Re: critique please

Normally, I wouldn't mention this, but after looking around a bit, I came
away with the impression that you were pushing less technology, less graphic
impact, old browsers, and Macintosh equipment. That's all well and good....
and possibly you might have a point in some cases, but as a person looking
for a Web designer, I might shy away, thinking that you didn't know how to
use modern technology (CSS, DHTML, etc.) or that you were one of those silly
"Mac against PC" people. In fact that's one nice thing about the Web.. it's
fairly platform transparent.

Now, I'm not saying that you are these things, but that your copy leaves me
thinking that a prospective client might come away with that thought.

Secondly, in this day of IMPACT advertising I think your design, which I
understand is an attempt to appeal to all the politically correct ideals of
accessibility and whatnot, is somewhat bland and uninspiring compared to
many sites these days.

Finally, one thing many Mac designers just don't understand is that most PC
Web surfers surf with their browsers max screened. I think that the concept
running apps in less than full screen windows, as most mac users do, is more
sophisticated, but that's not the way most do it. Therefore, the % width
tables stretch all over the place at over 1280 res and better on large
monitors at full screen, leaving Web elements not placed where they were
designed.. for example, supposedly centered bottom menus and such as well as
huge width side bars and such. 17": to 19" monitors are now the standard
instead of the exception and 21 and over inch monitors are common. Full
screen surfing makes some sites look awfully screwy. Guess who might be an
unsophisticated surfer with a high end monitor??.. You guessed it, a
business owner with money to spend on a Website.

Anyway, good luck with your endeavor. I know that many of us have suffered
loss of business since our tragedy.

As usual, the above is purely my opinion and you can take it or leave it as
be.

Craig T. Harding
Association of Computing Machinery - ACM
Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers - IEEE
President - GuideNet.Net
(all outbound email scanned by Norton 2002)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lorrie Eldridge" <lorrie652(at)icehouse.net>
To: <hwg-critique(at)hwg.org>
Sent: Friday, October 04, 2002 1:17 PM
Subject: critique please


> Hi All,
>
> I am a web designer trying to stay afloat since Sept 11, 01 and not
getting enough business to survive and was wondering if some of you folks
could critique my site and let me know if you see anything wrong with what I
offer on my site.
>
> I focus on small businesses and personal pages. My major focus is on
designing sites so they are search engine and browser friendly so I try to
keep them simple without a lot of wing-dings. My prices are at rock bottom.
I have a low overhead because I write all my code by hand (no expensive
programs to purchase and update). I have an English degree, am an artist and
have some graphic skills (Photoshop and Fireworks). I also use a Mac.
>
> Some of the sites I design are getting 2400 hits per month but my web
design site only gets about 230. I can't afford to pay for listing in major
engines but I get top rankings in Google for my major keywords but most of
my hits are coming from people looking for graphics and not web designers. I
am listed in about 7 web design directories as well as most major
engines/directories that don't require a fee. My site ranks at about 5 on
Google's toolbar last time I checked it on a friend's PC (I have a Mac so
don't have access to their toolbar.)
>
> http://www.loriswebs.com/
> this is a professional site
>
> I would appreciate any tips you can give me to improve hits and draw
customers.
>
> thanks
> Lori
>
>

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