Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I finally have a "real" website and now need the help of the experts.  (Ya`ll)  I wrote all of the text so that is what I want to focus on, as the look of the website if very much in keeping with my brand, packaging etc.. but all comments about all aspects of the site are very much appreciated.  Just to give you some background, the product is a patent pending "invention" so because nobody has ever heard of this product, I need for the website to very clearly convey what it is and what it does.  I need for the viewer to "get it".  Does my website do that for me?  This website is very much a work in progress as I don`t have my final investment cast samples from the factory yet, so the majority of the photos are stock photos used as filler until I have a full product shoot.  Keeping that in mind, does the text and the website in general "work" especially once the stock photos are replaced with the product "in action".   Right now it is more of a brochure type site, but when I launch this summer, the site will have e-commerce cap.  Please click below and thank you so very much for your time,  I know it is valuable and greatly appreciated!

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Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms
                                                                                                    

The "Shop Online" button needs some help. The vertical format of the
text is very difficult to read, besides the fact that it fits awkwardly in the
orange rectangle. The overall look of the site is pretty good, colors are
nice and I like your logo. That button stands out as the bad apple of
design. I`d suggest making it a horizontally-oriented button where you
can make the text more prominent. It`s a call to action, so make it
strong!

Leslie,

Re: the text content...

First, while the block of text on the home page is not overly large, it would be easier to read if the large paragraph were broken up into a couple or more paragraphs. Website viewers initially "scan" pages rather than reading them. So to effectively communicate your message, you should present your content so it is easily scanned. Your bulleted content on the bottom half of the page is a good example of content that is easily scanned.

Not sure if I fit your target market, because I had no idea what wine charms were (until I did a search). Also, I`m not sure if comparing your product to another "charm" application is a good idea or not. ... So Initially, I did not "get it". If the website viewer knows what wine charms are - and the "benefits" of them - then your comparison helps. If not, it just confuses your marketing message.

The first two impressions  I got from reading your text were:
-The charms are used to somehow cook the meat better.
-The charms were used to identify respective pieces of meat.

On your "shop" page... you say "will be sold" (future tense). I understnad this may make sence now becuase the product is not available. But,  whe the product is available... you need to change that text to the present tense. I also suggest that instead of "mushing" (a technical writing term) into one paragraph, you have a paragraph describing each set and future sets (coming soon).

~Roland

 

 

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I`m going with Roland. It needs more white space. I think two good things would be to a) break up the single block of intro text, and b) add more line-spacing.

I had a terrible time reading the content, mostly because my eyes kept getting confused. I`d lose track of which line I was reading, and suddenly find myself either re-reading or missing a line.

I`d also get rid of the TM marks and signs. Instead, either at the bottom in small print, or on an "About" page, you can place an overall statement like you see in books. "Grill Charms" is a trademark of the Grill Charms company, patent pending.

(You only use a mark the first time, then it`s assumed in all further instances.)

Thank you all so much!  Keep em coming!  I`ll get right on those changes

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Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms
                                                                                                    

Grillcharmer I like the overall feel of your website. The text is clear and to me gets your point across well.(i already knew what wine charms were). I agree that you sould remove all of the TM`s and the patent pending on the home page. I know this is important to a new product but it kindive invades the smooth feel of your text. I do think the line height needs to be farther apart as well so it is easily readable by everyone (I had no problem with it but some people will).

Im not a big fan of the colors but I think it goes well with your logo. I actually disagree with Campsteve on the orange "shop online" button at the bottom of the home page. This really stands out to me and draws my attention because it is vertical and everything else is horizantal, and Im sure you want your selling of your product to stand out.

I noticed your site was done in CSS and has a real clean feel overall....GOOD JOB!!!!!!!

Allow me to clarify. The reason why the button stands out is mostly
because of the orange color, somewhat the verticalness and yes, also
because of text orientation. This is good color theory, lousy typography.
The problem isn`t because the button itself is vertical but because the
text looks really bad the way it fits inside the vertical shape. Bad looking
things stand out on a page that overall looks good.

Grillcharmer, there`s nothing wrong with keeping the button vertical but
then I suggest finding a good way to layout the words "shop online"
within that shape. I only suggested making the button horizontal
because it is a simpler, cleaner solution. Psychologically speaking, two
words are easiest to read when laid out horizontally on a single line.

Thank you DesignGuru, "clean" was actually one of the feelings I was going for.  Steve, I understand what you mean and I will work on that as well.  I`m so glad to have such fantastic resources at my disposal. My knowledge of web design is close to nill so the more input I get the more I understand the psychology of it all.  THANK YOU!

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Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms
                                                                                                    

Want to keep that well-done steak separate from the rare ones?

Grill Charms are the "must have" grilling accessory that are revolutionizing the American cook-out!

Created by Charmed Life Products (patent pending), Grill Charms are similar to wine charms. These little metal charms wrap around the glass stem, to help you know which glass is yours. Grill Charms work the same way, but for your food.

These beautiful little charms are the size of a dime, with a decorative head. Each one has a stem you insert into what you`re grilling. The stem is textured so the charm won`t fall out when grilling or broiling.
(insert 150px picture here)

"Grill Charm" your food prior to cooking. When dinner comes off the grill, everyone knows what`s theirs.

• No more cutting into 5 steaks to try to find the rare one.
• No more only mild barbecue chicken because too few people like it spicy.
• No more confusion over food allergy or health concerns.

(Tagline goes here.)

We offer two collections, each collection consisting of 6 different charms. Be sure to visit again, as we`ll be introducing many more collections soon!

Holy Moley Craig!!!  How much do I owe ya??!!!  That is AWESOME!  Have I said lately... I LOVE THIS FORUM!!!  Craig, I can`t thank you enough!  I`m collecting all these fabulous reviews and will submit them all in about a week to my web guy (another wonderful SuN member)  I loved my website before and love the look, but I did feel like the text needed help (my fault)   I know that with the above improvements I will love my text as much as I love my site.  Thank you all so much!  I`ll be making the changes soon, keep the comments coming if you`ve got em!

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Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms