check this one? -

They have: 90 posts

Joined: Dec 1998

Nebulus,

Very nice looking site. In general, we are against black backgrounds. Although a black background gives the visitor a sense of intimacy or privacy, it is difficult to find a text color that does not hurt the reader's eyes when contrasted against the black. However, the deep yellow does seem soft and non-abrasive. The combination of yellow, black, and maroonish-red all compliment each other very well.

The company logo on top is very professional. The active "win software" is a good attention getter. And the javascripted links blend in well with the rest of the page...in fact, almost too well. It is pleasing to the user when the link lights up red, but they may not really be obvious links to some people. Especially to those who are color-blind.

Related to that is the inclusion of "associates?" For destination sites such as yours, as opposed to portal or information sites, it is important to keep the visitor at your site for as long as possible so they will buy something. Supplying a way away from your site on the home page is not a good idea. These same web sites (who are buttoned under "associates?") are already listed in the "links" page. Do not give your visitor a chance to leave before he/she at least looks around the site long enough to find the "links" page. And those who do not immediately see the javascripted text links may click the buttons and go to the other sites without ever finding out what you had to offer.

If you are somehow making money from the listing of the other sites, then those button are serving their purpose and providing income. If they are link exchanges then remove them...there are much better ways of promotion. If you have any questions about other forms of promotion email us - www.mountainworldwide.com .

It is interesting that you chose to build the keyword META Tags without commas. The typical reason to do this is: 1.)There are many specific keyword phrases that you wish to use and to save characters you do not use commas; 2.)Many of your keyword phrases contain a similar word so you link keyword phrases together by sharing that word because you do not want the search engines to think you are spamming (by repeating the word more than 5-7 times). However, your keywords, while related to your site, are very general and could be made more specific. And the word "web" is used well over five times and might be considered spamming by the search engines, possibly causing them to disclude Nebulus Designs from their listings.

Also, your description META Tag should be less of a keyword list and more of a quick ad to get your potential visitors click through to your site. Get rid of the list of things you offer and concentrate on telling your target audience whatever they want to hear- that you offer -to make them click through to your site. We will help you develop these META Tags. Contact us - [email protected] .

Overall, we really liked the look, feel, and navigation of your site. Our constructive critism was designed to help you get more traffic to your site and to keep them there. For more help promoting your site and getting more customers, do not hesitate to contact us.

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Mountain
WorldWide
Promotions
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When you are tired of searching the Internet for the answer to better traffic...
www.mountainworldwide.com
[email protected]
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    MOUNTAIN WORLDWIDE
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Banner Advertising
  • Opt-In Email Advertising
  • Media Planning & Buying
  • and much more...

They have: 14 posts

Joined: Jan 1999

Wow, thanks for the help! I am actually redoing the overall site design right now because the site grew so fast (as far as the various things we offer) that I need to add categories and sublinks. The lower frameset will go to the left side and the front page will get a makeover.

I'll have to screw with the meta tags as well.

Thanks again for the advice!

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Pat Friedl
Nebulus Designs
http://www.nebulus.org
[email protected]

They have: 2,390 posts

Joined: Nov 1998

Pat,
It seemed to be the connection that was slow - not the site itself.

Why do you want a graphical counter, they look unprofessional and clutter up pages, use the paid version of the Extreme counter - I do!

Randy, I am strongly against your advice of removing the buttons if they are only there as reciprocal links. This type of linking arrangement is very important for all sites, not all has to focus arround earning an income.
I would keep the buttons - but only grant this type of links to sites that bring back a lot of traffic.
eg: I have a button link to freefind.com on my site, this is because they feature my button on all the pages of their searches + on their home page.
Thanks,
JP

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Kindest Regards, JP Stones
.
The Webmaster Promotion and Resource Site
http://www.what-next.com - Winner of 20+ Awards
The NEXT step in Designing and Promoting your Website

They have: 14 posts

Joined: Jan 1999

Actually, I'd like a graphical counter that used digits that matched the site a little better. I'm actualy installing the Axis CGI for web site tracking. It tracks the amount of time a visitor spends on each page, their progression through the site, byts transferred, etc. and I may just make it invisible anyway.

I do want to keep the buttons on the front page becaus ethose pages are also linked to me from their front pages. These sites also provide a decent amount of traffic to my site above all other links. For instance, the site I Face Warehouse uses my scripts in his page set and on his site. In exchange, he promotes my site an awful lot, so I just reciprocate.

In fact, I've gotten a lot more traffic to my site from link buttons than I have from the search engines.

As far the color scheme goes, I decided to use black because being a graphics related site, I have to admit I'm jumping on the bandwagon here.

Anyway, That's the nebulus story. It's more or less a site for the enjoyment of it and if I land a few site contracts out of it, then cool beans! Hell, I got a day job....

Talk to you guys later!

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Pat Friedl
Nebulus Designs
http://www.nebulus.org
[email protected]

They have: 14 posts

Joined: Jan 1999

Here ya go - http://www.nebulus.org

I'm headed off to critique other sites... L8r!

They have: 16 posts

Joined: Dec 1998

Nice...Very nice!

John

They have: 2,390 posts

Joined: Nov 1998

V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W...
ah, here it is;
First impressions are very flatering - but the tacky counter brought it down in my estimation

First graphic in the portfolio was dead - better fix that.

Overall pretty nice.
JP

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Kindest Regards, JP Stones
.
The Webmaster Promotion and Resource Site
http://www.what-next.com - Winner of 20+ Awards
The NEXT step in Designing and Promoting your Website

They have: 14 posts

Joined: Jan 1999

hmm, slow? I cleared the cache and restarted the browser and got it pretty quickly - even at a creeping 24K!

Also, I checked the images in the portfolio - everything's a go.

Maybe there's something with the connection...

BTW, is there a good CGI out there that can do graphical counters AND excellent site tracking?

Thanks for the input!

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Pat Friedl
Nebulus Designs
http://www.nebulus.org
[email protected]

They have: 453 posts

Joined: Jan 1999

ok ...

i'll write while i look (first impressions count)

    [*]load time: ~60s imho a bit slow for 28K

    [*]the "yellow" on the black looks familiar, but i like the red. readability is good

    [*]the link-buttons (bottom-left) look a bit scattered. keep them but try another layout.maybe all in one colum/row ??

    [*]navigation is understandable

    [*]on to the sub-pages ... at least a few

    [*]navbar looks good and is functional. i like the shart description for the menus-entries

    [*] buzzer ... page does not work without javascript ... the navbar ...

    [*]the "buttons" (free graphics) are aligned at the top of the right frame ... looks a little ... hmm ... strange

    [*]just surfed around ... few outside links ... good that keeps me here.

    [*]not much usable content (for me) but newbies should find something

    [*]the tutorial-section could need a little structuring

    [/list]

    Overall:

    I think it's a nice site with a few "not so nice" things.

    hope i was a help.

    ciao

    Anti

    ps:

    my latest (in progress) work can be seen at WebHome

They have: 5,633 posts

Joined: Jan 1970

I liked it. very clean and easy to read.

I checked out some of your portfolio too. very nice work. I bet you can do some layer switching in place of some of your graphics. that would increase some download time. just a thought

very cool

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