Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

www.caterinabeauty.com  I did it myself, as I don`t have the funds to have it done at this time and am using paypal because it is integrated into my freewebs hosting.  Wish I had the funds to have it done professionally, though it would have to be in a format I could change on my Mac.  Questions:
Is the template appealing?  Is the site easy to navigate?  What about the layout and/or content would you change?

Thanks

Personally I like the color scheme, although the blue lettering could be just a shade darker.

Your home page ..... where is your content? There is basically no information here, and my first instinct is "Why go any farther?" There is no message here on why I should stay and explore your site, nothing that tells me that what you have is something that I need or want. I don`t see anything that tells me why your product is better than any other I may find. What are they made of? Why will they benefit me?


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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

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Web and Graphic Design

I would think a buyer would want more information about each product and a photo. The web is a very visual media...pictures sell.

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

This is a nice website, just a couple of things.

First: Proofreading!
My daughter teases me about reading the newspaper with my red pen in hand. (Not that I actually do...it`s an illness, really... but I digress).
   In the text about the founder:

• the `c` and `h` are switched in the word `searching`
• for proper English, you should say you are working `toward` a goal, not towards
• the last sentence in the 2nd paragraph doesn`t really make sense...I tihnk you have an extra word or two in there (?)

Second: Photos.
 Believe me, I know what it is like to have to do everything yourself for lack of funding.  If you don`t already have one, you can get an inexpensive digital camera at your local discount dept. store, and take a few photos of your product.  It will mean a world of difference in your sales.  I would not order something that I could not see.  If that isn`t an option, and you don`t have one, maybe a friend would let you borrow one, or, there are lots of grants for internet busiesses and for technical assistance.  That would fall under either category.

Great concept!!
Hope you have much success!

I can`t cut and pase as I have a Mac and even with firefox it is not letting me
do certain editing work, but I will figure out. Thank You and I will go back
and apply the advice.

How can I find these grants? Any particular sites I could go to?

Hi, Katherine,

The official site for searching government grants is grants.gov.

I have always been under the impression that Macs are the machines to have for graphics.  What editing software do you have?  If you need more versatile software, there is a multitude of programs that you can try for various periods of time (generally between 15 and 60 days, with 30 days being the norm).

Believe me, I know what a huge investment good software can be.  I also know how time-consuming it is to familiarize yourself enough with the software to get any use out of it within the trial period.  There is an upside, though: when you find a program you like, you are already familiar with it by the time you have to purchase it.

If you need help, sing out!


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"Ask not, know not." --Me

 

I think the site looks too simple. Instead of having one picture in the middle you could have 3 larger pictures across the top page. You can get great stock photos from various websites inexpensively. I would change the font and the font color to black. I think it sounds much better to say Natural, All-natural, Nature made or something like this than non toxic beauty. Also people who are searching for natural beauty prouducts are going to type in "natural beauty products" in the search boxes, not non toxic. At the bottom of the website you have the copyright symbol and 2006. I would add to that your co. name and All Rights Reserved.

And make the font size a little bigger. There are some great templates that you can simply add you content and pictures and in a few hours you have a great professional site. www.templatemonster.com I think you also have to have some pictures of your actual products. You could buy a disposable camera from Walgreens or CVS. Or borrow one from a friend, or take some products to a mall photo shop. Even if you put all your products in one picture on the products page that would help. Just my 2 cents.

I appreciate the feedback.  I am waiting for the samples with my labels, so I can take photos.  I don`t have editing software.  I wont do any aggressive PR or Advertising until the site is more sophisticated.  I had PCs before and had too much trouble with them, even with virus protection, so I got a Mac.  I will go to Kinkos and put in some temporary photos until my samples come in.  I hope to get at least some sales to be able to pay for a professional site and regular maintenance on it.