Rate my Website

[trapped]

I thought after the recent rate my logo thread I would ask for feedback on my website. I originally created the site way back in the 1990's and didn't really update it until I started working the business full-time about 10 months ago (due to a layoff, thanks awesome economy!). I'm currently publishing the site using FrontPage (cause that is what I know and I'm too cheap to get a pro).

So far I have gotten positive comments on it from my customers, but I appreciate comments/constructive criticism. Right now I am #4 on Google local and in the middle of the first page organic for "elk grove computer repair" searches.

Thanks in advance for taking a look.

http://www.thecomputergeeks.com

 

[JosephLeo]

I thought after the recent rate my logo thread I would ask for feedback on my website. I originally created the site way back in the 1990's and didn't really update it until I started working the business full-time about 10 months ago (due to a layoff, thanks awesome economy!). I'm currently publishing the site using FrontPage (cause that is what I know and I'm too cheap to get a pro).

So far I have gotten positive comments on it from my customers, but I appreciate comments/constructive criticism. Right now I am #4 on Google local and in the middle of the first page organic for "elk grove computer repair" searches.

Thanks in advance for taking a look.

http://www.thecomputergeeks.com

As an ex-graphic designer I must inform you that I don't think serif fonts go well with web-pages. Especially those with dark backgrounds. Also I've never been a fan of the "binary matrix code" as a background. But it does its job and that's inform your customers what you do, why you do it, and how long you've been doing it.

My recommendations?

• The left toolbar goes away when you click any pages, I want to navigate the site at all times- not when you tell me to.
• There are two navigation areas. the top and the left- you should choose only one...I would go with the top one and bring the stuff on the left one there as well.
• If you're going to have a matrix background at least set up an area with a solid background for your text so that it's easier to read. Maybe just a simple black box with all your text in it.

There you go, that's not meant to be offensive in any way- just constructive criticism. All in all I give it a thumbs up- it's good enough to use so you don't really have to do anything.

 

[trapped]

That is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for, thanks!

I tried the black background but I thought it looked weird. I'll try doing some further tweaks.

 

[MM PC Solutions]

I instantly navigated away from it as the background & the text colour makes it uncomfortable to read.

 

[JosephLeo]

I instantly navigated away from it as the background & the text colour makes it uncomfortable to read.

Nothing is wrong with the text color- he wants a black background with white letters. High contrast is great- but the thing is that the text (or numbers in this case) behind them is distracting your eyes which is why I suggested he remove it. Also- serif fonts look horrible on screens and especially more so on dark backgrounds.

 

[MM PC Solutions]

High contrast is one thing, appealing to prospective customers is another.

 

[NickCat11]

Ditch the numbered background like others have said so it's easier to read. This will make a huge difference in itself.

 

[1aComputerServices]

I like the color scheme but don't know that its going to work for your potential customer.

 

[atlanticjim]

IMHO
I find that the black is unattractive (personally it reminds me of warez and hacking sites).
There is nothing in the block text that helps me navigate it with my eye.
For example "For the Home" "For your business" "Service Area" "Laptop Service" "Networking".

Again, IMHO and I am not in anyway a graphic designer.
I will be submitting my site soon and expect and hope for a slew of "creative criticism".

 

[cmonova]

Not a big fan of the black myself. I think the content is great and alot of it but really dislike the layout of it. I'd try something brighter and more inviting to the potential customer.

 

[ComputerClinic]

Take a look at these sites:

http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

http://thethemeblog.com/tutorials/evoking-emotion-with-color

Pretty interesting stuff.

P.S.: please ignore my site. I'm waiting for a flexcroll license so I can update my website with a new look. Then it will have the same colors as my avatar.

 

[Reviver]

The text is hard to read due to the grey binary code in the background.

I love making black background websites, but I don't think they are appropriate for a business website. The reason for this is the "atmosphere" that it exudes to visitors. As someone here mentioned it feels like a warez site.

Light text on black background websites tend to feel like a hole hidden away somewhere on the net, while a white or light backgrounds give a website a feeling of lightness and life.

I would also stay away from most animated GIFs.

I would also probably drop the visible hit counter. It gives the page an amateurish web 1.0 feel. Customers probably won't care how many people have visited the site. (keep an invisible counter though for statistic reasons of course!)

I also second what JosephLeo said about the serif fonts. Check out this great list of sans-serif fonts to choose from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_typefaces#Sans_serif (of course, only a few are available in-browser on all browsers).

I also agree that the left sidebar navigation is not very nice in the way the main links disappear when a link is clicked, giving the user an option to move "up" to the previous navigation level. This will most likely confuse non-web/computer savvy customers. The best thing would be for the links to remain static on each page viewed, with links relevant to the currently active link/section to be "revealed" below the main link in indented or bulleted form.

Your content is looking pretty good. I hope my criticisms help, I wish you the best of luck in your business!

-R

 

[JosephLeo]

Well- I might as well show an example of what I'm working on then

People like light backgrounds, wide margins and a well structured website. They don't like to scan the website either, but rather they want everything to be where it should be. Complicated backgrounds do just that- complicate. Avoid them at all cost.

Here, check out what I'm working on right now. It's the header only for my website, but it's literally the most important thing since it's the first thing you see.

 

[Reviver]

Well- I might as well show an example of what I'm working on then

People like light backgrounds, wide margins and a well structured website. They don't like to scan the website either, but rather they want everything to be where it should be. Complicated backgrounds do just that- complicate. Avoid them at all cost.

Here, check out what I'm working on right now. It's the header only for my website, but it's literally the most important thing since it's the first thing you see.

Nice header.

I'm curious about your "ask a question 24/7" button. How does that service work?

 

[JosephLeo]

Nice header.

I'm curious about your "ask a question 24/7" button. How does that service work?

Well, it's basically going to just be an email when my service is offline, and a live chat when I'm online. I doubt anyone will really use it when I'm online- but it's a nice way to generate business when I'm offline and also it fills up the space in the header

Here's a little more of what I got so far.

 

[Tweak]

Are you the guy with the big ole fro???






The green button is cause others get to be jealous of a nice looking page, looks really good Joe.

 

[JosephLeo]

Are you the guy with the big ole fro???






The green button is cause others get to be jealous of a nice looking page, looks really good Joe.

Lol, that's stock art (My sarcasm sense wasn't tingling when I read that...so) Although I would like a nice 'fro. Then again, it would be called a Joefro. and no, the green button is where I will advertise services to help you go green like...downgrade from a dedicated GPU to an integrated one for those who don't game. Or upgrading to a faster processor that uses less memory, setting up power savings modes, buying an energy efficient power supply and recycling your old PC as well.

 

[Tweak]

Lol, that's stock art (My sarcasm sense wasn't tingling when I read that...so) Although I would like a nice 'fro. Then again, it would be called a Joefro. and no, the green button is where I will advertise services to help you go green like...downgrade from a dedicated GPU to an integrated one for those who don't game. Or upgrading to a faster processor that uses less memory, setting up power savings modes, buying an energy efficient power supply and recycling your old PC as well.

Yeah, all sounds good, sadly I am not very green right now, my OCZ Vertex is running some crappy firmware and is known to have issues with sleep mode, so right now I can't use it at all. What is worse is that in order to flash from this specific firmware to newer I'd have to wipe/reload, problem there is when I make the Win7 image it wants to use my seperate programs on another partition (on a 300GB Velociraptor) with the image. In reading some people have found issues with Win7 using more than the reserved space and the data partition of C, I am one of those people. Using Macrium or other methods I am finding is not as recommended for the SSD and Win7 when flashing firmware...so rock and a hard place, yep, I'm there.

Goodluck on your fro though Joe!

 

[JosephLeo]

Yeah, all sounds good, sadly I am not very green right now, my OCZ Vertex is running some crappy firmware and is known to have issues with sleep mode, so right now I can't use it at all. What is worse is that in order to flash from this specific firmware to newer I'd have to wipe/reload, problem there is when I make the Win7 image it wants to use my seperate programs on another partition (on a 300GB Velociraptor) with the image. In reading some people have found issues with Win7 using more than the reserved space and the data partition of C, I am one of those people. Using Macrium or other methods I am finding is not as recommended for the SSD and Win7 when flashing firmware...so rock and a hard place, yep, I'm there.

Goodluck on your fro though Joe!

Heh, was joking about the afro. I'm a short hair kind if guy (Hey, I was born and raised in Joysey. You know, Orange skin, spiked hair, sunglasses, open shirt? Yeah...I did that when I was a kid)

 

[Tweak]

Heh, was joking about the afro. I'm a short hair kind if guy (Hey, I was born and raised in Joysey. You know, Orange skin, spiked hair, sunglasses, open shirt? Yeah...I did that when I was a kid)

I figured that was the case (lack of the fro, not the rest)...but just in case.