I Will Review Yours If You Review Mine :)

Dan · #1 (**permalink**) 07-20-2003, 10:08 AM

Hello!
I am the owner/president of FireHouse Merchandise, and I am looking for reviews on my recently launched website. The site is currently a success, but I am looking for greater success...arent we all? lol
So, if you have ANY suggestions, comments, or opinions please post them and I will share my views (good or bad) by reciprocating your review.

My site address is:
http://www.firehousemerchandise.com

Thank You Very Much!

Sincerely,
Dan

kidsfreesoul · #2 (**permalink**) 07-20-2003, 10:38 AM

Well, The site is good and navigation easier, opening in new browsers. The product range is wide. Cldn't understand why advertise with us lead to classifiedadcentral!

I guess the green color cld be lil lighter or the links in yellow instead of red...coz red links in green blur the eyes!

Blue fonts could be somewhat lighter too....Maybe this is my choice, anyways.

Good site. Wish u all the best....n success to you and those who join too...

-ilaxi
Edited my mod Webnauts. Links to you web site may only be in your signature.

oomwrtu · #3 (**permalink**) 07-20-2003, 10:43 AM

Nice layout.

- Internal page links are nice, but you should probably put each of the "numbers" on their own page.

- Red links on green are hard to read, like "Dan" said.

- Try to make text more interesting in the main area of page. Try to break it up with bullets, make it a quick read.

Dan · #4 (**permalink**) 07-20-2003, 12:19 PM

I would like to thank all of you for posting your opinions about my site.
I went ahead and changed a few details, but I wasn't sure what "numbers on own page meant". Also, I'm not to sure on how to make this page a "quick" read lol. Hopefully, I will receive more input lol.

Sincerely,
Dan

Cdub · #5 (**permalink**) 07-20-2003, 01:36 PM

Just my opinion BUT; Way too much text attempting to get to the point. I gave up while on the first page. Could be that I've become like most folks and want everything spoon fed to me!

Now if you would please do mine!
www.anewhome.org

Dan · #6 (**permalink**) 07-25-2003, 01:14 PM

Cdub,
I tried to review your page, but I kept getting a 'no page found' whenever I tried clicking the link. I don't know what's going on, maybe a server problem? Anyways, thanks for the input and I will try later to see if it works

Sincerely,
Dan

Kingsley · #7 (**permalink**) 07-25-2003, 01:55 PM

Dan,

Just had a quick look at you site all seems fine and works OK. I'm not too sure about the blue text on the background colour, but that's purely a personal preference. Also the Logo seems not to stand out too well against the black.

One typo error that stood out was on the Program Price page. The link at the bottom to what do the stars do reads what does the stars do.

Hope this helps

Kingsley

Dan · #8 (**permalink**) 07-25-2003, 02:33 PM

Thanks for the imput. I will try to do something about that.

Just for future reference what two colors are best? I receive that quite often and tried changing once before. Should I go with white as the main background?

Thank you for all your help!

Sincerely,
Dan

Robin · #9 (**permalink**) 07-25-2003, 03:32 PM

Dear Dan

Thank you for your visit to www.TheDigitalHorse.com. I went and looked at your site. I think the content is very good. But you need to work on your logo and your templates. What I mean is the logo is a bit difficult to read and a black background is always tricky.

Once you have committed to a logo then set up a template page that includes the logo and a navigation bar. Then base all your pages on this template. I am telling you the time it takes to learn how to set up a template will save you soooo much time and money in the long run. With the template you can establish a overall look and feel for your site. Let me itemize my thoughts here:

Template:

Logo top left hand corner.
Navigation bar on each page on the right just as you have it.
contact information on the bottom of each page.
set up a style sheet for the colors and fonts.

Plus what is really slick about templates is when you want to change an element on your page you change the template and the changes are global on you site.

Why? Because the new windows opening are okay if I know what I am looking at. Treat me like I am not very web savvy and help me with constancy between the pages. Clearly you have put a lot of work into this idea and my feeling is if you "frost" it with a good logo and consistency between the pages you will have a hit!

Best Regards and again thank you for your review of http://www.TheDigitalHorse.com

Robin
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mm99 · #10 (**permalink**) 07-25-2003, 09:18 PM

Thanks for reviewing my site. I'm really concerned about the http://onlineclub.tk site. Any ideas for changes?? Getting negative reviews but not sure what to do (no specific advice)...anyway, your site..

Your source:
1) your head has no doc type, desc (both very important)or keywords...title is very strong, good
2) you are using some sort of redirect and it does not look like frames. Is that a meta redir? I think you're going to throw the ses with that. Meta redirs are pretty much an se no no

Your site:
1) your text streches very wide on a large screen. In your case I would not restrict the width, but I would divide it into 2 columns. You could give both points their own column.
2) the logo I feel is kind of cheesy looking. It is also being given too much room. The black area is too high and wide for the logo size. A nice bold outline might look good. The black looks a little out of place also.
3) I also have a problem with the pastel colors. This does not say business to me...same with the bright blue lettering. My eyes really did have trouble with it.
4) you generally shouldn't use the "times" type for 3 or under type sizes...arial or verdana would look much better and professional.

sum) if I remade the page I would put the nav on the left, put the 2 topics in seperate cloumns (right), take the pay pal off the top (looks kind of odd up there, that sort of thing is usually at the bottom of the page..),get a better "business" looking logo and take the "advertisers" part off (good place for the pay pal logo).

A suggestion...there are many templates avail for free that you could use and just fill in the blanks. Ever considered that possibility? They're reall pretty good.

Is this an SMC site? The catalogs look familiar. Any questions, feel free to ask...Paul

Philip Toft · #11 (**permalink**) 07-26-2003, 05:43 AM

Hi Dan.I wear glasses so its probably my fault but the colours of your logo are really hard to read for me.The general layout and text is good,but if you could afford to spread the text over more pages I am sure it wouldnt appear so jumbled.If you cant then I guess it will do.I like your credibility factor using the Pay pal logo and all the adds .If you would like to advertise on our site you are very welcome although our problem is we cant seem to get the USA interested,still you never know.If you want to look at out site its www.yttw.com.Good luck Philip

Julian · #12 (**permalink**) 07-26-2003, 02:01 PM

Hi Dan,

Site looks pretty good. Text is a little large for my taste and colors are not the ones I would choose but it is not my site. I have to kind of agree with the logo being hard to read. I am not sure why so many links bring up a new browser with the exception that when you click out you are back at the home page. I would place these within your site and use the link, "Return to Previous Page", or home page. About the only time I use open new browser is when it is going to take you to a totally different web site. Note sure why the PayPal button takes you to the sign up page for PayPal. We use the PayPal button and shopping cart on our site, which I would like you to review, so please take a look as to how we use the PayPal button, just a suggestion because we use the shopping cart. I am interested in the content of your site or what it is about and with more time plan to take a closer look at what you are offering. http://www.wholesalekennel.com

Thanks,
Julian

capsman · #13 (**permalink**) 07-26-2003, 02:53 PM

-very clear and easy to navigate.

-My first thought without knowing what the site was about was why you didn't have the word Firehouse in a fire red font instead of blue.

- Your FAQ section is good

-I didn't understand the links to the pictures of the catalogs and not to the catalog or some sample items in the catalog

-Some of your links open up new pages. I would have a close window button so that the user can close quickly and easily

- I found the list of products but it was just a text list. I would spend some time showing some of the products and explaining the quality and features. I think you need to sell the user on the products you are looking to have him sell. They want to know that it is quality stuff that will not be difficult for them to see. To many fly by night outfits send crap and they get burned. You need to earn the users trust. Show some products and let them see how unique they are.

-your plans are well spelled out, but should they be the main page? Would you not sell the user on the system and products, and then have a link going into detail of the different plans once you have beeen able to gain the user's interest?

Just a couple of thoughts.
If you have the time I would appreciate a review of my site
www.capspackaging.com

Good luck

Graham