Cook Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Hello, After much effort indeed, my ebusiness lauched a few months ago. The last weeks have been spent fine-tuning everything, and the site is now quite complete. It needs critique! Positive, negative (constructive), any feedback is welcome. Some comments first though: 1- Entirely coded by hand, a to z, php+xhtml1.0+css+little JS. 2- JS limited to strict minimum, always degrading nicely. 3- Uses Peterned's csshover.htc to enable css-driven menus in IE (thanks Peter!) 4- As far as I could, tested ok in Opera, FF, IE5.5, IE6, IE7, Safari, in several sizes. 5- Best viewed in 1024 x 768 and above, but still ok in 800 x 600. www.bizsox.com Thanks for taking the time. Cook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcorlew Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 That's a very well put together site. I could not find any errors, on question though, I see $usd, but do you ship worldwide?? if so, you may want to try and detect language and reset the text> But I am very impressed with it, very nice use of whitespace and content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
448191 Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Euh.. Wait up. If I were to say that this is a site about socks, how far would I be from the truth? At least I guess you didn't have any problems registering this slogan: "Every quarter your socks in your mailbox". Anyway, to add something constructive: Reconsider the colourscheme. I understand your targetgroup consists of businessmen. Brown is an ok colour to associate with conservative businessmen, but I don't think they are easily persuaded (or even consider) to buy their socks of the internet. The way I see it, conservative businessmen (who are probably slightly of age, with a fattened wallet) have their wives or even maids buy their socks for them. The focusgroup should be the 'young dogs', businessmen struggling for time and looking for shortcuts (and not to mention with more affinity for technology). To make a long story short: go for the 'slick' look, instead of the 'descent' look. Edit: for nuance, you did an ok job for a 'descent and reliable' look. I just do not think it is the right theme for this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cook Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 @rcorlew: Thanks! We do ship worldwide, but chose to set our prices are in USD anyway. @448191: That's a fair point and I'll keep it in mind. So far the response is on the positive side accross age groups. Yet I'll monitor according to your comment. Thank you. More critiques welcome: www.bizsox.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbullmarky Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 i'm also with 448191 on this one. at first glances, things look quite good, but going over things in more detail do kinda bring up issues. first off the bat, and if you're deciding to keep the style/colours the same, then i'd lose some (maybe all) of the margin at the very top - ie, above the black banner area. also, the centered logo just kinda looks a bit weird. it'd probably look much better either left or right aligned. tis always good also to make the logo into a link to go to the homepage. many of us lazy types just kinda expect that. on this page: https://www.bizsox.com/products/socks.php the "menu" (leave it to us/our quality, etc) only seems to cause issues of whitespace rather than actually adding anything to the page. I think you could safely either put those menu items horizontally, or do away with them altogether - it's not a huge page after all. the same goes for the 'About Us' page. with only 2 sections - get rid of the "menu". If you decide to ignore that suggestion, then at least consider moving the 'top of page' return link to the left hand site, as it's a bit clumsy clicking the item on the left and then having to move the mouse to the right of the page to go back up. some other pages (eg, the news page(s) ) share the same issues. just too much whitespace. overall, i think its biggest problem is the site is trying too hard, and is bigger than it needs to be. you gotta remember, there's only so much you can talk about socks. 448191's comment about trying to go for a more "slick" look sounds good - take a look at some businessy menswear sites, such as this: http://www.suitsyou.co.uk It's a great idea though and from a design point of view, you're not too far off the mark at all. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
448191 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 ... So far the response is on the positive side accross age groups. Yet I'll monitor according to your comment. Thank you. Well, I am building on a stereotype, so I might be terribly wrong. I know it must be hard to find marketing data, since it is a niche market. Regardless, at least a more neutral design would be adivisable. At least until you have more information about the demographics of your prospects. Good luck! I think it is an original idea, which could succeed, if you manage to get the right exposure. On a different note: for readabilty, make moderate use of coloured text. Coloured news headlines are one thing, coloured content is a whole different story. overall' date=' i think its biggest problem is the site is trying too hard, and is bigger than it needs to be. you gotta remember, there's only so much you can talk about socks.[/quote'] I tend to agree with that. Also remember there is a thin line to walk between promotion and spammy "that's amazing Mike!" -like communication. For example: Mr. G. is a successful man. Smart, efficient, stylish, he enjoys an active lifestyle as a high-flying corporate executive. «Time is my most valuable asset; I strive to always make the most of it,» he invariably replies when asked about his keys to success. «I am part of a team that I can rely on, so I focus on what really matters. I also know when to take risks. However, when it comes to my appearance, I leave nothing to chance, as I know the importance of first impressions.» So when a friend introduced him to our hassle free service, he immediately found it very convenient and appealing. He subscribed on the spot. That is a no go IMO. As a consumer, I avoid anything that uses anything that resembles testemonials like the plague. I am of course no expert on contemporary American culture, but on this side of the ocean, people with half a brain have learned to avoid anything that uses similar selling techniques. The bottom line: avoid the 'scammy' predicate. Sock It to Me Now that sounds like a slogan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cook Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 Good, this is good, that's a lot of feedback I can do something with. Thanks! Keep it coming. Here's the link again, just for convenience: www.bizsox.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
448191 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 To nag a little more: These are your USPs, why isn't it presented more prominently? Save time and money. Enjoy quality and convenience. www.SockItToMe.com - 'Quality socks on your doorstep.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcombs_31 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 site looks way to strecthed on 1280 resolution. My eyes don't want to move all the way accross the screen like that. With only two columns, you'd be much better at a fixed width. There is way to much whitespace. I don't understand the little box images across the top. How do they relate to socks? I don't like the bevels in the logo and the logo should be topleft. I didn't even see it until I scanned my eyes accross the page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cook Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 Thanks a lot for the very useful feedback everybody, I'm taking all of it on board and putting together a new look. Will post project when it's ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel0 Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Looks pretty good. Try to remove the gap between the page top and the logo bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benji87 Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 This has got to e the most original idea i have seen in a long time! So my hat goes off to for that, or should it be sock? haha Just a few things about the site. First of all you have way too much drop shaddow around the border. I really dont get that and it makes it look tacky. I would just stick to the amount you have on the left hand side and keep it like that all the way round! Also get ur header and make it stick to the top of the page! On the main page in the text you have all these different varients of verdana in colour and size. Get rid of this! Ok if you want a word to stand out just make it bold and slightly change the colour. You target audience is businessmen who dont have the time to buy thier own socks. Well if i was one of those guys i wouldnt have time to read that text because its all over the place and i would instantly close the site! Next redesign the whole navigation bar. The gradient is really not a good looker and i dont like the outer glow on the text on rollover. Also as mentioned before you need to consider your colour scheme because im really not feeling it! I makes me feel depressed and tired! Not something you want if you want your target audience to invest in your product! I hope some of this advice helps you! Looks af it all the coding is there and works perfectly! You have just got to work on your GUI which at the end of the day is going to sell your site before the text does!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tippy_102 Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 That's a fantastic idea!! I wish you the best of luck! As for the look - the small faded photos take away from the professional look of the site. You have to really stare at them to see what they are and to make the "business" connection. I don't think thay add any value to the site. What if you had photos of socks? You know who I would market this site to? Mothers of business men. Who here hasn't received socks from their Mom at every gift giving occasion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcorlew Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 I think that the header should be rearranged a little. Look at what I have done for a suggestion for you. Notice how I took what you had and just budged it around some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cook Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 Thanks again everyone, it is great to get such useful feedback, really appreciate. A lot is going on right now to incorporate all of it, well, a good 90% of it. I won't part totally with the color scheme, but am adapting it by introducing one more color, much brighter. The little images at the top and bottom are gone. The text is limited to what value the service brings to the customers, in an easier-to-read way. News and good to know are gone, replaced with few words on the concept. The drop shadow around the page is gone. Well, quite a makeover. But these are just teasers, the new version should be online soon, give me a few more days. Thanks again, Cook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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