Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi everyone. About 6 weeks ago I posted a request for feedback on my website www.exinthecity.com - a site designed to help women rebuild their lives after a divorce or breakup. My tagline is Empowering Women to Move from EX to EXtraordinary. The site has blogs, mine and other EXperts, women`s travel tips, 50+ Ex Rated City Guides (tips on where to go in cities around the world while in the stages of "EX" - Exile, Express, Exorcise, Explore and Exhale!  I even have a section called sEXy EX for women rediscovering their sensual side.

I have spent hours and hours on this site and feel that it is a huge improvement over the previous site which was well very pink and mostly informational. I am trying to find some investment to take this site to the next level - I have ideas about EX Rated tours, product, and coaching etc.  I`ve worked hard on links and the blogs in particular are very compelling.  I would LOVE any critique and feedback on how I can improve. I need to drive HUGE amounts of traffic in order to start selling advertising, membership etc. 

Do you like it? What words would you use to describe the site? Do you think I can make some money with this site? I am soooo close to it now, I just can`t get a reality check.

Thanks so much everyone!! Good luck with all of your businesses too!  If you have a blog by the way that you`d like me to promote - I am open to that - women only I am afraid for now :-) until I built the black marble taj mahal - www.exinthecity.com for men :-) Best Regards~ Margaret 

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Margaret Manning Editor and Founder Ex In The City Empowering Women to Move from EX to EXtraordinary! www.exinthecity.com info@exinthecity.com

Here`s a description I`d have, speaking with someone about the site:
  "Yah, so I went to this site and it`s about women who`ve gotten or are getting a divorce. It`s like a singles kind of thing, but it`s more sophisticated than that. It`s sort of like Playboy for women, but mostly divorcing women. Articles and stuff about how to get around in town, things to know....like a forum and magazine rolled into one."

I visited the site, remembering how it used to be, and thought it`s nicer. I have one gripe though. :-D (Of course...)

I got to the home and saw three EXperts listed as having articles. I clicked the Read More on one, and it took me to the general listing of all the EXperts. That`s not what I expected!

I assume that if I hit "read more," I`ll get the expanded, full article. If I`d wanted to get a directory of all the people writing or involved, I would have clicked the "See all EXperts" link. Right? Or used the EXperts tab at the top. I wanted to bypass that, and read only the one article.

What`d be cool on the "Find out where you are today" would be some sort of interactive thing....like a self-assessment check list. Click of some question answers and get a summary? Dunno how easy it`d be to do, but it`s a thought. ;-)

Before I sign up for a newsletter, couldn`t I see an example, like the latest...or an archive of previous newsletters? Try the Kim Komando site for a similar idea. She`s one of the most organized people I`ve seen in a long time, and makes it very easy to subscribe, unsubscribe, or just go to the site and read whatever issues look interesting. A bit heavy on the advertising in each issue, but I can understand that.

As with most sites that request a review here, I immediately dive in with the thought, "what are they trying to accomplish".  That`s the primary source of my confusion - I`m guessing it`s an informational site where you`re going to try and serve ads, maybe there`s some affiliate opportunities???

But it`s not readily apparent, even after clicking through a few pages.  If you`re trying to build out a mailing list or get subscribers, as Craig points out you should make it painfully obvious that you`re trying to do so.

On the design side, I don`t have a lot of critique to offer, although I had an expectation that your top navigation would have some sort of hover effect, not sure why.


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chuck fuller

Looks pretty good, I`d second Craig`s comment. Not something I would spend any time on but think it looks pretty good. The site is targeting women I would include a section that has links to stuff they might find interesting, from where to buy the latest shoes/handbags to links on geneatology. Info on gadgets, hobbies, things to get involved in etc. something `other than` the main area of the site `EX`, I would imagine they`d like to have a life outside from being Mr. so and so Ex`s.