New Site Layout

[RaqOn]

Hi All!

Just changed my CSS layout...I know it feels to me bland compared to what I had but I think this is easier to read & follow. Still have some spacing/wording issues, but any feedback? I need people to "test" it out before I do the next edit. I literally did the whole think in only 4 hours!

NH & VT Belly Dance Raq-On.net

[andalee-oriental]

Have you tried Google's Web site optimizer? You give it two different versions of your site and it tests it out. You should try it. I like the new site, but I never saw the old one.

[TribalDancer]

The banner, IMO, is too tall. It takes up most of the screen, forcing people to scroll to read and see what they came to see. I would make a smaller banner and get the text up a bit higher on the page.

It looks a bit like a blog more than a web page, with the current layout, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of people are using Wordpress these days to create informational non-blog websites. But if that wasn't your intention, I thought I would mention it.

Some of the pages (most notably "Workshops and Events) has too many colors on it! Some text is red, some blue, some green, some highlighted in yellow, then a red banner of some kind. On such a sedately colored website as yours, with black and grey as the theme colors, I would cut back on the rainbow text.

Lastly, I think I would make your text color a little lighter. The contrast is pretty low with the medium grey. I would punch it up at least one more notch.

I like your quote boxes on your Book a Dancer page, and the summary information at the bottom of each page.

[RaqOn]

Thanks for the feedback! Yes I think the old one was more professional looking, however it was very busy as I do more hosting than dancing. I think the blog-type sites are more welcoming. I'm working on the the banner, I agree it's too tall.

[jewelbellydance]

I find this site confusing! Perhaps I'm an old-fashioned girl (haven't really got into blogging), but I find it hard to know where to look on this website. There's so many headings and boxes of text and photos here and there. It's a bit like a magazine layout - which works when you've got the whole page in front of you - but on a website you only see one bit at a time and have to scroll a lot to see what's there. I particularly felt like there was information overload on the workshops page. I think you might also find that many people won't keep scrolling down and down, and they'll miss all the good stuff at the bottom.

If you keep this layout, one thing that would help people like me who like their info 'organised', is to have headers (a list of content) at the top of each page, showing you what's there, and perhaps even clicking onto each section. Or I'd prefer drop-down menus from the main tabs and each page having a little less info on it.

(Actually, my website has just such a problem - too much info, not enough tabs. I have been meaning to fix it for so long.)