espresso-experts.com

ran_dizolph · #1 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 11:49 AM

Hey all, just loaded up another new site here.

Please have a look and let me know what you think...looking for functionality, browser issues, general likes/dislikes, code tips etc.

Thanks!

darren13 · #2 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ran_dizolph

Hey all, just loaded up another new site here.

Please have a look and let me know what you think...looking for functionality, browser issues, general likes/dislikes, code tips etc.

Thanks!

Hi,

Just having a quick look through now - the look of the homepage is great. Well chosen colour scheme and graphics of lovely looking coffee beans....good looking site.

the fact that the top image of the main content area is a coffee machine is something I think you need to keep permanently as there is none of your product in the header graphic. I did wonder briefly about having the header image of the beans combined with some of your product, but that may make the image a bit messy, and I like it as it is! You might have guessed by now that I like coffee...

Few minor things that you may or may not want to take action on.

1 - When I click on 'home' and 'about us', I go direct to a page. When I click on 'machines' nothing happens, and click on 'accessories' and it gives a 'no page' error message. It feels a little bit like the tree structure of the drop down link doesn't work properly - or maybe consistently is a better word. If I click on 'machines' I expect a page to come up as with 'coffees' or even if it is only a page with links identical to the drop down.

2 - the pdf brochure link for (Odea Giro Orange - Espresso Machine Experts) isn't there. Didn't check further for others.

3 - Contact page - at a quick glance, I almost didn't see your phone number (or address info) - it is there I know, and the choice of font colour looks great on that background, but it nearly didn't catch my eye - personally, I'd put it in dark text on the white background rather than have it (probably nicer visually) where it is.

I'm not sure how much info is on the pdf's (and whether they'll get indexed) but maybe it's worth considering adding text content?

Hope this helps a little - in summary I think you've got a great site, I'd be very happy with it and keen to add and enhance as time allows - I know you can only do so much at once with these things!

All the best,
Darren.T

PS - browser - Firefox 2.0.0.11

ran_dizolph · #3 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 12:57 PM

Hey Darren,

thanks for the review!

I figured i was going to miss a PDF or two, and have been working at checking them all. The one you spoke of is now posted.

In regards to the PDF information, I took most of it and put it on the product pages in plain text format, but wanted to add the PDF link so people can download it and keep it for reference (should the need arise). I like to offer options.

I know when you click on the 'machines' page nothing happens, but there is supposed to be a drop down menu with a couple of options...are you not seeing it clearly enough? If not, please let me know your operating system so I can take a peek. I've tested it in all the browsers I could, and it passed my tests.

I'll beef up the contact info...I was also thinking of putting their phone number in the header permanently.

Thanks again for checking it out...greatly appreciated.

Dubbya · #4 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 02:18 PM

The site is indicative of one produced by someone with little experience in web development and/or web design. Make no mistake about it, the coffee site is NOWHERE near ready to launch.

You've selected a nice colour scheme and it seems fairly well balanced in terms of layout but you've committed every conceivable SEO, accessibility and navigation "faux pas" known to man.

As it stands, your site is of no measurable value to a search engine. You've not given the spiders anything to index and it simply won't outrank anyone, ever.

Realistically, the single biggest thing you have going for you is the domain name. Good work!

Caveat: It's not my intention to crush you or slam your skills, simply to provide honest feedback and useful information.

Here's what's wrong with it:

Code:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Frameset//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/frameset.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
</head>

<frameset rows="180,*" cols="*" framespacing="0" frameborder="NO" border="0">
  <frame src="top_frame.htm" name="topFrame" scrolling="NO" noresize >
  <frame src="main.htm" name="mainFrame">
</frameset>
<noframes><body>

</body></noframes>
</html>

In terms of SEO, using frames one of the single worst things you could have done. At this stage of the game, there's simply no reason for this site (or any site ever hoping to rank well) to have done so.

In point form and in no particular order, here are the other issues that should be resolved:

No meta tags.
No page titles.
No <h1>section headings</h1>.
Little, if any link text in page content.
Little, if any spiderable text on the home page.
Images with no alt attribute for a menu system.
Pop up windows for site content pages. This is a real turn-off.
Making users wait for site navigation while they watch the flash content in the header. Can you say "buh-bye"?
Confusion in the site's purpose. Is it informational or is it an ecommerce site?
Lack of consistency between pages. Some content spans the width of the browser and some is constrained beneath the header.
"Mailto:" contact page is like a dinner bell to spambots. Use a secured email script with captcha.
Generally buggy hyperlink code for navigation menus. Probably due to poorly coded JavaScript.
No site search feature. This is huge for a content-based site.
No copyright or text link navigation in the footer.

What you have is a conceptual site. You need to redesign this site using a table-based or, better still, a CSS layout and you need to do it asap.

Ready to get started?

Start with the SEO guides by our own Webnauts and Incrediblehelp:
All you need for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
http://www.webproworld.com/search-en...o-i-begin.html

Secondly, snag a copy of Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think vol.2". It's an must read for anyone who designs or manages websites. Find out more at: Advanced Common Sense Home

I'd love to see the revised site!

.02

ran_dizolph · #5 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 02:21 PM

Dubbya.

Seems you're looking at the old site. I just switched the nameservers over today, so that could be the issue.

Dude, that old site made my job selling the new one a hell of a lot easier!

Perhaps you could take a look again in a little while, or 'refresh' a couple of times?

Thanks!

Dubbya · #6 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 03:48 PM

Gotcha.

It might take a few hours for the changes to propagate over to the Prairies of Manitoba. The telegraph lines ice up so badly when it gets cold.

I'll check it again in the spring.

ran_dizolph · #7 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 04:32 PM

Beauty...much appreciated!

iany · #8 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 05:55 PM

Ok, the nameservers have been changed but that doesn't invalidate Dubya's comments.
The site looks good, and is well put together with, thank God valid XHTML

No description meta tags and this meta tag is used by most of the search engines.
No keywords and these still used by some search engines
No robots meta tag. This tag is not really required but can help spiders to index the web page.

I guess the issue here could be the e-commerce package that you are using and if it doesn't allow you to manage this a bit more creatively the ditch and get another one.

There is some Javascript on page which would be better off page. This is a fairly bog standard script so no reason why it should be on the page.

And, wow. The large images of the coffees are a bit on the large size -8Mb. Seems excessive.

Very attractive site, well built so go do it a favour and optimise it.

Dubbya · #9 (**permalink**) 12-08-2007, 01:50 PM

I'm in a rush to get outta here today, but here are a couple of areas that need tweaking:

Meta keywords, descriptions needed on all pages.

External javascript required. Get it out of your page code by linking to it. Pages load faster and it'll boost your text/code ratio. That's good.

Put a signup or contact form with program pricing on the "Office Program" page. Even if the costs are approximate, it'll give the users an incentive to contact you if they're at all interested. Maybe some photos of what you've done for other clients would be helpful.

Submit button on contact form needs some love. Make it a graphic that is more in keeping with the rest of the site.

In addition, the text area needs to stand out more as a form element. It's not what users are accustomed to seeing in a form. Make the field background lighter or white.

Do you have a toll-free number?

People love price lists. Maybe the catering pages could benefit from adding pricing with photos of what a catered event for 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1000 people looks like. Make some suggestions as to what coffee and foods might be appropriate for different events. More Photos!

Although inexpensive and easy to set up, I'm not at all a fan of the PayPal shopping cart. It's hokey and looks unprofessional because it doesn't tie into the user's site smoothly.

Gotta run, that's it for now.

.02

ran_dizolph · #10 (**permalink**) 12-10-2007, 10:10 AM

Hey folks, thanks for the reviews!

I know it needs work on the SEO end of things...I should have mentioned that the launch of this site was rushed by the client, hence there are some things missing.

The Paypal cart is lame, and because of the client's rush, it was decided to use it last minute. I am working on a custom cart in-house right now, so we'll probably be doing that in the new year.

No go on the toll-free number, although I agree it would be nice.

The javascript is loaded through a PHP include.

ebizer · #11 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 01:05 PM

I just got around to reading this post so please excuse the delay in my posting.

As a casual visitor, I thought the site appearance was very appealing. However, as an experienced website copywriter, I found the Home page copy very boring. It talks about the company/owner and says very little to visitors about why the machines offered by this company are any better than those found in any store or through a competitor's website.

Not only that, almost the exact same copy is on the "About" page (which, in my opinion, is where such information should be.)

To me, the Home page copy should be talking to coffee lovers and describing the advantages of owning an automatic expresso machine (e.g., how it takes the work out of making expresso and makes it ready to serve in no time), pointing out that the coffee offered on the site is packed with aroma, taste, is made with high quality beans, etc., and mentioning that using the proper cup adds to the ambiance of serving expresso.

Moreover, when I clicked on the product links, there was not nearly enough information to persuade me to buy. (Mostly, it was nothing more than a picture and the price.)

Overall, it seemed to me that the site owner expects people visiting the site to know ahead of time all about what he is selling. I think most online business owners would agree this is rarely the case. Most visitors are looking for information about the product, as well as why they should buy from one retailer over another.