http://www.keelshield.com

Please review our website and tell me the positives and negatives. I am new to this and will take all and any advice.
Thanks for your time in advance.
Scott

Is anybody out there ????
This my second attempt at a site .
Is it possible that someone could look at it.
Thanks for any and all judgements on it.
And Thanks in advance for taking the time to look at it.
Scott

Layout looks cluttered and is distracting to readers. Text in blue doesn't adequately signal users that whole paragraphs are links.

"Are the more expensive materials worth protecting your boat? We think so." ...Would you care to share the reason why you think so? How about a nice side-by-side visual comparison of Keelshield versus the competition? Does a keel need "ultimate" protection? Why?

You could also put up shots on the top three or five common situations boaters cause keel damage. Explain the forces keels get subjected to, and why they need special protection.

The site is standard brochureware, the company is talking to itself -- assuming potential customers have the same interests and information as company employees do. The site could do a lot better at communicating, because the message right now seems to be "buy it because we say so."

Check out the Banjo Minnow site, which communicates information of interest to anglers, not artificial bait manufacturers. See how pictures are used to illustrate and support points made in the text. If the target is retailers, then explaining the benefits for their customers makes your point. Explain why this is the hot new way for dealerships to make extra money (the undercoating upsell to the marine industry).

If a sales person communicated so poorly, you'd fire them. Imagine a sales person dumping test reports onto the prospect's desk without adequately putting the data into context. You'd fire that sales person, for putting the burden onto the customer to "figure out" why they should buy. In similar fashion, most web sites should be terminated.

Your site made a good first impression on me when it first splashed up... but I think you need to know it crashes pretty hard in Netscape 7.0. For example: those paragraphs you've set up as links (that DCrux correctly complained about)... in Netscape they're unreadable because they appear on a royal blue background.

You should run W3C's validator ( http://validator.w3.org/ ), and fix all the code errors. (You should have done that before posting here!) You have sixteen errors just on the home page.

Regardless of browser, deeper into the site you have at least several pages where content spills out of its boxes. For example, the "contact us" page and the TransomShield page. The package-back image on the transomshield page is too large, both in terms of pixel dimensions and load time.

Something is flaky in your navigation column that's causing the sub-headings for "KeelShield", "TransonShield" and "More Boat Products" to appear as text links (instead of buttons) in Firefox and Netscape.

No matter how professional your logos and layout look, your company will be perceived as unprofessional if the website is buggy.

Thanks for both of those posts, I will run the validator program. We had ran something similar I thought,but 16 errors, Wow.
I appreciate your time and effort.
I will check all those points out Thanks to both of you. Scott

by listening to this

http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail670.html

interview with Jakob Nielsen, one of the specialists.

He also talks about MINMALISTC sites like Google.

See my post on minimalistic sites here:

http://webproworld.com/viewtopic.php...hlight=#249306

Along the left edge of www.MultiFinanceIT.com you find, under the heading, "Quality control" (CTRL + F + Quality Control) additional tools.

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your web site designer wants sacking.

It looks awful and all over the place, the navigation on the left looks good, but also looks like it does not belong on this badly designed site.

The lime green is a right turn off, and blue text on a blue background will never work.


web development company - kra.co.uk

<quote>
your web site designer wants sacking.

It looks awful and all over the place, the navigation on the left looks good, but also looks like it does not belong on this badly designed site.

The lime green is a right turn off, and blue text on a blue background will never work.
</quote>

Some peole like a pink tie and Elvis had yellow and white suits.

I do not have a pink tie in my large collection of ties.

Blue text on blue background is not the worst.

So many colours, so many fonts and uneven sections.
But who knows. Young people may like it. The Yahoo and then the Google Logo have a lot of colours. They have defined a more creative environment.

The first thing I would have changed is the many different fonts.

Look at these minimalistic:

http://www.hawking.org.uk/

http://gpm.info/

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the blue background and blue text is not the worst and you could probably get away with it, just not great design.

Like the whole site, it does not look like a professional web site. If that is what they are looking for then it is spot on.

why does http://gpm.info/ have an intro/splash page?

Minimalism can be a good alternative, at times. However, I seriously doubt web graphics have been used to best effect.

Quite frankly, too many people hold to the notion graphics are soley to demonstrate pointless creativity. More than a couple of minimalists have bought into this idea.

Some people can understand subjects communicated visually better than text alone. That is, if the web design community ever discovers graphics can support text -- and not simply distract from it. Sometimes a graphic can replace a large quantity of text, but only when communication trumps creativity. Not surprisingly, people who do come to understanding visually have gotten a uniform and widespread message from the web design community: Go Away.

Consequently, print media uses diagrams, infographics and yes, photography, far better than most web designers. Visual communication on the web is beginning to catch up.

Don't use the extreme attraction to rampant creativity on the web as the basis for the minimalist argument. Let the effective communcation of information determine whether and how to use graphics.

1. Do not let the message drown i visual effects.
2. Do not confuse. Confused surfers do not buy, if it is an Ecommerce site.

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It is not an e-commerce site. We are the manufacterer,
it is there to inform possible consumers.
Why do you want minimalism when you want to inform the consumer with greater knowledge and how else better than with images and text ?

Maybe I should sit on my hands, as I'm not really a "minimalist"... but actually I do think there's wisdom in kgun's last message:

Paraphrased:
1. Don't hide your message between visual effects.
2. Stay on message. Confused customers delay purchases and investments.

I'm also a manufacturer. I only reluctantly sell online. Like you, it goes against my nature to repeat one simple message over-and-over, but I've seen how successful that can be. (Remember Bill Clinton with "It's the economy, stupid!"? Brilliant! Those were the good old days.)

Besides the distracting visual effects on your site, there are "content" issues.

For example: by mentioning a competitor on your homepage, you risk sending potential customers (wholesale and retail) off to investigate and possibly buy other products. That ONLY makes sense if the competitor ("Keel Guard"?) has hugely more brand-identity and market penetration than your products.

Another example: you've given prime real estate on your home page to articles about competitive crappie fishing. Huh? I don't understand what value those articles have for your marketing. If they bring a LOT of visitors to your site that's okay - but otherwise they seem like a big distraction from your main message. (In any case, I think the "Cabela's Winners announced" page should have a proper Keelshield ad on it, not just you logo and links.)

Your message about KeelShield is "The Ultimate in Hull Protection" - so why aren't those words in your page title instead of "Use what the Professionals Do"? That message ought to be repeated over and over and over, and not just in the tiny print under the gator logo.

From an SEO perspective, having lots of pages and lots of words is a good thing.

Your site isn't as bad as some of the reviewers have let on (although I'd get rid of the backgrounds).

For what it's worth, I think some of the example "minimalistic" websites - especially http://gpm.info/ - are really crap!

It is not an e-commerce site. We are the manufacterer,
it is there to inform possible consumers.
Why do you want minimalism when you want to inform the consumer with greater knowledge and how else better than with images and text ?

CJacobson wrote:
For what it's worth, I think some of the example "minimalistic" websites - especially http://gpm.info/ - are really crap!

A combination of these two:

1. http://www.hawking.org.uk/ Also made for text browsers.

2. http://gpm.info/ Branding their logo.

Another simple favourite: http://www.digimedia.com/

But my favourite is a combination of 1 and 2, perhaps with a little menu to your products / solutions.

I repeat what I wrote above:
Blue text on blue background is not the worst.

So many colours, so many fonts and uneven sections.
But who knows. Young people may like it. The Yahoo and then the Google Logo have a lot of colours. They have defined a more creative environment.

The first thing I would have changed is the many different fonts.

Do not compare it with my own site, since that is an Ad (christmess tree like) driven site.

Conclusion: In my view branding your professionally created logo is most important. It shall burn into the eyes / memory of the visitors. Your logo in the upper left corner is good enough form me. And good enough is best. But what with the background? Is it better on white? Green on blue background is not my favourite. And the storng green colour below has a tendency to "drown the logo." You know if you can do it better. If it is an old logo, you must keep it. And the site should load exceedingly fast.

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