Re: Site Review

> http://www.regattasport.com

Viewing with 800 X 600, Win 98, High resolution monitor with
Windows 98 color settings, cable modem

Some initial thoughts:
Even on a Sunday night with my cable, I can tell certain parts of
the site (http://www.regattasport.com/enter.html) as an example
are going to be slow loading for people on ISP connections.

Secondly, the way I view the site, you have four different themes
going, I suggest you pick one.
http://www.regattasport.com/
http://www.regattasport.com/enter.html
http://www.regattasport.com/Web_store/web_store.cgi?page=frontpag
e.html&cart_id=

http://www.regattasport.com/Team/index.html (I don't like frames
so I vote this one out.)    I also thing that your blues have
some problems matching and your cut out needs some shadow work
but the color scheme of the purple blue, dark blue in the logo
and red have some promise.

For a site such as the one you are designing, I believe
http://www.regattasport.com/enter.html is the best other than the
beige background.  It's just not quite right.  I suggest you work
with it being either white, possibly the gold you use for
lettering or a blue such as the color of the boat or the blue
color in the Regatta logo(might be too much blue).   You might
even try lessening the amount of background that shows on the
right board and get real daring and try red.  Without seeing it,
I'm not sure if it is too much or not.

While very pretty, http://www.regattasport.com/
http://www.regattasport.com/Web_store/front.html  seem to add
nothing but a layer to pass through.

http://www.regattasport.com/Web_store/web_store.cgi?page=frontpag
e.html&cart_id=  - the difference blues are not quite right and
IMHO do not complement each other.  I also believe the black
border is too heavy and stark.  If you had to go with this
format, I'd make the right border fade out like the left boarder
(giving the "water" effect and thereby carrying out the Regatta
theme.  Though, I'd prefer if you could get the theme from
http://www.regattasport.com/enter.html to load better.  Also note
that you have a tiny white border on the right where the water
background ends and the tan/beige that I don't like starts.

Also note that on your drop down menu (which is redundant of the
menu below it that you are missing "Contact".  If I chose to use
both, I think I'd leave the drop down where it is and move the
one below it to either the right or bottom.  I didn't find a
"problem" per se with navigation other than I was I little amazed
that on the drop down menu, not only did I have to select where I
wanted to go, but then push "take me there".

Oh, and I don't understand the "cut out" at the top of the white
on pages like http://www.regattasport.com/Specials/clear.html.  I
sat there waiting and waiting for a graphic to load there.

http://www.regattasport.com/world.html  The rowing graphic on
this page is great.  To me, these are probably the colors you
should have worked with (royal blue, a purple blue, gold, red and
white).  The beauty of the graphic is spoiled by not being
complimentary with the other blues (IMHO).  When using just the
smaller round regatta logo it doesn't bother me.  It's only when
I see this graphic that I say "these should be the colors of the
site".

You probably aren't done yet, but not all your pages have meta
data.  One page where I did find meta data,
http://www.regattasport.com/inforow.html, I personally don't
think it's done right in that your title uses too many key words.
Yes, titles should use key words, but I would say you should
choose 5 to 8 for page titles. And each page title should be
taylored to the specific page IMHO.

I certainly don't mean to be discouraging, you have a lot of work
in this site and much of it is good, it just doesn't pull
together as well as it could and could use some more of a
specific theme, better meta data and better matching colors.

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