Site Useability desgin question

[PapaJim]

I have two sites that sell similar products. One site,http://itllbefun.com, I built myself (not bad for an old codger-newbie). The other is a site furnished by my supplier (required) with a url that is a bit ungainly. (http://www.stuffafriend.biz/members/papajim)

I built a one page site on a sub-domain of my domain http://adoptafriend.itllbefun.com to provide commonality. Before I start marketing...Good idea? Bad idea?

Would entertain other solutions.

Thanks,
PapaJim

[TrafficProducer]

not bad for an old codger-newbie

That's anyone over 25 years old, in Computer Science.

Quite a few people would like to "Stuff A Friend", Just joking.


I think this site has too much Blue Sky background..

[Irishjim]

Greetings, Papa, I hope you live long enough to read this.

Obviously you designed this with the user-friendly tools you'll find in v/deck and you've done a good job with what you have.

However, the program you used violates a number of good coding rules and SEO standards.

Navigation should be in a separate file so you can do global changes and make the search engines happy is the most glaring problem with this program.

Sometimes I'll turn friends who are computer nescient on to this program but only if they are putting up ego sites. It's far too simplistic for a good commercial site.

There are other "newbie" mistakes, such as the annoying scrolling text but you'll get more information from a site I built for new clients at www.jimstangledweb.com.

It was constructed for beginners but not for the faint of heart.

Feel free to read about what to do and what not to do.

Good luck in your new life (this one... not the next one).

[craigmn3]

It's a little difficult divining what your question is exactly. If you are trying to identify yourself with your supplier, branding is the best way to go. Using His Brand Name and His Logos (with permission). Adding a third bean to the pot is confusing...
Having said that let me speak to your webdesign...it is done very well , your tagging is excellent if a little effusive. ( did not dig into the bones of the design, but that was my first impression Where as your supplier has no metatags of anykind. Just a word from the wise , if your going to have graphic direct navigation, somewhere on the page you should put text links.
Tally Ho and good luck

[PapaJim]

Originally Posted by Irishjim

Greetings, Papa, I hope you live long enough to read this.

Obviously you designed this with the user-friendly tools you'll find in v/deck and you've done a good job with what you have.

However, the program you used violates a number of good coding rules and SEO standards.

Fortunately (I guess), I did live long enough to read the above.

I am looking over my shoulder at my locked and bolted door as I frantically shut down my Adopt-A-Friend site, shoot my puppets and hide the simplistic evidence of the "Home of Stringed Animal Puppets" site. I know it's just a matter of time before the Web Site police break down the door, wearing their Google badges and wielding their SEO sledgehammers!

All I did was copy the template under V-Deck (with permission) then change the coding myself because I got tired of everything getting written over when I published the site under V-deck. Since I am on a serious deficient fixed income (heart attack- and cancer-survivor), I couldn't afford a professional web designer.

I understand most of what you said but I am still a bit confused about:

Navigation should be in a separate file so you can do global changes and make the search engines happy is the most glaring problem with this program.

Separate file?

Ahh...well, thanks for the comments (as I slink back to the drawing board).

[PapaJim]

Originally Posted by craigmn3

It's a little difficult divining what your question is exactly. If you are trying to identify yourself with your supplier, branding is the best way to go. Using His Brand Name and His Logos (with permission). Adding a third bean to the pot is confusing...

About the branding...agreed. I do have permission to use the logos but, unfortunately, everything about "Stuff A Friend" (sales, fundraisers, etc.) must link to their site for final dispensation (billing, shipping, etc.) so I can't build a site for myself featuring their product.

Originally Posted by craigmn3

Having said that let me speak to your webdesign...it is done very well , your tagging is excellent if a little effusive. Where as your supplier has no metatags of anykind. Just a word from the wise , if your going to have graphic direct navigation, somewhere on the page you should put text links.

Thanks, Craig. I assume you are talking about the navigation on the Adopt A Friend site. Though not obvious (I'm gonna work on it), the text headers in the table below the graphics are text links.

[Irishjim]

I think you should thank the Google police... I certainly know I burn a candle (or is that incense?) to them every evening.

Anyway, on the serious side old guy, what works for the engines works for the visitors to your site.

JavaScript, especially for navigation, should be kept to a minimum on the individual pages. This means you can build a separate file, put it in a folder you can call and use the same navigation for all your pages.

When you want to change something, you change one file and it automatically changes all the pages.

For instance, I wanted to add country guides to all my pages on my European website at www.tourclare.com today.

I changed one file and over 500 pages automatically reflected the changes.

I actually have numerous JavaScript files that interact with one another so I call them all at once from their "js" folder.

Here's what it looks like:

<SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="js/xxxxxxx.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT>
<script language=JavaScript>
if(ns4)_d.write("<scr"+"ipt language=JavaScript src=js/mmenuns4.js><\/scr"+"ipt>");
else _d.write("<scr"+"ipt language=JavaScript src=js/mmenudom.js><\/scr"+"ipt>");
</script>
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="js/xxxxxx" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT>

It's easy to learn, even at your advanced age, and will make the Google Coppers happy.

Think about it. If you someday have 500 pages and need to change the navigation buttons... do you want to do them one by one?

Learn CSS and learn some basic JavaScript and, if you insist on crossing this desert alone, take some water along.

[Irishjim]

Permit me to answer for Craig if he doesn't. I think he was talking about the metatags when he said tags.

They are pretty much a minor issue when it comes to the search engines these days. Some still look at them but we know Google doesn't except to penalize you if you try spamming them there.

Sorry, Craig, if I stepped on your answer.

[edhan]

I think you might want to change your navigation links like animalfarm.html instead of page2.html and so on. This will help you when someone search for a particular topic in the search engines. As mentioned by TrafficProducer for adoptafriend, it is rather too blue and it is not pleasing to the eyes when comes to reading. Maybe you love clouds like me, but using it as background seems to make it difficult to read. Overall, your main site is neat and easy to navigate.

[TrafficProducer]

animalfarm.html instead of page2.html and so on

Hear, Hear.

Use Keyword and Keyword phrases in file names. This will help users and search engines like this more.. Don't try to deceive anyone though.. Not that I'm suggesting you would> Just take a bit of care e.g

Subject matted related:-
/stuffed_toys.html
/stuffed_bears.html

not:-

/make_millions.html

not really subject matted related, even if they could make million.

Do a bit of Keyword and Keyword research first.

[edhan]

Originally Posted by TrafficProducer

Hear, Hear.

Use Keyword and Keyword phrases in file names. This will help users and search engines like this more.. Don't try to deceive anyone though.. Not that I'm suggesting you would> Just take a bit of care e.g

Subject matted related:-
/stuffed_toys.html
/stuffed_bears.html

not:-

/make_millions.html

not really subject matted related, even if they could make million.

Do a bit of Keyword and Keyword research first.

Yes. That is what I am trying to say ... thank you for being explicits with the explanation. Yes, never try to deceive the search engines otherwise you will get ban for the mistakes. Getting links with related keyword(s) will boost your search ranking as well as the search results.

[getmea]

I like the color of your personal site...content is good. I noticed you used vdeck's shopping cart... not too many choices there in terms of placement of your items for sale...

Your "blue sky" site...well, I agree with other reviewers. If you desperately like the blue sky, try using a different font and see which works best.

Adding common code to stand-alone files is a good idea. I did not do it to my site (yet)...but I will. All you need is an line in your html. Make sure the file extension is "*.shtml". Google "server side include" and you'll find tons of sources.

---By the way, you're never too old. Anyone remember coding Assembler, COBOL '77, or Fortran '77?

[getmea]

Originally Posted by getmea

All you need is an line in your html. Make sure the file extension is "*.shtml". Google "server side include" and you'll find tons of sources.

OOps! Sorry, I got it backward. The display page name should be renamed *.shtml if it is a html page, or it could be a .php or .asp. You also need to make sure to change some settings.

Check out Google for server side includes. It explains it better than I :(