Seeking feedback on my website...

[nearmint]

I have a humble little website, with an inventory small enough that it doesn't require much complexity. The site does not have a search function, but again, you don't have to work very hard to determine if I have what you're looking for.

 

I'm looking for feedback on the look of the site, and thoughts on how it's organized. I'm especially interested in answers to the following questions:

 

1) When you arrive at the site, can you view the entire Detective27.com logo at the top, or is part of it cut off?

 

2) I currently have the inventory categorized in this way...

a)Golden Age

b)CGC Silver & Bronze

c)Raw Silver & Bronze

d)Raw Copper/Modern

Do you like it this way, or would you like to see the inventory organized in a different way?

 

3) Do you like black as the background throughout the site?

 

4) Do you like the font used on the site? Is there one that you think is easier to read or more pleasing to the eye? Do you like or dislike that I have everything in bold.

 

5) At the top of each category page, I have 3 scans. Can you see all 3 when you arrive at each page, or do you need to scroll left/right to view them?

 

I would, of course, appreciate any other thoughts you might have.

Thanks!

Jeff

[BlowUpTheMoon]

 

3) Do you like black as the background throughout the site?

 

Not really. Sorry, not a big fan of the black background.

 

Other than that, everything looked good. The thumbnails were a little blurry, but the hi-res images looked great.

[nearmint]

 

3) Do you like black as the background throughout the site?

 

Not really. Sorry, not a big fan of the black background.

 

Other than that, everything looked good. The thumbnails were a little blurry, but the hi-res images looked great.

 

No need to apologize. What color do you think would look better?

[Monkeyman]

1) When you arrive at the site, can you view the entire Detective27.com logo at the top, or is part of it cut off?

 

I can see the whole thing.

 

2) I currently have the inventory categorized in this way...

a)Golden Age

b)CGC Silver & Bronze

c)Raw Silver & Bronze

d)Raw Copper/Modern

Do you like it this way, or would you like to see the inventory organized in a different way?

 

For the small number of books a single list might be easier. As the number of books increases it is better in sections, but I don't know where the tipping point is.

 

 

3) Do you like black as the background throughout the site?

 

I'm happy with it, although as with the Mile High site, it does look kind of dated. Still better than bright colours that hurt my 40+ year old eyes.

 

 

4) Do you like the font used on the site? Is there one that you think is easier to read or more pleasing to the eye? Do you like or dislike that I have everything in bold.

 

The font is fine. I find that the red and yellow clash a little. The red used in the comic names is harder to read than the yellow. I have never found red on a black background to be a good choice.

 

 

5) At the top of each category page, I have 3 scans. Can you see all 3 when you arrive at each page, or do you need to scroll left/right to view them?

 

When I go to any of the sections, the three sample books at the top run off the right edge.

 

 

Hope that is helpful. Generally an easy site to use and nothing really bad to complain about. Maybe that is a problem? There isn't anything really great either. Nothing to differentiate it from all the other sites.

 

Mike

[nearmint]

Thanks for the feedback, Mike. I wondered if the black background gave the site a dated feel. Something to consider.

[MutantKeys]

I like the site.Very nice The only thing that I do not like is the yellow text

[nearmint]

I like the site.Very nice The only thing that I do not like is the yellow text

 

What color would you use? And would you set it against the black background, or a different color?

Thanks for the feedback,

Jeff

[MutantKeys]

I like the site.Very nice The only thing that I do not like is the yellow text

 

What color would you use? And would you set it against the black background, or a different color?

Thanks for the feedback,

Jeff

Good question. I like the black background but instead of yellow maybe white or gray would work.

[rob_allan]

Well, being that this is my business, I'm compelled to reply.

 

You've started a nice website that is easy to navigate. That is the #1 most important thing. So you're head-and-shoulders above many others who may have nicer sites, but are impossible to search.

 

You have very large pictures and very large text. I can view everything on the site, but I have a widescreen LCD and am running at a very high resolution. If you reduce the size of the pictures and the text on the site, everyone should be able to see everything with no scrolling. This is probably a worthwhile change for you, and as a bonus, it's easy.

 

Overall the site appears to be a personal website. This may actually be best for you from a business standpoint as people may perceive that they're getting a "deal" from a private seller. Or they may be more inclined to sell to someone who isn't a store, and therefore may be paying more for their books.

 

You're doing fine. Reduce those sizes and you should be fine for what you're trying to do. If you want to give the site some bells and whistles type upgrades, let me know and I can probably help you out a bit.

 

One more thing, the black and yellow combination is a little aggressive. Pick out some new colors here: http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html . This is an online color-matching utility (free) that will help you develop a simple palette for your site (and make sure it matches.) Try to do something with cool colors like blues and greens. You might even want to consider using a plain white background. It may seem "blah" but it's the easiest thing to make look professional and is typically easier to read as people are already accustomed to it.

[nearmint]

Thanks for the thoughts, Rob. I'm using Frontpage(and an old version, to boot!), and the program seems to have limited colors to choose from, but I'm sure there's a way to bring in colors that the program doesn't offer. I'll try to figure it out. The color schemer website looks very cool!

Thanks for your thoughts,

Jeff

[Deathlok]

Jeff, a couple suggestions.

 

On the homepage, reduce the size of the images. The label is hard to read at the size you have now, so reducing the image won't make a difference.

 

On the pages with your comics, I would again reduce the size of the images and link them to a larger image that has the comic details. I wouldn't list the information like you do now. This would allow you to put up more images as thumbnails for each genre. You could even put them in a table, with the thumbnail and pertinent details (like grade, price).

 

I would relocate the information on the bottom of the homepage, either put them in a policies link and/or a contact us link. That would free up the bottom.

 

I agree with the black background as the others have suggested. It has the look of an unfinished site. Be sure to choose a background that doesn't overshadow your text. Bob Storms had a terrible background for the longest time.

 

 

Rick

[Sal]

tables are so passé. div tags with cascading style sheets are the way to go.

 

i would probably want to see smaller pics on the landing page, since they're links to high-res pics. no need to make someone with a slow connection have to wait for four ~180kb pics to load.

 

a good website design rule-of-thumb is to put all your most important information "above the fold." that is, everything you can see when landing on the page without having to scroll. many users will simply not scroll all the way down a page.

 

l like the black background with the yellow, but i'm sort of contrarian that way. "aggressive" is a good way to describe it.

 

thank you for not putting marquees, flashing .gifs, or any other "hey i'm a website n00b and i like lots of flashing chrap on sites i visit" things that many amateur (i say that in the nicest sense) sites use.

 

[rob_allan]

Thanks for the thoughts, Rob. I'm using Frontpage(and an old version, to boot!), and the program seems to have limited colors to choose from, but I'm sure there's a way to bring in colors that the program doesn't offer. I'll try to figure it out. The color schemer website looks very cool!

Thanks for your thoughts,

Jeff

 

Well, your color tags on your site are going to look like this (I copied from your actual source code)

 

BODY LINK="#FFFF00" VLINK="#FF00FF" TEXT="#FFFF00" Bgcolor="#000000"

 

So for any colors Frontpage doesn't have, just replace those # numbers with numbers off of the colorschemer site. Your background is the "Bgcolor" and your text is the "Text=" color. So you can start by playing with those!

 

Hope that helps some.

[mica]

I didn't like any of the content, but the black background was sweet.

 

,

[nearmint]

Wow, LOTS of great suggestions from everyone. Think I'll be doing some tinkering tonight.

 

Mica, I'll try to amp up the funny animal content.

[SuperBird]

Jeff, what's the purpose of the website? are you looking to make a bigger business of it? As it is; a small, personal 'for sale' mini-site, I think it's fine. If you are looking to make a bigger deal of it, there are a number of suggestions I'd make.

[nearmint]

Thanks for the thoughts, Rob. I'm using Frontpage(and an old version, to boot!), and the program seems to have limited colors to choose from, but I'm sure there's a way to bring in colors that the program doesn't offer. I'll try to figure it out. The color schemer website looks very cool!

Thanks for your thoughts,

Jeff

 

Well, your color tags on your site are going to look like this (I copied from your actual source code)

 

BODY LINK="#FFFF00" VLINK="#FF00FF" TEXT="#FFFF00" Bgcolor="#000000"

 

So for any colors Frontpage doesn't have, just replace those # numbers with numbers off of the colorschemer site. Your background is the "Bgcolor" and your text is the "Text=" color. So you can start by playing with those!

 

Hope that helps some.

 

That helps a lot. Probably saved me a frustrating couple of hours!

Jeff

[mica]

Mica, I'll try to amp up the funny animal content.

Actually I'm trying to see if I can scrounge up some cash to buy something I saw there.

[awe4one]

1) When you arrive at the site, can you view the entire Detective27.com logo at the top, or is part of it cut off?

 

I would shorten it up a bit. It fits on the screen but if I had my favorites toolbar open it wouldn't.

 

2) I currently have the inventory categorized in this way...

a)Golden Age

b)CGC Silver & Bronze

c)Raw Silver & Bronze

d)Raw Copper/Modern

Do you like it this way, or would you like to see the inventory organized in a different way?

 

Seems simple and fine with me.

 

3) Do you like black as the background throughout the site?

 

That's fine as well in my opinion.

 

4) Do you like the font used on the site? Is there one that you think is easier to read or more pleasing to the eye? Do you like or dislike that I have everything in bold.

 

Font and pictures are way too big in my opinion. As far as color, light blue on black is more pleasing to my eyes than all yellow. I also tend to think bolding the characters makes it more readible than not. Depends on the font you're using though. I personally dislike Times Roman. I much prefer Arial...

 

5) At the top of each category page, I have 3 scans. Can you see all 3 when you arrive at each page, or do you need to scroll left/right to view them?

 

Too big. Have to scroll even without the Favorite toolbar up.

 

But then again, what do I know? Most of the problems people have pointed out on your site, I have on mine as well...

 

Jim

[nearmint]

Jeff, what's the purpose of the website? are you looking to make a bigger business of it? As it is; a small, personal 'for sale' mini-site, I think it's fine. If you are looking to make a bigger deal of it, there are a number of suggestions I'd make.

 

I think I want to keep it simple, but I certainly want it to be pleasant for anyone that happens upon, or seeks out, the site. I certainly wouldn't mind if the site got more business, but I have no notion of making it a full-time enterprise. With that in mind, any suggestions would be appreciated!

Jeff