Site Critique

[TiggyPig]

Hi guys,

time to get all "Julian Clary", I'd like people to be critical about my site at www.tiggypig.com

I'm looking to make some drastic changes for the better, and who else to throw my site to but the Actinic User wolves.

Need feedback within the next 7 days ( Up until 16th July)

Just say how U feel, as well as what u don't like, be good to hear what you DO like.

And for those of you who just want to take the mick, I have an electric shock pen here that can be inserted in deserving places.

Cheers people, have fun.

Mark

[skinnybloke]

Hi - not much time to look I'm afraid but first impressions are very professional.

One thing I would do is to make your logo clickable to the home page.

[imis]

Hi,

Looking good - a couple of comments though:

1. Not sure about that blue for the default hyperlink colour - looks a bit basic?

2. Watch out for font overkill - to many different fonts and styles can look like you just discovered how to use your dtp/paint package

Will look again tomorrow.

Cheers

IMIS

[Andrew]

You have first rate products on your site ...BUT the front page took over 80 seconds to down load completely.

If I was looking to purchase, I would have clicked away after 20 seconds.

The site relies too heavily on graphics and not enough 'white space'. Remember, 'less is more'.

What is the size of the home page? Perhaps try to keep it down to 35 - 40 kb. All the mags and optimisation sites usually state this size for the pages for a reason. Why not get the coding to start loading up the graphics for the later pages after the home page has finished loading, this will keep the download times to a minimum.

I hope I have not offended you as it is my honest opinion.

Andrew

[fleetwood]

Great products, but the site is overly fussy.
There is simply too much going on on each page, and its easy for your eye to wander away from the products.
The reviews idea is good, but again seems to be too much at one go, along with all the other product info - my attention waned before reading all there was to read.
I'd suggest taking a hard look at which components on the page are really necessary, and trying to simplify a little.
For example, does the moving banner at the bottom do anything other than show you know how to display a moving banner?
Please take comments in the spirit intended - aiming to help not hack.

regards Martin

ps: anyone with the time to do something similar for us, please fire away. When we upgrade to 7 I want to start from scratch with a new build so all/any on what we do right & wrong now are welcome

www.megacitycomics.co.uk

[Aby]

Great site with good products. A few suggestions, instead of having a top 10 goodies box you could have the top 5 specific products to each section. I.e. Top 5 stress products. This could also be used in conjunction with your top 10 goodies. On some of the more expensive products, instead of having click for a bigger picture you could display a multi view so customers can view the item from all angles (digital camera job!) The home page is too slow, I don't like the blue background (white space is good) and finally I hate the scrolling bottom banner. Plus points, the products are top notch; I like your company logo and submit review area (brave!).

[TiggyPig]

Cheers guys,

I think the blue overkill is a fair comment and we are going to totally redo the look of the site to be quicker and easier on the eye. My own view is that the site is too dark and needs lightening up.

We too will be moving over from Cat V6 to Business V7 and all the extra goodies that can be added to the site as well.

All your comments have been gratefully taken on board though, many thanks.

[garyhay]

Mark

IMHO your site is one of the best Actinic sites out there. Maybe there is a lot of blue but in the content (products and sections) the background is white where it matters. I had to wait nowhere near 80 seconds to load the page more like 7 or 8 the first time and 2 or 3 on subsequent visits. Broadband

If I use the e-mail this button it puts code into my text only mail program which does not look good and would stop me buying if the e-mail was sent to me.

Anyhow. Good luck with the new look

[Andrew]

80 seconds loading time on normal dial up connection. Not everyone has broadband. Even 8 seconds on broadband seems an eternity these days.

Andrew

[adi]

great looking site.. i dont think its too cluttered as others have said, although maybe you've changed it by now

The only thing i can criticise on is the top graphic. The hard edge of the left of the graphic against the background spoils the site. It needs a soft edge to be blended into the background.

[freakmode]

I think that is is a great looking site. Apart from the URL it is hard to tell that it is even done in Actinic. It loads pretty fast even on our 64K ISDN line.

Can you please tell me how you hold the header resident on page while the remainder of the page is redrawn? Our site loads the header each time you go to a new page and is a little slow. Is it done in the chosen layout?

Thanks