How do you Like Me Now? Website REVISIONS

jimmybuffit

jimmybuffit

That'll buff right out!
My new website v beta.02



Photo Album yet to come. The developer was pleased to have so many comments, and those of you who saw the first version will note, he's open to changes!!



Comments are STILL welcome - we have a meeting Monday am to continue this...



Thanks to all.



Jim
 
1. hate big repeating backgrounds.

2. don't make the user have to start the site by clicking a button.

3. drop the contact thing

4. if your not going to have the link name next to the text at least show it when you roll over.

5. everything is too big.

6. Not sure what the developer is doing, but 586k is pretty large for that site and probably a lot bigger than that type of site should be.j

7. It's hard to read the text with that bg.



Think if you were a user going to a detailing site. Would you care about *fancy* spinning graphics or buttons with no text next to them. You probably would want the quick and dirty.

Whats the prices and what can you do for my car in as few clicks as possible.
 
Stick to the K.I.S.S. principle.



Use a solid color background (its hard to read the text with what you have)

If you want, display a banner across the top with your logo.



Loose the numbers...they don't tell anyone where they're going.



A larger area for text so that a person doesn't have to scroll so much will keep the readers attention



By all means get rid of the swirly "contact us" thing (it doesn't even do anything, it's not a link).

Just put a contact us link at the bottom of every page.

Nobdy wants to hunt down contact information. (there's no email address to email you once I found the contacts)



On the plus side the resized pictures of your work is a step in the right direction .:up



Personally don't try to fix this, just start from scratch.

Sorry :o

"J"
 
NO offense intended, but it is totally awful! Very distracting background, hard to read, just a bad layout. I prefered the last version much better.
 
yeah, the stuff does work pretty good so the guy is actually pretty good at writing the code



HOWEVER, the layout is just bad. It is very hard to figure out what to do. The "forward" and "back" buttons need labels, as well as that little index thing on the right.



The opening page is confusing



I dont like the "contact us" thing on the first page



I *really* like this autopian's (turbomangt) website...in flash... mabey use this to give your designer some inspiration in layout...

http://www.perfectautofinish.com/
 
581K is a pretty big download for dialup users. You'll lose some visitors right off the bat. Even on cable, if I were to find a link to your site I'd be clicking back because it takes a few seconds to load. You want the site to appeal to as many people as possible since each visitor could potentially become a customer.



The animations are pretty annoying.



The navigation is not intuitive. When the website is loaded, I had to look around for a few seconds before I could figure out what to do. I thought I was just looking at a pretty demonstration.



Focus on presenting content rather than trying to make things look so pretty. Function over form. The site shouldn't be a demonstration of your designer's skills, rather a demonstration of your skills and why I should trust my car to you. That info might be buried in there someplace, but all the fancy stuff is too distracting.



If you insist on flash, you'll at least want a pure HTML page for the contact info, IMHO. Someone would have a hard time printing out the info or copy / pasting someplace.
 
I agree with the rest of the comments here. The original was actually better. The muliti-colored background and waving "Contact Us" is annoying. Being left with a wide open space and nothing to click on but the numbers on the side will bother most visitors. Name the sections Like "Experience" not "1" It will look a lot better. It just needs some tweaking and a little smoother layout. Also, yor pics are of poor quality. Use a higher resolution. The guy doing it for you definately has the skills to make it all work, it just needs some attention to the overall design.
 
I'm not sure how fimilar your developer is with flash, but possibly he is making the mistake of most flash developers. That is when they first start to use the program they over use it and abuse it. Like the spinning graphics and un-necessary animation, most flash newbees (and i'm not saying your developer is only maybe) what everything in flash.
 
I agree with everyone's comments so far.



Suggestion: base the site on regular HTML and use FLASH to do smaller components. e.g. Have the site as regular html but maybe do a small FLASH show to add some pizzazz. I'm thinking around 3.5" by 3.5" maximum for the FLASH component. Remember, you should TRY to make the site accessible to as many people as possible which means dial up connections and smaller monitors.
 
Man, I took a second look at that site, and it's even worse than the first time I looked. I just really don't know why this guy is so focused on flash. Tell him to scrap the flash idea. JMO
 
you can probably get microsoft Front Page and design your own web site better. i know i have :D.



i just cant find a place to host a front page document for free. any ideas?
 
I like the idea behind the website!!! with that said!!!



As a web developer my self I understand some of the challanges that your developer is facing! Here are some suggestions!



If you want to stick to an all Flash website you can! Just tell your developer that he shouldn't be loading his pictures as part of the whole movie the pictures should only load on comand. Thus making initial load time a lot faster. (faster for even dial up users).



Pictures... Although the picture of the Lamborgini is great...its kind of out of focus or something. Takes away from the whole "detailing Image" and I would also suggest having more! People who are going up to your website are probably going up to your website to see your services and your pricing, along with quality of work! It might not hurt to have a place for customer testamonials (simalar to a guest book) which you can review before being published!



You might want to stick you logo in the upper left corner of the screen along with contact info so that potential customers don't have to search for it!



The very little text that you do have on your website is difficult to read due to the intruding back ground!



I think as a rule of thumb for a business website you should stick to the assentials for advertising!



1. Who - you are (business name/slogan if any)

2. What - What your business is, who you cater to what your mission statement ect. And what services you offer

3. When - When are your services available? Are you mobile? How long will your "Typical" full detail take ect.

4. Where - Your location (contact us)

5. How - What are you using to complete your job (ie state of the are equipment that allows you to produce results that won't be found anywhere else. We use detailing products from (insert companies here) ect



If your looking for things to add flare to your website ... you should work them into a basic layout! If you want to use flash that is great! However you should provide links that people are use to!



Sorry for the long response... And I am not knocking the work you have had done! Flash is an excelent program that offers endless possiblities! However Its not always best to have a full flash website!



If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at [email protected]



Try surfing around the web to see what how other companies utilize flash... you might get some good ideas!
 
I agree wih the others - it is way too busy. One other thing I haven't seen mentioned. The pictures are still not clear. That is the most important selling point. You couild talk the talk but a quality picture is worth a thousand words.



Example - look at the quality of Scottwax's pictures. He doesn't need to say anything - those pictures WILL sell his services. So I'd say to improve those pictures. I am quite sure that your work equals his and the oher great pros on this site.



Let people really see your work. m2c
 
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