Designing a Website...any tips?

[cookie_monster]

right, i know quite a few of you out there are incredibly knowledgable about websites, the internet and graphic design, so i thought id ask a little advice.

some friends bought me a domain name for my birthday, which was a great pressie and i was really excited about it. but when i looked into the hosting and website design packages available locally it found it really was just out of my budget to get the professionals in.

as a result, i turned to a friend who has extensive knowledge of moonfruit as she runs all her websites through this as the most cost effective option for her small business.

she has got me set up with a few basics, but whilst i may be able to machine sew, glue, embroidery, manipulate feathers and even draw my eyeliner on straight...this kind of creativity is a bit beyond me!

the simple aim of the site is to act as a gallery hosting site, and i may look at the option of adding an e-shop at a later date depending on how effectively i can attract traffic.

as far as seo goes at the mo, im doing alright. im top of the list on google and im not sure how ive managed that, but its all good!

does anybody have any advice on how to get the best out of a package website design tool kit?

what would you say are the necessities and attractive extras?

can anybody recommend any resources (online or books) that may be able to help me get some inspiration? (ive got access to the colleges library with my eveing class and with it being an art and design college there bound to be something)

if you want to have a look so far, im more than happy to send you a link- i am a bit embarrased about how sparse and not very good it really is at the mo though! *blush*


thanks,

x

 

[shoes]

speak to mycult about web design, if you need graphics and/ot photos i will be happy to help

 

[cookie_monster]

speak to mycult about web design, if you need graphics and/ot photos i will be happy to help

thanks shoes...the only problem with the photos is that over half the stuff is already sold! (which i spose is actually a good thing ) so i cant re-shoot it all.

i was going to use the images that i currently use on my facebook as ive got the standardisation of those pretty much nailed in terms of sizing, style and lighting etc

i already have an image that i use for my business cards but it isnt a logo just a cropped photo and i will work on a way of incorporating this.

i know that because it is a package, i have limited options...and i know people in the know will instantly look at it and say 'package website'...i just needs some ideas on how to make the best of the budget option for the mo.

what sorts of things dont people like in websites? i suppose thats as good place to start as any! lol

x

 

[db]

jesus cookie, this is well impressive! if you go to google and start to type your store name, you automatically appear as the second suggestion, with over 94,000 results

that's some good going.. the web site looks brilliant, imo.. and it doesn't scream "off the shelf" to me at all tbh.. i realise it more than likely is, but as long as the design is nice, simple and clean it could just as easily be good coding as it is out-of-the-box..



(massive soz for farking up your first attempt all those years ago )

 

[cookie_monster]

jesus cookie, this is well impressive! if you go to google and start to type your store name, you automatically appear as the second suggestion, with over 94,000 results

im not convinced part of it isnt me being lazy and using google to find the links for copying! lol

plus, the sig on the sheffield forum is a big helper too...and ive had quite a few plugs from friends and customers on there (and on here in fact!)

that's some good going.. the web site looks brilliant, imo.. and it doesn't scream "off the shelf" to me at all tbh.. i realise it more than likely is, but as long as the design is nice, simple and clean it could just as easily be good coding as it is out-of-the-box..

thanks, im hoping for constructive criticism, so praise is massively unexpected!

i wasnt sure if it isnt all just a bit too simple? also, dont know if i need to watch my usage of pink, even if it is a key colour in all my marketing stuff! lol

that said, even if i wanted to make it a more 'unsimple' (you know what i mean!) i dont know how i would do it....hence the research tools option.

(massive soz for farking up your first attempt all those years ago )

no bother, lets be frank, i wasnt really in a position to maintain the site and i wanted it for different purposes. at least now i have a starting point of what i want to achieve and have had a bit of practice through managing the FB page.


x

 

[shoes]

speak to mycult about web design, if you need graphics and/ot photos i will be happy to help

thanks shoes...the only problem with the photos is that over half the stuff is already sold! (which i spose is actually a good thing ) so i cant re-shoot it all.

i was going to use the images that i currently use on my facebook as ive got the standardisation of those pretty much nailed in terms of sizing, style and lighting etc

i already have an image that i use for my business cards but it isnt a logo just a cropped photo and i will work on a way of incorporating this.

i know that because it is a package, i have limited options...and i know people in the know will instantly look at it and say 'package website'...i just needs some ideas on how to make the best of the budget option for the mo.

what sorts of things dont people like in websites? i suppose thats as good place to start as any! lol

x

People who will look at it and think 'package website' will be few and far between, particularly within your target audience.

I think photographing stuff you actually can sell is definitely advantageous, yes

In google it was also the second for me, interestingly, your facebook by the same name was number one.

Constructive criticism...

Looks pretty good to be honest, i'd tweak the colour scheme a bit, it doesn't work great IMO, perhaps use a lighter grey instead of black for your contact form and use a slightly lighter colour for the font in this section. same applies to the events calendar, the calendar looks good as a tool but isn't very visually inspiring.

The rest of the site looks good, a bit more content needed but that will come as you think about it i guess and I'd shift about the tabs at the top into a more conventional order, perhaps:

Home ~ Gallery ~ Events ~ About Me ~ Facebook ~ Links

I can throw together an interesting banner for you too if you like, although I'll have to do MyCult's graphics first else he won't love me no more!

 

[gdavies]

Could you send me a link to the site cookie, I will have a look for you and see what i can suggest if you like. I have been running a web hosting company for 5 years now and have done a few websites too, so I may just be able to help you out there lol.

 

[shoes]

http://www.imogensimagination.co.uk/

There go you buddy

 

[gdavies]

I agree with spoons, the website looks cool visually but with self builds such as moonfruit it is part of what you are paying for, The colour scheme is in need of a little tweaking for example on the links sections the buttons are different colours, The calendar section is in need of attention, a calendar is always a useful tool for events etc, but the colour scheme looks slightly odd, With the search button been squared off the links buttons look more out of place as it is not consistant. The home page where there is the flash gallery that is a great idea but also some people who surf the web do not use flash, with that in mind those said people will not see anything at all. Other than that it is looking cool I don't want this comment to come across funny but am trying to give an honest opinion.

If you are putting up photography pics up there it would be a good idea to get the images watermarked to help protect your work, content does and will come with time. Keep up the good work though

 

[shoes]

I agree with spoons,

Me too man, more power to the spoons is what I say!

The home page where there is the flash gallery that is a great idea but also some people who surf the web do not use flash, with that in mind those said people will not see anything at all. Other than that it is looking cool I don't want this comment to come across funny but am trying to give an honest opinion

That's a fair point, you should have some 'normal' text on there also in case you do get someone who isn't using flash. Very unlikely on PCs and Macs but with mobile devices becoming more and more popular it would be worth having that contingency in place.

 

[wmrcomputers]

Very unlikely on PCs and Macs but with mobile devices becoming more and more popular it would be worth having that contingency in place.

Maybe not so "very" buddy... I'd say around 30% of my customers PC's don't have flash player installed when they come in to me - which is a large percentage really when you consider that such a HUGE amount of sites need you to have it installed.

I quite like your site cookie. Just remember it's difficult for any of us to give a 100% honest opinion based on the fact that we aren't necessarily your target customer. Best way there is to ask future customers maybe if they had any difficulty using your website, anything they liked or disliked etc.? Just a thought, but of course we can all waffle on bull**** lol

I have 4 website's running which I know that ANYONE could pick plenty of fault with. They are all done using weebly.com and are extremely simple compared to what yours is already. Saying that, they serve their purpose and that's all that matters to me personally
If you want to see what i mean by "simple" compared to your site, try www.dovedelight.co.uk and you'll see what I mean

 

[gdavies]

Good Point WMR, Not everyone has flash, As I say I have run a web hosting company for 5 years, In that time i have seen a grow and shrink in alot of scripts, such as ruby on the rails, However even though the website WMR has given the example of or even ones i have provided links too. www.meadowtreeservices.co.uk been the most recent, these websites are consistant in all area's, I know there is faults even still on meadow tree services but that is down to me not having the time as much.

However the 100% honest opinion is something we can give because we are not bias we do not know you outside of here, However when it comes to fully testing by means of purchasing items then that follows with content.

The thing with flash is some browsers do have it but not an up to date version and moon fruit uses a pretty new version of flash, Coming to your own point though cookie if pink is your main colour use it as it will tie in with advertising, However what I would say i try to establish a logo now because the bigger you become the more you logo is remember and used because of your reputation. After all this time I have never really settled for one really an the one i did use i ended up getting rid of the name behind it due to been over demaned, sounds daft but only so much one person can do.

 

[MyCult]

Nice looking site. Despite the recommendation from shoes (thats buddy ) I'm not that hot on developing in my opinion. There are probably people better to advice than me on that. I'd just put WP or Joomla on there and have done . However I am more than willing to give advice/assist.

Search Enginy Stuff I may be able to help with.

You already rank for your brand imogens imagination (2nd very nice) You'll be wanting to rank for service related search terms too. I.E. the kind of thing people type in when looking for your services but are not familiar with your site/brand already.

You site looks slick the only thing I'd change now (if the host allows) is your page titles. Below are your pages (according to Google) and their titles. The page title is an easy way to get G to think your site is about *insert search term here*. So do a bit of thinking about the services you offer. Think how you or anyone else might search for them. Do a bit of research on the search volumes and pick what to aim your titles at.

Here is a free tool you can get search volumes for different term on Google.

So perhaps (I don't recommend you use this it's just an example):

Bespoke Millinery from Imogen's Imagination // Sheffield
www.imogensimagination.co.uk

instead of:

Imogen's Imagination
www.imogensimagination.co.uk

and then come up with unique titles for the rest of your pages:

Events - Imogen's Imagination
www.imogensimagination.co.uk/events/4535173978

Links - Imogen's Imagination
www.imogensimagination.co.uk/links/4535174353

Gallery - Imogen's Imagination
www.imogensimagination.co.uk/gallery/4535174356

About Me - Imogen's Imagination
www.imogensimagination.co.uk/about-me/4535174115

Contact Me - Imogen's Imagination
www.imogensimagination.co.uk/contact-me/4535172365

It's looking very slick though and with all the Geeks on here I'm sure you'll get all the help you need.

 

[darben]

I can't help with the web design but I've sent you a few links of established and succesful self employed craft/art related sites that you might find useful to look at for web related ideas.

 

[gdavies]

This forum is full of helpful people just what stafford should be, really hope the site takes of for you cookie an i am only a pm away

 

[Sofa]

cookie_monster, hats off to you and your site! I wish my most recent site was in the same league of leagues.

 

[cookie_monster]

wow! im totally overwhelmed! thank you all for the great posts, great as in helpful as well as bigging me up! lol

ive just got back from my evening class in leeds and have had a quick read through the comments but ill have more time to digest them and act on them over the weekend after the next fair.

there have been a few issues raised that im already aware of eg. colours and the calendar (thats going to take some serious filling with the way my diary is at the mo!)

the seo stuff is really useful cult, thanks. at the mo im working on people knowing about me in sheffield via the fairs, sheffield forum, facebook, stockists and shameless plugging by friends and customers alike....but the wider audience does need to be addressed.

as for getting so high up google- i genuinely dont know how ive done...but im sure as hell not going to whinge about it! lol it does make it mega easy to direct people to me.

darben- the links would be great, thank you. its always useful to see how other people are presenting their stuff. *edit* just seen your email- cheers!

thank you so much for the feedback so far, im also going to pass a link of this onto my friend who helped me get started- shell be very proud too.

you guys are just brilliant, and i really mean that- not just coz you said nice things!

x

 

[Admin]

This forum is full of helpful people just what stafford should be

Indeed, couldn't agree more, gdavies. Wonderful to see everyone here jumping at the chance to help cookie_monster!

I would offer my own "advice," but as has been made abundantly clear by others my knowledge is stuck in the 90s.

I wish you all the luck, cookie_monster. I know you've poured your heart into this venture for a few years now, so it's great to see it flourishing.

 

[darben]

Hi Cookie,

I've come across this blog this very helpful blogger this morning http://pbeachtips.blogspot.com/2007/07/one-mans-14-humble-tips-and-opinions.html that I think may be of use to you.

You should find some of the tips in the article pbeach's 21 practical tips and opinions from 25+ years of successful fulltime freelance illustration and design useful. Tips 5,6,7, 9, 17, 18 & 19 I think are relevant to any creative person developing their website and the lovely man has put lots of useful links in too.

 

[John Marwood]

all very interesting stuff

and as a non tekki type, very valuable

my only contribution is this - take a look at your competitors - who would you take more seriously? a freebie site or a professionally designed site?

I hear what you say about budgets - but a well designed, well linked site can pay for itself if you take your business seriously

oh, and make sure the product is the thing that is remembered, not the model, not the font, not the logo but the product - and of course the company name

I wish you every success