Website Review and Suggestions

**leafar** · 08:21 AM

www.leafarmusic.web.officelive.com

I love my website, but it can be hard to judge things accurately when youre baised. So im interested in knowing :

Would visitors want to come back many times and spend a long time on it?
Would they recommend it?
Does it deliver what it promises?
Anything else? (Im aware of the huge gap on the home page and im working on it)

Also, are there any effective ways to increase traffic, and then turn that traffic into money?

**Sneakyheathen** · 03-07-2009, 10:59 AM

You really need to work on your overall structure. The color scheme doesn't work well together, and I'm honestly not sure what the point of the site is at first look. Do I believe that visitors would return? No. I'm not entirely sure what promises you're trying to deliver on.

Honestly, your site could use a lot of work. I have no idea what the purpose is on first glance, and there's nothing to direct me in how I should use it.

Things You Should Lose:

Hit Counter? Really. The visitor doesn't want to see that, and it's really not an accurate way to track site traffic anymore.

Waaayyyy too much white space!

Centered menu...left align and narrow to only those essential links. You can link to other pages on other parts of the site.

Guestbook. Nobody really uses these anymore.

On Traffic and Money

First, work on your SEO. Change up your page titles so they work better, and then make sure all your meta data is filled out. After that, since you don't seem to have dynamic content flowing, I would say keyword optimize your written content.

**leafar** · 03-07-2009, 12:55 PM

What should i change about the structure? I think its quite logical.

How would you suggest i change the colour scheme, and why (so i understand why ive got it wrong)?

The website is about funk and soul music, and im promoting my music also. Heres why ive decided to it this way, based on advice that ive read, and it makes a lot of sense :

Im a musician, and most musicians own websites revolve only around their music. People go to them, they make a quick decision on whether theyre interested in that persons music, then they buy it, or leave, and thats it. Im not known by anyone, so i want to bring in traffic and keep them there. Ive read that its a very good idea to have a forum, and keep visitors interacting with each other, and just keep them on the site in general, and busy, while im in the background, promoting my own stuff. So thats the purpose of the forum, and thats why i also decided to have a page where they can listen to radio stations, and a page where they can watch videos, another one where they can view and download my own collection of books, etc. Its like, instead of having a shop in the middle of nowhere, build a village, and put your shop in the middle of it, with signs pointing to the shop. Not everyone will buy my stuff, i know that, but if i can build high traffic, some will. Also, i can sell other peoples stuff (thats why i will have an amazon store).
The promises im making are : To have relevant and interesting content related to funk and soul music. ie, videos, radio, and anything else i can come up with (ie, news, charts, interviews, etc (from other sites)). In terms of my own content, its the music. The rest is 3rd party content (inc. a blog which ill have at some point, and i will invite others to post on it), and user generated content (ie the forum, and possibly some way that visitors who are musicians can promote their music).
Ive seen a lot of other sites and its either the artist promoting their music and doing nothing else, or, sources of info which are pretty good but a headache to navigate through (for example, i saw a radio station site where the button that you have to press to hear the station is off the screen and so you have to scroll right to see it, which i think is totally unaceptable). I want my site to be not necessarily the best in terms of anything in particular, but a one stop shop for a variety of different things related to the subject. Not the greatest by any means, but a very handy source. Also, there are many links on the link page, so again, a good source.

So thats the purpose. How have i not made it clear? Doesnt the nav bar make it obvious? And the "My community for those special people who love funk and soul music" bit at the top of the page? Whenever i look at it, its very clear to me but if you cant see it, then others might not see it either, and id like to know what im doing wrong, or not doing.

I will have an "about this site" page, im working on it, so hopefully this will spell it out to visitors. However i want it to be at least reasonably clear what its all about even if visitors dont use that page.

The hit counter. What you say is true, although i didnt know that they arent accurate. Its just a temporary thing, and i dont intend to keep it. In fact ill get rid of it today.

White space. Whats wrong with that? Doesnt it give the pages a feeling of being free of clutter? Thats what im going for. The last thing i want is a website that blinds the visitor with colour. Isnt a white background professional?

The menu. Why should i left align it? Wherever i go, the menus are almost always spread out from left to right. And which pages would you say are unnecessary to have on it?

Why dont people use guestbooks anymore? What about musicians, dont they use them? I think they do. I see guestbooks on other musicians sites.

Ive registered my site with google, typed in a few keywords. On my host / provider thingy ive put in a few words. Not much, though. Do you think i should really go for it and put loads of potentially relevant words, or is there a point where i should limit it? Meta data. I dont know much about all this stuff. Surely theres a quick and straightforward way of entering all this.

Keyword optimise written content. Does this mean making sure that my keywords are included in the page titles, headings, and text? Ive ehard that theres a limit to how much you should do this, ie, not having the same ones for every page, and having words that relate specifically to each page. Is this correct?

If i fix all the things you mention (the ones that relate to the site's look and feel), would it then be clear whats the site is about, or would there be anything else to work on?

By the way im responding with strong opinions to your advice because i respect it. If it sounds like im arguing, im not, thats just how i deal with advice because i like to know exactly where i stand and what im doing wrong.

**Sneakyheathen** · 03-07-2009, 02:34 PM

Dude don't apologizing for offering back-up to your thoughts, yeah? It's totally admirable. A lot to read...but admirable.

On the Purpose of Your Site

When you go to a website, do YOU notice the navigation bar first? Most likely not (if you do...that's kind of odd.) In this way, the site title and header are extremely important for getting your point across. Your tagline is honestly too tiny and too obscured by elements to be immediately recognizable.

Also, your "one stop shop" idea only really works if you've got a nice reputation built up. I'm not saying you don't have the skills or such to pull it off, I'm just saying that people build market-focused websites for a reason: they're profitable. "not everyone will buy my stuff."

Well, obviously not, but you should market it towards the people that will! And getting your merch into consumer hands should be goal #1. The added parts of your shop should be more of an incentive to keep customers coming back. Your stuff should take a more forward position to maximize profit.

On the Design of Your Site

You should change the color scheme because it doesn't work. Point blank. Colors give off impressions and feelings and work together in patterns and with functions. Yours are at war with one another. Further reading:

http://www.diligentdesign.net/2009/0...color-schemes/
http://www.diligentdesign.net/2009/0...lor-functions/

"Isn't whitespace good? Isn't a white background professional?" YES. However, you do not want to drown your visitors in a SEA of whitespace. Elements in the same column need not be 50px away, and in fact, your main content area could use more of it, because it looks very cluttered.

Yes, menus are spread out from left to right, but that's because the menu bar is tailored to completely fit in with that particular amount of items, which are ordered in a way to make them the most effective. You'll have to decide which links are unneccessary for yourself, but off the top of my head, the "tell a friend" and "set as homepage" are particularly extraneous.

People don't use guestbooks anymore because there are various ways to interact with websites (forums, comments, blogs) nowdays. If you want to keep it, I'm not stopping you. I'm just saying.

Everything you've heard about keywords is correct. Each page title should reflect the content of that page. "About this company" or "funk and soul music - Leafar Music" for the homepage. You should not use more than 20 keywords or "phrases" in your meta tags. Just google "meta tags" to learn how to declare them. And yes you should attempt to include keywords in content, but always write for people first. SEO can be a pain, but it's useful.

Let me know if there's any other explaining you would like.

**leafar** · 04:49 PM

So youre saying...

- Make the header and everything in it (especially the title and where it says "Funk & Soul" in white) bigger
- Make my title line ("My community for those special people who love funk and soul") more prominent
- Only use as much space for the nav links as necessary, but no more

No problem

- Make it more about my music than the community

I dont know about that. I dont have that much music available (36 tracks to listen to, 9 of which can be downloaded free, and 9 of which are available to buy), and the quality of the recordings could be better (although people do like my music a lot, so im told). Id be embarassed to give the message of "hey look at me, arent i great? You dont know me but here i am, please buy my music...oh and by the way theres a community aswell". I have more to offer in terms of a community (ie theres more that i can do like providing 3rd party content and facillitating user gen. content) than my own musical content (although i do have hundreds of tracks but the recording quality and arrangements needs work), and at the end of the day if i found such a community i wouldnt really care who runs it as long as its good.

Having said all that, if what youre getting at is that no matter how little music i have or how much the recording quality needs improving (as long as the music itself is good), i should still emphasise it more than the community, i can get over my embarassment, but id still feel like the community has more to offer to keep people there than my music. Im in two minds about it. I would think that "funk / soul community" would appeal more to people than "unknown artist, please hear his music". If its a good idea what you say, then i need convincing to understand why thats the case, and youre welcome to convince me. If this is a major flaw in my site then id like to get why that is.
When you say a sea of white space, i do know what you mean, but the main area of white is around the tagline and nav area. The rest is grey.

"Elements in the same column need not be 50px away, and in fact, your main content area could use more of it, because it looks very cluttered"..........not sure what you mean.

The tell a friend link and all the others i did that way because i read somwhere that its very important to have contact info in a prominent area at the top. Theres a Stay In Touch page, which is where all those contact links go to and the idea is to use anchors so that when they click on Keep up to date" or whatever, it goes to a specific part of the stay in touch page, and while theyre there they can see that theres more they can do ("another action that results in them being kept up to date or contacting me or telling a friend). I also read that its important to have as many choices for the visitor to stay in touch, etc as possible. By displaying them all, it shows them that choice. I still think itsa good idea, but if im making a serious error id like to understand.

What about the other links (store, feedback, etc etc)? Any problem there in terms of there being too many or does it seem ok?

The idea of the guestbook is to allow visitors to instantly make comments, as well as showing other visitors what people are saying about me and the site. Are you saying that the idea is good but not to use a guestbook? What about a shoutbox? I already have a few (for testimonials and link suggestions / reporting bad links).

Ive made some changes, let me know what you think.

**leafar** · 10:32 AM

Also, i checked those links and made notes. According to what they say :

- The background should be the lightest or darkest colour in my scheme
- It should be the basis of all other colours in the scheme

What exactly does it mean by the basis of the scheme? No idea what that means

- Interactive elements (logos, links, buttons) should be the brightest, most saturated colour in the scheme
- Use sparingly

What does saturated mean? And how can i use it sparingly if i have lots of links, logos and buttons?

- Emphasised elements should be complimentary colours to draw the eye to the area
- 3rd brightest in the scheme

What area? What does it mean by complimentary colours? Complimentary to what? How can it be the 3rd brightest if i decide to only have 2 colours in the scheme, what do i do then?

- De emphasised elements are noticeable but not primary
- Use complimentary colours, blend with background, slight contrast to separate content (what does all that mean?)
- 2nd lightest or 2nd darkest in scheme

What if the 2nd darkest or lightest colour in my scheme is also the most dark or light colour in my scheme? Wouldnt that mean that de emphasised elements would have the same colour as the background (most dark or light)?

Elsewhere ive read that the header should contain all the colours in the scheme. Presumably the footer too. Apart from the colours of my footer, is it ok in terms of size (its smaller than the header)?

Does this whole colour scheme theory mean that i should not use any other colours ever (apart from pictures)? And how do i not drown visitors in a sea of white? Id like to have certain pages have their own feel, should i do this, and if so, how do i do it without ruining the overall scheme?

And this really confuses me : Colours have certain meanings, and should be used for certain purposes. I get that. But if im using colours in a certain way for the different elements, and im also using them for certain specific purposes, theres going to be a lot of conflict. For example, for a warning, yellow on black is good, but what if yellow isnt in my colour scheme, or if it is but not for that type of element? How do i resolve that?

And what if i choose 3 colours that represent what my site is about, but they dont compliment each other / dont fit in with the 3-colour scheme type?

Wow, im really full of questions. Cant help it.

**Sneakyheathen** · 02:20 PM

...the PRIMARY color in your color scheme should be based on the impression you want to give. "basis" means foundation, starting ground, and otherwise the area from which you begin and go up. There is not going to be a lot of conflict if you use colors for specific purposes. Links can all be the same color. Backgrounds can all be the same color. etc. etc. Practice and see what you get.

If you choose three colors that represent your site and they don't match then change them or change the shade or learn how to use three contrasting colors in harmony. Practice makes perfect.

...google is your friend.

http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html
http://www.google.com
http://www.dictionary.com

INSPIRATION:

http://www.designflavr.com/
http://www.gomediazine.com/
http://cssremix.com/

If this confuses you so much, my advice is this: hire a designer.

Disclaimer: I don't know everything. I don't mind answering questions, but I can't tell you step by step how to build your website.

**fdansv** · 03-08-2009, 04:03 PM

1. Get a domain. Now. Quick.
2. Styles: Brown, orange, white + Times New Roman on Italics + Menu titles in Pink = ugly monstrosity
3. Get a logo. A guitar jpg won't solve that problem
4. Too many tables. On a website of the early 90s would be acceptable, but we are on the web 2.0 man.
5. Audiolife widget is horrible and awfully located
6. Are you used to surf the web very often?. If you do, you can't be serious when you say you love your website. I've listened to few of your songs, I liked them very much man. You are a professional. Let the design of your website be made by a professional [PM me if interested]. Sorry if this means make you fall from your cloud, but it's the truth.

**leafar** · 03-08-2009, 06:00 PM

How dare you insult my beautiful website. Ive worked on it for ages and i cant afford to hear anything negative about it after all my work. Im shocked to my very core.

Im kidding, i sent you a private message.

**jv17** · 03-08-2009, 08:15 PM

i understand you worked hard for this but your site looks like a html project of a H.S. student..I'm just being honest, and im not being a racist..

**leafar** · 08:30 PM

I was joking, im not upset at all. My site is bad, i know. Racist? Now im confused.

By the way id like to know whats right with it, because if im doing anything right i dont want to be unaware of it and then change it. For example, Ive got headings in the nav bar, so its easy to read (i watched a video by some guy from click fu), and my header is now quite large whereas before it was small. Thats a good thing isnt it?

Id just like to point out that although i talk like a naive teenager im 33. But i am naive.

**Sneakyheathen** · 03-09-2009, 06:25 AM

Small headers can be effective and draw the eye to content, actually. The problem with your perception is that you are relating things too easily to distinct options: big or small? Orange or blue? There are gray areas, and in those gray areas excellent design is found.

Go out, look at other websites, and learn. Read tutorials, and please learn CSS.

**pendeweb** · 03-09-2009, 07:02 AM

put some art works on your website. and try to make the position of the navigation menu is under the header(vertical type). also try to make the sub categories as a part of pull-down menu.(my personal advise)

**leafar** · 03-09-2009, 07:30 AM

I dont mind doing that but i need to understand why you think it would be better to have a horizontal nav bar with pull down menus that a vertical one where you can see everything already. Im blind to all this, and very biased, so its really hard to judge this stuff.