Effective Web design

[Ricesnaps]

This is a regularly discussed topic.

However, I wanted to bring it up again and maybe put a different slant on things. I think it's time for a re-design of mine. While we got a great deal of work from it back in the new year after the launch of this design, things have dropped off a little - although I have just picked up 5 weddings for next year this week, so maybe I'm wrong?

Anyway, I have been reading my collection of web magazines. They say that the average web surfer takes 50ms to make a decision on a web site. They suggest that your home page is vital and the key to visitors. Grab the visitor on page one and they are likely to forgive poorer design in the rest of the site.

So what grabs people. The problem I am guessing most of us have is that we are all DJ's and what grabs us as DJ's simply isn't what grabs our clients. I am looking at the top banner, but I would choose some lighting effects or a CD player or a speaker or something. But actually I have a feeling this isn't something that grabs a client and makes them stay.

By the way, I am not asking anyone to assess my current site - I want to change it completely. So what I do want is to get some idea what grabds our clients?

I also wonder if I need a better "tag line" with my logo. At the moment it's "disco's for all occasions", which hardly says WOW does it. Forgive me if you have this, but I also don't think "Ipswich's No1 Disco" is quite right either. Maybe something like "If you've got the moves, we've got the grooves", or "Your wedding, our disco, perfect match"

Have a look at this. I have no idea who he is and I don't really care, but I have a feeling this is a **** goos web site...

http://www.ashleyriggs.co.uk/index.htm

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Have a look at this. I have no idea who he is and I don't really care, but I have a feeling this is a **** goos web site...



Just so I can make sense of the post - what does the last bit say Rice?

[Ricesnaps]

Just so I can make sense of the post - what does the last bit say Rice?
d a m n

good

website

[Have a disco]

I personally think that site is very colour lacking right idea but still a bit samey samey

how long did it take your site to get established and top billing in suffolk as buy all accord I should be right next to you ??? I have yet to recieve any bookings via the net but have buy other directories??

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

how long did it take your site to get established and top billing in suffolk as buy all accord I should be right next to you ???

How do you know that when you don't know how much work has gone in to search engine optomisation?

[DMX Will]

Rice, I think that site doesn't really give a one to one feeling with the guy running it, it seems overly produced, and with regards to not having the personal touch, a bit like microsoft/coca-cola/<insert big brand here>'s website.

With regards to your website, I think it could do with some work, and I'd say your lacking personal pictures, ie: you on the job, its all cartoon sort of style graphics, which doesn't give a viewer a sense of "wow thats the guy doing a party like ours, lets get him!". I'd say with real life images, for possible clients to look at you've got a broader chance of some bookings.

[Ricesnaps]

Rice, I think that site doesn't really give a one to one feeling with the guy running it, it seems overly produced, and with regards to not having the personal touch, a bit like microsoft/coca-cola/<insert big brand here>'s website.

With regards to your website, I think it could do with some work, and I'd say your lacking personal pictures, ie: you on the job, its all cartoon sort of style graphics, which doesn't give a viewer a sense of "wow thats the guy doing a party like ours, lets get him!". I'd say with real life images, for possible clients to look at you've got a broader chance of some bookings.
Please read my original post.

I am absolutely not interested in comments about my website - it's not about that and it's certainly not about the on eyou are looking at as that's not the one I get my work from - done deliberately I might add.

I am after some thoughts of attention grabbing home pages

[DMX Will]

Please read my original post.

I am absolutely not interested in comments about my website - it's not about that and it's certainly not about the on eyou are looking at as that's not the one I get my work from - done deliberately I might add.

I am after some thoughts of attention grabbing home pages

There you go then, "thoughts of attention grabbing home pages" = Pictures of you working, showing yourself off to the maximum. :cool:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Rice you can't ask for people's views on attention grabbing homepages and ideas, and then say, don't comment on anything else!!

If you do this, people just won't bother replying at all for fear of saying something wrong.

[CRAZY K]

I dont think Rice is exactly short of booking judging by recent posts.

Re the site on the link--anyone who offers to give you your money back worries me!

If you are really successful and professional you dont waste your time with that kind of stuff!

You are opening a can of worms--also remember for the rest of your life?

Fantastic function of dreams? Nope thats all asking for trouble and a refund!

Most people have difficulty remembering what they did last week!

However good you are you are going to hit the odd function which doesnt happen--not your fault but its bound to happen from time to time.

Perhaps like my ad--the guests will be talking about your function for years is more realistic.

I do agree-- quality pictures of people at functions enjoying themselves is a good idea---its called a picture gallery I believe!!!! Nothing new im afraid.

The linked site had plenty of names and venues--but no offers to talk to his happy clients or letters or emails etc--- I know you dont like that approach Rice but I keep telling you it works!

To return some buzzwords Rice to you which has got me loads of bookings this year--

Quality--Reliability--Professional Approach

Simply the best! Cue Tina--- :teeth:

There thats it--my bill is in your e mail box :teeth: :teeth: :teeth:

Good luck with it--im off to do some soldering

CRAZY K

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Good luck with it--im off to do some soldering

CRAZY K

I didn't know you were a solder too Alan? :teeth:

Which regiment... :teeth:

[Ricesnaps]

Rice you can't ask for people's views on attention grabbing homepages and ideas, and then say, don't comment on anything else!!

If you do this, people just won't bother replying at all for fear of saying something wrong.
Sorry,

last post was a rather rapid one. What I actually wanted was to not make this a post about my current web site and that was what seemed to happen. Whatever state my current site is in, it actually doesn't matter at all. I am interested in general ideas of things that work and will make people stay longer than the average 50ms on my home page.

The site I put the link up for was by way of an example - sure it's black and white, it lacks colour, but the bits like "7 outstanding reasons to choose..." and "on your wedding day.... will there be magic.... will you dance..... Absolutely!". The "different" picture of the guy on the home page.

My question is simply what will grab the attention of our clients? DMX, thanks for the comments, but actually I think it's me and you who want to see pictures of me working. I don't actually think that our clients are at all interested. Maybe they like to see other weddings or parties where people are having fun, maybe they would like to see what the show looks like, but I have a feeling we only believe this because that's what we like. But what is it that our clients do like and what does catch there eye. Maybe I'm wrong, but I am sure that lots of pictures of lights and disco's is only great to us DJ's and not anyone else.

My main site it littered with gig pictures, show pictures, pictures of people dancing at my gigs. But I don't think that actually grabs people and keeps them.

Does that help explain where I'm coming from a little better?

[DMX Will]

I think it's me and you who want to see pictures of me working. I don't actually think that our clients are at all interested. Maybe they like to see other weddings or parties where people are having fun, maybe they would like to see what the show looks like, but I have a feeling we only believe this because that's what we like.


Why not ask some friends and family then?


My main site it littered with gig pictures, show pictures, pictures of people dancing at my gigs.


So why arn't you releasing the web address for this other website?

[Ricesnaps]

Why not ask some friends and family then?



So why arn't you releasing the web address for this other website?

Good points - firstly, family and friends generally have no interest in disco's. The wife has come up with a few good phrases, but generally she's falling into my habbit - oh look, no picture of the show.

As for my other website, I got a little fed up with constant picking at it and the way I designed it to be honest. Times like this where I simply wanted to get some thoughts on good design or things that make you stand out and all I actually got was comments on my existing site. I know it's badly designed, I know it is busy and I know I like how it looks, so I really didn't need to be told that. I guess the simple solution at the time was to remove the link from here to remove the distraction. Crazy K is absolutely right, I am getting work from the site, but maybe not as much as I think it should be. Why aren't I asking for advice on how to improve it? Because I don't want to, i want to start from scratch again, hence the original quote.

If you would really like to see it, feel free to PM me for a link, but maybe just for a look and not for major comment!

[Ricesnaps]

This is another good example of grabbing attention without waving flashing lights in a clients face...

http://www.theweddingdisco.co.uk/index.asp

Although I would want my site to promote me as more than a wedding DJ!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

This is another good example of grabbing attention without waving flashing lights in a clients face...

http://www.theweddingdisco.co.uk/index.asp

Although I would want my site to promote me as more than a wedding DJ!

Eyecatching yes, but hardly convincing and not a lot of information.

I think people want to be re-assured and convinced by the information they are given.

[Ricesnaps]

Eyecatching yes, but hardly convincing and not a lot of information.

I think people want to be re-assured and convinced by the information they are given.
Can you give some examples of what you mean?

Sometimes less is most deffinately more. With this site, I was particulary drawn to the lack of use of "disco" pictures... I have a feeling that a wedding client would be far more reasured with that sort of image than one with lots of pictures of your show. After all, there is always a "photo gallery" for that if you want to use it.

[Corabar Entertainment]

The phase being waved around over and over and over again by the professionals is "content is king" and I believe it is very true.

Yes, you want a site that looks clean, tidy and inviting, but personally I don't think that a snappy tag-line or picture is going to keep someone on your site.

If your stats are telling you that people aren't staying very long, I'd first analyse those statistics to see what's happening: what percentage are disappearing immediately? If it's less than 50% then that is very much the norm. Of those who are disappearing, check what they were searching for. If they came across your site because they were doing a Google Image search, then they're not going to hang around and no amount of re-design will change that. If they came to you from a very general search (eg 'Mobile Disco') it may be that they wanted a DJ in a different part of the country or even a different part of the world, and again, nothing is going to make them stay longer. If they are landing on your website through searching more or less irrelevant subject matters, then a 'tweaking' of your keywords, etc may be what is needed to get more relevant traffic.

However, if alot of people who are making relevant searches are leaving instantly - that's the time to consider a re-vamp..... which brings me full circle back to my first points (see first 2 papragraphs above) :teeth:

That's my opinion, anyway - for what it's worth :D

[Ricesnaps]

The phase being waved around over and over and over again by the professionals is "content is king" and I believe it is very true.

Yes, you want a site that looks clean, tidy and inviting, but personally I don't think that a snappy tag-line or picture is going to keep someone on your site.

If your stats are telling you that people aren't staying very long, I'd first analyse those statistics to see what's happening: what percentage are disappearing immediately? If it's less than 50% then that is very much the norm. Of those who are disappearing, check what they were searching for. If they came across your site because they were doing a Google Image search, then they're not going to hang around and no amount of re-design will change that. If they came to you from a very general search (eg 'Mobile Disco') it may be that they wanted a DJ in a different part of the country or even a different part of the world, and again, nothing is going to make them stay longer. If they are landing on your website through searching more or less irrelevant subject matters, then a 'tweaking' of your keywords, etc may be what is needed to get more relevant traffic.

However, if alot of people who are making relevant searches are leaving instantly - that's the time to consider a re-vamp..... which brings me full circle back to my first points (see first 2 papragraphs above) :teeth:

That's my opinion, anyway - for what it's worth :D

Thank you for the comments - which was more what I was trying to coax out of everyone.

While I apreciate that it's not snappy one liners that sell a disco, the "profesional" stuff I'm reading is actually suggesting that it's what draws people in in the first place. That's what I am trying to get to to. what is it that makes someone stay in th fist 50ms?

[Corabar Steve]

That's what I am trying to get to to. what is it that makes someone stay in th fist 50ms?Coding that makes it impossible to log out of your site? :teeth:

Good luck with it--im off to do some soldering
CRAZY KI've got soul but I'm not a solder :) :)

Eyecatching yes, but hardly convincing and not a lot of information.

I think people want to be re-assured and convinced by the information they are given.I couldn't agree more about the site in question, & the first one is far too clinical.

At the end of the day it's all down to personal preferences, some people may be drawn in by a "fun" site, others would run a mile, but be more inclined to go with someone with a more serious looking site. Of course a lot of it has to do with the type of client you're going for.

[Ricesnaps]

This is still raising a great deal of questions for me.

Lets take the comments about length of stay. I more than 50% of visitors stay less than 1 minute then the home page is not drawing people in. So those of you who have less than 50% leaving before 1 minute, what is it about your home page that encourages people to stay? I really do believe that there has to be something that catches the eye and makes someone want to stay and look further.

As for the market that I want to attract, I am sure the design of a site is key to that. But I am just concerned that as DJ's we actually don't really know what it is that attracts people. Sure we have stats packages which give us a clue, but what is it that really attracts our clients and how do we know what that is? You see I have a feeling that a wedding client looking for a classy well presented disco is not going to be particularly attracted to a loud bright site with lots of shots of the show, but an 18 year old after a laser show to impress his mates at a birthday party might be. But how do we know?

Add to that the google search phrases our stats packages show us. What they actually show is what people have used to actually get to our sites. But what phrases do our clients use that DON'T get them to our site. For example, as a DJ I might type in "Mobile Disco Suffolk" into Google, but I doubt any of my clients do - so how do we find out what they actually type?

[CRAZY K]

About to post last night and we had a mains failure--

Living in the sticks--doh!

Rice, I believe and know from my own web sites that different things appeal to different people--as Steve pointed out--so in theory you need at least 4 different sites ( in my opinion ) with different messages, colours, images etc to catch the whole market.

Realistically this can be time consuming (as I have found out) but I have proved these differences exist. You probably dont have time so why not try designing your new website making it totally different to your existing and run the two together? The cost is peanuts.

You wont be ditching your existing successful site in the process and finding you made a mistake!

Then see what happens--in the world of the Internet believe me people wont worry its the same Disco--trust me :teeth:

Otherwise you will spend the rest of your life trying to work out the best possible Website to secure bookings.

Also I dont attach a lot of importance to visits or hits---numbers emailing and phoning is how I judge success.And of course bookings that pay!

Darren--I do my soldering with the IRON REGIMENT-- :teeth:

Well I would wouldnt I ?

CRAZY K

[Candybeatdiscos]

Rice, you want to know what clents look for ina website, what makes them stay longer than 50ms, but you have established the fact that a DJ and a client will have diffrent views, ie a DJ will stay longer to see what his/her competitor is offering at at what price etc, we like to think we are all better than each other so we look for flaws...where as a client is looking for a DJ to provide quality, professionallity and reliability. So i think the best thing to do here is to perhaps question past customers and any leads you get...what made them stay a bit longer, could you have done anything different? Perhaps offer a 10% discount on your webpage for everyone who completes a questionairre and then books you its quicker easier, cheaper and more reliable than using say a marketing firm.

Post the results though so i can redo my website too lol...mines is dog keek and i am trying to rebuild it....but when you don't know HTML that well its really hard lol.....Q - why cant dreamweaver be easier to use?

[CRAZY K]

I thought Dreamwever was very easy to use?

I use Microsoft Office Front Page for my sites which seems pretty easy to a non tecchie like me!

CRAZY K

[DMX Will]

Q - why cant dreamweaver be easier to use?
It is easy :p

If you need any help, same goes for anyone, give me a shout.

[DMX Will]

I thought Dreamwever was very easy to use?

I use Microsoft Office Front Page for my sites which seems pretty easy to a non tecchie like me!

CRAZY K

Any chance of a link to your site?

Front page, dreamweaver, both have advantages. Frontpage is very friendly as its just like the other office products, with a few added extras.

Dreamweaver over-rules due to the fact it can handle code, aswell as html (frontpage doesn't, just html and shtml). So php, asp and perl coders (such as myself) use dreamweaver.

Professionals go on about how frontpage is bad, but providing your site looks good, and gets the job done, what does it matter!!?

[CRAZY K]

Hi Will--go to--

www.crazyk.co.uk
www.callerdirect.co.uk
www.barndancecallercentre.co.uk

The first two were built by someone else--the last one I built--

Not the best in the world--but they all pull the punters in :teeth:

cheers

CRAZY K