Hi Guys

 

I run a small business and have recently designed a website and logo. I really enjoy web design but appreciate that i am a beginner.

 

I would like to get some feedback from some professionals to learn more about web design and to get some positive criticism.

 

I posted a site on here a while back and alot of the designers told me to learn more about css and coding so i have tried to learn some basic css with a little JQuery.

 

Please could you have a look at my site and let me know your thoughts. I know that the dynamic content images (nivo slider) is a bit dodgy on certain screen sizes so will be fixing this using media queries in time.

 

The website url: http://www.urbanedge-promotions.com/

 

Appreciate your feedback.

 

Daniel

 

 

 

 

A very nice site! I really like it.

Given the subject of the site, I would have added a bit more colour here and there, just to give it a bit more personality (maybe that's just me).

 

 

I know that the dynamic content images (nivo slider) is a bit dodgy on certain screen sizes so will be fixing this using media queries in time.

 

I was going to comment on that, but then I saw you were aware of it.

 

You can do with a few minor improvements:

It's good to have a favicon. You can create an image and then convert it to .ico here http://www.favicon.co.uk/

Text in the footer is a bit difficult to read.

Your site is fluid, but not responsive, which makes everything a bit squashed on lower resolutions. You can use media queries to make your content take full width on let's say below 600px for example

 

The most important is call to action. I would have added bright buttons in the slider (Book now, View more, etc, whatever you need to attract attention to).

Another good place for second call to action is your lower content (the 3 columns Energy, Talent, Education). A button below each will work well.

 

Hope that helps, keep up the good work

main copy could do with a touch more line-height.

 

arial is such a boring font - and seems quite at odds with your urban edge of course what you pick has to be readable and you may be concerned about adding extra page weight but something with a little - even if only for headings, would be more home with the branding.

 

 

ah i see arial is second in your font stack after 'Calibri' but i'm guessing it's not usiing calibri 'cos you put it in inverted commas when it's a single word - calibri is also a common font (at least on windows machines so wonder whether it's worth using font face with it - try fontsquirrel or google fonts for some slightly edgier but still highly legible alternatives? or simply find something cool for the headings.

 

anway i've gone on long enough about fonts now

 

love the logo

 

like the minimal layout

 

 

oh getting a delay in the hover on the social icons

You're using html 5 markup with the doctype XHTML 1.0 Transitional, so might be better to change the doctype.

Have a look in the html validator, it will give you some hints as to where your markup isn't quite right here and there.

 

It's great that you've come this far with the design, I've seen a lot worse from aspiring designers!

Hey all,

 

Thanks for taking the time out to have a look at the the site - really appreciate it. I don't know any designers so it's great to get some valuable feedback.

 

 

teodora

 

Firstly, i'm really glad you like the site. I have added a favicon - it's a nice little detail. Will also be adding the buttons and working on the layout soon to ensure it's responsive as suggested.

 

Secondly, Woah... you are really hot!

 

 

 

dap

 

Yeah i did notice that the Calibri font was not working on firefox and on the ipad. Any suggestions why that might be? I have taken out the inverted commas but still no luck.

 

My font face code is:

 

 

@font-face {

font-family: 'Calibri';

src: url('fonts/Calibri.eot');

src: url('fonts/Calibri.eot?#iefix') format('embedded-opentype'),

url('fonts/Calibri.woff') format('woff'),

url('fonts/Calibri.TTF') format('truetype');

}

All the fonts are in the folder 'fonts' saved on my FTP. Have had a try searching on Google but haven't had any luck with it !

Thanks for the line-height suggestion. I've never seen this rule before but it makes a huge difference.

katie66

Thanks for your suggestion, will do that. Code is definitely my weak area but i think this will strengthen with experience so i'm going to buy a domain to have as a playground for me! I'm a little better with CSS now but still have a long way to go. Will look into doctypes and read up on it later.

Edited October 14, 201312 yr by danieljoseph

Thanks

 

The site looks nice with the buttons and the favicon. Good luck with it.

Thanks for your help.

I love the design, very minimalist is great.

 

 

I think the black on white is great, but a little more colour to enhance areas would be great.

 

Banner images with a big statement (I am a marketer) would go down really well e.g. http://www.vtesse.com/

 

I would love to make some suggestions on the SEO front and improving your page rank but that wasn't really your question.

 

I would also maybe consider a speech bubble idea for the customer quotes and perhaps use some more images to break up the text.

 

I would also like to see more pages in terms of pricing, FAQs, Downloads etc..... but that's the marketing side coming out!

Hey 4D

 

Thanks for your comment.

 

Please do feel free to suggest improvements on the SEO side as it's far from a strong point of mine!

 

I have touched a little on FAQ on the contact page (right side) and we tend not to have pricing on the site as every booking is unique so the fees do range dramatically depending on a number of factors. It is very hard to even provide an estimate without discussing basic details.

 

I agree with you on the images breaking up the text. I'm in the process of trying to figure out an effective way of doing this do will have a think when i got some time and will see would like to know your thoughts of what i come up with.

 

Anyway, thanks very much for your feedback, i really appreciate your help with this and i'm beginning to see why you all love web design - it's very addictive!

Hey - not a problem.

 

Understand what you mean about pricing.

 

If that is the case then perhaps emphasize in the text about being bespoke and people to fill out a basic form to get an idea of costs etc...

 

The contact us page would really benefit from a quirky grey scale map which different artists/entertainment types can be pinned with pop ups of summary profile or what the entertainment is.

 

I would have a separate and more comprehensive data capture form, focusing on what you need to know in order to give basic costs and or details for the prospective customer. I would personally want to know details like:

Proposed date

Is this flexible - yes / no (then another tick box on weekends only or week day possibility - this is great for making sure people can get what they need without you having to just say - sorry we are not available)

Is this a celebration? Yes / no (this is great to find out so you can email 6-8 weeks prior to date next year to find out whether they would like a repeat or give a discount for a repeat booking)

Area or postcode they are in or the requirement is in

Number of people

Is a venue required (might sound obvious but not all people will have a venue at time of inquiry and by offering may allow a "packaged" service offering)

Name and Email and optional telephone.

 

 

I like the windows 8 image box scroll over option which would then display text to entice clicks. I see you have done this on http://www.urbanedge-promotions.com/entertainment.html

this looks brilliant, really takes the depth of the design to a new level, and the subtlety of the colours is impressive.

 

Have noticed something going a little wrong with the banner layout on http://www.urbanedge-promotions.com/entertainment.html at the top in chrome, refreshed cache but it is still doing that.

 

From a really basic SEO point of view, top tips:

Mention location

make sure titles of pages are in harmony with the URL

Have a bottom nav to put pages which are hidden in the drop downs on the top nav

Be specific in the text something like:

 

We offer beat boxing performances in all areas of the UK, including London, Surrey and Berkshire. Our Surrey beat boxers are the best in the UK, so for your beat box entertainment needs we can offer the most variety and flexibility.

 

Instead of

We can offer a variety of beat boxing performances from solo shows to beat box battles where 2 of the UK's top beat boxers can battle it out for your entertainment.

 

Then you would link the beat box pages to a google plus page labeled Surrey beat boxers etc..... which you then appear in the Google plus local listings and it will produce good click throughs.

 

You also may want to then appear for the key terms: Surrey beat boxers, beat box entertainment, best beat boxers UK etc....

 

I am no expert at SEO but these general things that I have learnt over the past 8 years in marketing have really helped the listings and page rank of the websites I have worked on.

 

A great resource is the videos from brighton SEO (I went back in sept)

 

http://www.brightonseo.com/david-whatley/

http://www.brightonseo.com/ade-lewis/

 

These are good ones to tell you about basics and local listings.

 

hope this all helps!

Some great points - thank you.

 

The venue address on the contact form would be very useful.

 

Yeah, I have noticed that the Nivo slider loads the images and then resizes them once the page is fully loaded. Not sure why this is! I have asked for assistance on their forum but have had no response yet.

 

Will also be working on the location keywords as suggested like Beat Boxers London etc.

 

Thanks for your time 4D.