SITE REVIEW: IsMyWebsite

Hello everyone... I'm launching this service in March. I have the front of the site all ready for public viewing, particularly wondering what you think of:

1) Setup
What do you think of my ideas for the host and the way the site is organized?

2) Design
Is the site visually appealing?

3) Image
Does my site look professional and trustworthy?

http://www.ismywebsite.com/

Thanks

Many people are afraid of newsletters and think that they will become spam lists, so having it right at the top might not help your "image".

Add a background image, a repeating pattern of some sort. I would use a faint repeating pattern, in dark grey.

I don't understand the actual purpose of the site, it looks like a confusing free hosting system.

"Firefox can't find the server at http://www.ismywebsite.com"

Your site appears to be down...

True, it was up when i looked at it though.

1) Where should I put the email sugnup and what can I put there instead? Right now that's there as a placeholder for the login menu.

2) I was looking for background on Google Images, and I didn't find anything good. Can you recommend where I might find a good background? And more about what you had in mind.

3) Where does it confuse you? The only unique systems there are:

-You advance through the four account types, each representative of one stage of successful website development(plan, improve, expand, optimize). Each advance is accompanied by a review and feedback period, and gains you access to more tools necessary to complete the next step.

-You can place your own ads

Hello,

Took a wile to ping but otherwise all good.

However I'm not a fan of scrolling, perhaps the information could be spread out.. < - - - - - - - - - - - - >

keep it up

Come on everyone, I need constructive criticisms not compliments. I still need to know:

1) Where is the best place to stick the mailing list signup? I can stick it as a sidebar on the front, with the site launch paragraph, maybe at registration? I'm not sure where would get the most notice, and I can't see my site in an untrusting manner the way the average internet surfer can. And this raises another question - what do I put where it is right now as a placeholder?

2) Background images? It was a good suggestion, but I need to know more details of what you had in mind. I can find cement, grey patterns, carpet, metal, etc... but I don't know what would look the best. I want it to look neutral and professional.

3) With the confusion, I see how you were confused by the features. Actually that section was not very good. Too long and a tad confusing. So I created a new one there. Any thoughts:
http://www.ismywebsite.com/features.php

4) As far as spreading the information out, it makes for horizontal scrolling on lower resolution browsers. And for the area on the left, my original design was to have main content in that area, but I make a mistake and ended up with that. I thought it looked great and it appears stable on all browsers so I left it. Which page in particular do you find scrolling annoying on? I think the best solution is to remove unnecessary writing.

I'll leave the critique of the design to others Azoundria, however I will point out the most glaring problem with your site. It is not immediately obvious on the front page that you are offering free webhosting. I had to read nearly the entire home page before I really figured out that's what you are about. That really has to change drastically if you want to get people's attention.

Thanks for pointing that out, as it is something I always seem to forget - the visitor has no idea what the site is until you tell them. I think I fixed it.

I also think I fixed the scrolling problem someone else was talking about by shrinking down the page as well.

More constructive criticisms please?

Edit: Alright... I moved the launchlist to the bottom of the front page with the launch information. I think that leaves the background as the only criticism left unaddressed and I'm still awaiting input on that. So I anxiously await more replies...

First of all, you need to do something about your site's navigation. The one you have planted next to your banner comes across as an incoherent run-on sentence. I would suggest moving that navigation to the left side, since you have all that white space, and I would also suggest using CSS to jazz-up those links. You could also run your navigation along the bottom of your banner. I suspect that you didn't want to go the conventional route, that's why you placed your navigation where you did - but it doesn't look right. In this particular case, I would go with convention.

I would move your advertisements to the bottom of the page, or maybe to the right, but not below your banner; that whole area in the center should constitute the bulk of your main page and therefore should be used exclusively to describe your intended business.

You need more color and graphics...which you are already aware of. I would also suggest trying out different fonts.

All-in-all, you're moving in the right direction.

1) Navigation - I tried the left side and it didn't look good. So I put it on the top under the banner and it looks better than on the side but still not very good. Not sure how to fix the empty area up top although it appears minimized when I ue right align. Any suggestions there?

2) About using CSS I'm not sure exactly what you want me to do with CSS? You want me to use it to format the text? The problem is I want the specific 'Air Brush' font which is only on a handful of PCs. So using images is the best I can think of. Or were you talking about mouseover effects?

3) The advertisements are there because thats where they get the most clicks. Perhaps I could move them below the first paragraph if it makes a difference.

4) I tried out about 40 or 50 fonts to select those ones. And I was thinking about a monitor over on the right beside the main content but I'm not sure what to put on the screen. Any idea?

5) The background - is there any more information?

works really well for me. i cant wait for this service to be up and running. i will be one of your first customers! gananteed!

What I do like, is simplicity. You do not have too many navigation menus, mixed up with too much colour, and from my perspective that is a good.

Google Adwords right in the middle of the page though are a striking image due to bright blue colour headings, which is probably not the best PR stunt. Why not try using google banners, they could add some colour and not be as obvious.

The add email function should be nearer the top of the page as this is where you get subscribers for further advertising.

I would also suggest putting the menu on the let side as it is more userfriendly in that location. Currently it is stuck in the middle of the page and not quite as obvious as to that it is actaully your navigation menu.

May also include links to About you, Contact Us ... etc.

1) With my Google AdSense, would it help to match their colour to the titles of the page? Having Google Ads affects my Page Rank?

2) I just can't seem to please everyone with the email link. At the top people say I am pushing it too much and where it is I am not pushing it enough?

3) Just have to figure out how to make it look good on the left, so I think I will try to move it today seeing as everyone wants it there.

4) You are complimenting me on my simplicity and suggesting I add more suggestions? Or just an 'About' section - I already have Contact? About me or about the site?