[iDriveX]

Ok for real though. I just got finished making my company's website (Self employed and saving costs). I don't need a critique on the style or the different elements I chose to use. What I do want is reports of dead links, spelling errors, grammar errors. And since I know we have a ton of the grammar/spelling police on here, I figured you guys could help me out. Whatdya say?

http://www.theempiregroup.net

[rickey939]

http://www.theempiregroup.net/solutions.htm

I assume it's okay to use those icons from Apple?

[Cubeoid]

[Tyre MacAdmin]

I'd like to see your logo up top a little more "crisp" and the menu buttons across the screen with the new hip "glossy plastic" look. It's a nice website but it looks likes "last year's" design in a couple places.

[iDriveX]

Rickey, I would assume it's probably not OK to use them. Didn't realize I had copyright police in here too. We're small time and we're not defacing or defaming Apple's icons in any way. The day that this starts to make enough money to support itself is the day that I hire a professional web designer to take all of my content and put it on a $10,000 web site. Until then, I had to make due with what works.

I appreciate you all taking the time to look at it, but realizing that money IS an issue, I had to do it completely on my own. A crisp website isn't going to make a 70 year old decide to work with me or not, but really bad spelling and grammar mistakes with some dead links might....Hunt away!

[Cubeoid]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

....Hunt away!

[rickey939]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

Rickey, I would assume it's probably not OK to use them. Didn't realize I had copyright police in here too.

Easy trigger, it was just an observation...nothing meant by it at all. However, the police are watching you indeed...

[Tyre MacAdmin]

Hell if Microsoft can get away with stealing and using OS X icons in XP I'd wait for the call... however those icons you've used don't really "flow" with the rest of the site... they, however *do* use the "glossing plastic" style I was talking about which is the web designer's "rage" right now...

[demograph68]

Originally Posted by Tyler McAdams

I'd like to see your logo up top a little more "crisp" and the menu buttons across the screen with the new hip "glossy plastic" look.

(I don't think they match the style of the site though.)

[iDriveX]

Thanks Demograph, I'll post those up tomorrow and update the thread when it's taken care of.

Also if anyone want to make me a better logo/banner for the top of the page. Now would be a great time to do it before I eMail all of my clients on Monday to check out the new webpage! That's about the only thing that I feel is truly lacking now that Demograph has taken care of the tabs!

[OldManMac]

http://www.theempiregroup.net/cd.htm

This statement; But you had held onto a CD over the past ten years earning an above average rate from a bank you would have actually LOST money after inflation and taxes! Take a look at the following chart to see for yourself:

Reads better: Had you held onto a CD over the past ten years, earning an above average rate from a bank, you would have actually LOST money, after inflation and taxes! Look at this chart to see why.

[iDriveX]

KarlG...thank you! Exactly what I am looking for!

[JustAnOl'Broad]

The Presidents message; first sentence sounds strange to me -
maybe a better way to word that?
Also; the links down the left side - is there a way to do something
with the "About the Empire Group" link so it's all on one line?
just looks funny.
not bad, just funny.

[Cubeoid]

Bgahs Thsns Ustsb Urauststeid.

[JustAnOl'Broad]

PS: with the huge fires down your way - if the target audience
is in your area - maybe mentioning the fires down there would hit home quicker
than the Katrina disaster.
just an after thought

[iDriveX]

Originally Posted by JustAnOl'Broad

The Presidents message; first sentence sounds strange to me -
maybe a better way to word that?
Also; the links down the left side - is there a way to do something
with the "About the Empire Group" link so it's all on one line?
just looks funny.
not bad, just funny.

I could change it to "About Us"...what web browser are you on? Do you have it reformating text to a certain font/size? It looks fine on Safari in Panther and IE on Windows as well as Firefox on both platforms.

Are you talking about this first line from the President's letter: "Our hearts go out to all of the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. "

How would you rather see this worded?

[iDriveX]

Originally Posted by JustAnOl'Broad

PS: with the huge fires down your way - if the target audience
is in your area - maybe mentioning the fires down there would hit home quicker
than the Katrina disaster.
just an after thought

To be honest with you, the fires here are a joke. I live 5, maybe 10 miles from the fires. One house has been burnt, an old Rockedyne facility was burnt, no one has died, a fire fighter is in the hospital (by being hit on the head with a falling rock). The Firefighters have done an amazing job keeping this contained to a corridor of trees and brush between the LA and Ventura county lines. No one here cares about it. This is a very very classic case of the media escalating the fear factor when none is needed at all. It's a smoggy day in Los Angeles. What else is new.

[JustAnOl'Broad]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

This is a very very classic case of the media escalating the fear factor when none is needed at all. It's a smoggy day in Los Angeles. What else is new.

OK, you know best; the media is really pushing it up here tonite.

I'm on Safari v 2
OS X.4 on a 15"PB
Did a couple screen grabs; hope this helps.




Maybe that'll help

[iDriveX]

That's very strange. I'm using the same browser, same settings as you (that I know of). I never changed any font settings with Safari and here's my screen grabs:




Is everyone else seeing what he is seeing or what I am seeing?

[Cubeoid]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

That's very strange.
Is everyone else what I am seeing?

I am seeing that what you are seeing.

[JoshuaZ]

Originally Posted by rickey939

http://www.theempiregroup.net/solutions.htm

I assume it's okay to use those icons from Apple?

Let me just say. Pwned.

[Chris O'Brien]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

Is everyone else seeing what he is seeing or what I am seeing?

Presumably JustAnOl'Broad has used text zooming. View -> Make Text Bigger (cmd-+) in Safari.

[JustAnOl'Broad]

BlackBook is correct; checked my settings - I had hit the button to
set the text larger. In my Safari prefs I have it set not to display text
smaller than 14, and have the standard font "Textile 24" and the fixed
width font "New York 24".
If I hit the little A/big A to zoom in/out; the tiny print is too mashed
together to read.
The joys of our eyes getting older.
The bigger text makes it easier to read quickly - not as much
aiming the sweetspot of the bifocals.
Anyway; just my 2 cents.
HTH
P~

[Tyre MacAdmin]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

That's very strange. I'm using the same browser, same settings as you (that I know of). I never changed any font settings with Safari and here's my screen grabs:




Is everyone else seeing what he is seeing or what I am seeing?

That wouldn't be CSS driven would it?

[Tyre MacAdmin]

Originally Posted by demograph68

(I don't think they match the style of the site though.)

Right but the site is already using several styles kind of combined together... time to make it consistant.

[zerostar]

here is a crisper LIAM logo...

[iDriveX]

It would be CSS Driven, yes.

I'm going to try out the tabs and see if they work, style-wise, or not here in a little bit.

Thanks for the LIAM logo, but as you can see, that ends at Midnight tonight.. A prettier banner/company logo would really help though!

[Tyre MacAdmin]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

It would be CSS Driven, yes.

I'm going to try out the tabs and see if they work, style-wise, or not here in a little bit.

Thanks for the LIAM logo, but as you can see, that ends at Midnight tonight.. A prettier banner/company logo would really help though!

Probably upwards of 90% of the people visiting your site will be using IE on Windows... so I would first shoot to make sure the CSS looks correct there... then if you've got a statistic counter for your site you can check what other browsers commonly visit the site and make sure the CSS looks correct. If it will not work with the current layout (like it didn't above) you can add a line of code that will detect what browser your viewer is using and it will then instantiously redirect them to a second page that you can custom design to look correct with that particular browser. CSS still does not flow well with different browsers espescially when you've got different operating systems with different versions of different browsers looking at the same webpage. It's often needed to "target" your design to look well on one OS and then bring the page up on several popular browsers to see the difference and then go to a another OS and check it again with a few more browsers. Obviously not every computer will have the same monitor or resolution so you have to shoot from the hip and choose a particular resolution like 1024x768 which is usually the default viewing.... since nobody's really going to pay attention to what your site "requirements" are. In which case you want it to "just work" when they pull up the page.

[Tyre MacAdmin]

Got to love this 1.6ghz P4 sorry for the double post

[iDriveX]

Changes:

CD.htm is worded better - Grammar

Please see: http://www.theempiregroup.net/indextest.htm

- Added new tabs (Thank you Demograph)
- Changed the tab's menu a:hover state to black instead of Grey, it was hard to see
- Added "Hot Links" section header to more clearly define what those links were for
- Aligned Upcoming Seminars to the left (Thank you SuperChicken)
- Shortened to "Request an Invitation" (Thank you SuperChicken)

Please give me your opinion on the indextest.htm page.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Honestly the look of it is very dated. Looks like something from he late 90's.

[nredman]

i like the tabs alot better

[iDriveX]

Originally Posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO

Honestly the look of it is very dated. Looks like something from he late 90's.

If you would like to volunteer your service pro bono, I would absolutely love to have you make it "up to date". Until I can afford to blow $10K to have a web designer make me some kick a** web site, this is "good enough"

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

If you would like to volunteer your service pro bono, I would absolutely love to have you make it "up to date". Until I can afford to blow $10K to have a web designer make me some kick a** web site, this is "good enough"

10 grand? Who gave you that quote? Even if you have someone experienced design it and you program it it might be well worth it.

[iDriveX]

That depends on what you mean by "worth it". Do you think my target demographic of 40-75 will turn away from purchasing a policy from me because my website looks "dated" from the 1990's? People that are purchasing these types of policies are more interested in the person they are purchasing it from and the resources available to them, rather than the beauty of the website. Sure it'd be a nice thing to have and look at, but it's not going to make or break any deals for me. Starting a small business you need to think about expenses like these. I'll definitely have it done one day, but not today.

[demograph68]

[zerostar]

like the new tabs, good job

[iDriveX]

Love the logo/banner, but need to keep the roman column. It's already been used extensively on letterhead and I maybe want to convey more of a sense of "Strength" and "We'll Be There" and not "I'm coming to Pillage your country"

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

That depends on what you mean by "worth it". Do you think my target demographic of 40-75 will turn away from purchasing a policy from me because my website looks "dated" from the 1990's?

Actually I think most people in that age group will have a 30 something child do it for them as they are scared of technology. On top of that there is too much text and confusing navigation that would definitely scare away people in that age group.

[MacMan4000]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

Love the logo/banner, but need to keep the roman column. It's already been used extensively on letterhead and I maybe want to convey more of a sense of "Strength" and "We'll Be There" and not "I'm coming to Pillage your country"

[iDriveX]

Well aren't you just a wealth of marketing information. Unfortunately, my existing internet sales don't back up your claims. I just wrote a policy for an 85 Year old guy that went to Google and googled annuites and was directed to a Lead Collecting site where he put in his information, the lead was sent to me, I followed up on it with him sending him PDFs via eMail and then we closed the deal. I haven't seen very much resistance at all to the internet in that generation anymore. Remember my market is California, we have probably typically older, more progressive computer users out here I would imagine.

I also conduct seminars by using the direct mail method. That piece of the business is working. THe website is just to be used as a place where people can gather information. It's a compliment to my business model. Not my WHOLE business model.

[demograph68]

Originally Posted by demograph68

[iDriveX]

Beautiful!

[iDriveX]

Well that's about it, unless someone else wants to change something over the weekend or improve upon something or finds some mistakes. I'm going to be sending out the announcement eMail to my clients on Monday. Thanks for everyone's help!

[demograph68]

No problem. Good luck!

[Mastrap]

Just a general observation: You could cut the copy on your site by about 50% and come out ahead. There's a fair amount of 'babble', no insult intended.

Example:

It is our intention for you to find an innovative website through which you can find all of the answers you are looking for on retirement planning and annuities.

Nobody speaks like this, so why would you want to write like this? A better wording would be:

We hope that this website will help you find solutions for your retirement planning and annuities.

[iDriveX]

Nobody talks like this either:

Apple designers removed the extraneous, miniaturized the necessary, souped up the performance and concealed the result in immaculate perfection. The iMac G5 hangs suspended from a graceful anodized aluminum stand and its widescreen display lets you retouch photos and surf the web while you chat with friends or scan email — wirelessly, thanks to built-in AirPort technology — and see everything at the same time. In fact, the 1680 x 1050 pixel resolution 20-inch display can show more than two full pages side by side. That’s 36% more screen area than the 17-inch, at 1440 x 900 pixels.

It's called marketing. A lot of everyone's website could probably be cut down to:

Here's what we offer. If you are interested, give us a call. 867-5309.

[Tyre MacAdmin]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

Nobody talks like this either:



It's called marketing. A lot of everyone's website could probably be cut down to:

Here's what we offer. If you are interested, give us a call. 867-5309.

I know *I* got it... I goottt iiit

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

Nobody talks like this either:



It's called marketing. A lot of everyone's website could probably be cut down to:

Here's what we offer. If you are interested, give us a call. 867-5309.

Heh. I only write this sort of stuff for a living. But no hard feelings.

(PS: Marketing doesn't mean using big words where simple words would do. Marketing means creating a defensible position in the hearts and minds of your customers.)

[Tyre MacAdmin]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

Well aren't you just a wealth of marketing information. Unfortunately, my existing internet sales don't back up your claims. I just wrote a policy for an 85 Year old guy that went to Google and googled annuites and was directed to a Lead Collecting site where he put in his information, the lead was sent to me, I followed up on it with him sending him PDFs via eMail and then we closed the deal. I haven't seen very much resistance at all to the internet in that generation anymore. Remember my market is California, we have probably typically older, more progressive computer users out here I would imagine.

I also conduct seminars by using the direct mail method. That piece of the business is working. THe website is just to be used as a place where people can gather information. It's a compliment to my business model. Not my WHOLE business model.

This much is true... but don't you want to expand your sales to catch those jackasses that need *everything* like PERFECT and then they buy?

You say no now... but truely I say to ye... you catch that man and ye can doith anything