Input needed

BigDutch

I'm currently at the stage with a website project where we either really go for it (costing a fair amount of money) or just carry on as we are.

We've got loads of content going onto the site soon but I would be really grateful for any feedback that you are able to give once you've had a look at the site...

Which can be found here

If you could tell me what you'd want to see on the site (keeping in mind we're launching a video site shortly), what you think of the look etc it would be very much appreciated. Feel free to either post your responses here or use the comments section on the pages.

Thanks all!

Surf-Matt

Big Dutch -are you ready...

...just so you know, we run a PR company and write copy for websites such as Oxford University (the real one!), Sky and many other well known groups.

1) Looks a lot like a blog at the moment - too much "white" and the nav bar looks very basic.
2) Lots of the copy needs proofing and tidying up - nothing massively major but loads of punctuation errors and other errors. Also needs breaking up - there's too much text in big chunks.
3) You don't need to apologise in the "home" page for not having much content - just mention it's under construction.
4) Use a less "chat forum" font type and size.
5) Have you got a USP? Something that sets you all apart? At the moment, it looks a bit like a group of guys who have thrown a website together.
6) Have you done loads of research? Is this needed?
7) Assume money will come from advertising? If not where from?
8 ) Will MTB brands want to let you test kit? They need to know that the testing results are getting a huge audience or they won't let you have any stuff!
9) Needs pics - lots of them.

On the plus side it's a good idea that needs a little work and thought.

Feel free to now shout at me.

BigDutch

Thanks Matt - no shouting coming your way :-)

1) At the moment we're using a slightly customised version of a Wordpress theme. We were having a whole site designed for us but got let down by the company and as we were running way behind with the launch it was decided to go with what we had. Visually it certainly needs some work which is partly where the investment would go.

2) Proof reading is supposed to happen. I'm as guilty of letting things slip as the next person. We're also finding that we switch between US English and English English (if you know what I mean) quite often. Something that we really need to be more aware of and get stopped. A lot of the text does appear to run on (paragraphs too long) and this is something that was going to be changed once we got more pictures on the site.

3) You're correct - we don't need to apologise. That's been edited now. Thanks for pointing that out.

4) We've played around with a couple of fonts & sizes with this layout. This was the best compromise we found. Arial is the other alternative (cannot stand Times New Roman) unless you can think of any other system standard fonts that would work better? (we're using Verdana at the moment).

5) Ummm... it is a group of guys who've thrown a website together. Seriously though, our USP will come when we launch the video site as our reviews & tests will be filmed so people can actually see the bike or bit in use. The main purpose of the video site is to allow people to upload Mountain Bike related videos (much like Youtube and plenty of other sites) but in Hi Def. Not re-inventing the wheel, just tweaking it slightly.

6) Not needed exactly but we've all trawled the web for a while and been quite shocked by the amount of really bad information that's available out there. Even some of the big players are guilty of it.

7) Money comes from us. Currently the whole thing is entirely self funded. There is the facility for advertising on the site (we've got one ad on there now) but we didn't want to bog it down with Google Adsense stuff. Once we really launch the site (we haven't even advertised it yet) then perhaps the ads will pick up. If not, none of us are in it to get rich anyway. Although it would be nice to not have to support it all ourselves.

8 ) So far we're doing ok with people wanting / allowing us to test kit. 'More pictures' has been an overriding comment and I'm trying to get that taken care of however, cameras are to be paid from my pocket so I've been hanging off as long as possible on that one. I'll also need to arrange backgrounds, decent lighting... not cheap. This is a problem that stems from the fact we are spread all over the place but I'm hoping to get it sorted soon.

9) I know. Really. And I'm actually quite annoyed about the Foes feature because we got some really fun pictures at the track riding the 4X and then went and left the camera (only a compact digital) in the bag that we used for rubbish. By the time we figured out where it must have gone the bin had been emptied and we had no pics. We're going to get some more as soon as we can.

Thanks for the feedback, it really is appreciated.

Surf-Matt

Nice one Dutch - hope my comments weren't too harsh and some good responses.
Look forward to things happening with it.

Verdana is very "news/blogs/chat" in style. Might be worth just giving Arial a go in a larger font size. Times New Roman is a definite no no as you mentioned!

Good luck!