[zodiac]

Hi all, if you have a spare minute could you take a look at my website (link in sig).

i have done it myself and its my first one. it does ok but could do better.

any advice gladly received. be as harsh as needed, i'm a big lad so i can take it.

thanks in advance

[Sam (Mr. Mu)]

Hi Gareth, long time no forum-see - how are you!?

Re. the site. I think you're spot on: it 'does ok' but it could do better. There's loads to read - but it's almost too confusing with all those internal links. I lost track of where I was quite quickly.

I think pop-out images are only worth having if the popped-out image is a lot bigger than the thumbnail, otherwise the viewer's left wondering 'why?' ;-)

The site jumps about a few pixels here and there and there are some gaps between the sections that make it look like a badly built house

The huge list of towns (you hope to be found in Google for) looks a bit spammy as does the variety of (non-relevant) links on your links page. I'm not a Google expert by any stretch of the imagination but I don't think either of them help your search engine visibility anyway (your page titles are doing that job for you).

I searched "home security langport" and you're nowhere to be found (same for most of the other towns you've named at the bottom).

By contrast, you're top 4 for "home security yeovil" because those keywords are in most of your page titles.

Ultimately, well done for building a site - not an easy thing. I presume you've saved some money, learned some things... but the flip-side is a site that looks like your priority was saving money & personal achievement above customer experience. I'd always ask 'is that a smart choice'? I'm not sure it is, but in your trade, it might not matter.

Hope that helps!

[Peter W]

OK you said to be harsh...

I really don't like that long testimonials box. It would be better to have a single, short testimonial on your home page, and then a separate page for the rest.

Are you sure you need to give the 'Best of Yeovil' link such prominence by placing it so high up? I would put it in the footer.

That BNI link looks out of place at the bottom of the menu.

I agree with Sam - all those links in the text on your home page are distracting.

Some of your products pages need a call to action. Do you have any special offers on? What do prices start at?

You haven't used the h1 tag on your pages.

The site does not centre properly on Firefox 2.

I think the brick wallpaper looks a bit dated - sorry!

[Mike]

only got 1 minute so will focus on the worst bit - the bg!!!

please get rid, it looks awful

[Beneddie1112]

Also, on the Intruder Alarms page the pictures cover over the text, would put me off immediately. ,

Thanks,
Ben

[Cracking Media]

Like Mike, I haven't got long now. Of course as other have said there are improvements you can make, but I would say as a first off you have done fairly well. What did you create it with?

I can understand you using the brick design for the type of business you have, but as Mike said I don't think it works. I would be inclined to just have a contrasting blue as the background as it will then push the attention to your actual content which is what you want.

The other thing I would recommend from what I have seen in the time I have is to make your page wider. Is there a reason you have only made it just over 700 pixels wide? Most people these days are using 1024 pixel wide displays as a minimum so you should comfortably be able to have a width of 920 pixels. I think it will help your website because it will look more expansive and make your centre content area look less trapped by the two outer columns.

I hope that helps.

Peter

[Peter W]

Originally Posted by crackingmedia

The other thing I would recommend from what I have seen in the time I have is to make your page wider. Is there a reason you have only made it just over 700 pixels wide?

Good point, and well spotted. I thought that the site was a bit cramped, but assumed that it was designed to fit 800x600 screens. Do people still allow for screens this small? Anyway, you have another 100 pixels of width to play with.

[Cracking Media]

Originally Posted by Peter W

Good point, and well spotted. I thought that the site was a bit cramped, but assumed that it was designed to fit 800x600 screens. Do people still allow for screens this small? Anyway, you have another 100 pixels of width to play with.

Hi Peter

I don't believe it is worth catering for 800 x 600 displays any more. There are some useful stats on W3 Schools and for display sizes in the latest stats from January 2008 it showed that only 8% are using 800 x 600 with a huge majority on 1024 wide as a minimum. See here.

All the best,
Peter

[Arleigh]

The design is good though it's color scheme is not well-coordinated. Try to change the color of the background because I think it's not related to your theme. That's only my suggestion.

[zodiac]

attempt number two, testimonial box and the best of / bni logo to be removed when i get a moment as will all the towns listed

www.zodiacsecurity.co.uk/new.html