Website Development Assistance

raees_cajee

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Hey everyone
I'm currently developing my website with wordpress , my goal is to run a online store in the near future but for now i'm practicing with a blog advertising my "services".

I need some positive criticism on the design , layout and content of my website thus far.
I would really appreciate any advice!!
***
Note:
I know the basics of php/html/css and have a full understanding of wordpress

raetech.co.za
 
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It's somewhat insulting to be here asking for criticism on the design of your site, whilst also offering web design as a service on your site.
Website Design

Why We Are Different
Most web design companies will build you a website and expect you to do the rest. At RaeTech we also help your website grow, as well as boost sales and generate leadsthrough us.
Your site is either a hardware shop, or it's a web design site - not both. It looks tacky having this 'all in one' approach where you're a jack of all trades, master of none. Rather have two distinct sites, and be proficient at each one.
 
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It's somewhat insulting to be here asking for criticism on the design of your site, whilst also offering web design as a service on your site.
No harm in sharing knowledge, experience or just an opinion?
 
Well done for trying to start up a business at such a young age.

Some advice:
1. The forum requires you to be 18 to join, so perhaps remove your age from the post.

This goes for your website too (The about page). I can understand why you added your age to your website. I would too, it's quite an achievement at your age to start a business, but no adult is going to take you seriously if you broadcast your age to the world. Some people might even be wary to buy something online from a high school student. You can blame teens on websites like Gumtree/OLX for creating that perspective.

2. Loading times and ease of use is very important. Your website is a bit on the slower side. Most people hate slow websites. See this Oatmeal comic for reference: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/no_internet

3. If you want to open a shop your main page should be very clear about it. I don't want to first have to scroll to see what you actually want to offer me. I can't decide if you're a blogger that offer services on the side or a shop that offers reviews.

4. Consistency is very important. Small things like having a word then a space, a comma and another space followed by a word is annoying to the eye.

excert.png


Please add a exert to your posts. Without a exert I take your reviews about as serious as mybb's "Here is the top 5 most important things you need to know about house flies before stock markets open today" type of articles.

5. Finally, please please please customize your website a bit. Sorry to have to say this, but your website styling looks like every wordpress blog ever.
 
[)roi(];17949707 said:
No harm in sharing knowledge, experience or just an opinion?
Just an opinion :).
Seems like everyone is trying to be a web designer these days without any real expertise in the field. Rather be experienced at something before offering it as a service, else you're just gonna make a bad name for yourself / run into difficulties with clients.
 
I need some positive criticism on the design , layout and content of my website thus far.
I would really appreciate any advice!!
Suggest you look at performance and intrinsic value:

Performance:
  • Images: Just 4 of your images are 2.5Mb i.e. 42% of your home page size
  • Load latency: Your site takes far too long to load; consider not only the time for initial view, but also for total load completion. Unless the site is interesting (most aren't), most visitors can't be bothered waiting.
  • etc...
All popular browsers have built in tools to analyse performance; get familiar with it to identify performance issues, both for the home page and subsequent site resources.

Intrinsic value:
Before you add something to your web site, consider it's intrinsic value for both the site, your service and especially for the targeted visitor. Do elements like continually changing banners, pop-ups and slide-in panels really add value?... or could they be seen as cheap UI tricks? Cheap tricks always become tiresome, for example: how many times do you need to watch a popular youtube video before it becomes boring. Nobody wants to visit a site with too many adverts, and nobody revisits a site that substituted cheap tricks for content. Yes you're missing content, I'm certainly not going to come back for the UI tricks.
 
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Just an opinion :).
Seems like everyone is trying to be a web designer these days without any real expertise in the field. Rather be experienced at something before offering it as a service, else you're just gonna make a bad name for yourself / run into difficulties with clients.
True... In many ways it's become a service similar to guys who offered to make business cards, posters, ...
That's the problem with Wordpress and the like; everyone's a web designer.
 
Note:
I know the basics of php/html/css and have a full understanding of wordpress

raetech.co.za

I'm going to be the turd in the punch bowl here; have you read through the wordpress codex yet?

'Have a full understanding of wordpress'to me would mean you know how to developer plugins, themes, etc for it and you'd be using the built in image libraries to not have an issue with 4 images taking up 2mb.

Maybe what you're trying to say is you know how to work the admin side of wordpress?

If you're claiming to do web design then use an original design for your site, it's your biggest showpiece.

Kudus for starting out early though.
 
Also remove that under construction crap. Websites are dynamic and need to change to remain fresh. They are not roads that are under construction then once built merely pieces of tar joining two places.
 
Well done for trying to start up a business at such a young age.

Some advice:
1. The forum requires you to be 18 to join, so perhaps remove your age from the post.

This goes for your website too (The about page). I can understand why you added your age to your website. I would too, it's quite an achievement at your age to start a business, but no adult is going to take you seriously if you broadcast your age to the world. Some people might even be wary to buy something online from a high school student. You can blame teens on websites like Gumtree/OLX for creating that perspective.

2. Loading times and ease of use is very important. Your website is a bit on the slower side. Most people hate slow websites. See this Oatmeal comic for reference: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/no_internet

3. If you want to open a shop your main page should be very clear about it. I don't want to first have to scroll to see what you actually want to offer me. I can't decide if you're a blogger that offer services on the side or a shop that offers reviews.

4. Consistency is very important. Small things like having a word then a space, a comma and another space followed by a word is annoying to the eye.

excert.png


Please add a exert to your posts. Without a exert I take your reviews about as serious as mybb's "Here is the top 5 most important things you need to know about house flies before stock markets open today" type of articles.

5. Finally, please please please customize your website a bit. Sorry to have to say this, but your website styling looks like every wordpress blog ever.

Thanks for taking the time to view my site , and i will most certainly take your advice. Much appreciated !!!
 
Just an opinion :).
Seems like everyone is trying to be a web designer these days without any real expertise in the field. Rather be experienced at something before offering it as a service, else you're just gonna make a bad name for yourself / run into difficulties with clients.

True the website is basically proof of concept
 
[)roi(];17949955 said:
True... In many ways it's become a service similar to guys who offered to make business cards, posters, ...
That's the problem with Wordpress and the like; everyone's a web designer.

i get where you coming from , but we all got to start somewhere ?
 
I'm going to be the turd in the punch bowl here; have you read through the wordpress codex yet?

'Have a full understanding of wordpress'to me would mean you know how to developer plugins, themes, etc for it and you'd be using the built in image libraries to not have an issue with 4 images taking up 2mb.

Maybe what you're trying to say is you know how to work the admin side of wordpress?

If you're claiming to do web design then use an original design for your site, it's your biggest showpiece.

Kudus for starting out early though.

I meant to say i understand the backend of wordpress
Will be putting more time into design and trying to learn more !!
thanks for taking a look !!
 
[)roi(];17949939 said:
Suggest you look at performance and intrinsic value:

Performance:
  • Images: Just 4 of your images are 2.5Mb i.e. 42% of your home page size
  • Load latency: Your site takes far too long to load; consider not only the time for initial view, but also for total load completion. Unless the site is interesting (most aren't), most visitors can't be bothered waiting.
  • etc...
All popular browsers have built in tools to analyse performance; get familiar with it to identify performance issues, both for the home page and subsequent site resources.

Intrinsic value:
Before you add something to your web site, consider it's intrinsic value for both the site, your service and especially for the targeted visitor. Do elements like continually changing banners, pop-ups and slide-in panels really add value?... or could they be seen as cheap UI tricks? Cheap tricks always become tiresome, for example: how many times do you need to watch a popular youtube video before it becomes boring. Nobody wants to visit a site with too many adverts, and nobody revisits a site that substituted cheap tricks for content. Yes you're missing content, I'm certainly not going to come back for the UI tricks.

I just ran a page load time with goolge and it scored very low , i'm going to be speeding it up and compressing the images .
i understand my content is basically useless at this point , but in future i will be writing posts that have real value to my visitors , and content that will keep them coming back ! Thanks for taking the time to view my site , i appreciate it
 
I just ran a page load time with goolge and it scored very low , i'm going to be speeding it up and compressing the images .
i understand my content is basically useless at this point , but in future i will be writing posts that have real value to my visitors , and content that will keep them coming back ! Thanks for taking the time to view my site , i appreciate it

If you're using Google Chrome as your browser; then click on the hamburger menu (three lines) -> More Tools, Developer Tools.
Everything you need to analyse or debug your site. https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/iterate/inspect-styles/shortcuts?hl=en

Safari also has this (if you're on macOS)
 
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