Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

My first impression is that your content is scattered, like it`s just stuffed in wherever it will fit. There is no balance. The eye doesn`t know where to start or what to take in first. It feels like you are trying to stuff all of your information right into the top of the page so it won`t be missed.

Because of that, your page looks cramped and your message is scattered as well. I would suggest finding a better layout that doesn`t  look cluttered and messy, and get your product and its message right up front. Not only tell what it is, but why I would benefit from it, and get your message across rather quickly.

You have some issues in your meta tags, and your code isn`t very clean or efficient.





-------------------------

M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

Going along with what Webline has to say, I`ll add a comment that`s currently under discussion about Website Readability. Yours is almost unreadable.

You`ve got low-contrast dark red on black headlines, text with fades that disappear into the background, and small white fonts on a black background. Additionally, you`ve got boxes that aren`t aesthetically related to the rest of the page, and so forth.

In this case, I`d strongly recommend that you figure out a way to hire a good copwriter to make your message much more clear. In addition, ask around for some Web designers, and take a look at not only their portfolios, but ask their clients how many paying customers their site is generating.

From what I`m seeing, you have a single key product, the DiXX Polish. That should be your page highlight. Instead, it`s sort of an afterthought...."Oh yeah, by the way, we also sell this bottle of something..." See?

The graphic ad you have on the "DiXX Polish" page itself, should be on the front page. Then, on the polish page, you have wheels and motorcycles that don`t make any sense at all.

So to summarize, your content is very poorly done, the layout is also poorly done, and the focus of the site misses completely in terms of targeting the product you`re selling. All this can be fixed, and probably not at a massively expensive cost. Do some looking around and asking, and find someone who designs Web sites specifically for car products.

In today`s world, where web developers are springing up like daisies, you can likely find someone who specializes in automotive site designs.

Hey Jared,
Wanted to post last night but got distracted. I`ll just be honest with you. The site is quite poor in terms of design. Whoever did it - probably did it for free and it was his/her second web design project. If your product is great, which I hope is true, and if you intend to sell significant portion of it on-line from your site, then you need another site, this one won`t fly.

If you want, we can meet and talk about it. I`m in Huntington Beach.

While I want to defend the white text on black background because that`s what I plan to use in my next website, I have to agree with the others in that your site suffers from a few problems.  It does look like it was really thrown together.  "I have three column inches here, what can we put there?"   As Craig said, there`s no "path", no indication what you want the viewer to do next.  Worse, there`s no "Call to Action" telling the viewer to buy the product.  Only a suggestion. 

Worst, by far, is the very large WMV file that starts automatically.  If a viewer wants to watch a video (or listen to music), then ASK FIRST.

Also, whoever shot the video needs to learn something about framing.  I`ll bet it was shot with an HDV camera, which is OK, but the embedded viewer is not widescreen.  Next, never use handheld shots on something that is supposed to look professional.  Finally, the audio levels of the music are much higher than the on-camera audio of the demonstrator.  The site visitor has to turn down the volume for the music then turn it back up for the demo, only to be assaulted again with loud music at the end.




-------------------------

Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email

Most viewers would prefer to begin playing the video themselves.  It can be obnoxious to have music or videos starting themselves as soon as you visit a page.

I dislike the yellow testimonial box... it doesn`t fit in with the rest of the color scheme and smooth feel to the rest of the site.

best,