ExperimentOne.com - web design site

[williamfawcett]

Hi all,

I've decided to bite the bullet and strike out on my own and I'd appreciate any comments on my site (which is after all a pretty big part of any web design company's marketing strategy) before I go shouting it all over town.

Ta.

Bill

[smoothhabitat]

here's my critique:

1. i love the preloader page with the airplane flying at you and the window. very slick.

2. on the main pages i don't like the rounded rectangles. that's not a good critique. but i don't like them. :)

3. the links are too hidden. make them slightly larger and make the orange darker. or do something to make them pop.

4. all the animations need to move faster. just up the fps... by a lot.

5. the blinking arrow is very distracting.

6. the text sizes and weights are a bit hard to read. maybe too random to.

7. "why do you need a web site?" i've never had to sell this idea to a potential-client. try something more like "why do you need a website from ME"

8. potential-clients will want to see a larger portfolio, not just a showcase of one or two projects. show a minimum of 10 (if you got it).

9. link to text-only version should be a text link... not a Flash link.

10. do tableless design (CSS+XHTML) for text-only version. this will make it easier for screenreaders, google, and blind people to come to your site. these are probably the only people/things to want to see the text-only version anyway. see www.zeldman.com for more.

[williamfawcett]

Thanks for the feedback.

3. the links are too hidden. make them slightly larger and make the orange darker. or do something to make them pop.
Fair comment. If people can't spot them, then they've failed their purpose.

4. all the animations need to move faster. just up the fps... by a lot.
It's over-ambition on my part I'm afraid - there's too many semi-transparent mc's moving over each other. It slows Flash to a crawl on all but the fastest PC's.

5. the blinking arrow is very distracting.
That was a result of some user testing - readers weren't clicking along to the second page until I made the arrow very obvious. You're right, it's ugly, but I do greatly reduce them on subsequent pages.

7. "why do you need a web site?" i've never had to sell this idea to a potential-client. try something more like "why do you need a website from ME"
The people I'm aiming at (small businesses, tradesmen etc.) do need a website sold to them - they don't really understand the medium and are naturally cautious with their small budgets. I can't compete with established agencies for larger clients yet, but I think this a good first step on the ladder.

8. potential-clients will want to see a larger portfolio, not just a showcase of one or two projects. show a minimum of 10 (if you got it).
Ain't got one for ExperimentOne.com yet. I can hardly use sites produced for previous employers...

9. link to text-only version should be a text link... not a Flash link.
Fair point.

10. do tableless design (CSS+XHTML) for text-only version. this will make it easier for screenreaders, google, and blind people to come to your site. these are probably the only people/things to want to see the text-only version anyway.
You're right. I'm going to have to sort that out.

Thanks again for the feedback and comments - I appreciate it.

Bill

[smoothhabitat]

4. all the animations need to move faster. just up the fps... by a lot.
It's over-ambition on my part I'm afraid - there's too many semi-transparent mc's moving over each other. It slows Flash to a crawl on all but the fastest PC's.

I'm running a pretty fast PC: AMD Athlon XP 2800+.... So, that's probably something you should fix considering your target market is "small businesses, trademen".


I can hardly use sites produced for previous employers...


I had the same problem. But, as long as you are clear what your part was on the project and mention the name of the company then you should be fine. Ask permission first.

[nutshell]

I like your work it is professional and realistic.

One thing, the name ExperimentOne. It doesn't really portray confidence. A small company that is looking to use your services might be put off by the idea of an experiment.

[williamfawcett]

One thing, the name ExperimentOne. It doesn't really portray confidence. A small company that is looking to use your services might be put off by the idea of an experiment.

mmm, that's fair comment. I was originally thinking that any project would be the client's first foray into marketing themselves on the web as well as my first stab at going it alone. I figured if I couldn't make this business work, I'd try another and call it ExperimentTwo etc. Also, it's easier to remember and find on Google (eventually).


Bill

[smoothhabitat]

I think you'll find that a lot of your clients have a website already (that there brother-in-law's babysitter's kid made for them for $20). There are a LOT of small businesses and tradesmen that have crappy sites out their. They hopped on the dot-com boom thing and shelled out some cash thinking that merely having a site is good enough.

Your market is pretty much the same as mine, and that's what I've been finding. I always am running into people that don't say "why do i need a website?" but "what could you do for me that i don't already have going on on my craptastic ugly and unusable website?" and think in terms of end results ($ and fame) for them.