i love it. what do you think? (Full Version)

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skip -> i love it. what do you think? (11/14/2003 20:03:25)

www.mathewsremodeling.com

fp2003
css

i love it so far.
what should i do next.

thanks



Eli -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/15/2003 1:29:37)

exellent job



gorilla -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/15/2003 13:02:50)

quote:

what should i do next.



I took a long hard look at this yesterday night but it was too late to reply. Short answer:

Nothing!

- in terms of the design itself for once I even like the shifting on rollover effect. Two small things to make it even better:

1. Add titles to your links.

2. Add titles to your images.

In each case you can easily do this by right clicking on the element in question and choosing to edit its properties from the resulting list.

Maybe a little more content although I hestiate to suggest that as what you have is clear, crisp, concise.

If you have one or two clients who are willing to provide them a "testimonials" page would be a good addition.

A thoughfully laid out well presented site with good text and images. It was a pleasure to see such an excellent craftsmanlike job. If the site is any indication of your professional skills then your customers are indeed fortunate.

Finally I was delighted to see that you support the Habitat for Humanity initiative - one of my favourite charities - thank you.



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/15/2003 18:54:50)

thank you very much for taking the time to review my site
i have added the titles to links and images, good idea
i also have two customer letters, i will ask them if i can publish, great idea

thanks again



sidewalk -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/16/2003 11:46:27)

quote:

Finally I was delighted to see that you support the Habitat for Humanity initiative - one of my favourite charities - thank you.


Amen to Hab for Humanity.

Skip, Excellent site. What to do next?

Optimize it. Get it listed. It is too good of a site to languish in the lower realms of Google. Good luck with the site and business. Dave



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/16/2003 13:27:40)

quote:


Optimize it. Get it listed. It is too good of a site to languish in the lower realms of Google.


thank you very much for your comment
i really appreciate the help

i am not sure how to get listed
i have been trying to learn about it recently
how to use meta keyword etc

should i invest money with search engine companies



sidewalk -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/16/2003 14:56:29)

quote:

should i invest money with search engine companies


Skip, I wouldn't but that is a business choice. I think you have to decide how people will use your site. Will they be searching for you "cold", if so that would be one strategy. If they are using the site to followup after show room discussion or telephone contact, that would be another approach.

I did a search on "Kansas City home remodeling". This is the top return:

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:g63r6EqU0_sJ:www.kctv5.com/+kansas+city+remodeling+home&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Note, I think you could capture this position (note how few references to the key phrase is on that site). But, I doubt that there were many exact searches by that title because one of the tools below shows no response (means less than 100/month) on that phrase.

It took me about six months to figure out what in the world search engine optimization was all about. Essentially, you want to pick your key words or phrases. Here is a tool to help you do that:

i.e. Kansas City home

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ and

http://www.wordtracker.com/ and

http://www.keyworddensity.com/

The most helpful site I have found (and read about once a month) is

http://selfpromotion.com

He helps me focus, re-focus, and re-focus.

I have moved up from ~ 175th to 1st through 12th, depending upon the phrase. (Google is re-indexing this weekend and I am s-l-i-p-p-p-p--ing.)
It takes time, energy, and realizing how to literally re-write some pages to capture a Google return of 1-10. If you are below that, you might as well be 12,388th because the default # of returns is 10 and surfers rarely re-set that number of returns.

If you like to do cross-word puzzles, you will enjoy optimizing. If you need to be remodeling, sub-contract it but find a very, very good one who can supply solid references. SEO "experts" are a dime a dozen out there. Dave



Patti -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/16/2003 15:53:37)

I can only comment on Google because i recently moved 2 sites up to number 1 out of 11, 000 not real hard to do in the coil shoe category. And the best I did was 31 out of 300,000 for a weight loss site. I said to myself "Damn I'm good." [:D] Not sure what really worked. This happened within a matter of days. I was sure to add a link from my site to theirs so they would get spidered quicker.

What I did was change the page titles to include their top search words. Added top search words to alt text for all graphics. I try to include the top search words at least 3 times per page in the body of the text. Sidewalk is right you have to keep up on the search engines.

By the way.... I like your site too. It would be nice if the thumbnails that open in the pop ups had a next button to go through each picture, but thats not a critique. It works fine as is, I am just lazy.

Good Luck,

Patti



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/16/2003 22:40:35)

thanks again
i went to selfpromotion.com, good info
i think i will start with <title>keywords</title>
this could take some time to absorb



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/16/2003 22:46:44)

quote:

Added top search words to alt text for all graphics.


thanks for your comment
i will take another look at my alt text
this is all very interesting



Parkheadquarterscom -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/17/2003 1:35:46)

Very nice site.

Links to sites off Matthews ought to open new browsers. NARI and H for H were two I saw.

I would expect a "before and after" of the work. Same spot, same angle, same view. If possible. The Products pages didn't do much for me. I guess they were afters, but that means little for what can you do to change my space?

Maybe more pic of work and even some close-ups- like of the woodworking joints etc to show the craftsmanship.

A picture of you. I would like to know WHO is going to be in my home. I know we shouldn't judge by appearance, but hey, that's life.


Good site!



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/17/2003 8:54:46)

thanks for your time, i appreciate it

new browser for off site links, you are right, i will do that (not sure how:))

i am planning for pictures of myself and my wife, my business partner, i also think this is important
also pics of carpenters

before pics are good when used at the right time, i have before pics but only use them when i am meeting with the homeowner and going into great detail about their project. but that's just me.

i like the idea of closeups, i could have a details page, good closeups of several jobs.
i like it:)

thanks again for your comments



sidewalk -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/17/2003 9:51:01)

quote:

new browser for off site links, you are right, i will do that (not sure how:))


Skip, Easy. (1) Highlight your hyperlink. (2) Right click or hit edit hyperlink. (3) In 'Edit Hyperlink' box, click 'Target Frame,' in 'Target Frame' Window, hit 'New Window,' click 'OK.' Congrats, you did it.

quote:

i am planning for pictures of myself and my wife, my business partner, i also think this is important also pics of carpenters

Go easy with this Skip. Have a page lower down in the navigation that says, 'Meet Us.' Folks that are interested can get there. If your wife is involved in the business, then I would have a group shot of the three of you (business partner) and call it 'The Support Team.' Then, I would have a group picture of the carpenters and call it 'The Real Remodelers' or something to that effect. Dave



Parkheadquarterscom -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/17/2003 11:09:12)

I agree with Sidewalk on the pics. A professional working picture of you and your partner.

The fact she is your wife is incidental. Homeowners probably appreciate the touch and perspective of a woman more than the husband and wife team idea...



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/17/2003 19:25:56)

thanks
good thinking on the pics



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/17/2003 19:26:57)

thanks for the input, i will need to think about how to use the pics



c1sissy -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/17/2003 20:11:12)

Hi Skip, really nice site!

I just have a comment on your pictures. They are a tad on the dark side. Is there any way that you can lighten them a tad?

What photo program do you use?

Just my opnion in regards to your photos. Nice, but some are difficult to really see because they are soo dark.



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/17/2003 20:20:47)

thanks

i use adobe photoshop 5.0
i should be able to lighten them pretty easy
check back later to see how they look

i lightened picture 2 of the 2nd kitchen on the kitchen page
does it look better?

i have wondered what the site looks like on other monitors
my monitor may be to light?



sidewalk -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/17/2003 21:32:21)

Skip, The lightening of the 2nd pic of 2nd kitchen is an improvement. I didn't think the photos were dark until you lightened the one. Dave



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/17/2003 22:56:58)

i lightened all pic and i think that does help a little, thanks

i also reduced the file size of my 2 main background images,
i can see a little difference in the quality but they load faster
not sure if it is a good trade off

i also added two images that are reduced to 1px by 1px at the bottom of the page to be preloading while user reads the text
the page loads a little slower but when user selects on the pic links, the image is preloaded and opens instantly

does this work for you?



Gotzhaus -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/18/2003 2:35:46)

I agree with the others, a very good site and very well set up



c1sissy -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/18/2003 7:42:41)

quote:

ORIGINAL: skip

i lightened all pic and i think that does help a little, thanks

i also reduced the file size of my 2 main background images,
i can see a little difference in the quality but they load faster
not sure if it is a good trade off

i also added two images that are reduced to 1px by 1px at the bottom of the page to be preloading while user reads the text
the page loads a little slower but when user selects on the pic links, the image is preloaded and opens instantly

does this work for you?


Skip, picture looks much better, though around the cabinets, it is still a tad on the dark side. It makes it difficult to see the features of the cabinets.

Did you use the auto feature, or did you use the section where you do the brightness and contrast on your own?



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/18/2003 16:11:25)

i used menu item, (image>adjust>brightness/contrast)
when i used auto levels it made them darker
i will lighten them a bit more
i may need to start from the originals, if i mess with them to much they get distorted

thanks for your help



c1sissy -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/19/2003 16:14:11)

quote:

ORIGINAL: skip

i used menu item, (image>adjust>brightness/contrast)
when i used auto levels it made them darker
i will lighten them a bit more
i may need to start from the originals, if i mess with them to much they get distorted

thanks for your help


Skip, I did download one and play with it, as soon as I get a chance I'll upload them to a site that i use just for sending test things to others and send you the links to them. I would hope to be able to do this tonight.

I have several programs that I use for photos, though each one I find does a tad different in one area then another. I'll let you know (have to remember which one I used) which one it was when I load them up. I did them several different ways, but sadly didn't make notes to myself on how I did them.[:@].



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/20/2003 0:24:30)

thanks, i will check back later

one other thing, i posted this in the beginning web design forum
do you have any ideas

quote:

how do i make a really great pop up?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

fp2003
css

what i would like to do is this:
user clicks on link
pop up window opens and displays image
below the image is a paragraph description of the image
and maybe a "next" and "previous" button to scroll through all images or some group of images

do i need a page for every image?

i now have a java script on every page to open a new pop up
can i simplify this with css?


on my project pages (kitchen, bath, room addition)
you can see how my pop ups work now
look on the homes tour page and click on the picture
this is how i want the popups to look
i have a separate page with the image and text on it
if i continue with this message i will need a separate page for each image

is there an easier way?



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/22/2003 2:09:33)

i took your advise and added (previous and next) hyperlinks in my pop up image display



remclave -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/22/2003 11:09:29)

Check your "Next" picture links for the bathroom pics....the third one is not in the loop.



Patti -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/22/2003 13:42:50)

[sm=lol.gif]

I love it Skip. What script did you end up using?

Patti << Lazy web surfer



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/22/2003 23:48:27)

quote:


<head>

<SCRIPT>
function open_window(url) {
mywin = window.open(url,"win",'toolbar=0,location=0,directories=0,status=0,menubar=0,scrollbars=0,resizable=0,width=530,height=505');
}
</SCRIPT>

</head>

<body>
<a title="Room Addition 1a" href="javascript:open_window('image pages/image2204-1.htm')">
<IMG border="0" SRC =" images/PROJECTS/2204-1sm.jpg"></a>
</body>


I made a page for each image with the text below, formatted with the css
then put a standard link on the bottom of each page
The script above then control how the page looks when it opens
i'm sure there is a more sophisticated way of doing it, but this works really well



skip -> RE: i love it. what do you think? (11/22/2003 23:50:47)

i checked it
it seems to be working

thanks



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