SITE REVIEW: myweecar.com

Hello,

I have recently decided that splextra.com was never going to work as there are many sites around just like the one i planned to make, however, i have come up with a new domain name and new idea and have been slowly working on my new site linked: //removed by request. This site is no longer avalable.

This website i hope to spend more time on to develop it into one of the worlds best Vehicle websites. The content of which i have all got written down, but at the moment i will refrain on letting everyone know what i intend on doing to make this site a wee bit more unique.

At the moment the site has been set up the same way as my SPLextra site but in the next couple of weeks i will upgrade it to work with Perl wicih will allow me to insert my own forum and hopefully allow me to us MySQL (not sure if that will work yet).

I understand my template will all look mesed up through the HTML but i will sort this out and insert my own template in the near future based on the one i have.

The content at the moment is very vague, but what you can see will hopefully give you an idea on what i hope to see on this site.

Now...you can criticise, praise, or awww over my work.

Feedback would be fantastic!!

If you thought you had competition with your football site, you ain't seen nothing yet! There are squillions of car sites out there. Will your site focus on modifying/racing/sports/help & advice etc? Maybe you should check out some of the sites that may be competing with yours. For instance: http://www.edinburghcruise.co.uk, http://www.street-racers.co.uk/, http://www.maxpower.co.uk/home/home.asp.

To be honest, the colours look a little off. I would suggest making some nice logos in photoshop or paint shop pro - nothing too big and fancy, just something pleasant and eye pleasing. Also, the blue on blue links are a definite no-no.

I know you said this is just a template, but none of the sections work.

I think the sign-in section should be moved to be less prominent; perhaps it would look better at the bottom of the page, under the main content.

All in all, there's not a lot to go by at the moment. I don't know what you were expecting in terms of reviews from a concept that's in so early a stage. I know you are new to web-designing etc, but I'd suggest sticking with the one project until you've found your feet with HTML/CSS etc, and don't go for anything too over-ambitious (like designing the best car site ever) too soon. I also noticed your "Products" link on the menubar - your site will have to be a lot more professional looking if your want people to buy things from you.

Thats the kind of response i was expecting. Basically, as you have already stated i am quite new to web designing and its topics like this will help me make this site pretty smart.

I know what i want to do and to be honest i need a hand as its just a one man job at the moment. I would love to have been further on but i just havnt spent as much time as i can. At least by letting people review it i should be able to rid of a few errors early on. I'd prefer that was the case rather than leaving it until it may be too late.

To answer your first question Katana, i am looking to make this a site for anybody to enter any kind of vehincle they have in their garage (or wherever it is they keep there vehicles) and to discuss them. By doing this i was hoping to start my own Database system where people could join and upload there own vehicles and whateve else.

This may sound like nothing but, believe me, there are plenty sites i have seen on the net that havnt got what i intend on giving.

I admit i maybe shouldnt have posted this previous post as its incredibly early in the making and i made quite a big mistake even thinking about adding this post.

I would like to just get an idea from everybody that wishes to review my site on what i can do at an early stage before doing the major works to it in the next month or so.


For the record...i dont want this site to look anything like the sites you linked. I am not really into that kind of thing, even though you might get the wrong impression after seeing a pic of my car on the main page.

Thanks for your review though Katana!

i think katana was dead on, its going to take a lot of effort to make your site popular. especially when dealing with cars, you're going to have to focus a lot on cool graphics and making the site as easy to navigate as possible. the idea isnt very unique, right off the bat i can think of a site i visit often (http://www.cardomain.com/) just to look at other peoples modifications to their car. as a beginner designer, it'll probably take you a few more months to get a legitimate automotive website running, so before you invest all that time, make sure that whatever unique ideas you're bringing to the site are indeed unique. you've posted your website waaaaaaaay to early to review it, maybe re-post when you finish a major section of the site (i.e. the index).

Good reviews boys!

Some comments (touching base on topics not covered):

Your one car photo took too long to load

Your active links colours & the background cell colour as the same, or at least the text gets lost in the background b/c the shades are close in colour. I'd modify that. Same goes for your navbar

You've got a logo missing, I pressume that is in the works?

Stick to one font, you've got at least 2 fonts that I can see on the same page

As a main page, you'd want to put a paragraph describing what your site is all about

WHen I click on "new member" the submit links change, also there seems to be a broken image next to the text "submit" not only is it broken but it doesn't show up on any of the other pages

I understand that you're missing alot of content, that's fine (I sure hope that site isn't live yet, never publish something that isn't completed!)

Missing alt tags on your images

You're site is missing something. Spice, some life. I"m not getting anything from it. I'm not talking about it missing content, I mean deeper than that. I think it's the combination of colours with the layout format. You need to come up with something that will bring more life to your site

Use CSS instead of inline font tags

I agree with katana about moving the sign-in form. Put it in a less obvious area, the header area of your site should be left for other more important information

As for making your site one of the "worlds best Vehicle websites", takes a heck of alot of work. I admire your drive, but you'll have to work very very hard. Something like that will take you years to achieve, especially since there are so many competitors. I would study your biggest competitors. Ask yourself questions as you study them,, "how did they get to be so popular?", "what can I do to reach their level if not higher?" etc. Study SEO techniques. Perfect marketing/advertising techniques.

Good luck!

Are you trying to do something like...

(1) http://www.britishcarforum.com/ ?
(2) http://www.detailcity.com/ ?
(3) http://www.keepcruizin.net/ ? - check out 'Members Cars' especially.

...like others have said, your site is not alone - like most other topics.

I have a question. Are you using free-templates you are finding off the net?

If so scrap that idea - they are free for a reason If you want your site to stand-out against others create it yourself, it may take you a little longer but it will pay off in the long run.

My site looks pants right now (don't bother looking - it's a bit messed up in FF) but when I am done I will know that it is unique. Plus, the web-design/programming knowledge I continue to gain on a daily basis will make me that much stronger and skillful in the future. As they saying goes: You reap what you sow.

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress, and I will do the same

Thanks for the help. Obviously a mistake posting the original post, now i know.

I will take what everybody has said to note and i will act upon it while at the same time proving some of your wrong

Seriously though, thanks!!

SB, thats the perfect attitude to take from the responses you got, I'm glad to see that it lit a fire in you. I'm sure that we'd love nothing more than to watch you're site become one of the best, so keep up the good attitude and keep us updated.

Well said daremedy.

I meant to ask this previously...is anyone else having this problem? It is fine on my machine.

I dont want things to take too long to load up, that explains why i am gonna keep any animations to a minimum.