Website Design ideas/ content
Hi All
I've created this website called http://www.charliesliveblog.co.uk and i'm stuck for ideas on what to actually put on the website to attract people e.t.c I had thought of forums but at the moment its not popular enough to warrant them, the website has been submitted to the search engines and i have meta tags in place.
I'm just so stuck for ideas on what to do to take it further, the most visitors we get are the same 10 people in the chat room on a daily basis when charlie streams live on his webcam.
any ideas ?
Thanks in advance
ejcross posted this at 17:37 — 5th July 2007.
He has: 27 posts
Joined: Jul 2007
Hi Guthix!
Neat site, and for content, why not just put things on it that interest you? You can put things on it relating to video games system, music, hobbies, etc and those will help draw people that share the same interest as you.
Good luck in your site!
Elliott Cross
my personal site
Asia'h Epperson Fan Site
kb posted this at 19:01 — 5th July 2007.
He has: 1,380 posts
Joined: Feb 2002
Hey
Your site all but crashed my Firefox. Not to be too harsh, but that design is really low-level, and it takes forever to load... those two things, in and of themselves, will not make people want to return. So even if you get them to visit once, you won't have repeats.
Also, you need content. Like ejcross said, structure the site around something you're interested and knowledgeable about. If there's actual content, you have a better chance of naturally increasing visitors. Worry about what the site is about first, before you worry about how to make some money off of visitors.
Even with all that said, there are many ways to direct traffic to your site. You can post ads through things like Google AdWords, you can submit your site (along with keywords, description, etc.) to be crawled by all the major search engines' spiders, you can put a link to the site in your signature on forums, you can put a link in your instant message profile, you can put a link in your email signature... those are all common, and pretty cheap, ways to get traffic. However, things like spamming message boards and chat rooms are looked down on, and may even result in you being blacklisted by some ISPs and/or search engines.
So... work on my first two points, and then go for the third. But believe me, sometimes no matter how much quality content you have, the only way to drive traffic to your site is through sheer willpower and persistence.
Guthix2007 posted this at 21:43 — 5th July 2007.
They have: 5 posts
Joined: Jul 2007
The website works fine for me in firefox and internet explorer, we do get around 11 repeat visitors the chat room is also well used but for ideas on what kind of content to add were kinda stuck as we have tried to add stuff like a quiz page but this failed to get any interest.
the site may look basic but its been designed so its easy to navigate for children charlie's age, the colour scheme was selected by charlie and it looks ok but i do want to redevelop it but seeing as we only get 11 repeat people its not worth the time right now.
Also the website is mostly a blogging website where charlie can post about his life on a daily basis he also streams on his webcam at the advertised times so content is difficult.
kb posted this at 23:17 — 5th July 2007.
He has: 1,380 posts
Joined: Feb 2002
You can argue all you want, but what I said are taken as universal truths in the design world.
If it helps any, I'm running Firefox on top of Linux (Ubuntu), but that really shouldn't make any difference.
"basic but designed for children" ... is that why you use a bunch of tables and don't remove borders?
Guthix2007 posted this at 09:46 — 6th July 2007.
They have: 5 posts
Joined: Jul 2007
what's wrong with the borders ? i thought they looked ok, what can i do to change them ? i'm open to suggestions.
sorry if i came accross as negative its just that it took me a week to make that site and for someone to come along and say its of a very low level just really hit me hard :/ i came here for some constructive advice on what could be done to make it less basic.
thanks
Guthix2007 posted this at 09:57 — 6th July 2007.
They have: 5 posts
Joined: Jul 2007
Hi again I've just removed the borders on the index.php page and i gotta say it does look better, shall i remove borders from the other parts too like where the buttons are ?
pr0gr4mm3r posted this at 02:03 — 6th July 2007.
He has: 1,502 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
Your header looks pretty cool, but you should use more basic colors on the rest of the page. The page freezes my Firefox browser for about a minute when it loads as well. I'm not sure what that is caused by, but it should be fixed if you ever want to get visitors. Also, you should direct the site to some sort of theme.
...and not many people care about your overgrown toenail. I would suggest a category other than...that.
Guthix2007 posted this at 09:44 — 6th July 2007.
They have: 5 posts
Joined: Jul 2007
you keep referring to the content that i wrote but i'm not charlie, i'm the webmaster of the site my name is Tom.
Charlie is the kid who writes the blogs, someone mentioned the borders and we kinda like the borders it gives the site some charactor
if i knew css i would remake it in that but i'm no good at designing layouts, coding i can do but when it comes to layouts thats my weakness
kb posted this at 14:27 — 6th July 2007.
He has: 1,380 posts
Joined: Feb 2002
Yes, I think so.
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