Website Review

[Txphotoguy]

Hi all:

I am new to this forum, but thought it would be a great place to get some constructive assitance on the website I am creating. I am a photographer in Houston, TX and my partner is in the real estate market here in Downtown. I am working on getting a website together for him, and would appreciate your comments on the layout thus far...

I have a limited knowledge of website creation and html, so I am using Freeway for Mac to develop the site, and then I will have some friends in the industry evaluate the code when I am done and optimize the site for me.

In the meantime, I would appreciate any comments you have for me on the layout of the site so far. Most of the links on the left work, though there is still a lot of content remaining to be uploaded. You can get a feel for the site, though, because there is a bunch of information already uploaded.

I have included several differnent areas with forms, please evaluate the design of those, as well.

I'll respond to your comments and let everyone know as I continue to update the site...

Thank you!

Brett

site: http://www.houstondowntownliving.com

[frobn]

Your photography and images are attractive as is your layout.

In designing a web site, attractiveness is a big plus buy you also need to keep in mind how it will play with the search engines and the visitor experience. You should be aware of several drawbacks.

Image heavy sites take a long time to load for people using dial up
Images are invisible to search engines
Frames are not search engine friendly
Splash pages are not search engine friendly

You can keep much of your attractive layout by using text instead of text-images and eliminating the frames. There are many techniques on text layout which can use to keep the same look and feel you have. There was an article recently at http://alistapart.com on how to upload uncommon fonts and use them for text on your site.

[madeonmoon]

i like the site in general. a couple of minor points though:

1) is the splash page really necessary? i was confused at first. i thought that was the actual site
2) the content on the main page is center-justified with a lot of space wasted around it. content on other pages seems left-justified. i'd make sure i am consistent
3) is it really necessary to use images to serve as text? you seem to be doing it a lot on pages other than the main page

hope these comments are helpful

james

[Las Vegas Homes]

I like the colors and the pictures you offer. If I could make one suggestion though, that would be to get rid of the frames. As a webmaster and consumer, I hate frames. I would also include on the homepage the communities or developments that your client wants to promote.

Most consumers going to real estate sites want to look at pictures, search for homes and developments. All in all though I think you have a very eye pleasing site. I also agree with the poster above, dump the splash page.

[Txphotoguy]

Thanks for the comments.

I had not noticed the text justification... bugs me when things aren't uniform, so thank you for pointing that out.

As far as the other comments made so far... I am hesitant to go without frames, because I want people to still see the content of that side frame while they do their MLS search. Make sense? I suppose I could create a frame set to use once they get through the main page.... any suggestions? Or, should I just create the links on the side of every page and screw the whole frames concept??

The entrance page was up while the rest was getting uploaded, and I left it once I got the main content going... I still like the look, but I see your point. Do you think that making it a timed link that advances to the site in a few seconds would fix the problem, or should I just get rid of it entirely?

As far as text with graphics, the reason is that I had chosen a specific set of fonts that I wanted to use as far as making it asthetically pleasing.... and it is impossible to use those fonts as text and have it readable by other browser who do not have those particular fonts installed, if I understand correctly.... up to this point I had been picking and choosing what I used as text as I went along. Is this a really bad idea?

Thanks for the help already! Any comments are appreciated....
:D

Brett

[Txphotoguy]

frobn:

Thanks for the link about text....I will check that out and hopefully make adjustments when I understand what the hey is going on with that....

:rolleyes:

[Las Vegas Homes]

I personally dont like frames, you can still leave the MLS search in frames, but for overall navigation as a consumer sometimes you have trouble getting through and back to other areas of the site. Frames tend to lock or freeze up when trying to navigate. You can get stuck in a loop that you cant get out of as a consumer and when that happens to me on a site I just leave the site. Just food for thought.

[frobn]

Besides being unattractive and hindering navigation, there is a much more basic reason why frames should be avoided--frames and search engines are not on friendly terms. Several posts on here have talked about the high costs, in time and money, of search engine optimization (SEO). One of the least expensive things someone can do for SEO is to have a design structure that is search engine friendly.

[Txphotoguy]

Okay...I understand. No Frames. :)

Thanks for the help.

:D

[Real Estate Forum]

Yeh, this is where the search engine friendly content is http://www.houstondowntownliving.com/houstondowntownb.html and at this time the content is buried too deep.

BTW welcome to the forum :)

[HHI Golf Guy]

I agree with what was said above - especially the frames.

The graphic on your splash page is much too large a file size. If you like your splash page then I suggest breaking it doen in to 5 individual graphic elements. You can use a simple table for the layout of the graphics.

Don't forget to optimize / compress /reduce color count of your graphic images. Experiment with GIF and JPEG to find which compressed file retains your original colors with the smallest file size.

Make your menu search engine friendly - use better anchor text and get rid of the graphic images and replace with text. You can use a CSS menu to retain the same look and feel. Check out Listamatic (http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/listamatic/) for ideas on CSS menus.

Graphics are fine, as long as optimize the file size. Don't forget your ALT tags.

Put your CSS in an external file.

You need to declare character encoding in the HEAD tag.

Your HTML does not validate to the DOCTYPE that you declared. Go here (http://validator.w3.org/) to validate your HTML.

How will people find your web site? Are you using passive marketing only, or do you plan a web marketing campaign with PPC and/or search engine traffic? Your answers will dictate the directions of the next steps for your web site.

[madeonmoon]

Wow Golf Guy,

So much useful stuff in one reply! Very impressive

James

[HHI Golf Guy]

Wow Golf Guy,

So much useful stuff in one reply! Very impressive

James

That's why we're here - to help those that ask questions. Frobn and Vegas nailed the answer with the key items - I just provided filler :)

[Las Vegas Homes]

Wow Golf Guy,

So much useful stuff in one reply! Very impressive

James

Golf Guy knows his stuff, we are very happy to have him here. Even though I am upset that he lives in Hilton Head with all those great golf courses.. :D

As HHI Golf Guy said we are all here to help eachother. The more people we have here asking questions and everyone supplying answers, the more productive we all may become. There is plenty of real estate business out there for all of us. If you like the way this is run, please invite one person to the forum and have them invite one person and before we all know it, this place will be a haven for information that will help us all grow our real estate practice.

[Txphotoguy]

Thank you everyone for being so supportive! I have been so busy with my classwork this week that I haven't gotten around to working on these updates, yet, but I will be starting to work on them tonight. I guess the first thing I am going to do is get rid of the frames and the entrance page. That seems to be first on everyone's list.

THEN, I will get to work on Golf Guy's suggestions...but...I don't know how successful i will be without some extra help! :rolleyes: Thankfully, I know I can count on you all for some great suggestions and guidance now, as well as a few other outlets I have.

I agree with Vegas, this is a great site. While I am not involved in Real Estate directly except for helping my partner with his site and what not, I will definitely help get the word out and I know he will as well!

Thanks again, I will let you know as I make updates...

Brett

[HHI Golf Guy]

THEN, I will get to work on Golf Guy's suggestions...but...I don't know how successful i will be without some extra help!

Brett,

Go ahead and PM me if you have some questions. I won't give out any "trade secrets", but I will be able to answer some questions for you. I apologize in advance if my replies are not timely - I'm juggling a few projects right now.

[San Diego Real Estate]

Mike...thanks again for all the valuable information you share! ;)

[justicewhite]

Don't forget setting unique titles for each page and using <h1> and <h2> tags either.

Good luck...

[Apply]

I got to agree with Golf Guy.

Follow his instructions, except 1 thing: get rid of the splash page. You home pagei is likely to be the strongest on the site. So make sure all your important pages are linked from it. Maximum of around 50 is my suggestions. Use keywords in the links..

As for the rest...
H1, H2, H3 tags
Remove frames
Accurate keyword density
Add Keyword rich titles (remove living.com)
Optimize images
Use Alt tags
CSS for styling

I would also consider switching the red and the white areas - content is easier to read of white. (red is also often a warning colour)

Ok so it sounds pretty much like a rebuild (It will save you alot of time promoting later)

Once this is all done go and get lots of links (from relevant sites where possible) with the keywords you are targeting. ;)

[San Diego Real Estate]

Apply...Great information and additional tips....thanks for sharing! ;)

[KSA]

PhotoGuy,

I know this is a bit late, but I just joined the forum. In case you need an image optimizer - try this one (http://www.netmechanic.com/GIFBot/optimize-graphic.htm).

Its free, and does a nice job. You can do the same thing in Photoshop, but if its easier to use this web app, just thought I'd let you know its there.

Kathleen

[San Diego Real Estate]

Kathleen welcome to the Forum from San Diego and thanks for the Tip! ;)

[San Diego Real Estate]

Brett...Nice site I agree frames must go! ;)