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l.a.rossmann

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 15, 2009
1,096
372
Brooklyn
The one in my signature.

I am so not a web designer. I wanted it to be very simple for someone to find a price, why to bother using me based on price/model, and a place to find previous happy people on an unbiased independent feedback site(eBay).

I like that it is simple and that on cellphone screens no horizontal scrolling is required. Since 90% of the people who find me do so on their phone, I need something that's no frills so it'll play nice with the limitations of the cellphone web browser. However, outside of that, it is atrocious. I wanted it to stick out over all the other cliche places with a picture of a server behind a field/cloud or some other junk. I know something can be simple and still be good, I just haven't found the good part yet.

Any advice highly appreciated. :)
 

Keniff

macrumors 6502a
Dec 21, 2008
526
1
United Kingdom
So many problems here (although it may seem clear and concise), I find some of the best sites that have an association to mac (and mac users) try and mimic the Apple web site, but put their own twist on it...
You could start by having some tabs, and changing the font to Helvetica...(for a start)

imho
 

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
Too many fonts, styles, sizes, etc.

Might split up the services into their own page also, have the teaser page to hook them and get them to look for more services, and have a standard site navigation page with all the services linking them to the proper page.

If you do split it up a couple big icons for broken LCD, spilled drinks, and broken drives should be easy to come up with.
 

thomahawk

macrumors 6502a
Sep 3, 2008
663
0
Osaka, Japan
the colors are too harsh. the contrast isn't right.

and theres too many fonts. like TOO many. or rather they are not organized in a way that comes out appealing.
 

benlangdon

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,497
0
first of all, when i got to it, i was like where is the website all i see are adds.

but then found its the actual site.
why are 3 things bolded and centered, keep everything the same. clean

having things right aligned on the left is very unprofessional, you can't just read down the list.

don't space things so much, and the first 3 things "white/ black, aluminum" took me about a min to understand what it was. definatly make the title the same or brighter color, the title could, but i wouldn't have it centered, but the writing under needs some structure.

make the main part less poppy. it just pops out and i didn't even notice the title of your website. there is no reason to have two listings of your phone number. make the "all quoted" smaller, its almost as big as the title. do not ever put something in the very front on your page explaining why your site looks like how it is. you never ever downplay your product before you have even listed what you will do. put that link, if you really want it, at least at the bottom and off to the side, or on another page.

you said no extra fees and it clearly says "transportation fee(metro north line) will be paid by you." very small at the bottom, if you ask me, that is hiding fees. that alone would make me not choose you. you should say at the top "ALL QUOTED PRICES INCLUDE PARTS & LABOR FOR A HOUSECALL IN THE FIVE BOROUGHS. " Then right under that should say "transportation fee not included if in new york city."

anyway, now that i have spent ten min on this, i hope you don't take my advice in a bad way. im giving you my honest opinion. if i saw your site, and someone had not told me about it, i would not take a second glance at even thinking of buying something. o, another thing, probably not on the main page, but a link should be there to say what exactly are you going to replace and to what extent will your replace things.

ya im ranting, but im honest.
 

l.a.rossmann

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 15, 2009
1,096
372
Brooklyn
Thanks everybody. I am of the full understanding this site is a cluster(*&^#!$#@!

I think I'm going to pay someone to make it look like a semi-real website. I really like wordpress. Part of me wants to fiddle around with it myself, but art and design is by no means a strong suit(as is evident here). It's best left to someone who knows what they're doing. If anyone can refer me to someone who could make a site perhaps resembling http://www.slax.org/ , and a phone-viewable version, that'd be awesome.

Thanks again for all the input!

P.S.

On the fees, I say New York City at the top.
wikipedia said:
Located on a large natural harbor on the Atlantic coast of the Northeastern United States, the city consists of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.
Since NYC consists of only the five boroughs, and the purpose of the metro north line is to take one out of the five boroughs, there's nothing hidden, it's the first line of the site.
 

memco

macrumors 6502
May 1, 2008
259
2
As others have suggested, doing things like unifying fonts would help. Using a base grid would also help create some structure and provide clean lines. Use CSS to give links a hover state so that there's a little more action on the page.

Also, check your PMs.
 

MacBoobsPro

macrumors 603
Jan 10, 2006
5,114
6
Stick to two fonts maximum but do use different weights of them i.e. bold, book, black etc.

Stick to 3 colours maximum but also try and balance their use. Dont make everything red, blue and black. Maybe use red and black with flashes of tiny blue. I use red, blue and black as an example. It will most likely look crap so replace red, blue and black with three colours that actually look good together.

A lot of the 'chaos' of the site as is, is caused by type being aligned differently all over the place. Try to stick to an alignment 'rule' i.e. make everything left aligned.

Use boxes with tints of the colours chosen above or lines to break up the sections.

DON'T use courier font. It looks like the website is not rendering properly and your browser has defaulted to using courier as the font. Use Arial or Verdana for a nice clean feel on the web.

Try not to use 'black' text as it appears harsh on a light background try and use a dark grey. To take the 'edge' off a little.

If you have iLife maybe look at using iWeb. Its very good for quick good looking sites. My site http://www.stuartluff.co.uk is made using iWeb and while it looks good it is also very simple (and out of date). :D
 

benlangdon

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,497
0
Thanks everybody. I am of the full understanding this site is a cluster(*&^#!$#@!

I think I'm going to pay someone to make it look like a semi-real website. I really like wordpress. Part of me wants to fiddle around with it myself, but art and design is by no means a strong suit(as is evident here). It's best left to someone who knows what they're doing. If anyone can refer me to someone who could make a site perhaps resembling http://www.slax.org/ , and a phone-viewable version, that'd be awesome.

Thanks again for all the input!

P.S.

On the fees, I say New York City at the top. Since NYC consists of only the five boroughs, and the purpose of the metro north line is to take one out of the five boroughs, there's nothing hidden, it's the first line of the site.

come on don't give up.
just put some techno on and write the site all night tell daylight hits.
i do that sometimes and it comes out great if i have nothing to do the next day.
 

mags631

Guest
Mar 6, 2007
622
0
Find a few web-sites of similar businesses that you like and base yours on their design elements. You do not need a novel new approach -- just an effective communication tool that lets people know that you are in business, you are trustworthy, what your prices are and how to contact you.
 

Macky-Mac

macrumors 68040
May 18, 2004
3,488
2,531
Thanks everybody. I am of the full understanding this site is a cluster(*&^#!$#@!

I think I'm going to pay someone to make it look like a semi-real website. I really like wordpress. Part of me wants to fiddle around with it myself, but art and design is by no means a strong suit(as is evident here). It's best left to someone who knows what they're doing.......

Having somebody else do it is your best bet. Let them do what they're good at while you stick to what you're good at.....resist the urge to fiddle with it yourself.
 

belvdr

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2005
5,945
1,372
Having somebody else do it is your best bet. Let them do what they're good at while you stick to what you're good at.....resist the urge to fiddle with it yourself.

I second that. No matter what your rating says, if the website looks like it was put up in 5 minutes, then they'll expect the same for your work.
 

benlangdon

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,497
0
ehh i would try and do it yourself, if you have time.
but a pro would be good.

i just don't like hiring people for things that i could do or learn how to do.
it can't hurt to learn anything.
 

adamfishercox

macrumors 6502
Aug 15, 2007
474
10
I don't even think it looks that bad. It's functional, but the fonts issue makes it hard to find what you're looking for. Definitely narrow it down to one or two fonts, maybe get a more stylish header (even "MacBook Repair in NYC" in Myriad Pro centered would be Apple-ish and simple and attractive.

It won't look beautiful but it will be functional and easy to look at.
 

l.a.rossmann

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 15, 2009
1,096
372
Brooklyn
ehh i would try and do it yourself, if you have time.
but a pro would be good.

i just don't like hiring people for things that i could do or learn how to do.
it can't hurt to learn anything.

I also record music at a few studios and do live sound occasionally. That was my primary job before I started the macbook thing. A lot of people decided to put together their own home studios to save and "do it themselves" but would come back asking all sort of questions on why it doesn't sound the same, or why they'd have to spend five hours getting **** to the point where they could just work. I'd kind of roll my eyes, but I was doing the same thing here.

I'd be a hypocrite to ignore this with web design. It is a skill, just like anything else, it'd be unwise to write it off as something I could become an expert at in a night or two.

As long as it doesn't have the cliche "10+ YRS EXPERIENCE", a picture of a server, or a green pasture, or that generic picture of the all american man on a headset smiling, I am good. I put it together myself because I didn't know what kind of content I wanted on it, but now that I have a vision, I'd much rather let someone else run with it.

I found someone whose work I like to do it. Thanks again for all the suggestions. :)
 

benlangdon

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,497
0
I also record music at a few studios and do live sound occasionally. That was my primary job before I started the macbook thing. A lot of people decided to put together their own home studios to save and "do it themselves" but would come back asking all sort of questions on why it doesn't sound the same, or why they'd have to spend five hours getting **** to the point where they could just work. I'd kind of roll my eyes, but I was doing the same thing here.

I'd be a hypocrite to ignore this with web design. It is a skill, just like anything else, it'd be unwise to write it off as something I could become an expert at in a night or two.

As long as it doesn't have the cliche "10+ YRS EXPERIENCE", a picture of a server, or a green pasture, or that generic picture of the all american man on a headset smiling, I am good. I put it together myself because I didn't know what kind of content I wanted on it, but now that I have a vision, I'd much rather let someone else run with it.

I found someone whose work I like to do it. Thanks again for all the suggestions. :)

ya i know exactly what your saying.
o and i have no idea how nyc is set up :p, my uncles live on long island, and thats about as much as i know
 

l.a.rossmann

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 15, 2009
1,096
372
Brooklyn
I changed the front page temporarily until I have my friend redo it. I'm going to do all the subpages the same way later today. Any improvement?

Thanks again. :)
 

ian.maffett

macrumors 6502
Aug 1, 2008
258
0
Florida
Yeah, don't give up - you obviously have a Mac... Play around with iWeb for a bit then take a crack at it. You'll certainly get more out of it than that without a lot of investment. Just remember, your site reflects you.
BTW - Wordpress is great, too...
 

Consultant

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,314
34
Perhaps actually try to use an apple app first before trying to provide apple services? Even iWeb look much better.
 

HostColor

macrumors newbie
Jul 10, 2009
10
0
I think that should take a look of any websites that belong to companies that run the same business. A template would work for you, including a WordPress one. Drupal and Joomla are also a good choice of a CMS, to build your website.
 

Yairp

macrumors newbie
Jun 27, 2009
26
0
I'm in no way a professional, but I'll my offer opinion if you don't mind:

First of all, try and add a logo or something other than just plain text in the main page, it looks a bit dull and outdated.
Then I'd change the green background to something a little bit more "sophisticated", as in not just a plain 1 color background.
Could do with losing the "box" around the menu on the left, which obviously needs to be aligned to the left.

The changed font already looks better btw, good luck with your business.
 

l.a.rossmann

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 15, 2009
1,096
372
Brooklyn
Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. Is this an improvement? I just uploaded a complete redo.

Perhaps actually try to use an apple app first before trying to provide apple services?

As sensible and snippy as that sounds, there's no relation between using iWeb & web design to figuring out what went wrong with a logic board after someone's cat peed on it.
 
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