[swordsinfo]

Hey guys been awhile since i posted anything - would like some feedback on new website all crit welcome http://karl.swordswebdesign.com

Not sure if it needs more images or not thought the layout worked well for the info but too close to it now to see if its good or bad. Please let me know good or bad bits.

Its is blocking search indexs at the min so its just raw reviews im looking for

Cheers
B

[condra]

Very good. Subtle, elegant, suits the niche.

My only, very minor complaint, is the lighting effect on the Kinsealy Grange logo, which masks the word Grange a bit. Still, it's very eye catching.

Great work. Hard to fault.
Now don't forget SEO!

[swordsinfo]

Thanks for the replay its their logo so Im against making changes to it but will try to enhance it as mentioned. As for SEO i wouldn't say i'm top of the class but it should be pretty good at present is there much you find wrong with it in its structure?

[condra]

I think the structure is great. I would possibly make the email address up top a mailto link.

Also, the lessons start at 25 for children and 35 for adults. This is very reasonable so I would try to get that message across on the home page in the main gallery.

Actually, while were on the subject of the gallery, a friendly smiley pic would be much more welcoming than a guy in a cap looking into the distance.

Finally, I would consider integrating with social media, allowing people to share your site to their friends on Facebook and Twitter.
This is easily done with Share This:
http://sharethis.com/

[swordsinfo]

Cheers thanks for the info - will apply all mentions above this eve and see what happens.

The Guy in the cap is Karl, i took a few pics ages ago so he wants to do a new round of them anyhow - want to get some action shots if possible - i'll take some abstract ones too jsut in case i can find use for them.

Cheers again for the help - never used share this but will check it out for other projects as he doesnt use social media for his business jsut yet.

Thanks again
B

[condra]

You're welcome. One quick thing about Share This though (and AddThis), you don't have to involve yourself with social media to reap the benefits of it.

The share buttons simply allow people to link to the website quickly and easily on their own Twitter/FB pages.

This main page on this site is a good example:
http://www.fakeword.com

Believe me, it's a very simply and powerful method of generating traffic for niche sites.

Best of luck with the website. It's definitely one of the best looking sites I've seen in the site review section here.

[swordsinfo]

ahh im with you - ahhh aye that could be powerful - does it intergrate with wordpress do you know? Will have a look at that later for my own site too

Cheers
B

[condra]

it does indeed integrate with WP. They give you the code, you just have to paste it.

best of luck

[VMotion]

Hi,

If you take a look at the menu, the Home button doesn't have a left border whereas the Contact us has the right. So we either put both or take out both.
The slider. The width of the container is 1000px and the width of the images is 658px and images are aligned to the left. I can see empty space on the right and it doesn't match the slide. Either reduce the container or enlarge the images.

The grey footer area. Vertical dash-lines separating sections should be of equal length.
The black footer area is too tall for the amount of content that it contains.

Hope this helps.

[tricky D]

There's still a lot of work needed for this site.

Core marketing content is missing eg. testimonials/success stories for one. Some of that content is alluded to but not followed through.

If you've ever had the misfortune to have to listen to golfers talking week in, week out, you'll know that they focus on 2 particular matters. Only one of them is addressed in the content and not very well at that. The other isn't mentioned anywhere.

I'd approach the main content area of the homepage differently.

The information architecture could be improved and streamlined.

As already said, the photos don't work.

You and Karl need to get better into the shoes of your potential clients and think in terms of what each of those client markets need and want so they can make a purchase decision.

Other matters:
No mailtos for email addresses.
Make the form layout a regular left aligned one.
Fix the Google map so that it centres properly on the facility, not a few hundred yards to the NNW.
The dropdown menu is displaying under http://karl.swordswebdesign.com/wp-c...l-herbert1.png. Z-index fix probably needed.
Some links are broken (at the end of main content of About Karl page).
Some phone numbers aren't formatted well, no spaces.
No meta descriptions used afaics.
Spelling mistakes on the homepage.
Kinsealy has one 'l' only.

[swordsinfo]

Originally Posted by VMotion

Hi,

If you take a look at the menu, the Home button doesn't have a left border whereas the Contact us has the right. So we either put both or take out both.
The slider. The width of the container is 1000px and the width of the images is 658px and images are aligned to the left. I can see empty space on the right and it doesn't match the slide. Either reduce the container or enlarge the images.

The grey footer area. Vertical dash-lines separating sections should be of equal length.
The black footer area is too tall for the amount of content that it contains.

Hope this helps.

Cheers for the input was aware of the slider container hugging to the left. Didnt think of the right order on the contact us all of the above are now solved and updated many thanks for your input.

[swordsinfo]

Originally Posted by tricky D

There's still a lot of work needed for this site.

Core marketing content is missing eg. testimonials/success stories for one. Some of that content is alluded to but not followed through.

If you've ever had the misfortune to have to listen to golfers talking week in, week out, you'll know that they focus on 2 particular matters. Only one of them is addressed in the content and not very well at that. The other isn't mentioned anywhere.

I'd approach the main content area of the homepage differently.

The information architecture could be improved and streamlined.

As already said, the photos don't work.

You and Karl need to get better into the shoes of your potential clients and think in terms of what each of those client markets need and want so they can make a purchase decision.

Other matters:
No mailtos for email addresses.
Make the form layout a regular left aligned one.
Fix the Google map so that it centres properly on the facility, not a few hundred yards to the NNW.
The dropdown menu is displaying under http://karl.swordswebdesign.com/wp-c...l-herbert1.png. Z-index fix probably needed.
Some links are broken (at the end of main content of About Karl page).
Some phone numbers aren't formatted well, no spaces.
No meta descriptions used afaics.
Spelling mistakes on the homepage.
Kinsealy has one 'l' only.

Like i mentioned before the main area of concern is the design at present - linkage and spelling need to be addressed as these are not final versions.

Good catch on the gmaps - can be a begger at times to get it on the button.
Mailto get it sorted now
Linkage will have a look as they only on the homepage.
Meta Desc Im not sure if I can get wordpress to generate these on a per page basis put will check and revert.

You can be my dictionary if ya want cheers for the input as always very helpful indeed.

B

[p]

Agree with many of the comments. One small thing. You should always make sure you can see the eyes of your subject, unless you've a really good reason not to. It's just weird.

[swordsinfo]

Originally Posted by p

Agree with many of the comments. One small thing. You should always make sure you can see the eyes of your subject, unless you've a really good reason not to. It's just weird.

Why the eyes ??

[tricky D]

Psychology, afterall they are called the 'windows to the soul' for good reason.