Those who have seen my site know that I like my animated GIF's and such,  well I am working on the new site and have been contacted by someone who said "I think it looks amateurish and unprofessional"  Well I think my site is cute and I want it to be different and show the type of person I am, which I think is playful and easy to use LOL (kinda like my site)  anyway, I would appreciate some honest opinions on my site.

Thank you in advance,
Ashley

Miss Ashley, I love your graphics!!!!!!

Infact, I love the graphic with the lady devil on there..))) If you should find something with a black woman, let me know!!!

Mel

Re:Miss Ashley, I love your graphics!!!!!!

Hi Ashley,
I think your site is very nice but I do think you have to much graphics. I like them but it is a little too much and I think it takes away from you, the person that the clients want to see.
My opinion is that you should leave the small ones but take away the big eyes, they are distracting. I think that men like things simple and to the point. The flashing eyes take away from your own pretty eyes. just my .02
Jill

Re:Miss Ashley, I love your graphics!!!!!!

Hi, Ashley. It is rare that I disagree with Mel, but in this instance, I would go with Jill [also good company to be in.] I find it a little awkward to manuver around the site, especially since it takes up so much of the screen. But, no big deal. The info is there and accessable, so if you like it who's to complain.

I don't like animated gifs and/or stars. I like information and tasteful pics. And I don't like flash. My honest opinion, no offense!

One more thing that I REALLY hate is comet cursors trailing across the screen. Nothing replaces the original, lol

I have to agree with Jill too.  We go to sites for info, photos and other pertinent data to make our arrangements.  I suggest you create a double site, the index.htm(l) page will give viewers a choice of standard, or whimsical....  then everyone is pleased, and the most important part is it shows both sides of a wonderful person.

Hey, I am entitled to be wrong once in a while, aren't I? lol Just jokin'

But, I love the graphics..oh well But Miss Ash, what it comes down to, is how you like your site )))

Love,

Mel

-- Modified on 3/25/2004 6:13:34 AM

Re:Hey, I am entitled to be wrong once in a while, aren't I? lol Just jokin'

I agree with Melinda about this Ashley:  It's how YOU want your site to present you...you said you are playful and cute, and your site does a wonderful job of expressing that.  

I think the most clever gentlemen can learn a lot about each lady by reading "between the lines" on her site - not just her words, but how they are presented with colors, fonts, graphics, pictures, etc.  Your site is definitely fun and playful!

Ashley,

I think I would like the eyes more if the animation was a little slower. Beyond that, I prefer this site to any site where the designer is in love with flash animation.

For the flash lovers, why don't you assume that we want to skip the flash and leave it off as default?

thirsty

A wise woman once told me to think about who you want your site to appeal to and then design it based on what you think their interested in seeing there.
I agree and disagree.
I think your site should reflect your personality for sure.
From your site I get the feeling your playful and creative .
If thats the look your going for then congrats you have achieved it !

That is exactly what I was looking for I am going to take all your words into consideration and design my final site accordingly.  I will keep you posted!  lol

Thanks again
xoxo

I think Jill is probably right here, I would cut down on the graphics and make the site simpler and more stylish. Generally the type of site I like is very simple and stylish with the information you are looking for accessible quickly.

One way to achieve this is to buy a web site template and customize it, there are a lot of very good and very cheap templates out there. I've done this for several sites and can point you in the right direction drop me a note or try googling for templates.

Hey Jill I think your site could do with some improvement too, drop me a note if you want my feedback

Everyone has an opinion.  What you really need to ask yourself is whether someone's comment is just another opinion or if there something about such an opinion that might spur you to change the site to draw in more clients.

I would always recommend to anyone running a business web site to present a more professional appearance, yet still find ways to let their personality show through.  At the end of the day, ease of use, accessibility, simple aesthetics, and reach are the most important things for any web site, especially if the end goal is dollars.

I'll give you some examples of how your own site could be improved:

** Yes, get rid of the animated graphics.  They might be fine on the home/welcome page, but are distracting when trying to read text.

** Purple text on a black background is significantly harder to read than black text on white.

** Presume most people are viewing your pages at a 800x600 screen resolution - you want to make sure the brunt of the info on any given page is within the "top fold" ot that size screen; meaning, the information available to someone without needing to scroll.

** Don't put pages which are just placeholders stating "coming soon".  If someone visits the site more than once and still sees that "coming soon" or "under construction" page, they'll presume you don't pay attention to your own web site and, therefore, will think twice about doing business with you.

** The web is all about information.  Although your site has no reason to be too big, it would have a greater appeal if you had some more textual information on there, or more reasons for people to come back.

** Use italic or bold text for emphasis, not as the style for the main body of text.

** Be consistent with the fonts and layout throughout pages, especially in title graphics.

** Clean up your HTML and graphics so that the pages load faster.

** Don't say in 20 words what you can say in 10.  Web audiences are fickle, they want their info fast or will get bored and leave.  Use shorter and clearer sentences.

Thank you very much,
I really appreciate your input and will definately be taking your suggestions into consideration.  

I have to say I do not really use my site to attract clients it is just a way to give the information they are looking for, I just thought that providing the info in a cuter way would express "me" better.  I have to be honest and say that I think a lot of the sites I have looked at are sort of "generic"  No offense to anyone, it is just that a lot of the sites are all the same and I guess I wanted something a little less "run of the mill"

Well Viril, you definately me rethinking my site.  

Thank you again,

Ashley
xoxo

I like to know at a glance if a site has been updated since my last visit. I would suggest that you include either a "What's New" page or a "This page was last updated [date]" line on each page if you intend to update the site fairly regularly.

thirsty

-- Modified on 3/26/2004 2:21:54 PM

As per Thirsty's suggestion, you can do this automatically on a per-page basis.  If your web host supports SSI ("Server-Side Includes"), usually this can be done automatically by including the following server-side code into the HTML and using a .shtml extension for the file name:

(change square brackets to angle brackets)

[!--#echo var="LAST_MODIFIED"--]

You can also change the appearance with font tags, etc, for example:

[font color="red"][u][!--#echo var="LAST_MODIFIED"--][/u][/font]

Of course, if you want to indicate an overall site update, that's still better done by hand on the main page or in a what's new section.