I built my first website

[andrewman~SPARTA~]

It's for my wife who is starting out in a new direction

 

http://www.donnadaycare.co.uk

 

If you feel like providing feedback I'd be grateful. Also I am looking for advice on making it onto the various search sites, and I am cheap so I don't want to spend any money.......your advice appreciated

[peter~SPARTA~]

Nice first one.

 

I would change some things. Move logo to top header or make left frame less wide. Right now it take like 2/3rd of screen space and make menu invisible for me without moving slide bar.(most people are lazzy as me)

Picture on front page looks like kid is drowning, message you don't like to send to parents.

I would change "charges" in to "pricing", but i'm not brit so charge could be same good.

 

I think its very good start , just need some fine tweaking

[Skaz~SPARTA~]

give it more colors, mommys always likes neat, cute things...

sigh

[PANiC]

good effort andrewman i've seen a lot worse first attempts that's for sure, i have first hand experience of creating rubbish sites so i know you did a good job

 

make the text actual text and not an image, the search engine bots wont have any idea what the content on your page is so no info will show up in google search and anyone searching will not find your page on google unless they type in your url.

 

the design would be a lot more flexable and resize with the screen size rather than using those large image files which are fixed sizes.

 

i understand that would completely redesign your page but hey every webdesigner has done this again and again.

 

 

 

i always like to do things in my own way but looking back then i'd probably had an easier time downloading some css layouts to start off with and customising how i wanted. some here if you want to check what i'm on about: http://www.free-css.com/free-css-layouts/page1.php everything is customisable, you just get a fast, stable base to add your text pics and colours to. hey i can cheat i suck at coding

[custard~SPARTA~]

Looks good mate

[KalXen~SPARTA~]

Have her add in a "Biting Policy".. something I see in many day care's here in the US.. good to know what discipline options there are, or how biting would be dealt with.

[andrewman~SPARTA~]

Interested in the comments regarding size of pictures and text, what screen size are you viewing through as the site looks fine on my 22 incher

 

Policy on biting is there Kal

 

Viewing those free templates now P - I am keen to have a clear, concise template

Edited May 14, 2010 by andrewman~SPARTA~

[MedicSN6]

First off, it looks great!

 

While there are some small things I would change, I think it is a very good first website. The layout is well done and it looks like you have covered the information that is important and left out the stuff that isn't.

 

Some of the things you should probably look at in no particular order:

 

templates. use them. there are a lot of free ones and they work. try one that is centered and has a width of 700px. this means that even a person who still uses a 800x600 resolution can still see your website clearly.

 

Wording. Peter touched on this and it really boils down to local or region based nomenclature. Instead of Charges or fees, look at Rates. Instead of Qualifications, try Accreditation.

 

Fonts. The text font is pretty generic. Research how fonts work and choose one that reflects the mood and ease of reading that you want your customers have.

This should get you started. http://justcreativedesign.com/2007/12/04/h...-choose-a-font/

 

Hit counter. These are very out. Have been for a while. Drop it. The only count that really counts is the phone calls or the actual business dollars you are generating. This is in direct correlation to your other marketing such as print, radio, or t.v. A website is where the meat of your advertising rests. Use the other mediums to direct potential customers to the website or phone. Just because you have a new website doesn't mean people know it is there or the URL to get there. This brings us to the next point.

 

Keep track of the "how did you hear about us?" question. This is important. Always ask clients, people that call, etc. how they heard about you. You might consider a quick questionnaire as part of the application and emergency contact paperwork.

This information will tell you how you need to invest in your advertising. My guess is that a lot of the talk about your business will be by word of mouth, but if you have fliers and cards, new parents can be directed to your site which also has the phone number. If you have a community center, post fliers and leave cards. You need to be diligent.

 

Search listings. Submit your site to all of the search engines. There are many ways to do this and there are companies that you can pay to do this for you. It is pretty easy to do yourself.

 

Know your limitations. Make sure you never post your limitations on your website. This might include how many children your wife can daycare during one day. Limitations close peoples minds and make them second guess. But also keep in mind that you can schedule ahead. You might want to create a gmail account and utilize the calendar feature to schedule future appt. Even if the account is just for the summer, The beginning of the school period is perfect timing to begin scheduling for the school breaks such as Christmas, Spring, and next summer if your school system has them. It is easy to worry about the 'now' business and forget to procure business for 6 months from now.

Just don't post this information on your website.

 

Anyways, these are just some thoughts off the top of my head. Remember, just as in the food industry, presentation is just as important as the taste.

Have fun!

[andrewman~SPARTA~]

Hit counter removed, Charges changed to Rates - much better word. I will leave the accreditation at qualifications as the Brits probably understand that more

[andrewman~SPARTA~]

The site is 1350 wide - is this too wide, given comment that I should be aimng for around 700 - I always did want it bigger LOL

Edited May 14, 2010 by andrewman~SPARTA~

[KalXen~SPARTA~]

General rule of thumb I've kept is to keep the width of the content to 800px.

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

I am watching your site from the office, where my monitor is a crappy 4:3 1280*1024 and the page is too big.

 

It cuts the right end side and a part of the navigation menu.

 

Considering ppl "sometimes" makes personal searches from the office, i would keep it in a simple size that any low end monitor can handle ';)

 

See ya

 

[Halli~SPARTA~]

Unlimited water, Squash and cows milk are available throughout the day

 

Squash....!? this must be a regional thang

[MH6~SPARTA~]

General rule of thumb I've kept is to keep the width of the content to 800px.

 

This. Almost always do this.

 

Because yes, there are people who run 800x600 resolutions still.

 

But hey, at least we managed to phase out 640x480 right?

 

Other than that, replace the child on the front page with a child that is smiling to better fit the quote, and it'll look fine.

[Denny]

Looks great so far. I'm currently working on my own site for my company. As mentioned before, fonts, lettertypes are very important. Outlines and drop shadows are very eye catching as are the right color combinations.

 

Show a bunch of youngsters in happy grins instead of just one. I will keep an eye on your progress and will post mine after I learn from the pro's, how to set it up right, as I'm very new to this field.

[andrewman~SPARTA~]

Guys I love you all, the feedback is terrific, I will work on the width of the pages, change the photo on the front page to a "smiler" (by the way that's my daugther) I was keen not to use anyone's elses kids as - well you know how sensitive that can be - and they are all my own photos so not breaching any copy-right issues.

 

Halli Squash is obviously a regional thing - it is concentrated fruit juice that is diluted with cold water - cordial

[andrewman~SPARTA~]

The site is now 800px in width, and I am crying onto the code..........looks are not great, how do you make the site scale to a screen resolution so that it arrives on someones screen looking like I would want it to?

[Kiwi~SPARTA~]

It looks good, but I think some pics of children playing in your garden would show part of the environment the kids will be spending their time. Looking at it as a mum, I like to get an idea of where i'm sending my kids. Some more pics like the one on the rates page would be good. It looks too white to me. You need something that jumps out & makes people think, I want my kids to go there.

If you haven't already done it, what you could do, is ask some mums their opinion.

 

Hope I'm not being too harsh.

[andrewman~SPARTA~]

Not at all Kiwi - I am learning and all comments are appreciated. Good idea about the children playing in the garden

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

I was taking a closer look at the site, now at home.

 

It display way better now, and also if I am using a 26" at 1920*1200, I use the browser in a window, not maximized, so it really lloks good. And i m sure it will look great on my crappy monitor at the office too.

 

Now, something is catching my eyes is the lack of color. I like all the pics and I like the way they fade into the background, but the white page with black text is way too boring.

 

It is very readable, but I guess you used a very standard character, which gives the feelilng you are reading a Word document rather a web page. Nothing too wrong with that, but we know that today the experience on a web page has to leave you with a feeling of "creativity" and the Site is quite "flat" at the moment.

 

On this subject, in order to try to give some more color and life to the page, I would keep in consideration the opportunity to change the Logo colors , because that Green and Yellow, although very readable on a white background, maybe difficult to work on different colo backkground.

 

I think it s a matter of experiment colors delivering warmness and peaceful feelings, and of course joy, let s not forget beyond safety, kids like to play

 

Great job to put down the first layer of this

[KalXen~SPARTA~]

Stick with either pastels or rainbow colors. Pastels may be better, as the Crayola colorscheme is overused a bit too bright on the eyes.

 

As for pics of kids, I'm sure some of us might have some kid pics you can use of our own.

 

Or use this..

 

[Denny]

Tell potential clients that you offer fun activities for the little tykes, with hours of fun.

 

 

[MedicSN6]

Something funny but very true.

 

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell

[andrewman~SPARTA~]

Panic - thanks buddy for the tip.

 

Mark 2 website is now up, feedback welcome

 

www.donnadaycare.co.uk