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Thread: A Shocking site

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    Bradford, England
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    Default A Shocking site

    The titles just aren't getting better are they?

    This is a site done a few weeks back, not complete yet as some parts to add and some to take away. The little talking man (third party add on) is set to only play manually (thank God!), the client is using this as a test as to whether to get a fully personalised person on there. Again as usual any comments are most welcome.

    http://saselectrics.com/index.htm

    thank you.
    Flawless Form. Faultless Function. Crafted by Cloud

    https://www.cloudwebagency.co.uk

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Sunshine Coast BC, Canada. In a beautiful part of BC's temperate rainforest
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    Default Re: A Shocking site

    The site looks good and I like that the little man does not play automatically I hate sites that force you to listen to talking animations/mascots/ little people etc.
    How much more can the little guy be customized? might be interesting if he could be made to look more like an electrician.

    The colours look good and everything else seems clear, easy to read etc.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    My current Xara software: Designer Pro 365 12.6

    Good Morning Sunshine.ca | Good Morning Sunshine Online(a weekly humorous publication created with XDP and exported as a web document) | Angelize Online resource shop | My Video Tutorials | My DropBox |
    Autocorrect: It can be your worst enema.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2000
    Location
    Hautes Pyrénées, France
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    Default Re: A Shocking site

    nice site design

    the talking man needs to be hung, drawn, quartered, shot, flayed alive or dead, and dismembered

    the rest is good, bright, clear, easy on th eyes, a nice little touch would be for the mouse to hover over teh light bulb and it to light up and onclick take you to a page of "bright ideas", otherwise the light bulb performs no function, most electricians dont even sell light bulbs

    one thing though, if you put your site up here for critique, keep your personal thoughts (ie "a shocking site" or "thank god!") out of it in case your man does a search for his url, this site is very highly spidered by google, people are very senstive about their own sites and yes, clients have nothing beter to do than search for their own site by putting the url into google

    edit: i just checked and this page's already on page 1 of google, your call
    If someone tried to make me dig my own grave I would say No.
    They're going to kill me anyway and I'd love to die the way I lived:
    Avoiding Manual Labour.

  4. #4

    Default Re: A Shocking site

    Re: "A Shocking site" - I got the pun

    The site design is first class. The only thing that let's it down for me is the Enquiry form which takes much longer to display than every thing else.

    What talking man ?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2000
    Location
    Bracknell, UK
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    8,659

    Default Re: A Shocking site

    I'm always the guy that comes forward with the things he doesn't like, so here it's no differrent.

    The talking man is a complete waste and a mismatch to the business. Not only does he not say anything of value, he's not what I expect an electrician to look like - a man in a suit and tie talking in a posh way verging on the patronising. He looks like a butler. Get rid.

    The layout has a lot of space, so things that are important "above the fold" are getting cut off - it could be more focussed on what the visitor sees on that first encounter to the site. I think it should be tightened up ( I don't mean make it cramped either ).

    I had a quick play but I think it could be compressed a little more. It's still a bit of an assault on the senses.

    The copy is pretty wordy and I think could be more focussed and punchy.

    I'd also like to make a usability suggestion. Where there is a button to click for "more", make the whole panel clickable, not just that tiny button.

    I am the bad guy critic here on TG. Compared to many I've seen in this kind of area, the site is definitely better than most.
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  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Kildare, Ireland
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    Default Re: A Shocking site

    I'd also like to make a usability suggestion. Where there is a button to click for "more", make the whole panel clickable, not just that tiny button.
    +1 for usability but could be -1 for seo. If the panel has juicy text it might not be a good idea to make it all a clickable image. The button doesn't look tiny to me but I think maybe you didn't realise the More text is part of the button? Might look better if the more text highlighted with the button.

    I think it's fine and dandy, but I didn't click on the guy cos I know he'll just be annoying.
    XT-CMS - a self-hosted CMS for Xara Designers - Xara + CMS Demo with blog & ecommerce shopping cart system.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2000
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    Bracknell, UK
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    Default Re: A Shocking site

    Quote Originally Posted by xtom View Post
    If the panel has juicy text it might not be a good idea to make it all a clickable image. The button doesn't look tiny to me but I think maybe you didn't realise the More text is part of the button? Might look better if the more text highlighted with the button.
    I wasn't suggesting making the text an image.

    You can extend the button area over the text using a panel with a very low opacity so it won't be seen.

    My suggestion is just to make that navigation as easy as possible without having to go to the smaller area - it's not essential.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Kildare, Ireland
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    906

    Default Re: A Shocking site

    Well seo wise I'm not sure covering important text with images is a good idea, even if they are transparent. It might not make a difference but I'd play it safe. I think if you're going to do that you may aswell make it an image and alt tag it etc.
    XT-CMS - a self-hosted CMS for Xara Designers - Xara + CMS Demo with blog & ecommerce shopping cart system.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Bradford, England
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    Default Re: A Shocking site

    So much input - and before I comment I would like to say that every single one is appreciated and I may not always implement suggestions I do always take them on board.

    Firstly - Big frank, in reply to your suggestion, yes you are right about not putting personal comments about a clients website, luckily in this case he is my cousin and knows my feelings on the subject of the 'man'. And as for the light bulb, obviously electricians don't sell light bulbs, but it is a perfectly internationally recognised symbol for electrics.

    Pauland - yes it is a waste of time in my opinion and I have said so to the client, but he still likes it and as I pointed out in my initial post it is a trial before full customisation - He himself will film it with his own script so it will eventually be right for the type of business. And as far as the above the fold thing is concerned, folds are really not that important any more, I recently spoke to a couple of friends in the web design industry and due to ipads and what not people don't mind scrolling down as it has become so easy, major websites have started having important stuff above and below the fold and from a design perspective 'white space' is good.

    I don't really understand making the whole area clickable, it's not as if the more>> button is tiny or people wouldn't understand what to do.

    I will mention the 'wordy' text to the client.

    thanks
    Flawless Form. Faultless Function. Crafted by Cloud

    https://www.cloudwebagency.co.uk

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    21,283

    Default Re: A Shocking site

    Quote Originally Posted by sledger View Post

    What talking man ?
    The one you won't [thankfully] see if yaoti.org does not have scripting pemission in your browser
    -------------------------------
    Nothing lasts forever...

 

 

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