I posted my site a while back and have changed it drastically... I feel better about the colors... but these are the issues I am wanting advice/critique on.

1) I feel that the picture/logo (not really a logo)/ title at the top is too big. Should I get rid of it all together and just replace it with a thin menu (like I have in in the picture) or should I look for a smaller logo image/logo.

2) I would like some opinions about the copy of the site... I have been considering hiring someone to write for me. Does anyone have experience hiring people to write for a site and was it worth the money (the point is to make money... not spend it on services without the equation being positive).

3) I know some people don't like frames... but my shopping software does that... they have made order processing faster for me (to be able to handle more orders) and I have seen a drastic improvement in the Search engines since using them... I still don't like the frames though... but I am making more money now... so I will have to bite my tounge.

All other opinions about the site are also welcome. I appreciate all opinions. Thank you,

Stephen Betzen
www.Ecowindchimes.com

Hey Stephen,

I'd recommend extending the top-navigation bar so that it meets both edges of your page. This will help prevent your navigation text from wrapping.

Also, to prevent wrapping of this text, perhaps you could use 'About Us' inlieu of 'About Eco Wind Chimes' (your audience should already know who you are by seeing your page banner/text. Also consider using 'Contact Us' in lieu of 'Eco Wind Chimes Contact'.

Making these changes and maybe reducing the font size of your main navigation should make your navigation look much cleaner.

As for your banner image. It is a bit large and does seem to eat up some web real estate. Maybe you can consider an image that has more relevance to your product (maybe some wind chimes).

Hope this helps!

Fred Gonzalez,
Webmaster
www.masonryspecialistsinc.com

Thanks...
I made the changes to the Menu and it no longer wraps.
I also added a 1 pixel border aroung the top menu (I was just playing around and thought the transition was better.

I changed the size of the vertical menu font. As well.

The picture will be a longer project.
I have been debating between "setting the Mood" and showing the product... and the current pictures I have do one or the other... but not both. I did add the picture of the chimes on the site recently and saw my page views/vistor go up ~40% so far... so showing the product does seem to bring people in more... now I just need a good picture.

Thanks for the input.
I look forward to more critiques

Sincerely,
Stephen Betzen
www.Ecowindchimes.com
www.Faircoffee.com

Hi sbetzen

I would suggest that you fade the opacity of the leaves image and then add either a subtle drop shadow or thin outline to the text to bring the out of the image slightly. It looks a little watery and kind of difficult to read.
I would also move the top nav bar right to the top so that you cannot see the leaves above it and extend it to the edges of the leaves image.
When you actually enter the store, you get a horizontal scroll bar, these are ugly really. Could you not make the main site table 95% instead of a fixed pixel width? This way you'd be using up all screen space and you'd probably lose the hor scroll bars.

I hope these comments give you some ideas. Good Luck with it.

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Yecla

I really think the site would look more professional if you made the content text font smaller - verdana 10.

why not change the top banner to white background.. and with the logo, use the leaves ?If you like, I can put together a quick logo for you to use? let me know if your interested.

thanks,
T

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Ok... I made a new graphic for the top that is thinner, and adjusted the frame to be smaller.

I tried to move the menu to the top but could not figure out how to move it further up or to the left in shopfactory (the program I am currently using) however I was able to move it down and to the right... so I moved the top menu to match the content area.

I found the variables that controle the left menu and got that darn pesky scroll bar to go away.

Thanks for the help... any more thoughts?

Sincerely,
Stephen Betzen
www.Ecowindchimes.com
www.Faircoffee.com
www.Dallasreading.com

Much better, it all fits together a lot nicer now.

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Yecla