Web noob seeks opinions on website

Flukester

Flukester

Flukester

Man of Honour
Joined
1 Nov 2007
Posts
4,402
Location
Christchurch UK
Web Guru's

Been working on a little online business and slapped a website together... just after constructive comments good or bad really, on everything to do with layout / graphics / content etc etc....

http://www.bikevis.com

It's hopefully start of something larger but it won't be selling a lot atm (and not even live yet), any input would be fantastic.

I'm not a graphics / web person by a long long way, so this was abit of a struggle, but hope it look OK

Cheers in advance

edit: the mysql is abit slow on this usa host so will move to a uk host soon.
 
Last edited:
Well it doesn't look entirely **** and it's not horrendous 'under the bonnet' so for a self-proclaimed 'noob' it ain't too bad.

I'd prefer the grey background to be be something other than grey; I know it matches your black/dark grey menu and graphics, but it's just a little too, well, grey!

The design isn't anything special, but what would I know - I'm not a deezyner either. But at least it is clean and clear, and not off-putting in the least.

As for technical stuff, I'd probably opt for a HTML 5 Doctype these days, but if not, I'd make your current Doctype Strict - cuts down on discrepencies between browsers and makes it easier to design.

I'd prefer if you added some rollover images or some greater level of interactivity for the menu... and while I'm on a roll, I'd choose a different hover colour and remove the underline.

I'd also add some styling changes for a:hover - apart from the cursor change there is little to distinguish in-line links from other styles.

And I'd probably make your footer match your menu; or at least be a little more 'distinct'.

Most of my feedback is subjective, and the bottom line is that as a niche online store-sum-brochure site it will do its job.
 
I actually like the nice, clean, easy to find design.

Your "About" link redirects to a forum.

The image titles look like they should be clickable buttons.

How are you planning to manage the store products?
 
cjmUK said:
Well it doesn't look entirely **** and it's not horrendous 'under the bonnet' so for a self-proclaimed 'noob' it ain't too bad.

I'd prefer the grey background to be be something other than grey; I know it matches your black/dark grey menu and graphics, but it's just a little too, well, grey!

The design isn't anything special, but what would I know - I'm not a deezyner either. But at least it is clean and clear, and not off-putting in the least.

As for technical stuff, I'd probably opt for a HTML 5 Doctype these days, but if not, I'd make your current Doctype Strict - cuts down on discrepencies between browsers and makes it easier to design.

I'd prefer if you added some rollover images or some greater level of interactivity for the menu... and while I'm on a roll, I'd choose a different hover colour and remove the underline.

I'd also add some styling changes for a:hover - apart from the cursor change there is little to distinguish in-line links from other styles.

And I'd probably make your footer match your menu; or at least be a little more 'distinct'.

Most of my feedback is subjective, and the bottom line is that as a niche online store-sum-brochure site it will do its job.
Click to expand...

thanks for comments / advice. i've changed the style for menu hover... think i'm gonna stay away from rollover images as they are a pet hate of mine :)

your deffo right it needs a footer, will help hold pages together... not at all happy with front page though as it looks too empty, but I guess at same time thats better than clutter.

it started as a simple template I grabbed from web, but done a lot of work on it to get it how I wanted..
 
Raist said:
I actually like the nice, clean, easy to find design.

Your "About" link redirects to a forum.

The image titles look like they should be clickable buttons.

How are you planning to manage the store products?
Click to expand...

thanks :), the about link is me being lazy, I thought I could just drop users into a forum that I could update, it's abit weird to do that though I guess

what do you mean by image titles ?

the store products as just starting out will be a simple business paypal cart.. most sales won't be from website direct hopefully as it will just be sold onto resellers.
 
Flukester said:
not at all happy with front page though as it looks too empty, but I guess at same time thats better than clutter.
Click to expand...

IMHO, less is definitely more.

Flukester said:
what do you mean by image titles ?
Click to expand...

I think he means that the header images to the right might look like buttons - especially since the background image is (almost) shared with the menu. Not a lot you can do about it. However, if you make the styling of your other links clearer, visitors will be in no doubt as to what they can click.

While we are on about titles, I see that you filled in the ALT attributes for your images (v. good for accessibility) but you might also want to add a TITLE attribute with exactly the same text - in most browsers it will appear as a tooltip. Just a sometime-useful, nice touch.
 
It's fine apart from the typography. The entire thing is in the same font - I think it would look more professional if the headings were in a different font. Also some other typography issues, e.g. the post headings are smaller than the text, sometimes the spacing isn't quite right.
 
Mattus said:
It's fine apart from the typography. The entire thing is in the same font - I think it would look more professional if the headings were in a different font. Also some other typography issues, e.g. the post headings are smaller than the text, sometimes the spacing isn't quite right.
Click to expand...

thanks for tips, yeah deffo some sizing problems. not sure if headings should be different font though... i always thought golden rule for design was not to spam user with different font types unless really needed
 
thanks everyone for tips, hopefully made it a little better

- added bar at footer of pages to 'finish it'
- turned the black title images on right panes into buttons / links that do something
- added more titles to various elements
- edited style on normal hyperlinks
- enlarged headings
- about page isn't residing on forum

it's great to get this kinda feedback as I never spotted them at all :), so big thanks all

if anyone can spot anything else yell, cheers
 
Last edited:
Hey flukey,

I'm not so much able to help with the implementation side of the site but I have a few suggestions about the content.

I'm liking the clean look a lot. You may want to think about the image you are trying to portray especially if you are looking for resellers. I'm thinking that the use of smilies within the text may or may not be what you want to put across.

The text as a whole get's your message across clearly however could do with some further proof reading. You often switch between first and third person when talking about the site/company. Neither is right/wrong but it should be consistant.

The product photos could be expanded especially close-ups of how you have fitted them and more pictures of them on the bike but turned off. I would be slightly turned off without seeing very clearly how this is going to make my bike look.

I looked through the fitting guide as well and a step by step guide for any bike would make a good start as it is far easier for someone to modify an existing step by step than it is to try and follow generic instructions. Clear photos ala Haynes manual would go well with these.

If you would like a hand with the proof reading and copy for the website and any technical guides I'd be happy to help. In my work I am responsible for test scripts and technical documentation so I could write bike specific and generic step by step guides for you. I'd need a hand with any photography though as it's not a strong point for me.

Sorry I rambled on a bit there! There isn't actually much wrong with the site at all, maybe just things that I may have done differently.
 
Last edited:
thanks for the feedback Dureth...

your right about smilies, i do find it hard to stick looking professional and you have to strike a happy medium between the average biker reading and a future reseller. I will deffo strip them out though, at least on the main site pages and leave them for forum use only.

thanks for offer on proof reading, the switching thing is a big problem, one day I'll write in first then in third. in the third person you sound like a bigger company than you really are, when in first a one man band. I think I'll work on getting most text into third person except the 'about' section... both have their appeals to readers.

the guide was a nightmare tbh.. to me this is the most boring part of a product, I just hate it plus it had to be squeezed onto a single double sided a4 sheet for pakaging. what I'm hoping is that I build up a library of user guides written by customers on the forum (I'll run a little reward scheme of free T10 sidelights bulbs).

Going to give away a lot of samples also to build up this library.. if you at the winchester / boxhill meet I'll hook you up with a kit if you would be willing to do a little guide for your bike, just a few photos etc..

Once I have some guides / users I'll then start selling and enable the shopping carts, then ultimately start approaching the big distributers in the UK.

This is the third little business I've started and it's a real buzz doing it tbh.. even for a little site like this there is so much work to do, everything has to be perfect and run like clockwork.

One form of adversiing I will be running is I have 2 Pairs of 'Brites' on my bike, but I have the loom so I can sling them on a lithium battery and power them with ignition off. I will then park bike up at Poole Quay every tuesday and leave them to self sell... also a flyer stuck to windshield.

It's early days yet, I'm sure once I have shifted some units them I will tweak the website a lot more..

again though, thanks for ideas, I got some editing to do toms I rekon :), cya on Monday :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom