Magnus Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 So, I received some advertising in the form of a leaflet brochure today from a business that does photo restoration (okay, cool) as well as what I do, videotape digitization.Their website looks like it is stuck in the 1990s, and the PDF order form (for their invoices/estimates) didn't seem to work for me.I want your thoughts on the website. Spelling errors, design, layout, all of it.Stuck in the 90sHere is mine, for comparison. Ever Building FilmsI have never claimed to be great at web design (or logo design, for that matter), so I have tried to keep things simple, but not outdated-looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rentz Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 This is bizarre, but when I see websites like that I get a strange, comforting feeling that reminds me of my childhood.Normally I can't stand Papyrus, gradients, web 2.0 effects and what not but when it is put together on a website like that that is straight out of 1998 I get an overwhelming blast of nostalgia. It's just the utter naivety and earnestness that gets me, like someone bought a "websites for dummies" book and scrapped together a website from the clipart and six fonts pre-loaded on to their Windows 95 computer. The only thing missing is a MIDI music file playing in the background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSox44 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I think I just teleported back to 2001.And is that...no, it can't be...Papyrus? Seriously? What the hell. What the actual hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CS85 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Good ol' Papyrus. My aunt's favorite font, if that says anything. Quote "You are nothing more than a small cancer on this message board. You are not entertaining, you are a complete joke." twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter Morgan Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I would ditch the creepy photo on your "About the Owner" section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONUV Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I would ditch the creepy photo on your "About the Owner" section.or shave and comb the hair and put up a new pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quantum Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I would ditch the creepy photo on your "About the Owner" section.or shave and comb the hair and put up a new picI'd register your own domain. Nothing says amateur like a link for creating your own free website. "One of my concerns is shysters show up and take advantage of people's good will and generosity". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 Heh, that's actually sorta taken care of. I have a .com, but I only use it for linking purposes. I tried out their website designer once and was frustrated beyond hell (I'm a video guy, not a coder), so I linked This place to take you to the site on Freewebs. It's not perfect, but until I can afford to hire a better designer, I think I have accomplished the whole getting dot-commed thing.Photo's been fixed, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DelayedPenalty Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Well, their website isn't that great, but neither is yours to be honest. It's very bland, looks incomplete, and doesn't look professional. Theirs at least looks put together and complete (in a Y2K kind of way). I agree with the others, drop the creeper photo on the Owner page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drdougfresh Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Honestly, I can't say I'm impressed with either site. Both have shortcomings (yours is on the bland side, they used a lot of bad design features)-- but their online CTA works. No images are loading in the store on your site, which indicates dead links/poor upkeep. Their home page is also laid out much better (you have a lot of rhetorical questions and blank space-- no images or visual elements [like color]). If you know anything about SEO, web conversion, and the path users take on your site, you understand why a home page is clearly the most important element. It feels ignored on your site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quantum Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 The old pic is still showing and forcing potential customers to click links to get to your site is bad. It seems like all you tried to do here was make yourself look better than your competitor, and it didn't work. Remember the old saying ~ It takes money to make money? It is so true in business. Invest in having someone design and code a website for you. I believe you are doing more damage to your image the way you have things now. "One of my concerns is shysters show up and take advantage of people's good will and generosity". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 Yeah - I'm actually in the process of trying to clean up the errors that you guys suggested on my site now. I might go back to a template that a friend of mine designed for me a while ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac the Knife Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Well, their website isn't that great, but neither is yours to be honest. It's very bland, looks incomplete, and doesn't look professional. Theirs at least looks put together and complete (in a Y2K kind of way). I agree with the others, drop the creeper photo on the Owner page.Not to be mean, but posted to say precisely this. Theirs is circa 1997. Yours is circa 2004. Ask Yzerfan to do your site for you - he does some FANTASTIC work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Thank you. I'll take it under consideration. I need to earn a little more money to hire someone first, but when I'm ready, I'll be sure to ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Also, you charge for the time it takes to burn a movie onto a DVD rather than a flat fee? "Most discs are burnt in 30 minutes"? Your DVD burner is stuck in 1997. Why should I pay more because you're burning at 2X? Maybe it's standard in the industry, but when I see things like that and charging me for how much time you spend editing rather than a flat cost of editing based on the length of filming, I run in the other direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstraper Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Yeah man, I don't know why you're criticizing the other person's site when yours is also painful to view.If I were you, I would, at the very least, just spend a couple of hours creating a free site on Weebly, separating the sections as tabs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990hornet Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 I agree with most, theirs is no prize but at least it looks complete.BTW, no to thread hijack, because there's nothing worse than a thread hijacker. Anyway, mines not "outaded" is it? (link in sig, BRaysball Talk) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstraper Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 BTW, no to thread hijack, because there's nothing worse than a thread hijacker. Anyway, mines not "outaded" is it? (link in sig, BRaysball Talk)Ehh...top header logo is pretty solid, though I'm confused by the placement of the staranus (that's where the eye is drawn to, but it just seems misplaced/unnecessary).Typical blogger template is underwhelming, but you are limited with options -- I'm aware. I think you have too many widgets (page loads slowly). Don't need a countdown for both Pitchers and Catchers and Opening Day (or make them smaller...and Opening Day should be below).I think your post formatting could be improved.The top bar ("Home", "About Me", etc) is slow to load and hard to read (at least switch the letter color to a dark blue instead of the glowing yellow mess).Lastly, for pure cosmetics, you may consider installing the Wibiya toolbar instead of the anchored right side social bar. It would make your site a little more "horizontal".One of the better simple/pure blog formats I've seen is www.procanes.com. No, that's not an advertisement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990hornet Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Ok I addressed some of those concerns, tell me what you thinkhttp://braysballtalk.blogspot.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstraper Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Ok I addressed some of those concerns, tell me what you thinkhttp://braysballtalk.blogspot.comSent you a PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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