Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I have another project I am working on called HotPluto.com  It is a Video Advertising portal or video version of the Yellow Pages. If you have a moment, please take a look...I welcome ALL feedback as I want to learn from it!

www.hotpluto.com

 

 

Brett,

Loved it, now I want to make a video advert. how long before that turns into a need?

can`t wait until the catagories expand, along with the amount of videos.

Stan

 

Brett,

For me the site is way to busy and way to red.  It distracted me immediately.  The site loads with an intro graphic moving vertically and a row of images underneath moving horizontally.  Right there is where you lost me.  I had nowhere to focus my attention instead my eyes are wandering back and forth over two main focal points.  This is never good.  You want your users to come and immediately be able to focus on something that will make them want to stay and look around.  Once I got past that, I thought the site was done very well.  The images could use a little refinement because some of the fonts look a little rough, but layout and content seem to fit together well. 

Overall I think the site is pretty nice.  Good luck.

Adam

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My Business - Creadiv Design
What`s My IP - The Ip House

Stan & Adam,

Two very different perspectives...love it! Thank you both.

Stan- It is always best to launch a site with as much content as possible--you`re absolutely right on here--as soon as we receive 100 or so Vido Ad`s, we can move them into categories at that point.. My perspective on this (and we struggled a bit) is that there is an advantage to being that one and only specific product/service initially for the Advertiser. Of course we need traffic to the site.

Adam- if we turned off the automatic scroll and left it manual, would that help?

Brett

I think my post may come off as offering too much criticism, but let me
preface the post stating I think that the product has potential, but needs
some usability issues ironed out.



I think one very important thing you are missing is basic search
functionality. For example the "demo" video you have on your home page
makes it seem as if I can come on and find "realtors" within my area...
however I can`t search at all or even browse categories.

On your site you say:


How do I look for it?

Anyway, here are some other suggestions:

Also I`d suggest making your logo in the header an href back to the home
page.

The buttons on the "featured video ads" section on the homepage are
confusing. You should look at how others implement image carousels.
Typically the right arrow slides the images from right to left. The left
arrow will slide the images from left to right. I would also suggest the
carousel loop and automatically scroll unless the user interacts with it.
Makes it more "interesting" to see.

On the video page I would suggest making all your meta data go
somewhere. Sector, Category Title, Tags? should all go to some place
where users can find more content associated to automobile ads.

I think there`s a good core, but there needs to be more tie in for a
"consumer". Advertisers are your customer, but you need to make it easy
for general users to find what they want.

Tobin,

Again, great feedback...thanks! The site willl turn into more of a Search Engine in a Phase 2. Right now, it is heavily centered on explaining the service to the Advertiser and gettting them interested in placing their Video Ad on the site. There is no search button for the Video Ad`s right now as there is not enough content. If people search for something and they continue to come up with 0`s in the categories, they won`t come back. We are hoping people realize this is a new site and newer concept and we need to bring content to the site to make it useable to both Advertisers and Consumers.

The feedback helps a great deal and will be heavily considered from everyone

Thanks!

Hot Hot Hot!

I just posted a question in Marketing about stream video.... maybe you can help...

I just noticed to join hot pluto you must upload your video... Can you assist in making the video or must a customer have one already produced...

Kristine,

For the most part, people would video their own Ad and be able to edit it with the tool/downloads we provide. Then of course, they would upload it to their account on Hot Pluto.In this day and age, most have access to a video cam. and making your own ad would probably be more accepted and appreciated by people coming to HotPluto than something that is more commercial grade.

With that said, we do offer professional services to make that ad for you. A bit on the expensive side as there are production costs w/actors. Also, in our tools area you can go to places and grab actual video footage to make up your own commercial.

Hope that helps!

Brett