Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Would love input on my web site (www.shnoozles.com) concerning design, content, navigation, and any other comments anyone would be willing to offer.  Would like to hear the good, bad and ugly!

Thanks, Eileen/Judjah

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Eileen Morris Shnoozles, LLC www.shnoozles.com

Hi Kathy,

Thanks for the review.  Yeah, as a parent I would have gone crazy after a while w/the music, but the kids like it.  That`s why there is a "play" and "stop" button for each song. 

Again, thanks for explaining the process for posting in the forum.  I`m loving it.

Eileen

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Eileen Morris Shnoozles, LLC www.shnoozles.com

Various posts in previous threads have brought up a really excellent point, regarding the intended viewer. Yes, it`s nice having music that`s for kids. It`ll be fun, presumably for them. But do they buy the product?

I know too many parents who are prepared to shotgun the TV after too much Barney, or having watched the same video/DVD for the umpteenth time. I think you should allow for a parent preparing dinner to find the site, call it up, turn OFF the music, and let their child play with the interactive aspects. I didn`t see an easy "play" or "stop" button, so if they`re there...they should be larger.

But ultimately, you`re trying to sell a product, right? Does mom or dad, or aunt or uncle really want to hear music at 2am, when they`re shopping for little Suzie`s next holiday present?

How about having a "Kids enter here" button, which then would bring on the music (with an off button), and all the entertainment areas. You`d have the adult area, for shopping, with the cash register, and the kids area for fun, to be entertaining.

Just a thought....

Hi Craig,

Thanks for your advice.  I will create a separate "kids" and "adults" entry to the site.  Hopefully, this will help solve my "music" dilemma.

Eileen

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Eileen Morris Shnoozles, LLC www.shnoozles.com

Hi Craig,

Thanks so much for your great advice, which I followed.  I now created a separate "grown-up" side for The Original Shnoozles web site.  Would appreciate knowing what you think?

www.shnoozles.com

Again, much thanks,

Eileen

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Eileen Morris Shnoozles, LLC www.shnoozles.com

FanTAStic!!!  I looked at the new site, and it totally comes into its own now. What a terrific job, and this is one of those rare instances where I would now say we`re done with the "critique" part, and it`ll be all about marketing and increased visibility.

Really excellent job! :-D

Hi Craig,

I really appreciated your critique, and your kind words.  It took some work, but was worth it.

I`m always open to suggestions.

Don`t hesitate, if you have more.

Thanks so much,

Eileen

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Eileen Morris Shnoozles, LLC www.shnoozles.com

Okay, I`m not a Web designer, but I play one on TV sometimes. :-) Nah... But I`ve read a lot of the posts on other critques, and I`m learning some HTML. I also have the logic of computer programming and so forth, so I took a look at your new site from a "visibility" perspective.

My interest has much to do with SEO writing, optimizing a site, and so forth. Here`s what I found:

• The title of the page is "Index Page." That`s not gonna get you anywhere, so you should change it. Make it something that advertises. The Search Engines (SEs) will immediately index on Title, and you`re missing a good opportunity there. Call it something like, "Schnoozles, an Adventure Game for Children"
• There isn`t any content on that first page. SEs tend to mostly index the first three pages on a site. They`ll eventually get around to the rest, but mostly it`s those first three. The home, landing page is most important. You should have strong content that produces good key phrase relevance.

• I`m bothered by the "About Us" page as it loads. It`s blurred, then eventually sharpens. To have that much content "lost" to the search engines in a graphic or set of graphics, is a waste of marketing potential. Strip it out of the graphic, then use styles and CSS to replicate it in actual text.
• Remember that a search engine is no different from a visually impaired human being. If the page can`t be read by a voice-read software application, the search engines aren`t going to "see" it at all.

So too, with your "Links" page. If they`re buried in images, you`re not getting the benefit of "back links," or connections. Google, and most other SEs rate "relevance" by how many other people and sites are referencing your site, through links and quotes. 

What key phrases can you use that people who have no idea that the word "schmoozle" exists would type into the query bar on a search engine? I did a search for "online children games," using Overture, and came up with this: (Note the number is the popularity of the phrase in searches.)
Certainly "Child online game" should be a key phrase! Then I did "kid site," and found this:

As you can see, you have a wonderful opportunity for SEO writing in content the SEs can actually read. :-)

Hi Craig,

Obviously, I know just about nothing about  SEO. What an education you`ve just given me! I appreciate it. I`ve been trying to put this website together in my spare time, learning as I go. I will absolutely go through all of your advice and try to make changes as you mentioned.  I already took a look at my opening page and I had no key words or phrases written in.  I took some of yours and added to it.  At least there are now descriptive phrases and keywords. Thanks!  I also changed the title from "index page" to "Shnoozles, an adventure in learning for children". (I`ll see if I can do better, but that`s much better than "index page").

I will make the time and fix all of the titles for my pages in addition to all other advice you`ve given. Can I add keywords and phrases to all my pages, or just to the opening page/index.htm?

Thank you so much for all of your help. 

Eileen

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Eileen Morris Shnoozles, LLC www.shnoozles.com