Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I just went live with this site a month+ ago.

http://www.statefranchisecenters.com

It is based on my first website project, which has done pretty well.

Thank you!

Franpro

Really nice site! I have only a singe suggestion:

I went to Illinois, since that`s where I live, and saw there`s 1 franchise listed. I clicked it, read a bit, then wanted to go back to YOUR site. I`d expected to just close the new window, but saw the "back" button.

My thinking is if you keep people on your site, it`ll be good in the long-run. As such, when you link to the franchises available in a state, maybe open the link in a new browser window? Then again, I maybe hooked into that site as a Google Ad? I`m not sure how it works.

I really liked that when I first selected Illionois, the information along the side held to Illinois. Very good technique there! :-D

Hi Craig,

Thank you so much for your critique!

Yes, you did click a Google ad.

Take care,

Joel

The site looks pretty good, but does not give any specific info on what one would be selling.
Is it Amway?
Franpro

Well it gives a little more info. I am not sure about the half page look though.
Maybe something else, like a nice sunset can go there.
Franpro

are we talking about the design or content?

Design, very 1995, animated gifs etc.  www.CSSMANIA.com


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get your small business sock`s rocked off...yes, rocked off. http://www.LessAccounting.com

okay

1.  Logo is not great, here`s why.  The white is nearly impossible to read, the drop shadows looks like the default drop shadows in photoshop, which is the sign of a newbie designer.

2. Animated Gifs, especially clip art-ish ones are also very 1995

3.The left hand side has about 3 different color links, try using the same color and maybe an small icon or bullet point to highlight them.  Same goes for the right side, don`t have a rainbow of colors its looks silly.

4. The eagle looks like it was googled and then stole from someone else`s site.   Try istockphoto.com pictures are only a dollar.

5.  In mac firefox the bottom footer is wider than the main portion of the site.

6. The left border of the site needs a margin

7. I didn`t notice the main navigation, use the same font, try a black background with blue links or something.

8.  Whats the google search for?

How is that? More informative?


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get your small business sock`s rocked off...yes, rocked off. http://www.LessAccounting.com

Hi there - this looked more like a blog than a website - which is ok...but it looks like you`ve tried to use a blog format for something its not designed for...I think if you just turned this into a blog it might be more compelling...the text being pushed right up against the left hand margin made me feel very claustrophobic....

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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

Agreed Ex - and if they use one of the primary blog software providers out there, they`ll take a quantum leap forward on design simply by employing one of the built-in templates.


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chuck fuller