, or just a random different testimonial "ad" type image that appears on every page load. However you do it, I'd put a small testimonial in that spot (preferably not the exact same one on every page load).

[tam]

A picture of you?

It's a bit texty at the minute. It sort of feels like your shouting at me. You've emphasised half the page, either big, blue, bold or italic and with everything trying to stand out, that means nothing does. The top menu blends in with the feeling of textyness.

I think you need some more white space, indent your bullets, increase your headings margins, round the corners of your box, add a logo or some branding. You say 'call me' which is nice and personal but I can't see your name or anything about who 'me' is. I think if you make a bit more of a personal connection, you'll build more trust and be more memorable.

Your content reads really well, you sounds like a real/genuine/helpful person, but I'm not sure the site says the same things with a quick glance (and the first impression does make a difference).

[fisicx]

Ta muchly for the reviews.

I like the idea of the testimonials in the corner however I'm tempted to do a 'top tips' type thing using material from the website checklist' page.

I've fiddled with the CSS to make the page a little less shouty (I hope) with lots more whitespace.

The h1 colour isn't right but I've got the colour sense of a doughnut so any suggestions for the palette would also be appreciated.

[DonnaFontenot]

For colors: go to http://colorschemedesigner.com/

Start by clicking on the color wheel in the blue areas. Once you play with that a bit (clicking through the various options such as complement, triad, tetrad, etc. above the color wheel), then click on the Light Page Example link (just under the big square area of colors to the right of the wheel). This gives you a good idea of what the colors you chose would look like on a real site.

[fisicx]

Thanks Donna,

I already use that tool and enjoy browsing colourlovers.com but my colour perception is pants. I think a combination looks great but my partner shakes her head in disbelief.

(I like orange and green with a dash of purple on a cyan background)

Edited by fisicx, 01 September 2011 - 07:42 AM.

[DonnaFontenot]

Ah! Never mind then.

[send2paul]

Graham/all - hi.

"stuff floating aimlessly in whitespace" - there - I said it! But seriously, that was my first impression.

I guess I'm from a "box it" and "coloured background" school of thought.

My second impression, (based on the first), was: "MS Frontpage design from 20 years ago" - I know, it doesn't sound good does it? But that's what it feels like to me.

Right - I'm off to finish my porridge!

Laters dudes!

[A.N.Onym]

Initial impressions:
- the slogan under the logo is barely readable (too white)
- navigation is hardly readable, since it's not bold, but white on a dark blue background
- I liked how the text is composed on the homepage: I do it the same way
- the fields in the form to the right stick outside the column for me. Since it happens on all major resolutions, I assume it's the design, but it looks off and broken. I'd stick the fields inside the width of the blue form background
- I'd remove the "bot checK' field. having it means you are treating your visitors as bots. I'm not sure, if you can use Mollom (you aren't on WordPress, to my knowledge), but that's what I use on Drupal It doesn't require a captcha or a math field, unless you ask for it, but analyzes message text for spamminess.

I agree about the testimonials: I'd place one under the main text and one in the right column. Maybe even one above the form and another under it even if it means removing the unnecessary image

Edited by A.N.Onym, 01 September 2011 - 05:53 AM.

[fisicx]

That's what I like about this forum, assassination with a smile.

I didn't want tob be one of those 'all you can eat for a fiver' type sites. I prefer the intelligentsia as they are more likely to make a considered purchase rather than those who only want freebies.

As you may have realised, colours are not my strong point so I'll be working on these. I've been told that the yellow and blue make it look like a cheap realtors website!

Strange that the form fields overflow, they don't for me. any chance of a screen shot?

I like floating in whitespace. Testing has shown that boxes affect the information flow which can prevent visitors from getting to the important bits on the page. Same a backgrounds, they can enclose the content making the visitor feel hemmed in. It's a psychological thing.

As to frontpage - how did you guess that was my editor of choice?

Thanks guys

BTW, if you want a good little tool for testing layout and things check out fivsecondtest.com

[tam]

I like how all the elements are arranged and the content itself (all the bits that are most important), like you say there is just a little something missing.

Have you tried looking at minimalist site designs/navigation for inspiration. If you google there are loads of 30 best minimalist designs posts. You can have the white space and the lack of boxes and still standout.

Maybe make your boxes less in your face, that's a bold blue, but you can have very subtle boxes and still group elements with them. Try #91afeb or #a9d5e0 for the background of the contact form (even shades of blue mix things up a bit).

I think a logo might help. If that's not your forte (and I'm rubbish at them) you could try cloud sourcing if you don't want to spend a lot. Even if you don't pick it, it will give you a lot of options for ideas. You can stick with something simple with typography, but maybe something a little more unique. Something that would make a cool business card

[bwelford]

Hi Graham

I must be in your target niche, because I quite like this architecture and layout. I won't make any detailed comments but I think the site needs a clearer focus on selling the reader on doing a review rather than just giving information on what should be in a review. It's small things but for example the tagline under the Title should have the words 'A guide to how' removed.

On the How it works page, I presume you 'pore' over each web page rather than 'pour' over each, unless I don't understand the process.

[fisicx]

Thanks everyone.

I've cleared out the clutter and made the colours a little less strong. A logo is one the list of things to do but the overall look of the site is still not quite right.

I'm sort of heading towards the idea of a monochrome design (or shades of grey) with just a splash of colour. This sort of thing: http://anthonyjamesbruno.com/ or http://www.corporateriskwatch.com/ (but not the awful navigation)

Here's the latest incarnation: http://www.website-assessments.co.uk/

Bary, I'm now poring correctly!

[jonbey]

I would get at least 1 case study on the site. Ask some past clients if you wouldn't mind you using their site as an example and show the before and after screenshots with a bullet list of the major changes, why they were made and the positive effects it had on sales etc. That, I think, would be a good selling point.

At the moment I just think, why trust this chap to improve my site for £70. A lot of money for nothing, not a lot of money for a major update.

Testimonials could just have some images of sites too. More design needed.

[RisaBB]

Hi Graham,

Congrats on being #1 for whatever term you're shooting for!

A few comments that I think will make your site even better:

- what does prevaricate mean? I never heard of it. is that some fancy English word? Although I can figure out what it means, maybe use a more regular word? Regardless, I think there should be a period or a dash after prevaricate.

- Home page is two words. Anyway, I've never seen 'homepage' before as a link although I have seen 'Home' as a link.

- change your tag line to html so the SE's can read it. Add a little more line spacing between that tag line and "Website Assessments."

- the yellow H2 font is too light. Change to a color with more contrast.

- I'd see how the site looks with a 1px wide border in black or gray around the content area.

- for the bullets, the text on the 2nd line should not wrap back to the bullet but under the first letter.

- I think I'd move up your testimonial. Maybe use javascript to make it a rotating testimonial, unless that will be too dizzying. The blue color of the testimonial is too light.

- I think one sleek graphic would set a nice tone for the whole site. Either it should be in your logo in the header or as a background. There a website called http://www.digitalju...ts.asp?pid=1523 that has really amazing graphics. I've bought one of their collections before. I just visited their site for the first time in a year or so, and I had trouble finding their images, but I bought a collection from their Juice Drops collection.

- I think a font with a bigger line spacing would look better. the text looks a little too big and cramped. I like Verdana 10 with a line spacing of about 18.

Risa

[A.N.Onym]

I knew I forgot something.

Here's the screenshot of what I"m looking at in the form:
 website_assessments.png   216.77K   17 downloads

[fisicx]

Right.

Thanks for all the great ideas. I've got them all listed and am ticking off where appropriate.

I'm really thinking that the less is more approach could work for this site. I'm not trying to sell my design skills (that's not the point of the site) so I wnat; to remove that focus.

So I'm heading down the minimalist road: http://www.website-a...nts.co.uk/test/

I like the idea of a single graphic to frame the site, just haven't found one I like (thanks Risa)

Homepage must be a British thing. If it's good enough for the BBC it's good enough for me!

Prevaricate means to faff about and not make a decision.

Form problem is weird Yura, no idea how to solve that one but looking at your Google search it's good to see you were working hard!

And now back to work (with a client who thinks animations are necessary on a website...)

[A.N.Onym]

I am using Firefox 5 and Opera 11.xx, the Ubuntu versions. Maybe just set the field to display:block and set its width to something less, than the column width?

:duh:

Edited by A.N.Onym, 05 September 2011 - 11:53 PM.

[fisicx]

Thanks Yuri,

I'll bear in mind your suggestion but I've moved on a bit:

There are now three versions:

Ugly: http://www.website-a...nts.co.uk/ugly/

Simple: http://www.website-a...nts.co.uk/test/

My fave: http://www.website-a....co.uk/redtest/

Answers on postcard please to: 'naff webdesigner, someplace in Hampshire, Ingerland'

Edited by fisicx, 08 September 2011 - 02:01 AM.

[send2paul]

Graham - ola!

Quick response, (having a "micro break" at the moment!) - like the "red test" - but I think someone mentioned it before about different fonts - reading the page is like having my eyes dragged over hot coals! ... in the nicest possible way, of course!