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womble -> RE: Busiest PR6 site on the planet! (5/20/2006 19:13:50)
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RemodelingGuy, with the greatest respect, you asked for honest opinions, and that's what you've got. If there's one thing we're good at around here it's giving (brutally) honest opinions.
You asked Dan, and he told you. (and I'm afraid I don't think there was any need for the tone of your response). And I'm afraid I have to agree with him.
I remember your site from the last round of critiques, and I can't see an awful lot that's changed. If I was looking for information on black mould, while I'm sure I'd find it eventually, I doubt my eyes would be drawn to anything mentioning black mould in the few seconds that research has shown you have to make an impact on visitors when they first hit your site.
Yes, there are tons of sites out there that have loads of content, thinking of something like Amazon or one of the big computer stores off the top of my head, and they have a lot of content on their homepage, but it's structured with everything in it's place. They have clear and coherant nav and you can get a feel for where you are within the hierarchy of the site. They have active as opposed to passive white space and a logical site heirachy.
On your site I got a confusion of text blocks (a lot of which looked as though they were ads though I know they weren't), a confusion of different colours and styles of text that looked like they'd got jumbled up on the page, a strange sort of flickering of nav whenever I changed a page, and wherever I was on the site (I investigated a few other pages and found them equally as cluttered as the homepage) I couldn't get a feel for where I was within the stucture of the site and any sort of logical progression as to what I should click on next. Which nav do I use? The many hyperlinks? The tabs? The nav down the left of the page? There's no indication of where they're taking me to mostly.
The web's a strange place because unlike 'bricks and mortar' shops, online, you're launched onto a site and you have to find your way around blind - which is why clear and coherent nav and the use of white space is so important.
If you went into a 'real life' DIY store you'd enter by the door (clearly marked) and you'd see the checkouts (clearly marked) and all the goods laid out in a logical order, most likely in aisles and they're clearly marked with signposts as to what's in each aisle, often those big ones that hang from the ceiling so you can see clearly at a distance exactly what's where, and within those aisles smaller signs that identify sub-categories. There may even be a plan that shows you what's where, but if you get stuck and can't find what you're looking for you can always ask an assistant. On the web there's no-one to ask and you're reliant on the structure of the site to guide you, and if you can't find what you're looking for pretty quickly, you're going to get frustrated and hit the back button and try and find a site that's easier to find your way around. With your site, following this analogy, it's like going into the store and finding the delivery drivers just dumped all the goods in the middle of the store and you have to pick your way through the pile of stuff to find what you need.
Ask yourself honestly - if you didn't know your site, how quickly would you be able to find the information you were looking for on say for example cabinet accessories, or contact details for the company?
If you can't at least find a hint as to where you're heading in those crucial first few seconds, then you've probably lost a potential customer.
I don't doubt that you're good at what you do, but in all honesty if I were looking for home improvements, I wouldn't be looking on your site.
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