Feedback requested for our excellent site

[paresh2k2]

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Merry Christmas everybody,

We have recently launched our site and I am going to be adding some excellent affiliated marketing options in the coming weeks.

I would like feedback on the following elements:

• The technical design
• The Artistic design
• Functionality – do you get how the site works or is it confusing?
• Credibility – is this a site you would trust
• Loyalty – is this a site you would want to return to in future
• Practicality – how easy is it to navigate, find information and does it work?

The site has been on the market for less than three months and the traffic levels are good and I tend to attract more females and people aged 35 – 45 to the site which is a great demographic. Its more of a recognition that a deliberate attempt to capture them.
To capitalise on the traffic we will be adding some excellent affiliate ‘modules’ to provide a much greater range of services.

Any feedback, suggestions or ideas would be very welcome.

PK

[Affi Liate]

It's excellent apparently.

I'll tell you what it reminded me of.

A few weeks ago I came home somewhat
earlier than planned and whilst my Danish
companion was preparing to unleash her
pastries I flicked on beeb 2.

It was Dragons Den and I just happened
to catch Peter Jones wailing:

"Why... WHYYYYY?!"

You'll get my point one day.

You did ask.

Good luck.

Affi

[Steved]

Yup. apparently you don't need feedback, it's "excellent".

[drivetowin]

Many words spring instantly to mind - unfortunately excellent is'nt one of them...

[paresh2k2]

Just to explain the vibrant colour scheme…

When we first designed the technical design spec it looked very much like a spreadsheet with the huge amount of white space on the homepage so we opted to use coloured headers and at least make the title header colourful. Once you scroll down the page to the content the title disappears and you still see more white space than anything else.

Perhaps it might be too colourful but the feedback I’ve had is intersting. For casual users coming off a google search, it attracts the eye and I have a relatively low bounce rate. Women in particular seem to favour the art design, whereas men seem to prefer the technical design (access to ads and general navigation which I hope in easy and intuitive).

The welcome box was our way of taking a large chunk of the homepage and doing essentially nothing with it. We could have placed ads or content here but we wanted a plain, inviting ‘welcome mat’ to give users space to ‘breathe’.

I’ve removed all banner ads from the homepage to give a better impression of the site.

[jamiecarruthers]

Just to explain the vibrant colour scheme…

When we first designed the technical design spec it looked very much like a spreadsheet with the huge amount of white space on the homepage so we opted to use coloured headers and at least make the title header colourful.

I think you might be getting design and decoration confused. Design is about communication, and that header doesn't communicate anything to me.

There are a few categories I clicked on that don't have any ads. Why not reduce the clutter and only show categories where their are ads for them?

[paresh2k2]

The header is only temporary as we wanted to get the engine up and running and iron out as many bugs as possible (seems to be a never ending process). We're looking to change the header as the final step. Its a stop gap for now.

All subcategories are viewable whether they have content or not as currently our focus is the attract content providers. If they see a subcategory they want to post in then its there for their uses and we dont want them to assume it doesnt exist just because they cant immediately see it.

Ad viewers at this stage are our secondary target (no point attracting viewers without enough content to satisfy them). In that respect by the time we are in a position to attract content viewers, there should be enough in there to keep all the subcategories visible so that annoying message that there are no ads will no longer appear.

[Aquanuke]

wtf you been smokin'

[paresh2k2]

wtf you been smokin'

I dont think I know what you're talking about. Maybe you should take another look.

[DioBach]

I dont think I know what you're talking about. Maybe you should take another look.

Better hope Google AdSense team don't take a look, you're in breach of the TOS.

[paresh2k2]

I never thought posting a feedback request stating specific criteria in a forum full of supposed experts would be such a waste of time.

[Steved]

I never thought posting a feedback request stating specific criteria in a forum full of supposed experts would be such a waste of time.

I think the answer to that lies in your subject:
"Feedback requested for our excellent site"

If you had just asked for feedback for your site without first stating that it's "excellent" you would have received a far warmer and more constructive critique.

[befuddle]

Am I cracking up? Where's the link to the website?

[tbp]

If you had just asked for feedback for your site without first stating that it's "excellent" you would have received a far warmer and more constructive critique.

Totally agree. Unfortunately the site isn't "excellent", and so it will lead people to criticise it much more harshly than they would otherwise.

You should of said something like "my site is new, not many ad's on it at the moment, any ideas on how I can improve on anything", and you would of got a much more useful response.

[csn]

Am I cracking up? Where's the link to the website?

I can't find it either.