Feedback On New Web Site Needed

1. Very, very clean. Nothing to comlain about really - it's so simple.

2. Loads nice and fast on my pokey old 33.6 (yeah, I need a new computer, bad)

3. Well it is easy to navigate, but at first I was looking for something that would lead me to your content. Now I'm confused - is this site just a bunch of links to other sites? I'm wondering where if there is any unique content and if so, where it is. I would definitely find a way to separate your content from external content, just so people aren't too surprised when they're sent to another site. Create another section called "articles" and use that for your content, with the Directory reserved for external sites.

Now I notice that drop down box. I really didn't know what to expect from those links and how they related to the other sites in your directory. I would get rid of that and incorporate it into the directory.

4. Will check at work if nobody else can.

5. Two things - there's too much text on the front page. Nobody is going to read that. I would replace it with blurbs about your latest articles (with links of course).
Oh, and get rid of the "click here"'s - people are going to be skimming that text if they look at it at all, so it would help a lot of you linked words indicating where the links are going instead .

Secondly, you should really have more unique content, although I do think the directory would be quite useful.

I would say that it is too clean. Needs something to clutter it up. It is just too blah. There is very, very little visual stimulation. Here is my advice:

• Throw some pictures in there and maybe a bit of javascript rollovers. Not enough to slow things down but enough to give it some WOW factor.
• If you have to tell someone to click here, you are doing something wrong.
• Change your tables to about a 720-760 instead of the 600pixels it is set at now. Everyone but Megan has gotten rid of their 15" 640x480 monitor.
• Get rid of Front Page. If you want something that puts up some bloated unoriginal code, use FP, otherwise learn to tweak it yourself.
• Come up with a better identity. Your logo is a bit weak. You don't have to have anything fancy. You could probably take your name like you have it and put it in another backgound.
• I am really not sure about the select box. I would instead break to out as links or in some type of nav bar.
• Is it supposed to be > Home or should it be Home or better yet lose it.
• Never ever put up something that says under construction. Usually if I have a page that is not ready, I will just link it back to the home page.
• It is pretty stinky when someone clicks on one of your links in the drop down box, and it always fronts and covers the page they are wanting to view with a subsciption list.

The main thing above anything is that add some color, a few images, some effect, anything to spice it up a bit.

Thanks for the feedback Megan and mairving. Yes I am offering links to articles, software, books, tools, and tutorials. I've read every article in my article section and believe they provide a lot of useful information that’s why I link to them. The software that I use here at the office is in my opinion the very best out there and it works very well for us. The tools section lists very useful tools that I have used and still use every day. As for the HTML banner yes it is a little misleading but it takes you to a web site that sell an Internet Marketing Course that I took last year. This is a course that I highly recommend people take if you want to be successful in internet marketing. A lot of people here in the Bahamas are always asking me to promote their web site. But promoting a web site takes time lots of time. About 8 months to a year to get any significant amounts of traffic. We all know off-line marketing costs an arm and a leg but on-line marketing cost very little most of it can be done for free. I can only recommend that they take this course, as I do not have the time to help them. I may start consulting. may be.

Again thanks for the feedback.

Gavin

Hey, who says I'm running at 640 x 480? I have mine set at 1024 actually (I am going to go shopping this weekend for a new machine. At least check out a few local shops and see how their prices compare to Dell's. Will post more in the Computer Help Forum). Don't make fun of my computer eh? Besides, I really didn't think that 15" monitors were that uncommon...

Anyway, to make this post somewhat useful, I would check your site stats before you start ignoring 640 x 480. A small percentage of users on my sites use that and I usually try to accomodate them if I can. With an internet marketing site, however, it would probably be safe to assume that most of your users are running higher resolutions.

The layout is nice and clean.. but too clean. Especially since this site is aimed at webdesigners, i think you need some more glitz. I don't mean plopping some sensless animated gifs, making the background bright green and adding goofy image links. Just something to first of all make it more INTERESTING to look at, second to make it easier to read (it's so bland.. it's distracting .... no offense) and third to give it originality. If you want web-people to take the articles seriously they have to be at least pleased with the site, imo... think about your audience. I do like the general idea, the left nav bar is over-used i think. Just add some more color, theres a lot of white space for me, running 1024x768. An image would be nice, maybe a more exciting logo. The color scheme is odd, the orange links with red text on the banner... But the drop down works for me, but i had to read megan's post to see it really. Maybe but it in a table cell with a different background, if not that, the text works.. widen the table a hundred pixels or something...

Megan, I am kidding with you. I have about 1-2% with 640x480. I have read that this is about the average. 800x600 is at about 40-45%.

On three different sites, I'm getting the following resolution stats:

computer-related site (overclocking, etc.) so not surprised that the bulk are using 1024 or higher
640 - 7%
800 - 35%

breed-specific cat site
640 - 9%
800 - 58%

Korean War veterans group site
640 - 15%
800 - 57%

Maybe I need to get a job selling monitors to war veterans. I have a client that I just built a website for. He has a 15" monitor that is running at 640x480. He also leaves the favorites bar open on the side which cuts out 100 or more pixels. I am trying to sell him a new monitor.

Getting a little off topic here but there's a guy at work on a 13 inch monitor who has all the toolbars for IE open, the links, the radio bar, the maximum size icons and has the favorites bar open. He browses the web at 640*480 in a window about 4 inches square! When offered a brand new sony trinitron 21 inch monitor he turned it down because "he was used to his old samsung"

Go figure.

**end of off-topic post**