Hello All,

http://www.fiercestreetnetworks.com

Can you please review site in title for SEO/Usability?
The site is targeted to the web design professional/accessibility expert.

The site is PHP template based. All templates are originals, and have
been checked for WAI AAA conformity. The site is also served, via PHP,
as XHTML 1.0 to IE, and XHTML 1.1 for the standards-compliant
browsers.

Specifically, I'd like honest reviews of:

1. Usability (not accessibility) of navigation &, not or, tabindex
2. Purpose (can you tell what the site is about)
3. On-page SEO techniques (review source markup, ie: content area 1st in markup, use of "alt", etc.)

Thanks!

Martin

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Learn about Web site Accessibility Tips and Plain Old Semantic HTML, then pop over to the Web Standards Weblog!

Judging by the amount of ads on the home page, my first impression is that this is just another spam site that's all about Yahoo! PPC advertising.

Put your navigation menu back on the left side of the page where your users expect it to be and you'll be miles ahead in terms of useability.

Where's the "Home" button or link? Why do I have to look for it?

Get rid of the gazillion links that take you off the page and make it impossible to find anything of significance to click on.

Because it's so busy, the site looks like a StumbleUpon category page. It's just not indicative of a reputable design professional/accessibility expert.

Bear in mind that your users might click on the search result but won't spend any time on the page unless they find it relevant and readable.

Less is more, so removing the off page links will allow you to widen your content area to facilitate less vertical scrolling and make the text readable.

Clean it up and you'll have a useful site that'll be simple to optimize easy to read and easy to use.

Head over to Amazon.com and pick up a copy of "Don't Make me Think" by Steve Krug.

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Printer ink & toner cartridges in Canada | Integrated Web Payroll, Online HRMS Tools with Employee Time & Attendance

Dubbya is correct. Studies have shown that people (in the USA anyway) expect the menu to be on the left. Read Developing Schemas for the Location of Common Web Objects

__________________
Dave Barnes
+1.303.744.9024
http://www.marketingtactics.com
sitting in my basement with my iMac

i'd agree with the others about the ads...way too many. if i stumbled upon this site it would take a couple of moments to figure out what it's all about strictly because of the ad-clutter.

I dig the navigation on the right side...i do think it would be found more easily if it weren't combating the ads on the left for user focus.

hope that helps.

Not sure what planet the other reviewers are on. I think the site is excellent. Great exercise in how to design a site. CSS, validates complies with DDA.
As for right hand navigation. Whoever came up with notion that it has to be on the left? Ok in the west we read from left to right, but we do have horizontal menus too. I really don't think anyone would be so stupid not realise that the navigation was on right. After all the site is pitched at folks in the SEO market - and given the p/r of 6/10 this guy knows what he is about - hence the posting here!!!

The site is interesting - not a million miles away from others that I like in terms of font size and family and the layout makes a dry subject fun.

I think it is interesting, and pleased to spend some time exploring as it actually demonstrates some creativity in the SEO market.

Well done and keep the faith

Ian

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SEO Specialist, CSS Developers

Technically : A+
Visually : Very hard to follow.

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www.corporateface.com
Custom Website Design
No Templates

Usability – Because I am trained to expect a table of content before actual content and to read left to right the page seems backwards but that really isn’t as awkward as trying to ignore the ads on the left. It isn’t that I care if they are there and I might even look at them but to me there needs to be a separation between those ads and the content like the vertical thin double separation between the content and the navigation.

Purpose – This seems to be clear enough but it seems to get interrupted by the ads. The single ad placed within the content is too much… imo

SEO Techniques – I wonder what effect irrelevant content has on optimization? Would having “ Things My Wife Likes” (sounds kinky hehe) have any effect on page value by an engine?

Finally, the following quote is place in competion with “Web Standards in Design”

Quote:

IE is serving this site as XHTML 1.0, served as text/html

Could this text be place in the header with the “Skip Content and Navigation” links?... or elsewhere?

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Clicken
Math Flash Cards Online

Wow,

Thanks all for the reviews. My options have been to NOT email me with replies to this thread!

Anyway...back to business:

I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. I _knew_ I'd be getting slack for the ads.
And I understand that too many make ANY page seem like a spammy site, but I must
defend their use. From the start of this site - it has been about standards, hence the "tips,
etc" type of content. I have within the past year or more, however, been working as SEO'er,
and have re-thought the design from that perspective.

What I expected to have completed by now - is a slight change from a "How to Standardize
your website" approach, to more of a, "How to make your Standardized website PROFITABLE!".

Do the ads clutter up the content (left side and that one in middle of content) - yes. But
are they profitable there ... YES!

So what to do...? What would you great designers do in my shoes? Give up the $$$ in
exchange for "less clutter"? Not that I make a great killing on this site financially. But,
and again with a new "twist" in this site's content explaining more of the marketability of
a NON MFA (Made For Adsense), Valid XHTML 1.1/CSS/WAI site, I would like to show off
a successful YPN (Yahoo Publisher Network- hehe, my ads...) "Standards-compliant" site.

Whew...with all that said, I agree with Dubbya's comments, "Where's the "Home" button
or link?" - I've played around with the anchor text "Home", and also using an image
stating "Home" - with the alt text stating "Web Standards homepage". But (and this is
still disputed within the SEO community) the use of the actual keyword (text link) that I
target is an effective On-page technique. Again, this is disputed by members of SEO, but
bottom line for me has been tweaking this value, and it's corresponding SEO benefits.
And "Web Standards" won out over "Home".

As far as Dubbya's comments:
I would really LOVE to take this out! Here again, I'm almost ( ) trapped within my
own marketing...I do NOT want to admit/deny the use of "sponsored links" on my site
here, but let's just say that I'm doing those links a "favor" (In no way am I admitting
my use, or non use, of sponsored links on this forum. This discussion is for educational
purposes only).

These points I'd like to address last. I have been thinking the same exact things about
this site! So, again in your very appreciated, respected opinions...and after you've
viewed my replies, and keeping them in mind - what needs to happen?

Any thoughts you have (again, keeping in mind what I've said about ads, links, etc.)
about making it VERY clear what the site is about, and a BETTER way to do this page
(w/o mucking up On-page SEO too much) would be appreciated!

Help!

PS: here's a lame attempt at directing newbies: Getting Started with Web Standards
Martin

__________________
Learn about Web site Accessibility Tips and Plain Old Semantic HTML, then pop over to the Web Standards Weblog!