ardyandkari Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 hi, this is my site: [url=http://www.minnesotamomandpop.com]http://www.minnesotamomandpop.com[/url]it is still in production, but i was wondering what else would look good here.i am going to add a customer section where they could change information and their ad, but what else...also, i will probably need help with implementing this, but that is for another time and another forum...any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.thanksardy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbullmarky Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 it has a certain charm about it, and you managed to use a quirky font without resortign to Comic Sans, so credit where credit's due.However, as you're going to be making money from this site, you really need to move it to a paid host, so that you can lose the google ad banner and sign saying "this site is hosted free".You could probably use a splash of colour in there too, be it an image or jazzing up the logo slightly.Also, your navigation - it's repeated twice (partially) which is unnecessary, the second of which is tucked right at the bottom of the page. the same goes for your search input box - do you really need two? and it maybe worth looking at creating your own search box, just so that your site isnt littered with 3rd party stuff (like PicoSearch) - it just takes away some of the professionalism that would be required to get money out of people.Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardyandkari Posted January 17, 2007 Author Share Posted January 17, 2007 [quote author=redbullmarky link=topic=122787.msg506812#msg506812 date=1169039693]it has a certain charm about it, and you managed to use a quirky font without resortign to Comic Sans, so credit where credit's due.However, as you're going to be making money from this site, you really need to move it to a paid host, so that you can lose the google ad banner and sign saying "this site is hosted free".You could probably use a splash of colour in there too, be it an image or jazzing up the logo slightly.Also, your navigation - it's repeated twice (partially) which is unnecessary, the second of which is tucked right at the bottom of the page. the same goes for your search input box - do you really need two? and it maybe worth looking at creating your own search box, just so that your site isnt littered with 3rd party stuff (like PicoSearch) - it just takes away some of the professionalism that would be required to get money out of people.Cheers[/quote]thanks for the compliments...i am going to have godaddy host it for me once it gets under way, its just that now it is in startup mode and i have no $$$... i was also going to put in my own search bar, just need to get my hands dirty with some code...now you say that the nav bar at the bottom isnt needed, but i thought that google needed text navbars... or can they read the alt tag? if so i will definately get rid of it...it is kind of annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbullmarky Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 i see where you're coming from, but optimizing for search engines can come from alot of areas, not just text nav links. It's always a good idea to set the 'alt' of an image anyway as it wont validate as valid XHTML otherwise, and provides a nice alternatives for other forms of media where graphics are not supported or required.Links at the bottom, to me, generally get used for secondary stuff (Terms and Conditions, Copyright notice, About Us, Media, etc - just take a look at a few to see what I mean). What bugs me is not so much the fact that it's there, but the fact that it replicates. Avoiding replecation on pages is a good place to start in the whole process of tidying things up a bit.CheersMark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardyandkari Posted January 17, 2007 Author Share Posted January 17, 2007 thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkBait Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 I personally don't like the font. Just doesn't put that 'We're Professional' out there and I don't mean professional as in corporate image but I mean a 6 yr old didn't design the site.You have the PicoSearch on the top and bottom. I'd keep it only in one spot.Your navigational links are at the bottom should be at least at the top.Nice idea though :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjakreborn Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Before I even look at other opinions on here (I started just giving my opinion, then looking at the bottom for there opinion and commenting. First what I think at first glance* Nothing holding everything together, no borders, no lines, just looks like a green canvas, with everything splattered on it.* Way to much space at the top to advertisement, heavily detracts from the site, the height of it should atleast be halved, it feels like I am being eaten by advertisements, then the bottom part, if it wasn't for advertisements that big, would look considerably better (with some borders, and alignment)* I like the font but the link font annoys me* 2 search boxes, 1 at the top, 1 at the bottom doing the same thing on each and every page get's annoying.* page is seriously jumpy everytime it loads (Due to nothing there to "hold" it together)* It could use a lot of work but overall you have the setup for somethin substantial (with a new layout, new link font, some glue to hold everything together, and top advertisement reduction, kill that stupid double search.Based on the opinions below, it looks like some people like the font some don't, so it's worth a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardyandkari Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 removed that which everyone has said was a bane to the site: the double menu and search bars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkBait Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 I would add some more space between your columns. Left Center(main content) and Right. They seems to be a bit too close together.Perhaps change the color of the left column so it's not all green? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXiSS Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Some images in there, anything to break up the plain text page would help. Something needs to seperate the header from the content, same with the nav. Also, there should be some blank space under the text on the homepage, no one truly likes reading the bottom of their screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjakreborn Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Look's much better than it did in my opinion, but 2 things1. The advertisement is still too big on the top2. There are no line's, borders or anything splitting up the elements on the page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkBait Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I don't think he has control over the ads on the very top. If it's a free hosted account that code is inserted automatically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I'm not too sure about your tag line. Do good old-fashioned businesses and internet advertising go hand-in-hand? I think not. Maybe you want to rephrase that so it induces old-fashioned businesses to go with new-fangled stuff like the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardyandkari Posted January 22, 2007 Author Share Posted January 22, 2007 about the images: i am getting pictures of businesses from history! i am going down to the historical society and getting scans of pictures that they have on file of small businesses that have been in the county (my grandpa had a gas station in town and there is a pic on file there, that will be neat.)i am going to put a php randomizer in there under the navbar rotating the images through.also i am probably going to put another randomizer in under the preferred customers area showing current customersabout the old fashioned advertising thing, i never really thought of that, i am going to change the header anyways, so i will most likely change that too...thanks again for all input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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