Website for Review
http://www.hagensmarine.com/

Additional Comments
It's a shame that I had to blow the surprise all to heck by having all the menu problems. So, most everyone has seen it anyways.

I developed the site from scratch, as it needed a SEVERE face lift. So even tho I feel that I'm done, I'd like some comments regarding everything you see. After developing for a while, you tend to 'go astray' sometimes..... let's hope that I managed to stay on track this time, and made something nice. hahahah

To see what the old site looked like (better put your beer goggles on), I've posted some screen shots here -
www.hagensmarine.com/OldSite1.gif
www.hagensmarine.com/OldSite2.gif

NO - I did NOT build the old one. It was already done when I got here.... you could imagine my surprise.

I'd like to give a huge shout out to Colo Eagle for taking his personal time in helping me with the menu. Apparently drop downs are a lot harder than they look. THANKS BIG GUY!!!!

With this redesign, I'm hoping to increase my conversion rates, and probably won't see those numbers till next year.

Thoughts??

Hey MrStitch...I owe you a good site review...you helped me so much when I first came here...have I ever thanked you for that....? Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Anyway, I haven't seen the site before, so mine are true first impressions.

OK first off I reckon you're worth twice what they pay you...now for the real stuff....

...I would have liked to be able to click on the text describing each of the products on the landing page...I know they are in the drop-down menu as well, but it would make it sooo much easier. Your image Marine_Front_Cover.jpg pans out at about 125 kb. Putting it once through pixRESIZER got it down to 41.5 kb. Might be worth lightening the load on that one and a few others, but I'm obviously being fussy here.

Now this one has me a bit puzzled...it says 50% off shipping on all orders...I couldn't see anything about shipping costs, only the weight if I were to click the BUY NOW button. Maybe it's something to consider...unless of course it's there and I completely missed it because I'm a girl!

Site looks great - I'd hire you,

Elizabeth Richardson

P.S. Did I mention that I really appreciate the site review you gave me when I first got here? Thank you again.

elizabethrichardson wrote:

OK first off I reckon you're worth twice what they pay you...now for the real stuff....

....Site looks great - I'd hire you....

....P.S. Did I mention that I really appreciate the site review you gave me when I first got here? Thank you again.....

Hey now.... I'm married!

Anyways, about that 50% off shipping - Thats a good idea. I should put in there something that shows what the shipping would normally be, but with us you get it at ___________.

However, shipping charges differ depending on location, unless I switch to flat rate shipping.

To the average person (and probably some of my site visitors), the 50% off probably doesn't mean a whole lot. But some of these items reach over 50 pounds. Not to mention getting slapped with over-sized package charges on some products.

Maybe I should link to a shipping page with a run-down on how it works, and in each description maybe have 'Average Shipping Charges' and 'Average Savings'..... er something. Any ideas? Would be interested in something thats very short 'n sweet, but easily understandable.

Links on the index page - I considered that option to, but a couple of things held me back....

1) The content on the index page would be loaded down with links, making it almost an eye-sore to look at.

2) I didn't want to trip a filter in G somehow by double-linking to pages, while having such little content to begin with. It's only a theory, really. But why take chances?

Point taken on that image. Didn't even realize it was that big. hahahah Will scale that down a bit.

just looked briefly as this copy of the Wall Street Journal i'm holding just won't read itself (plus going need a refill on this latte)

i thought it looks pretty nice...

> would have liked to be able to click on the picture on the homepage and taken to the appropriate product page

> like the big product shots- very clean

> be interested in seeing it without the blue columns on either side of the site

> "Hagen's fine marine products can be found at most Cabela retail outlets" can you link this to a "Cabela stor locator or list of cabela stores" if either of those options exist

> now altough the site is clean and looks pro for some reason (and don't take this the wrong way) i would be hesitant to buy online from you. I like the fact the site is simple, but it seems almost too simple (if that makes sense) You may want to add things like return policies, maybe some more info on who you are, who recommends you, etc...

nicely done

Nic, thanks for the input. I'm surprised you took the time to step down from your throne and speak in the general direction of the 'little people'. hahahahah

Anyways - On to your thoughts,

1) An image map should be doable. Just have to figure out how to do that again. Do image maps screw up if the screen resolution changes??

2) Product shots could be better IMO, so I think they're just 'ok'. Thanks for the thumbs up tho!

3) Without the blue background showing on either side? That's a tough one for me. I like to design sites for those that have resolutions less than 1024  x 768. If they have to scoll, then I'm hoping they'll scroll very little. Funny you should mention it tho - The original idea that I had was to make the body (viewable content area) look like it's lifted off the blue gradient back ground. An example can be seen here - wwwDOTlurenetDOTcom. I couldn't figure out how to do it in a reasonable amount of time, so I just decided to keep moving forward.

4) I'm still undecided about that, and I've gotta speak to the boss. The old site had a page with links to states that had a Cabela's store, which carried the product. My intention was to get the user to purchase from us, rather than going down to Cabela's.... either one is fine as we still make money, just making MORE money if they buy directly from us. However, having the Cabela's name tagged at our site, gives us a bit of credibility. Either way, i'm still undecided about that.

5) Overall - Yeah, I kinda felt the same way too. Originally, the site had an 'about us' page and 'privacy' page, etc. I felt that these were nothing more than really old school ranking tactics, and don't amount to a hill of beans these days cause nobody reads them in the first place. Not to mention, the menu is completely tapped out on space from left to right hahahahah. I can gather the content, but wouldn't know where to place it.... that would make sense. Thoughts?

Mr. Stitch you said
"5) Overall - Yeah, I kinda felt the same way too. Originally, the site had an 'about us' page and 'privacy' page, etc. I felt that these were nothing more than really old school ranking tactics, and don't amount to a hill of beans these days cause nobody reads them in the first place. "

FYI-my privacy and about me pages are 3 and 4 in looked at pages on my website.

I think your site looks very professional and user friendly!
MichelleS

Really?

Someone should take a poll on this, as I could be confusing what I 'think' with what I 'do' - i.e., I never look at those pages.

I agree with Nic. I would like to see something about the return policies also a little about you. I know that shipping is probably quite a bit so show people what they are saving. Also if the prices are discounted I would say so as well. I am a litle overwhelmed at first because I am a girl and I really don't know what I am looking at.

Thanks
Shonda Miles

Regarding the about us and privacy policy, You do not have to put them at the top in the main menu.

Place them at the footer of the page.

Something like;

Home      About us      Contact       Privacy Policy


When I am at a site and considering purchasing from them I will look for an about us page and a privacy policy.

Gives me a little more info for the company and also lets me know how my information will be treated.

That's really good! Simple to the point, excellent navigation. I would reconsider the font, which is too bold and in your face. It would look much more professional in a more subtle font.

Best,

Hi,

Your site is very easy to navigate, and I see you have price, regular shipping and your shipping....I like it because 50% off doesn't really mean anything unless I know the price before the discount.

More info on the contact page about you, your company, years in business, who buys from you... perhaps testimonials from customers somewhere would be good.....people want to know who you are before they start giving you their cc number

Also if you're registered with the Better Business Bureau, if you sponsor any sports teams...anything like that, put that up too. Kinda lets people know you're trustworthy:thinking:

Hi

nice simple site. Struck me as being a bit small in size though.

I found the blue background was tough for me. Big glare.  I am viewing with a large screen today so I would estimate that 70% of the screen was glaring blue for me with the browser maximised.

There is very little information about who you are ,. But my guess is that it is a specialist/niche site and the people coming to your site already know who you are . But if you are one of many competitors and are relying on google searches to find you then I think you need to add a lot more information about who you are.

good luck
Ronald

Hellozzzz,

pros,
everything and a special mention- 'your logo'

cons
not really anything

suggestions
1) You could surely change the font, it is a bit awkward.
2) The images on the right can be given a bit of shadows as your dropdown menu is having a bit of it, it would
     look cool.
3) Add some footer, your site ends abruptly, and I would suggest to add a bit of length to your page. In my browser 
    your site is not even covering the whole page.

Thanks for all the input guys. I really didn't expect this kind of response rate. hahahah

Anyways. I like the idea of modifying the image in the body, by adding a drop shadow. Could add more 'depth' to the page.

I totally agree with everyone in regards to the main page being small. In 1024 x 768, the page size is nearly perfect in every way.... but for those that run higher, I can imagine it looking a bit small.

I would like to add more content on the front page, but I don't want to jabber on and on about nothing, all for the sake of ranking. However, the opening lines are a bit drab and drawn out. Maybe I should consider a 'short copy'..... of a 'long copy'. Yeah.... I'll pull that outa my a$$.

I'll see if I still have the about us page and privacy page. Toss that content into the footer, and maybe link to it from a couple of other areas, and call it good.

Font - I'll be rolling the dice on that no matter what I do.

Ok... some more here for ya.

I haven't gotten to the image on the front page yet, but I did do something about the 'privacy' and 'about us' pages. I also changed the index page to reflect those additions, and I changed the 'bunk guide ons' page (underneath Trailer Accessories), to show where I should place them.

On the product page, maybe they should be styled.... but then we're back with the "This $^##$# Nav-IE-CSS is a fricking nightmare!" routine.

I considered placing them in the footer, but if everyone here feels that they are important, then I felt they should be up top, as our particular users probably won't see it at the bottom.

Suggestions?

Technically:
I got 2 words for you: end tags.

You have them in some places, but in others, you've missed them.

Visually:
I think I would make the submenu backgrounds silver instead of blue.  To me they just don't seem to fit right dropping down from the silver main menu.  I would probably use blue on hover though.  If nothing else, try to at least match the blue with one of the blues on your page, that one seems a bit off.  This is just a personal observation though.

Overall:
Nice page, good start

Hi,


Just a couple of tips and suggestions...


I would maybe drop the background gradient; I think the blue gradient takes away from the nice clean look you have.

Perhaps widen the page, ever so slightly, just to show the rounded edges of your lower header/navigation, but I would still keep the border around the main content container, just like you have it.

Possibly drop your font size down a couple of percentages, something like 90% versus 100%. Big fonts can make text look out of place and kind of tacky. Then again, that's just my opinion.

Only one other thing... Validate, validate, validate! Your CSS validates just fine, but you have some simple errors in your HTML. I would look into fixing them


Other than a few errors, you have a nice, clean looking site, which is always a plus!  I hope I didn't sound too harsh.

Good job!

MrStitch wrote:

The original idea that I had was to make the body (viewable content area) look like it's lifted off the blue gradient back ground.

Try changing the border in your #body from solid to outset.
border: 2px outset #000000;

MrStitch wrote:

I considered placing them in the footer, but if everyone here feels that they are important, then I felt they should be up top, as our particular users probably won't see it at the bottom.

I think most people are accustomed with the links to pages such as Privacy Policy and TOS being placed at the bottom. Take a look at most sites and this is where they are placed. Also having the other key pages listed here helps for navigation on pages that are longer. A visitor doesn't have to scroll back to the top to go to another page. Another option is to place a "Return to Top" link at the bottom of these longer pages.

If you decide to place them in the footer, what I would do is to take a portion of the top image, possibly the silver portion where the navigation is at and duplicate this for the footer links. This will maintain the consistency of the page colors.

MrStitch wrote:

1) An image map should be doable. Just have to figure out how to do that again. Do image maps screw up if the screen resolution changes??

No, an image map will not affect screen settings. It is assigned to and moves with the image. Let me know if you need help with creating one.