Re: Commercial Critique 2

by Nathalie Esteban <nate(at)ucla.edu>

 Date:  Wed, 06 Jan 1999 16:36:09 -0800
 To:  John Holman <jholman(at)HolmComp.net>
 Cc:  "'HWG Critique '" <hwg-critique(at)hwg.org>
  todo: View Thread, Original
Hi again =)

NN 4.05, 800x600, PC, 56K.

1- I guess you fixed the plugin thing.. now it asks to download it =P

2- You need to take a good look at the frames... The first one has an image
missing (and some floating code); the second one isn't wide enough for the
menu (which is also justified to the left, rather than centered, making it
look kind of weird). The third frame at the bottom looks pretty empty with
just the logo there. Maybe you could just have one top frame for navigation
and then a bottom frame for a menu... but i don't see the need for three
frames. 

Another thing is, you should consider getting rid of the borders for those
frames; you should try to get a seamless look, as opposed to a thick grey
thing in between all the frames. I would also try centering the contents of
the frames, because at 800x600, the left-justify makes half of the screen
look like something's missing there.

3- As I had mentioned in the previous review, you should consider expanding
on your services link; since it is, after all, *services* that you are
trying to sell, those should get top billing. I think you should spend more
time explaining the kinds of networks you can design (speeds, size,
whatever else is pertinent to that); what consultation services you provide
(web design, networking, whatever); details on installations (and
pricing?); kinds of web hosting options that are available; the education
page should really contain a FAQ of general terminology, or links to places
where people can learn more about say, what a network is; and support
should cover things like phone numbers that people can call, email
addresses, etc. The point of doing all of that is to answer people's
questions before they call you and ask. For example, say I'm a big company
needing a network of um... some huge number of terminals for a network;
what can I expect to pay for your services? What are my options regarding
what I will get, speeds, operating systems you work on... Can I expect
on-site support, or do you have a 800 number I can call? You get the idea.
If I am set on setting up a unix network, do you do that at all? Those are
specifics that you may want to have on your page; otherwise, 2 things may
happen. One, you'll get a ton of calls and you'll go nuts trying to answer
dumb questions (or the same questions more than once), or two, no one will
bother calling because there are zillions of internet service companies
that have much more detailed information on their page. 

4- When you talk about your company, you may want to say from the beginning
where you're located. I'm in California, and when I look for an ISP or
hosting service I will tend to look in my own state or even in my own area;
if I don't know where you are, I'll go find someone that I know is
somewhere around here... 

5- The news and feedback pages still have that pale yellow background.

6- The copyright and webmaster information should have a smaller font, and
the style should be consistent throughout the page; a page or 2 have bold
Arial, the rest Times New Roman. 

4-6 are minor details; but 2 & 3, im my humble opinion, need immediate
attention. The frames look, I'm sorry to say, really bad right now; it's a
fixable thing though. One thing that may help would be to get an
application called powertoys, from microsoft (I think it still goes by that
name). One of its parts is called quickres; you can activate it, and then
change the screen settings (color and resolution) without rebooting; it's
really good for checking that the page looks good in more than one
resolution; if it looks great on 640x480, then try it on 800x600, and if
you want to be picky try it on 1024 x 768. It helps A LOT. 

Good Luck =)

-Nathalie Esteban


At 03:34 PM 1/6/99 -0800, John Holman wrote:
>OK, thanks to everybody for the great sudgestions!!
>Here is the same site, re-vamped.
>
>Please take another look.
>
>http://www.holmcomp.net
>
>Thanks again!!!
>
>John Holman
>Holman Computer Services
>http://www.holmcomp.net
>
>
Live not as though there were a thousand years ahead of you. Fate is at
your elbow; make yourself good while life and power are still yours.

-Marcus Aurelius, 2nd. Century A.D.

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