2 Websites I'd like to get some thoughts on.

[timbo89]

Creswick Motel - 2 Cushing Avenue, Creswick VIC

and

North East Counselling - Professional Counselling in the North Eastern suburbs of Adelaide

Let me know what you think, any suggestions, feedback, criticisms?

Both 'should' be responsive, they are just basic sites, no database access, purely html/css and php

[TheGAME1264]

The first one isn't responsive. It's missing CSS for tablets, particularly portrait oriented tablets.

My big issue with the first one is that I can't see the full rates and images, nor can I book a room. It could be a roach motel or it could be a 5 star place. I really don't know. All I have seen are a couple of vague exterior shots, which makes me suspicious...especially when you talk more about Creswick and the surrounding area than you do about the hotel. Photos are key here.

The second site seems to be okay with the responsive end of things.

"Services" is missing.

The home page could use some copy work. Rather than talk about "why counselling?" talk about "why OUR counselling?" Common web design mistake...people want a life jacket and web designers/developers describe the benefits of a life jacket while swimming.

On both sites, take your name / hyperlink out of the footer. It's a bad practice. I know it's a common practice but it's a bad practice unless you built the sites for free. Don't take potential business away from your clients just to feed yourself.

[Fireproofgfx]

The first site needs margins on the side and maybe add a little more line-height. As it stands right now each page looks like overwhelming text. The colors work good together. I think you should have built the site with the width of 960px instead of 780px, at least that would give you more room to work with.

On the second site, again it needs padding both sides, the colors work fine. I personally don't like the menu on the right side. It took me a second to realize "oh, the menu is on the right".

I don't agree with TheGames last comment about taking off your link. I do the same thing. You are not competing with the client, you are offering a totally different service, where if someone comes to their websites and they like the design, they can look down at the bottom in the FINE print and find the designer. You are not stealing viewers, though I would make your link, target _blank so your site opens up into a separate window so the person doesn't leave the original website.

To elaborate a little more on this. I do a lot of political websites and I add my link to the bottom. I did a site for a Congressional Candidate and I get an email a week later from a lady who was running for Commissioner and needed a website, she told me she found me on the Congressional Candidates website. She technically wasn't on his site to look over his issues or anything else she was their to see what other candidates sites are looking like and to possibly get a designer. Anyways I don't see it as an evil like some do. But do what you feel is best.

[timbo89]

My big issue with the first one is that I can't see the full rates and images, nor can I book a room. It could be a roach motel or it could be a 5 star place. I really don't know. All I have seen are a couple of vague exterior shots, which makes me suspicious...especially when you talk more about Creswick and the surrounding area than you do about the hotel. Photos are key here.

Yeah, I've been bugging them for more photos, most of the content was taken from the old website: Welcome to Creswick Motel

As for rates and online booking, the owners didn't want an online booking system (i would have attempted it if they had asked).

I'll see if i can chase up a few more photos today

"Services" is missing.

The home page could use some copy work. Rather than talk about "why counselling?" talk about "why OUR counselling?" Common web design mistake...people want a life jacket and web designers/developers describe the benefits of a life jacket while swimming.

This site is still semi under construction; i've never been the best at creative writing so i'll usually leave that to the business, unless i actually know what i'm talking about.

As for the 'responsiveness' of the creswick motel site, I haven't actually looked at that on a tablet yet. It should render correctly on a tablet and then on a mobile device it should all be displayed in one column.



Thanks for your feedback

[timbo89]

The first site needs margins on the side and maybe add a little more line-height. As it stands right now each page looks like overwhelming text. The colors work good together. I think you should have built the site with the width of 960px instead of 780px, at least that would give you more room to work with.

The reason i've kept the page content an a narrower column is because i don't have a lot of content to fill the page. I do need to find a way to fill the empty space though, i might try messing around with the background once i get a few more photos.

On the second site, again it needs padding both sides, the colors work fine. I personally don't like the menu on the right side. It took me a second to realize "oh, the menu is on the right".

I like my spacing (i'm not saying your idea is a bad one :P ), i try to keep all of my spacing the same, horizontal and vertical, it just looks better to me. So if i was to add more padding to the sides it wouldn't look right to me unless i added more spacing before each heading and then i'd break everything.

I don't agree with TheGames last comment about taking off your link. I do the same thing. You are not competing with the client, you are offering a totally different service, where if someone comes to their websites and they like the design, they can look down at the bottom in the FINE print and find the designer. You are not stealing viewers, though I would make your link, target _blank so your site opens up into a separate window so the person doesn't leave the original website.

To elaborate a little more on this. I do a lot of political websites and I add my link to the bottom. I did a site for a Congressional Candidate and I get an email a week later from a lady who was running for Commissioner and needed a website, she told me she found me on the Congressional Candidates website. She technically wasn't on his site to look over his issues or anything else she was their to see what other candidates sites are looking like and to possibly get a designer. Anyways I don't see it as an evil like some do. But do what you feel is best.

I agree, as long as the content has actually been made by the web designer, they should have their name somewhere on the page, as long as it is not branded all over.

I hate it when i find an awesome website and can't figure out who made it, the same goes for awful websites...

[timbo89]

also, one more thing, can i ask which devices and browsers you were both using?

[TheGAME1264]

Chrome on Windows 8. I drag my window slowly to resize it to see if any combos got missed and/or I see horizontal scrollbars.

You can also use this extension if you're feeling lazy: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...cgefonfh?hl=en

[Fireproofgfx]

That is a cool Chrome extension!! Thanks for sharing that Game!!

I am just finishing up on this Ocean Shores Gibson's BnB/Vacation and I too had to pull everything off of the old website using the Wayback Machine archive here lol. I don't write the content, I leave that responsibility up to the client.

[timbo89]

The home page could use some copy work. Rather than talk about "why counselling?" talk about "why OUR counselling?" Common web design mistake...people want a life jacket and web designers/developers describe the benefits of a life jacket while swimming.

I've re-worded it slightly using your suggestion, it does sound better... and probably better for SEO chucking in the business name a few more times too.

I also added a quick fade in for the text content on page load, and set the fonts to cache properly, it makes page changes a bit smother.

[hiitsme]

First website: The top part of the homepage looks too crowded. There should be a bit more space between the menu and the heading, and between the text and the adress on the right. I actually don't understand why you have the address there, because you have it on the map at the bottom as well, so you have exactly the same info twice on the same page. Other pages need a bit more empty space between elements as well.

Second website: Menu on the right is hard to notice - people expect it to be on the left and it's always better to stick with conventions unless you have a good reason to do otherwise. It is quite hard to read the text - personally, I always find handwritting looking fonts harder to read, also, there needs to be more contrast between text and the background, especially when you scroll down on the homepage. Older people amd people with less than perfect eyesight are likely to be interested in the counselling service as well. The Send Message form needs some improvement as well - error messages should appear above the form, not on a separate page with a Go Back button. It is a good practise to use <label> tags for form labels, think accessibility. I also don't like the picture of three kids on the homepage, the quality of it is so bad, that it makes the whole page look unprofessional, looks much better without it.