OregonDank
Well-known member
PK Gillock said:
This website look professional enough?
- Thread starter Norm Sanders
- Start date
thisiswells
Retired
Do you really have a Rimage Everest II?
Norm Sanders
Script Wrangler
No Brian, I've lied about everything. :2vrolijk_08: j/k
Actually, everything listed there is legit, and yes, those Rimage Auto Everest II's aren't inexpensive ... about $7K. We've got about $15K into just the duplication equipment alone, not to mention all the inventory we've stocked up on ... so I'm not kidding when I say we have nothing left over to pay for professional website design.
Thankfully, the overhead going forward is next to nothing, and to start with I'll be handling all the packaging myself.
Actually, everything listed there is legit, and yes, those Rimage Auto Everest II's aren't inexpensive ... about $7K. We've got about $15K into just the duplication equipment alone, not to mention all the inventory we've stocked up on ... so I'm not kidding when I say we have nothing left over to pay for professional website design.
Thankfully, the overhead going forward is next to nothing, and to start with I'll be handling all the packaging myself.
Sirius_Doggy
Veteran
dougspice said:
Envision - I have to agree with Dougspice on this one. He's referring to the shrinkwrap machine. Hardly anyone would know what that was if they hadn't actually been in the market to buy/use one. That's the only reason I knew what it was. You really need to dump the shrinkwrap image for a stack of DVD cases or disc....
can't you build in hidden text in thet meta something or other?PK Gillock said:It's a nice design, but it's obvious you took it from a generic template and changed it to meet your needs. Not good. I echo everyone's comments above, but have one more which you seriously need to consider if you actually want visitors. This mistake happens a lot here so I've bolded it (and made it the DVXuser yellow) for future reference.
Unfortunately your design has no REAL content. That means there's no text, it's all images, so search engines will place you on the bottom of their lists. This is a HUGE mistake that is made often. You want people to find your site but, with the site you have now, NOBODY will ever see/find it because search engines can not crawl images for keywords. Meta-tags (descriptions, keywords, etc.) don't help as much as real content that Google and the other guys can crawl and update. To fix this you need to rebuild this site in HTML/Dreamweaver and use actual content.
Sorry to sound so cruel but consider it tough love. I want people to find your site or else all your hard work is wasted. Good luck and PM me if you need any help.
Envision said:
you should talk to Lyons about talking to his better half Dorota ... here stuff is incredible and she might cut you a deal ... or since her hubby is a filmmaker, maybe they'd do something for you in trade for duplication :thumbsup:
go to lyons's website and I think you can find a link to her prorfolio there which is quite impressive.
Kirk Gillock
Rebel with a cause
Years ago meta-tags were all the rage. 
But now these new fangled search engines require actual content. 
If you try and trick the engines they will lock you out of the search results.
But now these new fangled search engines require actual content. If you try and trick the engines they will lock you out of the search results.
PK Gillock said:Years ago meta-tags were all the rage.
so actual text eh?
can you do like black font on a black background?
what abouty websites that start with a flash page or just an image?
Kirk Gillock
Rebel with a cause
Nope. black text on black backgrounds are also highly frowned upon and will get you placed last on the list. Which is actually a very good thing. Search results are becoming more and more precise because these webmaster tricks no longer work.
Flash is also not crawlable so websites with flash intros must rely on just meta or pages inside the site that have content. Also, Google checks to see how many other sites link to your site. That's how sites for movies (that are all flash) end up at the top of the list. There are hundreds of other sites that link to that site so Google places it higher on the list (it's like a reference list). We small-time sites don't have the luxury of other sites promoting us so we must rely on content.
and will get you placed last on the list. Which is actually a very good thing. Search results are becoming more and more precise because these webmaster tricks no longer work.Flash is also not crawlable so websites with flash intros must rely on just meta or pages inside the site that have content. Also, Google checks to see how many other sites link to your site. That's how sites for movies (that are all flash) end up at the top of the list. There are hundreds of other sites that link to that site so Google places it higher on the list (it's like a reference list). We small-time sites don't have the luxury of other sites promoting us so we must rely on content.
Norm Sanders
Script Wrangler
Okay, okay, before anyone else rags on me about the images I AM trying to fix them. Sheesh, bunch of wolves.
I've also got a PM from PK, which I need to respond to ... but have been on the phone the past couple hours with a writer for a story we're working on ... so, I've not had time to get the fixes up.
Seriously, folks, I appreciate all this input. VERY glad I posted this here! :beer:
I AM trying to fix them. Sheesh, bunch of wolves. I've also got a PM from PK, which I need to respond to ... but have been on the phone the past couple hours with a writer for a story we're working on ... so, I've not had time to get the fixes up.
Seriously, folks, I appreciate all this input. VERY glad I posted this here! :beer:
im.thatoneguy
Well-known member
I didn't read every sentence of the previous posts, so forgive me if these things have already been mentioned.
I'll start with a stream of consciousness from my first impressions of the page. Consider this a "User testing session".
"Productions"... hmmm they make things. I see a dancer/model, perhaps they do glamour photography. "We make you shine..." yeah ... that makes sense, they do fashion photography. Let's see they'll match prices... that's good, What are their prices? Oh there a link "Our prices". Hmmm Fully Packaged Retail Ready DVDs... I don't see anything about photography here. I see I can get DVDs "Full Color Thermal ReTransfer DVD-R's"... what does that mean? I thought this was a photography company. I'm going back to the main page. *Clicks "Play it Again Productions"* Nothing... the link doesn't work... how do I get back to the main page? oh there down at the bottom "return to main page..." why don't they just use the normal convention and have the logo be a link to home? Ok so this isn't a photography company.... About us... that should help... wait... I just noticed that guillitine... what is that thing! It looks forboding... I don't want to get my fingers caught in it. Is it going to eat the dancer? Enough distraction.. about us... "Unquie" WTF does unqui mean? I think they must mean unique... ok no hidden costs... that's good. What the HELL IS THIS PLACE!!! YES YES CHEAP CHEAP WHAT!!!?!? "We understand turn around times..." excellent... Turn around times on what! "We're one of the few, if not only places in the Portland area that offers..." Here this is it they're going to tell me!! Finally!! "...that offers ... complete professional poly overwrap" *Sits and stares for a few moments... reads it again* Poly what? oh ... Duplication company! Wow sounds like they got some fancy sounding duplication hardware... I wonder if kinkos has that. Ok I'm sold, they claim to the cheapest, I've had this DVD lieing around I want to get duplicated... where do I buy. Let's see.... hmm... terms? nope legal mumbojumbo... no reason to read... company info. Hmmm a phone number. I suppose that'll do if all else fails. I sure hope I don't have to talk to a receptionist and that's actually a sales number.. "Office" Sounds... kind of official, but who do I call... maybe the main page has an email address... nothing... well... I guess I"ll call that number... sure hope it's the right one...
1) Name, "Productions" sort of implies a production company, as in content creation.
2) Nothing on the front page indicates you're necessarily a DVD copying company.
3) No return link to home page by clicking on logo.
4) About Us goes on for more than 2 full bullet points before telling me what you are.
5) You have a single sentence on your entire page telling me what you do.
6) Perhaps in liability, you could tell them to send you a backup, not the original. It would come across as much more reliable and positive, instead of negative. Something they can do instead of just things they can't.
7) Explain what the technology offers the customer, not what model number it does. I.E. "Our Samsung CLP550N Color Laser printer offers you blah blah blah" Tell them why they want it, not what it is.
8) Poly Overwrapped is an incredibly obfiscated way of saying, plastic coated, I don't know, maybe it's industry standard, but I'm a pretty technical guy and it barely makes any sense to me. I still don't know what it offers me, or if I want it, whether it's a good or bad thing. I think it means shrinkwrapping... I could be wrong.
9) On the Our Pricing page, I don't know what I get for the top right first column.
10) I see words that say "Build your own packages" I don't see a way to.
11) Online ordering, or at least a phone number that is labeled "Sales" would be helpful.
12) "We offer the fastest standard turn around times..." As opposed to the fastest non-standard? What's a non-standard turn around time?
13) Guillitine duplicator on front page is terrifying.
14) Dancer on front page is misleading.
15) No "Order here" button.
16) Upload Via FTP icon, gives me the impression, everybody can look at my work.
17) Front page tells me a number of features are "included in every professional package" Pricing page, has different prices for different items... are these seperate? What do I get for 9.99 each? If the front page says "amaray Case", and the pricing says it's .69 cents each for amaray cases... is that something I need to buy?
That would be my cursory feedback on one run through the site. I didn't do any spell checking etc...
I'll start with a stream of consciousness from my first impressions of the page. Consider this a "User testing session".
"Productions"... hmmm they make things. I see a dancer/model, perhaps they do glamour photography. "We make you shine..." yeah ... that makes sense, they do fashion photography. Let's see they'll match prices... that's good, What are their prices? Oh there a link "Our prices". Hmmm Fully Packaged Retail Ready DVDs... I don't see anything about photography here. I see I can get DVDs "Full Color Thermal ReTransfer DVD-R's"... what does that mean? I thought this was a photography company. I'm going back to the main page. *Clicks "Play it Again Productions"* Nothing... the link doesn't work... how do I get back to the main page? oh there down at the bottom "return to main page..." why don't they just use the normal convention and have the logo be a link to home? Ok so this isn't a photography company.... About us... that should help... wait... I just noticed that guillitine... what is that thing! It looks forboding... I don't want to get my fingers caught in it. Is it going to eat the dancer? Enough distraction.. about us... "Unquie" WTF does unqui mean? I think they must mean unique... ok no hidden costs... that's good. What the HELL IS THIS PLACE!!! YES YES CHEAP CHEAP WHAT!!!?!? "We understand turn around times..." excellent... Turn around times on what! "We're one of the few, if not only places in the Portland area that offers..." Here this is it they're going to tell me!! Finally!! "...that offers ... complete professional poly overwrap" *Sits and stares for a few moments... reads it again* Poly what? oh ... Duplication company! Wow sounds like they got some fancy sounding duplication hardware... I wonder if kinkos has that. Ok I'm sold, they claim to the cheapest, I've had this DVD lieing around I want to get duplicated... where do I buy. Let's see.... hmm... terms? nope legal mumbojumbo... no reason to read... company info. Hmmm a phone number. I suppose that'll do if all else fails. I sure hope I don't have to talk to a receptionist and that's actually a sales number.. "Office" Sounds... kind of official, but who do I call... maybe the main page has an email address... nothing... well... I guess I"ll call that number... sure hope it's the right one...
1) Name, "Productions" sort of implies a production company, as in content creation.
2) Nothing on the front page indicates you're necessarily a DVD copying company.
3) No return link to home page by clicking on logo.
4) About Us goes on for more than 2 full bullet points before telling me what you are.
5) You have a single sentence on your entire page telling me what you do.
6) Perhaps in liability, you could tell them to send you a backup, not the original. It would come across as much more reliable and positive, instead of negative. Something they can do instead of just things they can't.
7) Explain what the technology offers the customer, not what model number it does. I.E. "Our Samsung CLP550N Color Laser printer offers you blah blah blah" Tell them why they want it, not what it is.
8) Poly Overwrapped is an incredibly obfiscated way of saying, plastic coated, I don't know, maybe it's industry standard, but I'm a pretty technical guy and it barely makes any sense to me. I still don't know what it offers me, or if I want it, whether it's a good or bad thing. I think it means shrinkwrapping... I could be wrong.
9) On the Our Pricing page, I don't know what I get for the top right first column.
10) I see words that say "Build your own packages" I don't see a way to.
11) Online ordering, or at least a phone number that is labeled "Sales" would be helpful.
12) "We offer the fastest standard turn around times..." As opposed to the fastest non-standard? What's a non-standard turn around time?
13) Guillitine duplicator on front page is terrifying.
14) Dancer on front page is misleading.
15) No "Order here" button.
16) Upload Via FTP icon, gives me the impression, everybody can look at my work.
17) Front page tells me a number of features are "included in every professional package" Pricing page, has different prices for different items... are these seperate? What do I get for 9.99 each? If the front page says "amaray Case", and the pricing says it's .69 cents each for amaray cases... is that something I need to buy?
That would be my cursory feedback on one run through the site. I didn't do any spell checking etc...
Last edited:
Shawn Murphy
Well-known member
I don't think the first sentence is grammatically correct, I'm not a grammarian so I can't explain the verb/predicate/ownership theory, but I think you need to at least change "pricing" to "price" or lose the "a":
"If you find a lower advertised pricing on comparable packaging..."
"If you find a lower advertised pricing on comparable packaging..."
Norm, you've got a diction error as your headline -- "every time" is two words.
It may seem like it's nothing, but it's a big deal to me -- I'd see that and immediately move on. Looks amateur.
It may seem like it's nothing, but it's a big deal to me -- I'd see that and immediately move on. Looks amateur.
It's refreshing to see someone ask for comments before publishing their marketing material and not have it looking like it was created by a 6 year old.
I use Opera on Linux. Your pages rendered perfectly, although a tad slowly. Once the page images were cached the pages loaded much faster. You can get faster loading and allow your site to be searched by bots and still keep the same look using CSS. This site shows you what can be done with CSS: http://csszengarden.com. Re the ballerina, some videographers shoot dance performances, so the image isn't out of line. The latest version of Flash (Flash 8) has very good video codec and a nice Flash player installation process that is much more user friendly than previous versions. I agree about the "lowest price" comments. There's a saying "Quality, Price, Time, pick any 2" - if you can deliver on Quality and Time, you will do well.
Good luck with your business. I'll bookmark your site for future reference when I need some DVDs made.
I use Opera on Linux. Your pages rendered perfectly, although a tad slowly. Once the page images were cached the pages loaded much faster. You can get faster loading and allow your site to be searched by bots and still keep the same look using CSS. This site shows you what can be done with CSS: http://csszengarden.com. Re the ballerina, some videographers shoot dance performances, so the image isn't out of line. The latest version of Flash (Flash 8) has very good video codec and a nice Flash player installation process that is much more user friendly than previous versions. I agree about the "lowest price" comments. There's a saying "Quality, Price, Time, pick any 2" - if you can deliver on Quality and Time, you will do well.
Good luck with your business. I'll bookmark your site for future reference when I need some DVDs made.
GenJerDan
Veteran
Sirius_Doggy said:
Of course, that takes all the fun out of trying to guess what it is, what she's doing dancing toward it, and whether she's wearing panties or not.
Actually, a nice image might be her + a DVD case with her on the cover + a stack of same behind that. Or somelike.
Norm Sanders
Script Wrangler
Kai, seriously? I'll do that, but swear I've looked before ... just obviously in the wrong spots, thanks.
YIKES! Why did I ever post this for feedback ... I'm getting beat like a drum here! Just kidding ... I am beyond glad I asked for feedback as I'm hearing the same thing over & over. Since ultimately you guys will be who I'll be advertising to (as soon as it's ready, I'll purchase a banner on DVXuser), it's important to have a clean & understandable site.
Depending on if I get help from PK, or can figure it out on my own soon, or someone else is good with this stuff & is looking for steep discounts on duplication/replication ... I hope to have these issues resolved soon.
J Michael, thanks for that css link ... I'll check it out.
GenderDan, good idea on slapping the girl onto a DVD cover/box, but I've gone ahead & replaced her with a stack of DVD's, and have replaced the overwrapping maching with a series of DVD towers that most people would recognize (even though I don't used multiple towers & have an automated robotic machine). These are changes in the Photoshop side that I hope to post up later this evening.
David & Shawn, thanks for those little notes ... I'll review & take care of them.
Also im.thatoneguy ... wow, tons of notes & I appreciate that time you took. Much of it is already echoed by others, but there's a couple of new things in there as well. Thankyou!
Thanks JY Blue, glad you liked it initially ... lots of changes to make though, as the majority has ruled.
YIKES! Why did I ever post this for feedback ... I'm getting beat like a drum here! Just kidding ... I am beyond glad I asked for feedback as I'm hearing the same thing over & over. Since ultimately you guys will be who I'll be advertising to (as soon as it's ready, I'll purchase a banner on DVXuser), it's important to have a clean & understandable site.
Depending on if I get help from PK, or can figure it out on my own soon, or someone else is good with this stuff & is looking for steep discounts on duplication/replication ... I hope to have these issues resolved soon.
J Michael, thanks for that css link ... I'll check it out.
GenderDan, good idea on slapping the girl onto a DVD cover/box, but I've gone ahead & replaced her with a stack of DVD's, and have replaced the overwrapping maching with a series of DVD towers that most people would recognize (even though I don't used multiple towers & have an automated robotic machine). These are changes in the Photoshop side that I hope to post up later this evening.
David & Shawn, thanks for those little notes ... I'll review & take care of them.
Also im.thatoneguy ... wow, tons of notes & I appreciate that time you took. Much of it is already echoed by others, but there's a couple of new things in there as well. Thankyou!
Thanks JY Blue, glad you liked it initially ... lots of changes to make though, as the majority has ruled.
Larry Rutledge
Fest Master
Norm, in refrence to the CSS version of a site...I just started re-designing my site using web compliant CSS2. So if you have questions about that, let me know.
Nice job on a first run at the site (they never come out right first time out of the chute). Good to see you take the criticism for what it is, constructive.
Peace,
Larry
Nice job on a first run at the site (they never come out right first time out of the chute). Good to see you take the criticism for what it is, constructive.
Peace,
Larry