Please critic my Bird Dog wesite.
I have updated my site, temporarily, it is located here:
http://ourbfl.ispsaver.com/index.htm
Please critic, and let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Clint
I have updated my site, temporarily, it is located here:
http://ourbfl.ispsaver.com/index.htm
Please critic, and let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Clint
two quick things right off I see- again - this is not to be mean, but too help...
On the front page, you have to scroll down to see the start button. Remember most people view in 800X600 resolution - not sure if you ar using a larger one. You want to try to move things up on this page. get your start button where it can be seen
On the sell your house page, I would choose a different type of bullet - them squares just wanted to make me click them - that could be just me - again on this page, try to move some of the action high up on the page- maybe make your logo smaller and/or move it up next to your top navigation moving them buttons to the right.
Is this your permanent host? what is your domain going to be? I see you are using front page, you may want to consider dreamweaver - you can get a 30 day trial at www.macromedia.com - the code generated by dreamweaver is far superior to frontpage. It loads fast, is cleaner code, and works better in different browsers and platforms.
That is exactly what I am looking for. Thanks. I just downloaded Dreamweaver and modifying presently. I have the domain: http://www.reibirddog.biz
I just pushed it out to a personal web space temporarily to work on it.
Thanks Drifter.
Clint
Being a prgrammer myself, the first thing I look for is HTML compliance.
If your HTML is not complaint, you will find that some users will be frustrated trying to read you page becuase it doesn't work well on thier browser.
testing a website on all available browsers takes a LOT of time, there's only one way to be sure of your site and that is to get compliant.
The World Wide Web Consortium has a free service that will validate your HTML.
Here is the output for your site:
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fourbfl.ispsaver.com%2Findex.htm&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=HTML+4.01+Transitional
Note, if you use Frontpage it is a garuntee that you will generate a non-compliant page EVERY TIME!
I'm a purist, and I write all my HTML by hand.
But, you have a cool logo!
I do not think he knows HTML well enough to code by hand - or even if it fails the validator, then what? not sure if he can fix it... Dreamweaver does by far the cleanest code of any WYSIWYG out there.
Also dreamweaver is also the best a cross browser compliance - for what he is doing, there is no way he can test on all the browsers and platforms, so I think just trusting dreamweaver works the best for this particular development.
I do think that dreamweaver falls short when getting into javascript and you are better hand coding everything, but he is not doing that.
Yea yea yea...
I hear this all the time. "I don't want to learn HTML."
To my mind, in this century, being able to code in HTML is a close second to being able to write a sentence.
HTML is not terribly hard. If your objective is to communicate, then you should learn the language.
But I admit that my perspective is a little skewed... I remember thinking nroff was easy.
You don't need to tell me about HTML being easy... But I would never think that every person should be able to do it - especially to code well with includes and css and also with the more complicated designs people are coming out with - or these designs that require you to use layers. Yea if is easy to do bold and stuff, but when you get into complex embedded tables, and tightening everything down so it can not be messed up by different browsers and text sizes, it can get a little more difficult.
I still say if you are starting out - making a small 5-6 page site that is not a super e-commerce site - stick with dreamweaver.
I will test out the site this evening from my home office. I have computers running Win2k, WinXp, and Linux and use IE6 and Opera on Winbloze and Mozilla and Opera on Linux. If it works there, you should be good for most of the web users.
However, I agree about FP not being your best tool. Dreamweaver is much better if you don't want to/can't code HTML. I personally do most my stuff with a text editor. But Dreamweaver has been my saviour more than once.
I took a quick look and liked your content but need to look again before I decide on your "look and feel".
Ho...
hey Clint
one suggestion...on your pricing, I think you should put the word "Resale" in front of purchase price
Chris
Thanks Chris, and Ho, and all y'all!
Actually using dreamweaver now, (I have created websites in html [hand coded] before; I choose not to now because it is quicker with tools; and I haven't coded extensively in a while) revamped logo, and layout. Should repost tommorrow.
Interested in critique on content. I want to ad a link page, and a couple of form pages. But, I would like comments on the content.
Thanks All!
Clint
Linux Platform:
Opera
1. Content re-arranges as the window is sized down. This might be desired affect.
2. Text in window is not looking good.
Mozilla
1. Content re-arranges as the window is sized down. This might be desired affect.
2. Texit is very good, and sharp.
Windows 2000
IE 6
1. Content re-arranges as the window is sized down. This might be desired affect.
2. Texit is very good, and sharp.
Ho....
Clint,
Content is good. I would suggest trying to make everything flow together on one page a little more smoothly. I'm not sure how you wuold do this in dreamweaver but I would suggest maybe putting everything into a table of specified width (less than 800 pixels wide). This will give your words and images a little more 'togetherness'.
Just an opinion.
Best of luck!
Vic
by the way...take a look at my site for the investor and seller forms.[ Edited by realestateprofit on Date 02/11/2003 ]
Thanks again, all.
I turned to some help from the graphics design dept where I work, I believe they are going to help me make it a 100% window. (correct terminology?) So that it should size automatically no matter what window it is in. They use both Dreamweaver and Adobe. I should have it out there this afternoon.
Clint
Hey,
I don't know any of this technical stuff, (I have a big black box on my desk and when I push the ON button, I can go to the Internet.), but I have some constructive ideas/improvements.
One, I would change "I Have Buyers for Houses" to "I have Buyers for YOUR House". it is more personal.
Two, change "Not a Realtor! We Do Not List Houses. We Buy Houses" to "WE ARE Not Realtors! We Do Not WANT to List YOUR House! We WANT to Buy Your House" This is the exact line I use in my letters and is the same as your FAQ section.
Three, I don't get the Mother-In-Law stuff. Does that mean you pay for moving?
Four, can you make one site for Home Owners and one for Investors? The current set up might confuse a Home Owner, as they are reading information for investors in the FAQ.
Five, In the Section "Under Why Use Me?" Add, as the first point, "THE SERVICE IS FREE!!!!! THERE ARE NO REALTOR COMMISSIONS OR FEES OF ANY KIND!!!", the second point becomes "SELL YOUR HOME IN 72 HOURS!!!!"
Six, in the same section drop the "I am a REI Bird Dog". No home owner is going to have a clue what that is. I have worked in REI for six year, and didn't have a clue until 3 months ago what it meant.
Seven, I click on Investors (I still think you need two websites) and it says "I Have Buyers for Houses". Isn't the Investor the buyer? Should it read "I have Investment Properties for Sale"?
Eight, in this section you use the word CLIENT, but I don't know who that is. Is it me (an investor) or the home owner? If it is the investor use "YOU" and if it is the Home Owner use "Home Owner".
Overall, this is a great service and seems to be a good price. Clean up the website a little bit and then go hunting. You will make a ton of money.
if you are going to make you page size with the window, be sure to look at it in larger resolutions such at 1600X1200 - This may also not be the desired effect - some times paracraphs or blocks of text that are normally on several linee stretch out and end up on one long line... The result is a page that looks kinda "stringy" for lack of a better word.
Point is just to be sure to check it out.
Keep us posted
I also code my own HTML by hand and found a site that has helped me tremendously on more than one occassion. You'll find it here:
http://www.anybrowser.com
They have several free on-site utilities that check the compatibility of your HTML code.
One even shows you the actually code you have on your site with the problems detailed and highlighted right at each problem area.
I don't know if this will help you, but it has been a great tool for me. It is definitely worth a look.
Paul