Some feedback on my site please?

  • Thread starter Thread starter neil_walsh
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neil_walsh

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hello everyone, I've just put some new songs on my website, and I would appreciate some feedback on the navigation, general look and quality of content

Thanks guys

http://www.song-central.com
 
I think I've seen your site before. The little dude scratchin' looked familiar.
I listened to "Ain't it a Shame".
VERY NICE!
I liked it a lot!

I had to "full screen" the site to really navigate it though. That's the only downside I could see.
 
Thanks for dropping in, glad you liked "Ain't It A Shame"
I have the site set to that size (1027x768) because all the newer graphics card default to that view as far as I know.

Some more feedback would be great, especially regarding the resolution,
Thanks
 
Sorry to tell you that it looks very amateurish. Looks like you learned to make a web page in 20 minutes and that's as far as you're willing to go.
 
I'm all for criticism AlChuck, but please be more specific. Maybe tell me how to improve the site instead of just sneering at it.

I focus my time on my music, not on learning the intricacies of web-design.

We're all here to help each other get to where we want to go, I'm looking for advice, not abuse
 
whoa! downsize alot... 800x600 is the common standard...don't forget those outside the US don't upgrade as fast. 600x480 is THE standard world wide...never assume your customers have the latest and greatest... backwards compatability is key.

second... don't ever use frames!!! use tables...they reorganize the text to fit on the screen...so no scroll bars pop up on the middle of the screen.

third... left justified websites are viewed as amature now...center justified ...like mine... http://www.track100.com are viewed as "more professional" according to studies.

fourth... you have no keyword or description meta tag...search engines usually need those. No harm in having them automatically promote your site, right?

fifth...I would say your choice in color is poor :)
the 2003 consumer color forcast is here http://www.colormarketing.org/visitors/color_forecasting/vis_2003_consumer_col_dir.htm

think blues...the 1920's ...or metalics :)


sixth... site is lacking in content. only one section "listen" is worth going to... in the "learn" section negative words like "defection" should be avoided as it will be construed as a persnal attack...which always backfire. in the "contact" section I hope you realize you are offering free CD's to those who ask...bad idea...make you look nieve... as CD's make nice coasters after they spend a second or two in the microwave :)
 
Neil,
I am a web designer. You can look at my work here http://www.madeofclay.com if it adds value to my advice. Thats my personal site, and I also work a day job doing web design for "the man".

I'll address zekthedeadcow's points first:

Don't worry about 480X640. It is hard to make anything at all look good at that res, most software doesn't even look right on that res. People who actually use that res level are used to things looking like crap, so they won't notice the difference. But you might want to seriously consider adapting down to 800X600.

Frames can be used for good sometimes. You just have to do it in a way that will eliminate the possibility of the horizontal scrollbar. (The side-to-side one at the bottom of the page.)

Ignore the comment on left-justified websites being amateur. zek's website might look a little better than yours, but just because its centered doesn't make it look pro. You can use a variety of layouts and make it look nice. The "pro" feel comes from a combination of clean graphics, good navigation, readable content, and attractive text layout.

First thing I would do on your site is change the font. Times Roman is the default font, and using it on a website always looks bad, in my opinion. You need to use a font that people have installed on their computer, or else you get Times Roman again. So for Windows users you can get by with Arial, Verdana, Tahoma. For mac users you want to throw in Helvetica. Arial covers Linux people too. I would look into CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to control your fonts. With that, you can control what the text looks like on the entire site with one file, and just put the link to the file at the top of each page. You can get some ggod CSS info here http://www.w3schools.com Make the text a little smaller too.

I would lose the animated scratching guy. It just looks a little cheesy.

Here's a great site for just seeing what's out there, and what people generally accept as good design. I don't agree with all their choices. Some of them are too hard to navigate. But in general it shows a little of what good web design is. http://www.coolhomepages.com

On content: Here's what you want to keep in mind. People come to a website and want to understand what "the point" is right away, or else they leave. Kind of like how record producers treat music. You have to win them over in the first few seconds or its over. If you write your content with that in mind, you'll be fine. The home page is the most important.

Hope that stuff helps.

Clay
 
Guess I don't need to elaborate, the others have given you plenty of guidance and pretty much covered everything I would say.

Sorry if I came off as sneering and abusive.
 
Thanks to everybody who checked out my site. I've taken all your suggestions onboard and I'm going to tweak a few things. What's the deal with meta tags, I thought I had them pasted into the html editor on the left frame?

AlChuck, all is cool my man
 
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