Re: New Web Site

On Sun, 6 Nov 2005 11:50:19 -0500, "sheli"
<acousticangel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I've been working on a website and I'd like feedback from you guys.
>
>www.sheliaarden.com and let me know what you think.


Sheli,

As a website designer, I have a few suggetions. Take them with a
grain if salt, and let me know if I can be of any help.

1) Make sure you have a navigation button that takes you back to the
first page. Don't rely on someone using the "back" button on their
browser.

2) Black backgrounds are very cool, but be sure that any font you use
is wide/bold, and not a "glaring" color. (Yellow, bright red, gright
green, anything 'neon', are all very hard to read for long periods of
time. Use bright colors ONLY for emphasis and in small amounts.

3) Large type helps on a black background.

4) Pictures need to be at a high enough resoluytion that you don't
see "ghosting" or "artifacts" around edges and letters. A prime
example is the photo showing the "Indigo Coffee House" logo. The
"fuzziness" around the logo does not represent high quality, and
therefor degrades from the website. This is easily fixed with most
photo editors. But if you don't start out with a clear picture, you
can't really make it any better.

5) You need some form of "regional" branding. In other words, what
part of the world are you in? (Here at RMMGA, most of us know that
you are on the East Coast, but if I run across your site blindly, I
have no way of knowing where you are.

6) Be careful about giving out too much local information. The world
is not all friendly, and someone could try to find you. Do NOT give
out your home address, and only give out a telephone number that you
don't mind getting calls on from total strangers. In other words,
just be safe!

7) To keep from getting too much "SPAM' email, only put your email
address in a photograph or image. ("Spiders" can't find it that way.)
If you want to make it a clickable link, then use a JAVA script (or
some other script) to encode the address. There are several good,
free address encoders out there. I use them on ALL of my websites
now.

8) Pictures! Lot's of Pictures! Web surfers like to see pictures.
Most people will not read a full-length paragraph unjless they came to
your site for a specific purpose. You want to be able to grab
someones attention that is just "surfing." Make sure that the
"subject" of the picture is the most prominent part of the shot. If
you want to feature a performer, don't show too much of the
background, unless the background is the most important part of the
composition.

9) Keep audio clips small and easily downloaded or streamed. Make
sure to include a link to any music "players" that are needed, like
"Real Media" or "Windows Media 9X" or whatever format you are using.

10) MOST IMPORTANT!!! Use the KISS method. (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)
Always be prepared for the lowest common denominator. Over half of
the people using the internet still have not made any basic changes to
their computers once they got it out of the box. Sure, the latest and
greatest toys and scripts are fun, and can make your site look really
cool, but you will loose half of your potential audience. Simplicity
always works, if it is done in a tasteful, artistic manner. (You can
always provide an alternate site full of really advanced features.)


Your site looks good. I look forward to seeing the next, revised
version. Let me know if there is anything that I can help with.

Cheers!

Jim McCrain
.

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