Website Review and Suggestions

**kthdsn** · 09-21-2006, 05:36 PM

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some feedback about my site http://kthdsn.com. It's my first "serious" site and it's doing OK, but I'd like to know what people think about it. I'd appreciate some suggestions about what to change or improve as well as what you like about it

Try not to be too mean!

**ltn1dr** · 09-21-2006, 07:44 PM

Hmm, not too bad in my opinion, but then again I've never really place a large part of how I rate a website in the design.

The only thing I would point out is the header makes your name hard to read your name.

Other than that, I think its fine, although you might want to consider removing the underline from the links on the nav? Not sure, I've never been too good on rating designs :P

Good job though!

**kthdsn** · 09-22-2006, 11:29 AM

Thanks for your opinions

**007** · 09-22-2006, 01:26 PM

My honest opinion is that it looks good, however you want to look great if you are a web designer, and plan to direct potential clients to this website.

My suggestion is to add some graphics. Are you a web designer or also a graphic designer? Either way, I think it needs some images and graphics. Not necessarily "photos," but just some extra layout images to make it look more professional.

Hope that makes sense.

**kthdsn** · 09-22-2006, 02:24 PM

Thanks, it does make sense. I'm not a graphic designer at all, my speciality is coding rather than making things look pretty. It's definitely an area I need to work on.

**Mr. Deleted** · 09-22-2006, 08:44 PM

not my choice of colors, but layout looks ok.

**robhustle** · 09-23-2006, 06:55 AM

Could you give me more of an idea about what your goals are for the site? Otherwise, it's hard to say. I found the content a bit ho-hum and dry. But, if you're just doing it for your own pleasure, than who cares? On the other hand, you posted at earners forum, so maybe you would like to monetize the site?

At any rate, I think the main problem is that I don't know you, and because I don't know you, I really don't care AT ALL about the things you write about. It sounds boring and dull. If I wanted to read about someone's boring day to day life, I would read my own blog

On the other hand, you are sharing things that are personal and important to you. And that can make for excellent material. The disconnect, then, is the fact that you start sharing before you've drawn us in.

You have a number of the elements to do this in place. The design is nice, the navigation well thought out. What I would REALLY think about adding, though, are pictures. Pictures of yourself, of the places and things that you write about. Once we can see you, you stop being some nebulous blogger and you become a real person. That will establish the kind of personal connection you need in order to give your content the personalized context it needs in order to flourish.

Also, put reviews of the books next to the amazon click through. Just a big blank list of books to click through - sans context - is worthless. Instead, write a review for each book, and place your amazon associate button right up front. A good review - what it meant to you, why it made a difference, what it will mean to me - right next to the ad would be much better. That would entice me to buy the book a lot more than saying "I read this book. Support me. Click on the link and buy it."

At any rate, good luck with your site. I hope that you found the above comments helpful, and I wish you much success in your endeavors.

mahalos,

rob

**NashTax** · 09-23-2006, 07:21 AM

Looking good so far

**cooldesigner** · 09-23-2006, 07:57 AM

Looks OK to start with!

Best of luck.
Bye

**kthdsn** · 09-23-2006, 08:55 AM

Thanks Robhustle, I found your insight really helpful and I'll see what I can do to improve.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to look, I really appreciate it

**funnyfarm** · 09-30-2006, 03:20 AM

hey,
personally i think a nice picture or a flash anim would look good in your header, maybe animate your URL and name?
other than that, your site has it going on!
great job!

**kthdsn** · 09-30-2006, 02:01 PM

Thank you

I think I'm going to get a picture of myself, art-ify it a bit and somehow incorporate it. I'm not keen on animations, I find them slightly annoying personally.

**Mark Bolyard** · 09-30-2006, 10:52 PM

Very nice Kate. Are you a writer, or is this just your way of expressing yourself on the net?

As mentioned above, the colors are not my "taste", but overall it's not bad. You might want to try a alternate font, like Trebuchet MS. I think that might spice it up a little.

**kthdsn** · 10-04-2006, 04:06 AM

I wanted to be a writer when I was a child, this is my first proper attempt as an adult though.

I know the colours are a bit girly, but I think my target audience is probably other women. I took your advice and changed the font to trebuchet. I will have to check out how it looks at work since I don't have a windows computer at home!

**Julius Designs** · 10-06-2006, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kthdsn

Thanks, it does make sense. I'm not a graphic designer at all, my speciality is coding rather than making things look pretty. It's definitely an area I need to work on.

What type of languages do you program in?

**kthdsn** · 10-06-2006, 03:35 AM

XHTML and CSS at the moment, I'm learning PHP and SQL, but I'm not really putting much effort in so I'm not getting very far. I should put more time into it really. I would love to learn ajax and java as well.

**PeterLancs** · 10-06-2006, 04:03 AM

ok, I havent read any other posts apart from #1 so....

In my opinion its a great layout! great colour scheme but it needs some interactivity going on!

I think if you had some better button effects and a nice abstracty banner it would look even better,

looking at your CSS http://kthdsn.com/kthdsn.css on your body tag...

body{
font-family:"trebuchet MS", "lucida sans", sans-serif;
color:#55075c;
background-color:#DCC3DF;
text-align:center;
}

I have noticed their is no "background-image" & "background-repeat" being used, you really could use this to your advantage! and make a simple stripe going from the left of your browser window to the right! just to break up the edges a little you know what i mean? also a few more images would make it look more "sexier" just to ad a little bit of subtleness instead of the "stripe" why not have a "css gradient background" obviously so sublte but again it breaks the "blocky" style out,

well enough said tell me what you think and if you need any help please post/email me

best regards

Peter Bennett

**kthdsn** · 10-06-2006, 04:06 AM

Thanks Peter, that seems to be the general opinion, I need graphics. I'm going to have a go when I find the time

**PeterLancs** · 10-06-2006, 04:31 AM

no problem if you need help feel free to ask, Ill send you my Mobile seen as your close!

**kthdsn** · 10-08-2006, 02:09 PM

I've added a photograph of myself finally, can I get some opinions?