New site review request

[ccarson]

Dear Bluevoda team,

I have been getting familiar with the Bluevoda software for the past couple of weeks and finally setup an account and published a new website. I'm still trying to figure out the email, search engines and forms features but decided to publish what I have so far.

Can you review my new site and provide me with constructive feedback?

My site is: www.careforallages.com/

Thank you in advance for your help,
Char

[Bethers]

Re: New site review request

My first suggestion is to get rid of "Welcome to" and simply get the name up there in the header. I might make it a slightly larger text also - thinking of the possible audience.

You've done something wrong with your navigation buttons - it looks like you inserted the text on top of them - which makes the text not clickable. Why not insert the text into them like they are designed?

My other comment - and I'd like to hear what others say - but I'm not a fan of the purplish text with the green template. I would rethink that color text, personally.

Overall, a very good job. Just needs a bit of tweaking.

[CarbonTerry]

Re: New site review request

Char,
Good job!
My thoughts:
Some of your drop down menus overlap the text on some pages. The "dead spot" you have created by placing text on top of the buttons is quite bothersome.
You have an "exposed" email. Eventually your email addy will be harvested by a spam bot and you will be inundated the spam. Follow one of the form tuts to avoid that. DavidundAlicia has a nice simple one.
I don't mind the "Welcome" ...to each his own...
You footer is pretty far away from the main text on your page(s)

have fun..

[Bethers]

Re: New site review request

I suggest getting rid of the "welcome" because it is unnecessary and considered a sign of a non-professional website - and this is definitely a business/professional site.

For home pages on personal sites - and in some cases, even for a homey feel on a professional site, I still suggest using it - but in most cases on professional sites, it's not something I recommend.

[ccarson]

Re: New site review request

Thank you Brethers and Carbon Terry! I will incorporate your feedback.

(It's the help like the 2 of you have just given me that made BV my choice of web hosting sites.)

Regarding the navigation button text - I downloaded those images from the BV library, and I could not find where to add text to the button. Properties only has a place for alternative text. Did I use the wrong feature?

As for the menu drop down, I agree that this looks sloppy. I used the drop down menu builder in BV. Is there another way to do this?

Lastly - I saw that there is a form pro maker application in the Treasure Chest. However, I cannot seem to find the Treasure Chest within support to download it. Can you direct me? I'm hoping that this will allow me to creat a form with proper email protection.

Thank you again,
Char

[ccarson]

Re: New site review request

Please disregard my comment about the navigation button. I found the the way to select the button image from the BV builder template. It's so much easier than how I created the original navigation!

This discovery process is intriguing!

[Lincslady]

Re: New site review request

Hi Char,

Nice work , easy to read, clean n easy to navigate looks very fresh ..nice

Only two things that I could see that could improve it further, your menu bar mouseover buttons have the bv icon on them , there are better looking buttons in your drop down that would be more suitable.

Also you need to centre your pages ...right click on page go to page properties, click box that says "centre in browser" save, publish.

Well done on a good job :o)

[jolie]

Re: New site review request

Hi!

Nice web design. Only thing I would like to add is to make the navigation bar appear on all pages, so that the user feels free to go wherever he wants to as opposed to using the back button.

Jolie
http://www.eecalc.com

[besthotelscanada.com]

Re: New site review request

Hey there- I just checked out your site! Personally- I think it's great! I've never been big on green- but the template looks very bright and eye catching! Great job I think! Best of luck! :)

[Bethers]

Re: New site review request

You're doing great - and isn't it fun to figure out more features in BV?

I agree that you need to change the mouseover effect on the navigation buttons. I usually use the same button but have the text appear a different color - but you can make it a different button, too - as long as it fits when moused-over!

[ccarson]

Re: New site review request

Thank you Brether, Jolie & Lincslady! I made all of your suggested changes.

Now on to search engines & forms... there are so many threads on SEO that I'm quite confused this morning.

I'll probably visist you in another forum :)
cc

[Vasili]

Re: New site review request

Back to Navigation (now that some of the dust has settled):

1. In your top "Services...About Us" you should reset your testbox to AUTO background rather than levae it white as it is....allow the underlaying images to show through by making your textbox transparent.

2. In your bottom textbox (the address), simply double-click on the textbox, then hit Control+A to highlight all the entered text, and go to top of BV browser to select "Center" and re-save/publish....such stacked text always looks better if centered evenly.

3. Your colors are fine. Green is a "living" color, as well as soothing (that's why hospitals and others use it. Stick by your guns. If you ever have any doubt, merely play with the tone, which you can tweak in "Custom Colors > define"....you'll get the hang of it.

4. Always try to use an email form....for all of the obvious reasons, but also because it is more "directed" and expected format. It is simply easier, as you get the info you require, and the visitors are comfortable using a utility they are familiar with (imagine the confusion when the Outlook pane appears to those who never use Outlook!).


And on you go!

[Bethers]

Re: New site review request

I agree with all Vasili said except with regard to the form - also give people an email address they can either click or copy and paste. If I'm going to contact someone, I want to use my own email program where I can save a copy of what I've said. I will use the forms in some cases, but not all. When I will is to report service problems.

For our motels (when I was still in that business), when we used the form by itself, we lost quite a bit of traffic (yes, the phone number was still there) - adding the email address back in brought the traffic back.

[ccarson]

Re: New site review request

Vasili,

Thank you for your feedback too! I cannot locate how to change the menu text box (services...about us) to automatic. Can you advise?

I create this menu using BV's menu tool. It has a default style, which I selected, and then I'm required to select a font & background color.

I too would like to remove the white background but I'm stumped.

Thank you,
cc