Today at New Media Expo , in Las Vegas, Andrew Hayes, a web producer for hire, gave live critiques of web sites. His critique, specific to the following web sites, is also of importance to all web sites, overall.
RetinaEyeDoctor.com
- Great that the doctor's face is there (people like to see a human face)
- Use the words and language that your customers understand. On this web site, maybe customers do not even know the names of the problems they might have.
- In a navigation put what's most important on the left â€" from left to right is the priority level
- Instead of having a “subscribe to updates for free†form, be more specific. What will you get by subscribing to an email newsletter?
- Tell your visitors what to do on your home page â€" they might need to be guided in what action to take.
Cookthisgetlaid
- Have less of the big logo and more of what the site does, so people know immediately what they can do at the site.
- Language (copy) is very important in menus
- Having  â€need help†as a menu item does not say much. Be more descriptive.
- Get rid of blog rolls, why send people to external links (like that?). Warn people if they are leaving your site.
- Think of ways that new and repeat readers can access your archives
Writing Travel
- Have categories of what is being written about
- A description of  what the site was about was hard to see
- Huge chunks of text on the right navigatoni show “recent posts†â€" instead use thumbnail images or clear headlines
- Use themes and/or topics, not just archives
RobHasAwebsite.com
- Be careful having two navigation banners. Could be clutter and/or easy to see.
- Instead of writing “Friggin 5″  (in the navigation bar) write “Podcast†â€" people understand that better.
Steveolsher
Tip â€" give nothing away for free â€" they MUST at least give their email newsletter (this works for SOME not for all or even most)
BuckHornSprings
- Need a big tagline under the logo
- Need location of the resort
- Get rid of page names like “home†on the page itself