Never too old to learn

[Dizzydiza]

Once again I have been teaching my self how to change, and in my opinion, to improve the look of my website.
When I think back 10 years ago I knew nothing about computers. I took a very basic course on how to operate a computer eg how to switch it on and off. I excelled at that as I remember how hubby pulled out the socket to his computer from the wall and the lecturer just rolled her eyes at him....lol I then took an ECDL course to learn the basics of microsoft programmes. (European Computer Driving Licence) It was a home course that I needed to go into the college to sit the tests for. But my biggest achievement by far is creating websites. My first being the church website I manage, using Word. I then progressed onto Dreamweaver. I have now created 3 websites in total and possibly going on to my forth for my BIL
This last 2 weeks I have been teaching myself how to create a template and to improve the layout of my website. It was prompted by 2 complaints about not being able to navigate the website. 2 out of all of the visitors I have had is quite good but then it irritated me that anyone should have any kind of difficulty at all. I always asked my customers about the website and the only complaints they ever had was that the pictures don't do my work justice. Again I am no photographer but I try my best.
Anyway I designed and created the template and I applied it to the website, but the changes didnt stop there as the pages that I use a gallery maker on required work. So I reduce the width from 4 pictures abreast to 3. The only page I haven't applied the template to is the gift page which is only accessible by the index page and the wire wrapping jewellery page. All my designs are on the wire wrapping page but the ones available should be on the gift page. The reason I havent done so is that I have my first craft fayre tomorrow evening and if those pieces get sold then there is no point in putting them on the gift page. So the gift page will be updated at the weekend.....maybe
Have a wee look please, but try not to rip the website apart...remember I am just an amateur(self taught, no formal training) but if you have any advice I will be happy to listen to it
Diana

 

[johnthesearcher]

Hi Diana ....... Well done to you.

I .....like you am an amateur at web layout and page design and I had a quick look through your site without any navigation problems. It just shows you what a bit of determination can achieve.

Some of the images you have on the site are excellent and give the viewer some indication of the quality of the items you are providing.

If you can.... I would check the layout of your site in both Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox (which you can download for free) as I found that when I was positioning images and text it all looked fine in IE then a designer showed me it in Firefox and some of my images were out of line and blurred etc. It's worth a look as a lot more people are using Firefox these days.

The only other thing was text consistency such as different font types etc and the fact that you are using a white background you may find some of the text would be clearer with a bit more white space in between.

You may also benefit from the use of headlines or bullet points to differentiate items of interest which you want to draw the attention of your site visitors to. I don't know if your site editor allows you to text wrap around images in page sections etc but that is often very effective and easy on the eye.

I did a cut & paste from one of the pages on your site and spaced it (see example below)
and it's just my opinion but I think it's slightly easier to read as opposed to blocks of text running into each other.

Wire Wrapped Jewellery

Semi Precious gemstones and beads are wire wrapped in 14ct Gold Fill or Sterling Silver.

Rings can be produced in Silver Plated wire. Some of these items of jewellery are available for sale.

Pendants are sold without chains unless otherwise stated.

This is a portfolio of the wire wrapped jewellery I have already created 14ct gold filled pendants from £25

Sterling silver pendants from £20

Necklace & Earring Sets from £30

Bracelets Sterling silver from £25 14ct gold filled from £30

Silver Plate rings £8 Sterling silver rings £12

The prices of these pieces of jewellery are the minimum price you will pay.

Gold and silver wires are imported from USA as such prices will vary depending on the current price of gold and silver.

So, keep up the good work and I'm no expert but I hope my quick look around will give you some ideas.

John

 

[Dizzydiza]

Thanks for your input John. I use firefox so I need to check if its ok in IE..which I still haven't done :blink:
I decided to use the bullet points on the wire jewellery pages....it makes it a little easier to read, I think....lol I will have a look at the font tomorrow....have I really used different fonts? It's too late this evening for me to check.
I keep finding silly little faults myself with the pages but I have been focused tonight. I stayed off the laptop and got myself prepared for the craft event I am attending tomorrow :thumbup:

 

[johnthesearcher]

Hi again Diana

I'm the same with my website.......one minute I think......Yep! that's it! and then I'll look at it again the next day and I find something else I need to tweek......but 'tweekin' is good and it keeps the site improving bit by bit, day by day and tweek by tweek.

Good luck and many customers at your craft event tomorrow.

John

 

[325 for Telecoms & IT]

Hi Diana,

Well done on the website, I think it looks good and the Photo's are great :thumbup:

My only critique would be the white background and pink font...I would opt for a darker background it would make things stand out more.

As an addition to the website, have you thought about setting up BT Tradespace for your company....it's free and open to you whether you are a BT subscriber or not.

I noticed on your website you could pay for goods and services via paypal if potential customers emailed you...with tradespace you can add this into your Tradespace address and have an online shop. You can upload photos, have different categories and run a blog if you like.

This link tells you more What's BT Tradespace? - BT Tradespace

Karen

 

[Dizzydiza]

Hi Karen
I am sure I am on BT Tradespace because as soon as I updated my profile on it I had a sales person on the phone trying to give me the hard sales pitch

 

[325 for Telecoms & IT]

I got a call from BT this morning....trying to sell me SEO on the tradespace account for £100....told them I was happy with the free listing.

The free listing still gives you access to building a shop and uploading photo's etc...so well worth doing some work around your listing.....and yes you do have Tradespace; I looked under Tiarars in Scotland and you came in at number three :thumbup:


K