Tyre-kickers welcome!

[Vectis]

OK after lurking here for a while and reading up on the many "Do's" and "Don't's" threads, I've overhauled my site.

Feel free to have a browse around and any constructive criticism will be gratefully received.

Bear in mind I already have plans for:

a) rewrite of the main index and 'about us' content so no content reviews please
b) entire new 'music' section with searchable database/customer playlist shopping cart etc.
c) rotating banner - pretty much the same for all pages but with different subjects in the photo elements - just need a couple of hours with paintshop

www.vectisvibe.com


Thanks folks :beer1:

[Shaun]

Looks good and easy to navigate. Maybe give your text (on the banner) a dark outline to give some contrast between the text and background. Also noticed the guy on your banner was missing a hand.

[Ricesnaps]

Nice clear site.

I have to say that the music section will be a huge selling point for you. We added a pdf list of our entire music catalogue a few months back and get lots of work because of it.

You may find that purchasing one of the music database programmes (something like CDtrustee) which databases automatically when you insert a CD, will make life easier for you (and to be honest will make your pdf look a great deal more professional).

[Marc J]

I'm not a mobile DJ, so I'll keep my comments relevant to the design elements, rather than the contents!

1. I hate the circular page transition effects. But then I hate any page transitions. This isn't powerpoint :rolleyes:

2. The colour scheme in the footer is a bit "off", especially the red link text.

3. You menu graphics down the left hand side seem to have an extra dot in the lower left corner of each, it's a little distracting!

4. Make your email address on the Contact page a mailto: link. If you don't want bucketloads of spam, you might also want to look into ways off hiding your email address from harvesters, I recommend a Javascript option like the one available here (http://www.u.arizona.edu/~trw/spam/spam.htm).

5. The FAQ is a bit of a scroll-fest. Consider putting a list of the questions at the top with anchor links to the questions and answers further down the page. Then, put a "back to top" link after each answer.

6. The Pricing page - OK I know I said I'd stick to design elements but it struck me that this is misleading, in that it isn't what it says it is - there are no prices! If you don't want to list your prices (and there are arguments for and against (http://www.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=5464)) fine, but don't "trick" visitors into looking at this page. Consider changing it to a "Why Choose Us?" page, as this more fitting for the content.

7. Venues - I know it's an SEO tactic but the long list of venues just looks bad. To disguise it, you've dropped the font size which make it even less visitor-friendly. Try to design your site for visitors, not search engines!
This page is WORK IN PROGRESS and we will be expanding this list regularly!Please don't!

8. A lot of your images (for example this one (http://www.vectisvibe.com/images/laptops.jpg) on your Audio Page (http://www.vectisvibe.com/pages/audio.htm)) have been resized using just the HTML code. As well as making images load slower, HTML isn't best at resizing images (you can usually spot this by the "jaggy" edges). I'm surprised Will hasn't been round :)

9. Certificates page - find PDF icons with a white background, it's not hard! (http://www.library.ubc.ca/edlib/bctexts/PDF-icon.jpg)

10. There seems to be a redirect on the Gallery link, which is made worse by the circlular transition to a blank page. Why not make the gallery button link to the actual Gallery page (http://www.vectisvibe.com/gallerywrap.php) instead of a redirection?

11. Consider changing your meta title and description tags so they are more relevant to each individual page.

[Vectis]

Maybe give your text (on the banner) a dark outline to give some contrast between the text and background. Also noticed the guy on your banner was missing a hand.

Thanks - working on a set of banners that will appear randomly each page transition.


Nice clear site.

I have to say that the music section will be a huge selling point for you.

Cheers - I already pick up a lot of hits just from the content of the current (poor) simple PDF... unfortunately not from punters looking for disco's! I'm working on integrating kplaylist into the site but that'll take me a few weeks.


Marc - I really appreciate the time you put into this and I'm in general agreement with all of your points, some of which were already on the 'to-do' list especially the graphics elements. My old site was of the seemingly dreaded "black background" variety hence some of the .jpg's need a little work and this is top of my list.

Take your point about the venues list and I'll look for a more elegant approach, BUT I'm getting around 40% of new web enquiries this way and it's already led to confirmed bookings so I'm not going to dump the principle just yet!

Will look into the mailto:'s and also encryption of those pages that are currently clear but contain passwords (links to videos etc.).


THANKS FOLKS - MUCH APPRECIATED - any more thoughts/comments welcome!

[Marc J]

Take your point about the venues list and I'll look for a more elegant approach, BUT I'm getting around 40% of new web enquiries this way and it's already led to confirmed bookings so I'm not going to dump the principle just yet!

I've used a "more elegant approach" on a few sites I have done, basically using a drop-down box and showing / hiding details for each area by using style="visibilty:hidden" on a div tag, which switches as the drop-down box selection is changed (with a little Javascript). By including a link to a "full alphabetical list", you cater for the non-Javascript users and, more importantly, search engines, without having a long list as your "primary" page.

If you don't know what I mean, or want to see an example, PM me and I'll give you a link. I don't like links to my own site and sites I have designed being public, for various reasons ;)

[Vectis]

Folks

I was looking at my trackers today to see how many visits I'd had from people clicking through from this post.... ...and it made interesting (and very predictable) reading!

With the obvious exception of Mark J who did a page-by-page scan through the whole site...

Virtually every one of you went to the Gallery and the Pricing pages within the first 3 or 4 clicks!!!! Within 5 or 6 and you were crawling over the Lighting and Audio areas!! Hardly anybody from here went to the 'venues' area yet this is the first place the majority of non-DJ visitors go :D

[DMX Will]

Folks

I was looking at my trackers today to see how many visits I'd had from people clicking through from this post.... ...and it made interesting (and very predictable) reading!

With the obvious exception of Mark J who did a page-by-page scan through the whole site...

Virtually every one of you went to the Gallery and the Pricing pages within the first 3 or 4 clicks!!!! Within 5 or 6 and you were crawling over the Lighting and Audio areas!! Hardly anybody from here went to the 'venues' area yet this is the first place the majority of non-DJ visitors go :D

lol, alright Sherlock!

I agree about the HTML scaled pictures!! But I look at the site the other day and thought it was very good in general :) Well done.

[Marc J]

I just revisited your Venues page and, although my initial comments (re the small font list at the end) still stands, I hadn't actually noticed your drop-down box leading to your "V" Rating of venues.

I really like this, and once you get all the venues into it (if that's feasible) then you'll be able to do away with the "ugly" list :)

Your whole V rating and comments system could do with being database driven though, if it isn't already (I don't think it is), this would make it much easier to add venues!

[Vectis]

Hi Marc

Yes... that's the plan. The half-dozen that are there at the moment are mockups (although the detail is accurate) just to see what interest I got... and I got loads!! So definitely worthwhile.

Once I get the detail sorted the 'long list' should drop by about half, but still take your point about its ugliness although it does currently serve its SEO purpose very well!

[Vectis]

OK folks, incorporated most of the changes suggested.

Things I'm still working on:

- the banner graphic is still a little lacking
- the venues portion will be database driven - just working out the code
- the music area will be going over to kplaylist - a simple work-in-progress version is there if anyone wants a quick play - login 'kpguest' password 'password'
- content for 'About Us' needs attention

Any further ideas, comments, criticisms welcome!

[Marc J]

Any further ideas, comments, criticisms welcome!
Looks much better (IMHO), although you've added an entry page...
What are the WORST things you've seen on mobile disco websites?
[SNIP]
2) Sites where you key in the URL and are then taken to a "holding" page, so you have to click "enter" to get to the home page. I can't see the purpose of these "holding" pages, which just appear to be a complete waste of time.
I tend to agree with rob, but each to their own and all that :)

I'm not sure about the red / orange link text against the grey, it doesn't show up too well.

[Marc J]

Just noticed, your "About Us" page links back to itself (in a new window) through the "established" link.

As a general rule, "open in new window" should only really be used on links which take visitors off your site, if it all. A visitor can right-click on a link if they want a new window, or CTRL-Click (Firefox & IE7) to open in a new tab, so forcing a new window on the visitor like this is considered "bad practice". It is commonly listed along with breaking the Back button and disabling right clicking as "things that shouldn't be done"!

As an exception, it's always a good idea to open PDFs in a new window, as PDFs are 1) more likely to crash a browser and 2) often provide ancillary information intended for printing. Unfortunately, in my experience, when a PDF crashes your browser it takes all the open windows with it :(

Link colours are much better now :)

[Vectis]

Hey Marc

I really appreciate the time you've put into helping me out here!

- Fixed the dodgy 'new window' links (there were a few on that page) - new windows are now limited to external sites, PDFs and the new playlist thing which is sucking my time at the moment but will definitely be worthwhile

- I'm happy with the colour scheme too after trying out several iterations. Also been trying across multiple browsers and screen sizes to make sure everything plays out as it should... a couple of tweaks here and there. Biggest nightmare I found was Firefox insisting on 'align' and 'valign' being specified on a per-<TD> basis rather than per-<TR> or per-<TABLE>.... what a pain in the backside!!

- The 'holding page' was insisted upon by she who must be obeyed so that's staying. I reduced the transition wait time to 5 seconds though - just long enough to register but not so long as to annoy!

Hopefully will get a few hours in at the weekend to polish off the last few niggles and get those venue reviews sorted!


Cheers

Martin