SDI WEBSITE GRAND OPENING!!

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Sherry Lee

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Jun 25, 2002
Posts
2,228
Loc
Phoenix, Az.
You may recall six months ago I said I was taking a "leave of abscence" from TG in order to learn how to make a website (while framing was so slow). Loooong story short, my dear brother was kind enough to design the site and teach me how to "load" it.

The website is for our 'secondary line' (you know, some of you sell bait to support your framing business....I'll NEVER forget THAT ONE!). We started selling celebrity/sports photos about ten years ago. Customers ALWAYS asked if we had a website. I KNEW it would be a massive undertaking - and it WAS & IS...tons and tons of work, but I've really enjoyed it.

Please take a look at our "Grand Opening":

www.sdistudio.com

Constructive feedback is welcomed!
 
Overall I like it.

It is easy to navigate.

The only thing I would change is minor....

When you are on the opening page the photos fly in to give you an idea of what is in that section.

When you click on that section and you see sub categories there are no photos flying in just words and compared to the first page it just kind of lays there. If I was interested in singers and then saw and actors picture by the other section it would get me to look around a bit more than just what I went there for.

Like the drop down to offer matting as well.

Well designed, good job.

Bob
 
Bob,
Thank you so much for taking the time to look at the site and to comment.

Your point is well taken - an excellent point!! I will share that with my famous website designer once he returns from vacation. :) I know he will have some great ideas!
 
Another thing I really liked....

I accidentally left the site running while I went to other things and was pleasantly surprised to see the photos flying in on the home page continue to stack up on top of each other as if they were really being piled up. I know it is a small thing but I liked the look.

Bob
 
A few suggestions

  1. You might want to center the header. It is currently left justified.
  2. You might want to make the height of the "PHOTOS - PHOTOS - PHOTOS" banner the same height as the "ART - ART - ART" banner. J
  3. On most web pages, if you click the logo in the header, it brings you to the home page. I suggest you do the same.
  4. Clicking on the "Home" link in the bread crumb does not bring you back to the home page but bring you to the category page.
  5. On the Contact page, the header is centered but the left side of the menu is on top of the logo.
  6. For SEO purposes, you might want to change the meta page description and keywords so it is specific to the page. Google penalizes websites that have the same meta for all its pages.

Just my 3 cents.
Regards,
Troy
 
Yay, Sherry Lee! I'm glad it's up and running! :thumbsup:
 
Troy,
Thank you for your three cents - well spent! ;)

I'm curious....when you say the Center Headers are offset to the left, do you NOT see the GRAND OPENING insert on the right of the header (a lot of colorful balloons & Grand opening discount)? It is on EVERY page....including the contact page which balances out the header. I'd be interested in knowing if folks are not receiving that!

Re: Art/Photo banners.....that was changed a bit because when we had them EQUAL, the format did not reflect that there was a bottom area - people only saw Celeb. & Sports photos (not Richard Nearing Art & Motivational, etc.). This way one realizes they need to scroll down. We have other plans for a future change that will most likely adjust that back.

The other issues I will refer to the webmaster.

Please do let me know if you are not seeing the Grand Opening insert at top right of the header.

Thank you for your input!
Sherry Lee
 
Sherry Lee said:
I'm curious....when you say the Center Headers are offset to the left, do you NOT see the GRAND OPENING insert on the right of the header (a lot of colorful balloons & Grand opening discount)? It is on EVERY page....including the contact page which balances out the header. I'd be interested in knowing if folks are not receiving that!

Please do let me know if you are not seeing the Grand Opening insert at top right of the header.
Click to expand...
I tried to go to your site today but it is not loading anymore but I do recall seeing the grand opening balloon graphic on the right of the header. I am viewing your website on a wide screen monitor using Firefox and your site has a liquid format. A liquid format is when the page adjusts itself to the window size of the browser and fills the whole browser window when the window is maximized. The middle portion of the page expands and contracts as I resize the browser window but the header graphic stays glued to the left side of the browser window. Most of the pages I visited on your site does this except the "Contact" page. In the contact page, the header is center justified. It moves to the center of the browser window when the window is resized.

This is a little hard to explain without visual aids. I wanted to take snapshots of your pages but I could not open you site anymore. I keep getting a "Server Not Found" error message.

Regards,
Troy
 
IS ANYONE ELSE NOT ABLE TO OPEN THE WEBSITE WITH A MESSAGE "SERVER
NOT FOUND"?

I have had several check this out and they are able to get into the site just fine. Please do share any difficulties with me.

THANK YOU,
Sherry Lee
 
Indeed....

Sherry Lee; said:
IS ANYONE ELSE NOT ABLE TO OPEN THE WEBSITE WITH A MESSAGE "SERVER
NOT FOUND"?
Click to expand...

Sherry, It was down, but it is back up now. You might want to check with whomever is physically hosting your website. ;)

More comments later...off to work.

John
 
Congrats on your new site. You've started down a path of no return. I just hope it's a good path for you. I have a love/hate relationship with web work and I can tell you've done a great deal of work.

As far as constructive criticism is concerned, I have a few suggestions.

I really like movement on a website. There is a bit much on there. Everything is moving and competing for attention. Even the "photos - photos - photos -..." and "art - art - art -...." is challenging my very short attention span. Scrolling text is, for me, a deal breaker.

When am linked to a different site, I like to know it. I would have Richard Nearing's site open in a new window. I was going to suggest that all your pages look more similar as I was linked to a different site. I think I'm a little internet savvy and was confused until I looked at the address bar.

There is over 900 words, according to Word, on your FAQ page. Not only is a bit wordy, it's spread out for miles. I'd try and compact that a little so that is quicker and easier to get the info I need and you wish to share.

I love the way it's all laid out. Except for the home page, it's visually pleasing and quite functional.

I love your shopping cart. It's user friendly and effective.

I like when I select a photo catagory I'm giving subcategories (Sports - baseball, football,....). I think those pages can be slightly more visually appealing as long as it's clean and effective.

Also good on you for keeping it simple. I'll bet you have many more plans for the site but keep it manageable. You don't need 30 pages all jammed with information about your business.

Take it FWIW. Good luck and great job!
 
I got the Server not found message but when I reloaded it it came right up.

Nice site... easy to navigate.

:thumbsup:
 
Sherry,
I have attached 2 captures on what it looks like in Firefox widescreen monitor set at 1290x768.

The home page has the header graphic left justified.
The contact page has the header graphic center justified but the menu is on top of the logo. Both screen shots has the Firefox window maximized.

Regards,
Troy
 

Attachments

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I sure appreciate everyone's input!

No doubt you are aware, you start with an idea for a website, develop a plan and then "attack" it (run with it). It's amazing to watch it unfold and then suddenly, 'voila' - THIS IS IT! One could spend a lifetime 'tweaking'. Right now I'm just thrilled it's "launched"!

I will share this input with my brother - when he/we do updates perhaps some of this can be incorporated.

Again, thanks for taking the time - I know it's a "precious commodity". :)

Sherry Lee
 
Sherry Lee said:
One could spend a lifetime 'tweaking'. Right now I'm just thrilled it's "launched"!
Click to expand...

Exactly. You're indexed well in Google and you have a terrific domain age - two things that will really help your rankings if you do your SEO right. So I'd obsess over Google rankings for specific keywords rather than obsessing over the 'look' , etc.
 
Jay H:

Re: FAQ's page.....

Yes, it is wordy (THAT'S ME!)....just ask my "bruv"! ;) That's how I dot all my i's and cross my t's!

It really is a simple page though - because Rich designed it so that the topics are listed at the top. Anyone can then click directly to the information they care to study. He did a great job on that.

Most of the FAQ's page is for disclaimers. Of course, 99.9% aren't going to bother reading it - BUT, it's there for that .1% ;)
 
Thanks for the heads up. To be honest, I missed that the first time. I scrolled the page so quickly looking at your topics, that I missed the red at the top.

I think the questions at the top and linked to the text is a great way to handle that. Like this http://www.menswearhouse.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContactUs_-1_10601_10051_10721__

I don't think my current lease is 1000 words. But if it takes that many words, it takes that many words. If you were going to have alot of text, I like this design, http://www.menswearhouse.com/webapp...1_10601_10051__10714_10709_AbtTermsofUse.html

That's really wordy but I can see alot of info at one time and my eye is free to wander the page for the info I want.

I'm nit picking though. Really, I think that page needs some work as it may be the least professional. However for phase one, the site looks good. If you didn't touch that for weeks and worked on other areas, I think you would be in great shape.
 
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