Seattle Community

<span class="basic_member_name">Jake Smith</span>
Jake Smith
Web Designer and Developer
Des Moines, Iowa
Posted by Jake Smith, Des Moines, Iowa | Jul 25, 2008

Subscribe to Starting a business Is your website up to par?

I am offering free website advice, just post a link to you site. I am a web developer and designer.

33 Bizniks have posted replies

33 posts |12
  • Tia Peterson
    Posted by Tia Peterson, Erie, Pennsylvania | Jul 28, 2008

    Hey Jake - here's a link to my blog.

    http://blog.allamericanadmin.com

    Thoughts? Thanks.

  • Jake Smith
    Posted by Jake Smith, Des Moines, Iowa | Jul 28, 2008

    I looked at your blog. You have avoided any huge mistakes so that good. A small visual thing that seemed to jump out of me was that, it seems your head banner is so impact full and wants to be a focus point for the eye but is distracted by the red side bars and the busyness of the site. I think if you muted the red or maybe pulled a gray out of the top banner to use for the bars that might cut down on the eyeball confusion between the header banner and the body. This is just a suggestion from a 30 second look at you site. I also not taking in to consideration how much work it would or would not be to change. The final call is always up to you.

  • Scott Brinkerhoff
    Posted by Scott Brinkerhoff, Marysville, Washington | Jul 31, 2008

    Tia, I agree to a point with Jake. There is a disconnect between the outer columns and the header. But I would suggest against using grey as a replacement color. Grey is very corporate and ridged. You need to keep your site alive and colorful. I would suggest either adding a thin division bar of the red between the header and the navigation and change the orange text to match the red, or bring in the yellow or shade of orange down in place of the red.

    I have done several wordpress sites and would be more than happy to discuss minor tweaks to your site to bring it up a notch.

    Scott

  • Tia Peterson
    Posted by Tia Peterson, Erie, Pennsylvania | Jul 31, 2008

    Thanks guys! Scott, sending you a msg.

    Tia

  • Joshua Cole
    Posted by Joshua Cole, Monroe, Washington | Aug 01, 2008

    Hey Jake!

    I would love a second opinion on my website. http://www.sqlnexis.com

    I am not a designer -- I do try but found my real forte is development and as such I am open to any and all suggestions!

    Thanks!

  • Jake Smith
    Posted by Jake Smith, Des Moines, Iowa | Aug 01, 2008

    hey Joshua,

    Your design looks good. Its business feel to it. Some advise I would give you have a lot of text. Most people that surf the net just don't take the time to read that much text. For a business like yours that might leave people wonder what do you do exactly? I am sure if they read you site they would figure that out but the truth is people do not want to get on a site and read. They want everything at their finger tips.

    How might you solve this dilemma? be creative. Some site have used videos on their home page that seem to be more effective then just plain text. Add more interactivity to keep people at you site long enough that they figure out what you do and how you can help them.

    I hope this helps you out best of luck

    Jake

  • Joshua Cole
    Posted by Joshua Cole, Monroe, Washington | Aug 01, 2008

    Hey Jake!

    Thank you very much for the feedback, I will definitly take that into consideration. I suppose I will just try to see how others solve this issue though, your idea of a video sounds great as well!

  • Kristine Proctor
    Posted by Kristine Proctor, Renton, Washington | Aug 04, 2008

    well I've been told my website needs help. I don't think its that bad, but give it a look and tell me what ya think. Thanks! www.foothillsmassagetherapy.com

  • Jake Smith
    Posted by Jake Smith, Des Moines, Iowa | Aug 05, 2008

    Kristine,

    Your site could use help. The over all design look nice but functionality is low. I found it difficult to find information on your site. You have some good design elements but some of the image quality for the elements have been reduced somehow. Your homepage does not feel like it is part of the same site as the rest of your website. The site is somewhat outdated in the way it is constructed on the code side. It does not take advantage of newer web technology's. If you ever want help on you site please let me know I would love to help you. Your site has great potential. Drop me an email if you would wish

    jakedx6@gmail.com

    Thanks

  • Kristine Proctor
    Posted by Kristine Proctor, Renton, Washington | Aug 05, 2008

    Thanks for the comments. I used a template for the website, which I'm finding is not a good way to go.

    Thanks again Kristine

  • Jake Smith
    Posted by Jake Smith, Des Moines, Iowa | Aug 05, 2008

    Yeah that what I guessed. If you do not mind me asking where did you get it? Do you update the site yourself? If so what do you use to do the updating? Just trying to figure out where some clients might be coming from. Thank you for your time.

  • Paul Spafford
    Posted by Paul Spafford, Ottawa, Ontario Canada | Aug 10, 2008

    Hey Jake,

    I would love an opinion on my site: www.paulspafford.com.

    I've always followed the "less is more" approach to Web and software design. This may be out of necessity, since I love just using TextWrangler for creating my html, etc.

    What do you think? Thanks!

  • Joe Hage
    Posted by Joe Hage, Seattle, Washington | Aug 10, 2008

    Count me in, Jake.

    http://joehageonline.com, thank you.

  • Tammy Redmon
    Posted by Tammy Redmon, Olympia, Washington | Aug 14, 2008

    Hey Jake, Thanks for the offer. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

    Redmon & Associates

  • Sumesh Bhagat
    Posted by Sumesh Bhagat, Kirkland, Washington | Aug 17, 2008

    I would love to know about my online hardware store.

  • Jake Smith
    Posted by Jake Smith, Des Moines, Iowa | Aug 18, 2008

    Joe Hage,

    Joe you have nothing to worry about on your site. it is a clean design and easy navigation.

  • Jake Smith
    Posted by Jake Smith, Des Moines, Iowa | Aug 18, 2008

    Tammy,

    you sites design is not bad. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was the intro its a very nice intro, but the way it presented could use some work. If I was working on your site I would want to try to include your intro in to almost a banner and kill the music so it grabs people to what you do. I have found most people find intros somewhat annoying like commercials on TV. People like all the information as quick as possible. Intros are great they really make a punch at the question what do we do, but if they are not use correctly they can be annoyance. The rest of your site is not bad but it lacks anything that would make it stand out. You do not want to just have another website like everyone else this is your site make it powerful.

  • Jake Smith
    Posted by Jake Smith, Des Moines, Iowa | Aug 18, 2008

    Sumesh,

    what you site needs a design. It is functional and works but what makes you different then the other online hardware stores. A website is just like a real store you need atmosphere to make people feel comfortable with buying your product. You also want branding power and a good logo and design will fill that hole for you.

  • Debbie Rosemont
    Posted by Debbie Rosemont, Sammamish, Washington | Aug 18, 2008

    Always open to feedback ... thanks for your offer Jake. My site's at www.itssimplyplaced.com. I'll look forward to your comments!

  • Krista Dunk
    Posted by Krista Dunk, Olympia, Washington | Aug 18, 2008

    Hi Jake, Dare I say... check mine out! NWweddingplace.com Thanks! Krista

  • Sumesh Bhagat
    Posted by Sumesh Bhagat, Kirkland, Washington | Aug 18, 2008

    Thanks Jake, I really appreciate your feedback. I am going to work on those things.

  • amoreena klein
    Posted by amoreena klein, seattle, Washington | Aug 18, 2008

    Well...I'll take you up on your offer! www.midnightblossom.com thanks! amoreena

  • Jake Smith
    Posted by Jake Smith, Des Moines, Iowa | Aug 20, 2008

    I will get back with all of you asap. Thank your for your interest.

  • julie stephens
    Posted by julie stephens, birmingham United Kingdom | Aug 22, 2008

    hi could you look at Click Here For online shop ( UrbanEgos retail site ) Click Here For design & build ( UrbanEgos design and build site ) can you let me know what you think about these? thanks in advance julie

  • Jake Smith
    Posted by Jake Smith, Des Moines, Iowa | Aug 22, 2008

    Debbie,

    Your site is a clean design and your navigation is easy to use you have good site. The only design thing suggest is maybe trying to add some contrast colors. You have a lot of the same hue and it works but some accenting colors might help make some area pop out more. Something that everyone site alway can use when someone get on your site you want them to know what you do as soon as possible.

33 posts |12

This forum is unmoderated, but please keep discussion courteous and not too far off topic.

Members posting in this topic

  • Tia Peterson
    Website & Wordpress Blog Maintenance
    Erie, Pennsylvania
  • Jake Smith
    Web Designer and Developer
    Des Moines, Iowa
  • Scott Brinkerhoff
    Web Site / Marketing Design...
    Marysville, Washington
  • Joshua Cole
    Website/Software Developer
    Monroe, Washington
  • Kristine Proctor
    Massage Therapist
    Renton, Washington
  • Paul Spafford
    Custom database developer/consultant
    Ottawa, Ontario Canada
  • Joe Hage
    Seattle Marketing Strategy and New...
    Seattle, Washington
  • Tammy Redmon
    Executive Coach, Business Coach and...
    Olympia, Washington
  • Sumesh Bhagat
    TheHardwareCity.com Online hardware store
    Kirkland, Washington
  • Debbie Rosemont
    Certified Professional Organizer and Productivity...
    Sammamish, Washington
  • Krista Dunk
    Web entrepreneur NWweddingplace.com
    Olympia, Washington
  • amoreena klein
    floral designer
    seattle, Washington
  • julie stephens
    social and agricultural retail
    birmingham United Kingdom
  • E. Sole
    E. Sole
    Entrepreneur / Computer expert ...
    San Diego, California
  • Paul Kruglik
    Contract CFO
    Seattle, Washington
  • Aimee Gallo
    Nutrition Consultant, Holistic Health Counselor...
    San Diego, California
  • Kaya Singer
    Coaching Programs for Small Business
    Portland, Oregon
  • Joseph Flahiff
    Project Manager, Speaker, Workshop Facilitator...
    Bothell, Washington
  • Marianna  Paulson
    Stress Coach
    Surrey, British Columbia Canada

Post tags

  • free
  • website
  • advise
  • design