www.eschoolsearch.com

travisbickle100 · #1 (**permalink**) 06-13-2005, 03:45 PM

I would appreciate honest reviews of this site. I went to site report card and received a 8.5 out of 10.

www.eschoolsearch.com

I will also be at Webmaster World Search Conference in New Orleans next week so look for me there if you are going.

MktgPro · #2 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 01:15 AM

Travis,

The site looks good, although I'd like it better if it were centered. I might also put the Google ads going across the bottom of the screen or something. Somehow I didn't expect so much advertising on a site about private schools.

From a marketing perspective, I wonder if you've ever investigated marketing to realtors. They are always looking to add links to, or incorporate information about, schools to their own websites.

Good luck with the site.

Kathleen

brian.mark · #3 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 01:26 AM

I tried submitting on the form and got a 404 error. I'd say you'll want to fix that before you get too many visitors. Also, it didn't really specify that this was only up to grade 12, although the drop-downs only listed up to that grade.

Design looked fine, but I'd agree with the centering.

Get that form submit working, too.

Brian.

Paul B · #4 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 01:51 AM

A great site. Couple of small points:

Kathleen wondered if the Google ads were appropriate. I wonder if the slightly cartoony feel is appropriate to the site and doesn't debase its value.

Your code seem to have no doc type declaration. (DW sometime drops this when it makes a template.)

Like many a US-based dotcom site, you have forgotton there is the rest of the world out there - who also have private schools and also use dotcom. It is only your drop down of states that breaks the news this is US only.

Home link? Hidden in the top graphic. Not the most intuitive method.

MarcieZoob · #5 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 07:02 AM

Paul B said:

Quote:

I wonder if the slightly cartoony feel is appropriate to the site and doesn't debase its value.

I had the same feeling in regard to overall look and feel of your site. If your market group is private school parents, they might be a bit more savvy. I think the site needs an infusion of color and some graphical interest that is more trendy.

The site feels very confined - I felt like my search results were squeezed into such a small space, plus the site would "feel" better centered on the screen. I agree that your Google ads s/b moved to the bottom page.

Do you really need that ad in the header? That s/b your logo or catchphrase w/photos of what the site is about.

MuNKyonline · #6 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 07:46 AM

The big blocks of colour and the large round text does link the site to schools but I agree it does make the site look like it's more for children rather than the parents. You want to keep to your chosen colours as well. Some of the forms don't quite match the colours on the rest of the site.

The google ads look a bit odd at the side as the others have said yet again. Especially as some of them are links to UK sites.

Instead of centering the page why not make it stretch the full width of the page to get rid of that nasty white strip? Plus that would give you more space for the search results.

kgun · #7 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 09:55 AM

Standard Google Ad. Good enough is best.

Simple and good enoug design.

Did not link to it, since it seems like a search engine for mostly religious schools. The content is not relevant to my site.

Edufind and related sites are more relevant to my site.

Kbleivik

http://multifinanceit.com/
http://multifinanceit.com/education/education.htm

Paul B · #8 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuNKy

The google ads look a bit odd at the side as the others have said yet again. Especially as some of them are links to UK sites.

Hi MuNKy - that's coz you're in the UK. Adwords/Adsense is contextual and that includes the viewers of ads. Google uses your IP address and feeds ads to your bowser that where advertisers have asked to appear in the UK.

travisbickle100 · #9 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MktgPro

From a marketing perspective, I wonder if you've ever investigated marketing to realtors. They are always looking to add links to, or incorporate information about, schools to their own websites.

Kathleen

I have been working on this. Most brokers already have school info on their web sites, but I have progressed in this area.

travisbickle100 · #10 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brian.mark

I tried submitting on the form and got a 404 error. I'd say you'll want to fix that before you get too many visitors.
Brian.

Were you using Mozilla or Explorer? I have heard of such problems on Mozilla.

travisbickle100 · #11 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul B

A great site. Couple of small points:

Kathleen wondered if the Google ads were appropriate. I wonder if the slightly cartoony feel is appropriate to the site and doesn't debase its value.

I'm not sure what is meany by "cartoony" - the colors I use?

travisbickle100 · #12 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul B

A great site. Couple of small points:

Your code seem to have no doc type declaration. (DW sometime drops this when it makes a template.)

I'm sorry but i have no idea what this means - I will have to search the forums.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul B

Like many a US-based dotcom site, you have forgotton there is the rest of the world out there - who also have private schools and also use dotcom. It is only your drop down of states that breaks the news this is US only.

You're right, I will add something to spell this out more clearly.

travisbickle100 · #13 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarcieZoob

Do you really need that ad in the header? That s/b your logo or catchphrase w/photos of what the site is about.

The banner ad at the top is new and was the result of my joining an affiliate network to try to generate revenue. So far the affiliates business model is a big bust for me. I will let them run a few more weeks before reevaluating.

travisbickle100 · #14 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgun

Did not link to it, since it seems like a search engine for mostly religious schools. The content is not relevant to my site.

I understand you not wanting to link but just want to correct - the search engine is not for religious schools only. It lists 30,000 private schools in U.S. When you search it has many religious search choices but that is due to many different denominations in U.S.

brian.mark · #15 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travisbickle100

Quote:

Originally Posted by brian.mark

I tried submitting on the form and got a 404 error. I'd say you'll want to fix that before you get too many visitors.
Brian.

Were you using Mozilla or Explorer? I have heard of such problems on Mozilla.

Yes, I use FireFox, as does almost 14% of our website traffic lately. You'll probably want to download that and get it working in both browsers.

Brian.

Paul B · #16 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 12:33 PM

Travisbickle 100:

Your html code should start with something like this (taken from this page)

Quote:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">

Failure to have this can mean your page will not display correctly.

Cartoony is the colors and clip art...

kgun · #17 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 01:12 PM

Travisbickle100 wrote:

"kgun wrote:
Did not link to it, since it seems like a search engine for mostly religious schools. The content is not relevant to my site.

I understand you not wanting to link but just want to correct - the search engine is not for religious schools only. It lists 30,000 private schools in U.S. When you search it has many religious search choices but that is due to many different denominations in U.S."

I never link to pages with a lot of religious content on central pages. But I may link indirectly through other sites. Especially through sites with rotating banners. I have seen it on my site and did not like it. But I must set a limit and cannot control the links of pages I link to. Then I could use the rest of my life on that.

As a compromise, I put you in the linkcollection "Other searh"

http://multifinanceit.com/search.htm

with the heading OtherSpecial. There you also find the 711 Christian Directory.

Finance and economics is perhaps special. This quote explains it.

"I am a mathematician."
Ali Suleyman Ustunel.

I am an economist with a strong background in mathematics and Information Technology.

travisbickle100 · #18 (**permalink**) 10-03-2005, 03:57 PM

I made some changes based on the feedback received here and would like more input.

http://www.eschoolsearch.com/index.cfm?action=test

kgun · #19 (**permalink**) 10-03-2005, 05:00 PM

Linked to it on the education subpage:

http://multifinanceit.com/education/education.htm

Perhaps I was a little too fast first, when I now look at your different categories.

travisbickle100 · #20 (**permalink**) 10-11-2005, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgun

Linked to it on the education subpage:

Thanks for the link.

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