Microsoft Office Live Small Business Community

Hello,

I recently started working on a startup company, DV-Design (Digital Video Design), and have been working in my free time on making a website. Intrestingly enough i have a diverse background with computers but am lacking knowledge on making websites, so OLSB worked great for me so far.

http://dv-design.web.officelive.com/default.aspx (for those who are bored of reading my post)

Im not finished yet and have plenty of things that i'd like to iron out on my site, but i figured it's time to ask for input from a slightly broader range of people then my close friends and family (besides they cant even spell all that well and are too nice).

Of course id like to know anyones take be it specific or general, however there are some things id like special attention to be paid to.

-Overall layout - Is it apealing, is there anything you love, would love if it was better, or hate about the general layout?
-Writtings - Is the text descriptive enough, too descriptive, etc? Do you get bored reading it or find yourself eager to get more information?
-Does everything work? (links, videos, etc)
-As a "customer", what do you think of the process my buisness takes from start to finish. What would make it easier?

All input is welcome, hold no punches please, im not made of glass. Just keep in mind that its still a work in progress. I plan on adding more videos throughout the site, redoing both the video on home page and video on the file share page, plan on adding a tutorial's and video page that collect all the how-to and demo videos into one source, will add phone number and address at a later point in time to contact us. Im probably forgetting some stuff but give it a try.

http://dv-design.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

DV,

I have some thoughts here-

1. First on the layout, I dislike the lopsidedness of the front page--If I go down to read more info it narrows to one column-which also makes it seem longer and loses my interest, right there
2. Text is a little overdescriptive and you NEED to check for spelling and punctuation errors--(I noticed a lot on the process pages) and on the home page--FYI there is no need for an apostophe ' in plural words. It denotes ownership of the next word and throws me off. Some customers will be put off by this, besides it just looks unprofessional.--Tip: If you have trouble spelling, type your text into a word processor such as Word, etc. to spell-check then copy/paste to site.
3. Everything works--FYI: From the site map I can get to the abenko page which confuses me--you might want to remove the site map.
4. And finally, as a customer I would like the business process, but you go into more depth than you need to online--I would have lost interest and left before finishing the first step--Just my opinion but that's how people are.

Ghoster

Just had a quick look at the site and I think it’s generally good. Just a few comments (my personal impressions):

I’m no designer myself but I’m not keen on the green navigation area next to all the blue of the rest of the site. The following sites are quite good for helping you choose colours that go well together:

http://wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html
http://www.colourlovers.com/palettes/new 

Some of the text is a bit impersonal while other bits are personal. What I mean is that you sometimes refer to yourselves as ‘the company’ and other times as ‘we’ or ‘us’. Same with ‘the customer’ and ‘you’. I prefer the ‘us’ and ‘you’ approach.

For example, on the home page you have: ‘The goal of this company is..’  - I prefer ‘Our goal is...’

On ‘The overall process’ page, you have ‘For a customer to make an informed decision, they...’ – I prefer something like ‘In order to make an informed decision, you...’

That video on the home page – when you re-do it, I think it would look better showing a static image until the customer clicks on it rather than just the play icon being there.

Hope this is useful,

Martin

Thanks Ghoster!

Your right i now notice the issue you mention on my home page, however let me ask you, is it the 1 column to 2 colum thing thats bothering you or the fact that when it goes to 2 column there is alot of white space on one side? If i filled the white space would it be fixed or are the columns the problem?

I completely agree, by nature i tend to over describe. I will try truncateing alot of the fat from my explinations. As for the process, that kinda ties into things being too long. Would you recomend that i write a basic process out (what the customer has to do) and then possibly include my longer version in some other place, say a tutorials and explinations type page that is not in the forefront of navigation but still easy to get to?

Also i did toss all of my text into Staroffice and spell check it, however i am beginning to think id be better served to do 2 things. Print it out and read aloud, and have someone with college level english skills proof read it for me. Thanks.

As for the site map im aware, the abenko page is meant to be URL accessible only but i have yet to figure out how to edit out entries from the site map or edit the layout and organization of it. That is the one generated automatically by OLSB and honeslty im teatering between completely removing it, trying to make (or pay) for my own, or just omitting it.

I apreciate you spending the time to go over my page and your input is most helpful.

Thanks Juddster!

I will look into re-arrangeing the colors to better match, those where options i picked at initial creation and havent invested enough time into again.

I agree, not only do i need to go over spelling and grammer, but i need to come up with a universal way of personalizing my content. The changes you recommend i will most likely be making ASAP as well as scanning for similar issues.

I agree completely, my original hope was to have the image that is at the beginning of my other video (looks like a business card) be visible until you play it then start the video after a second or 2, however im new to flash (and the method i used to embed the video) and will have to figure that out. The other video also starts out with an image but not the one from the beginning of the video itself :(

Still very much a work in progress, i thank you for your input.

DV-Design,

Ok in answer to your questions: Yes, the home page issue is just the white space hanging there, if that was taken up by a banner or something else it would look better, the format change would fix as well, white space isn't necessarily a problem but the format makes it one in this case. Also, if you did write a basic process and then have the longer one that would work well. The long one causes some customers to lose interest but I am sure some would love to have a full explanation so that would be a happy medium.

Spell check is a must do for you. Even then, you might not catch all of your errors (ie, masterpiece is one word, not two, though a spell checker wouldn't raise a red flag because they are valid individual words).

I agree with the other review that you might want to get on point and stay on point. One aspect that you might want to consider is to not discuss things you plan to do in the future, only things you are currently doing. As a consumer of the services you provide, I would see the future plans and bail, looking for someone who already provides those services. I would have the feeling that you are a novice - though I'm sure this is not the case.

 You have obviously put a great deal of work into the website. Good Luck!

DV-Design, for the spelling, check out Inspyder Insite.  It crawls your site and checks both spelling and links in situ.  The free version will suit your needs.

For the home page columns, just move the "The difference in cost..." paragraph to the right hand column.  That and a little fat trimming will go a long way in evening them out.

To my eyes, the colors are fine.  Every one's taste in colors is different.  You should rely on your own opinion and taste.  Unless the colors are truly hideous, and they are not, they are probably fine.  Don't let us get you bouncing off the walls with all of our ideas. 

Overall, I think you have done very well.  You have done an excellent job using images to help tell your story.  Good luck.

www.fidalgoweather.net
Check the Masters Forum for help and good ideas.
For beginners: Getting started with OLSB.

Ed, thank you!

Spelling has always been one of my major flaws, however i tend to be very articulate. I need to take a multi-pronged aproach to making sure the material in my site is proffesional. Im gonna work on have very educated people (friends well out of college) pick through it, i will re-run it through spell checkers and i may try the link/program <change> offered as well.

Also you are absolutely right, the future plans will be removed unless it is the type of thing i plan to impliment within a week or so. Currently thats not the case and there is no place for it and it doesnt belong on my site.

I have been working tirelessly on the site, the fact that the people reveiwing it means alot. I also spoke to a collegue today who offered some very provacotive thoughts where i will be adjusting a few aspects of the site. I am also heavily considering registering my own domain name(s) and getting a host that offers ftp access, the host they are using is in my budget and offers everything id need and more. Id most likely use OLSB as a template/page designer, then export the pages into expression web to fine tune them and then upload them to my host.

The OLSB site map does not work for me (in terms of what i need from it) and i require space for hosting potentially large video files which OLSB doesnt allow either. So a new domain/host may be in the near future.

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Thanks RxDave!

I apreciate your input, as i have time i will be updating my page, incorporating everyones suggestions in the ways i see fit. Of course im not going to agree with everyones point of veiw, but so far all the suggestions made i find to be accurate and reasonable.

As stated above i will definatly be focusing on spelling/grammer issues a bit more. The coloring will be something i experiment with as well, even though i like the colors i do agree that while the green doesnt look bad, it doesnt exactly match the other colors of the site.

While im not a detail freak or anything i know enough about psychology to know that stupid little things like color could make a big difference, so i will at least explore changing these.

As said before, i am not made of glass. Had i not been ready and willing to hear critism i would not have asked for it, so thanks to everyone whos looked at my page so far. I apreciate and value your input and look foreward to seeing others input as well.

*Note* If your opinion is the same as someone elses, do NOT omitt it, i want to know that you agree with a certain topic or person. Thanks.