Testing my first website

Just looked at the first page and boy do you make some nice blades. Congrats on the website.

The pictures take a while to download, it may be my Inet connection though.

-frank
 
I took a look, and these are my initial thoughts...

Get rid of the "enter" page. I have a high speed internet connection and it took way too long to load. I would encourage you to have your URL point directly to what you want people to see. On the internet, if a person has to wait more than 10 seconds (usually less) to see a page, they will go elsewhere.

I would also recommend either changing the background color or the text colors...the black text on the gray patterned background is hard to read and the text gets lost in the background.

What I try to do is put what I consider the most important information, that I want people to see, on the opening page, so that as soon as the page loads, the information is right there...without the visitor(s) having to do anything. If that information catches their attention, they will take the time to go further...if it doesn't, they will move on to another website.

My website is in a state of constant evolution, but I think I've found a pattern that works.... a number of other makers have contacted me asking if they could copy the basic color scheme and layout.

What makes building a website so tough is not the technology, but understanding that your audience is very impatient and will not stick around if they have to wait or look for something.

OK, all that being said, I think you did well for your first effort. It took me about 6 months, a few hours each evening, to teach myself about websites and how to build/maintain them...and I'm constantly learning more.....sort of like Knifemaking. :)
 
panch0 said:
The pictures take a while to download, it may be my Inet connection though.

-frank
Click to expand...

I don't think it's you connection. They take a long time for me to download too. The background on the entry page never did download. It may be the host server speed, or it may be that the images need downsized for the web.

The knives are awesome though.

Mike L.
 
You make some beautiful blades:D:thumbup:
and you did alright on the site but...
I second what Ed said. You need alot more contrast between the type and the background, will make it easier to read.
I'm not a Web designer but i am a Graphic designer (since 93) and alot of the same rules apply:D here we go...
1) Keep the Number of different fonts (type faces) to a minimum (needs to be easy to read)
2) choose a pleasing color scheme, nothing too garish (easy to read)
3) Have more web friendly File sizes on the photos (they took a good long time to load at least on my Road Runner Connection!)
4) Brand yourself:) with a logo! (would take alot of workbut may be worth pursuing in the future)
5) Photos look pretty good maybe a little dark on a few

Once again these are suggestions, you'd did just fine and probably better than i couldve managed:) Like i said i'm just a regular old Designer, dont know much about the bells and whistles internet:D
good job
ivan
 
Thanks for the input! I expected that it is far from being good. Now I'll try to improove it step-by-step. It is a lot harder than to make a knife... for me... :)
 
Very Nice Knives, Dmitri....Very Classy and Well Done.
I especially liked your Bowie....The engraving on the horn buttcap is vey appealing.
You seem to make very nice graceful lines and your execution is very clean.
Very well done site, done as clean as the knives they show.
The only thing i would change is the text color. Although i like silver on black..it does seem a bit hard to read. plain white text would probably be easier. Find a color you like, that is bright and easily readable.

Your webpage though, as others have said takes an impossible amount of time to load.
I, for one, like your entry page...It just needs to load faster.
I checked the whole page and didnt find any missing or broken links, but everything took forever to load and some pictures didnt load the first time.

Use some Optimization on your pics. there are free sites out there that will optimize single pictures to whole web pages. Once you have optimized your web page it should load faster.
One optimization tool i've used is:
http://www.rankingeasy.com/image-optimizer.php

Congrats on the wesite, it is very nice!

EDIT: I went back for a second look and virtually everything loaded immediately.
It could be a problem with your host or a problem between it and my computer.
It probably wouldnt be a bad idea to optimize your site and have a friend or someone who is well versed in web page building look into why it doesnt load perfectly every time,
 
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Super knives, Dmitry! But I have to agree on most of the other comments. I looked at the file size, and a lot of the pics are a bit on the large side. You really should consider resizing and resampling your pictures to reduce file size, increase speed and reduce bandwith use to your web host. That being said, the speed did seem too slow even for those files. Where are you hosting your site? I use godaddy (although mine is still in the "coming soon" stages). I've heard ok stuff about 1and1.com also. If memory serves, I pay about 4.99 a month for hosting. A small price to pay considering it will be the primary channel that my work gets exposure through. Check out the speed on Ed Caffrey's site (Hell... just fun to look at anyway). You'll see that the pics load pretty fast and are still relatively high resolution. His file size is about 1/2-1/4 the size you your full size pics though. Just my random thoughts... good luck with the site!

-Mark
 
I have done quite a bit of web site design. Two comments that will speed everything up. The file size of your images is way to big. Reduce them to 800 by whatever it scales to max. The resolution of the images does not need to exceed 72dpi monitors rarely resolve more than that. That being said it is a clean site and easy to navigate. Nice effort.
 
Got it. Will redo all the images. How could i've known that I need to make 72dpi pictures if I am not a webdesigner?! Thanks to you guys I may "become one" :) Along with the knifemaking....
To ALL, thanks! You are very helpful.
 
The content is fine and the tabled presentation of the gallery is easy to navigate.

Initial load times are extremely slow... it must be a hosting issue, since the rendering is slow even with the images cached (2nd or third view).

Image optimization will help with the initial view, as karda mentioned above. But so will reediting the smaller images to contain less data. Don't bother showing closeup detail windows in your thumbnails. It adds significantly to .jpg image size and can't be seen clearly anyway. Save it for the detail pages.

The code is very clean as expected with Frontpage 5.0, so it's not the programming.

My advice:
1. get a different host
2. use a solid background rather than a textured .jpg
3. eliminate the use of a large image (bckgrnd1.jpg) on your landing page.
4. edit the detail windows out of your thumbnails
 
Здравствулте! Dimitry those knives are Outstanding! I'm impressified!
as far as the website it's a GREAT first try! And to be honest I didnt have any loading issues (I have a cable connection)

Jason
 
Not slow for me.

I would suggest for the main page (after you enter) have the pictures a little smaller, and the font above them a few sizes smaller. Then, the links at the top should be larger, bolded etc.

When you click on a blade from the gallery, you should have a smaller image, so people with slow connections don't lag too much, then have an enlarged image link under the picture.

Just my opinions, but they may help others!
 
I did not have any problems with the site loading slow at all. I think the graphics and everything else look just fine, but that's my opinion. I love the look of your knives, especially the scramasax. Good job!
 
I had no loading problems, and I have excellerated dialup. Knives and site look great to me. Dale
 
Ok. I resized all images. The quality now is rather low. But the pages are loading very quickly. The first page is simplified. In future it has to be more informative. Will work on it.
Also I changed the background. Now it should be easier to read. Well... overall it works and shows something.
Thanks everyone for the help and advice!
 
Loaded fine by me on satellite.

Otherwise what others have suggested

Scramasax is spelled wrong

Hosting: IMO the best for knife sites www.atlantavirtual.com - run by a knife geek...

Suggestion: use one of the freeware gallery making softwares such as JAlbum www.jalbum.net to show your pictures - the software automatically makes the thumbnails and links to larger images with excellent built in navigation - there are several different page setups and most are easily tweaked/customized and suport is excellent.
For a couple of samples of knifesites using it:
www.sharpbycoop.com
www.taigooknives.com

another option freeware gallery software is http://coppermine-gallery.net/

either can/will speed up the building and maintenance of your site....
 
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