I seem to have ADD judging by all the designs I've been going through of late. But, after working on my London design site, I realized how poorly the content conveys my skills, services, etc. on my Las Vegas website. Unknowingly to myself, ryanfait.com transformed into a site that appeals more to web designers as opposed to those in need of a web designer. So this is my attempt to fix it, and to separate the web design resources from the business side of things.

http://ryanfait.co.uk/


Questions I have for you guys and gals:

Should I put the contact link at the top with the rest, or should I leave it in the footer?

Is this a nice blend of corporate and cool? I don't want corporate clone, but I want to make a professional first impression.

I'm currently using a blue tag on the resources and articles pages to immediately let potential clients know that this information is probably not relevant to them. It probably won't stay. I'm thinking of an alternate way to achieve the same thing.

Ryan

I would put it on the top. People shouldn't have to scroll or look for a way to contact you. It must be "in their face"



I REALLY like this version better than your old one to be quite frank. I would you R with the butterfly also in the header like REALLY big with an opacity of 10% or something like that. Just to add something in there.



Maybe a light yellow instead of the blue? Don't know ... it look ok but .. I'm not sure.

Your Portfolio page displays 404 text?!!?

Yeah, I think so too. I just doesn't look good under the other links. I'll find a place for it...



Thanks! I actually had my logo faded in the header, and I liked it. But I like plain, too. The reason I have it empty now is because I added some noise to the red, and it has a sparkling quality on my screen. I don't know how it looks on other monitors, but on my MacBook Pro, it looks reeeeaaallllly rich.



I switched it to a flat red. It's better.



Done!

Yeah ... now I can see it on my 21.5 flat wide screen but still ... I still think it look a tad too plain. But hey ... it's your site

Yes, at first when I opened it up, I was expecting something to appear in the red, then after a few seconds when it didn't I thought maybe something had gone wrong, then finally after a few more seconds I thought "hmmm, well it's actually quite nice just like that", but it did take me a while to get there so I think you're missing the instant wow factor. I like everything else though.

The contact link definitely should be prominent. That's how you get business, right?

The red header isn't doing enough to justify its consumption of space. Sure, it's a nice rich velvety colour, but that space could be better used by a relevant image -- something that conveys what you do (web design), or something that suggests your good qualities (trustworthiness, for example).

Your "resources" and "articles" simply don't belong on this site. Web designers are not your customers! Don't distract your customers with irrelevant information! These are great resources, but find somewhere else to put them.

Maintain a clear sense of purpose. Mixing those two things together is similar to having no real plan in chess: you start with a sacrificial attack on the kingside, but then snatch an irrelevant pawn on the queenside. Stay purposeful! Everything on your site should be relevant to your purpose of convincing potential customers to contact you.

Your footer text is perilously low-contrast.

Other than that, the site is delightful as always.

This post has been edited by MikeHopley: Apr 24 2008, 10:27 AM

I've got an idea for a little more stuff in the red area... I'll work on it tonight.



My resources have gotten me paid work themselves, but more importantly, people link to the resources.

The links to my domain are indispensable as they are partly responsible for my good search engine rankings. Google has sent me 9 out of the 10 most recent jobs I've gotten. Plus, I won't sacrifice the rankings I've achieved on the resources themselves by moving them to a new domain.

Finally, visitors wanting a website who enter the resources area will see the prominent tag or read the first sentence informing them this part of my site may not relevant to them. On the other hand, if they are serious about searching for a web designer, they have the option to skim through some of the things I've created or written about. Even if they don't fully understand everything, it gives me credit and tells them I am very much in the industry.



I understand your side of the argument, but I'm not pushing the resources on my new site like I am on my current one. The benefits of having them on my site vastly outweigh the cons in my opinion.

Your point gave me an idea, though, and it solves two of my problems! I'll be recombining the resources and articles into a single section. The extra slot in my nav will make room for the much needed contact link.



You're right... I need to rethink that.



Merci Beaucoup!

I am not keen on your header. I very much feel like something should be there. Apart from that I prefer it to your las vegas site. It is far more structured to selling services as opposed to pleasing the developer community.

I have a question. Your from London, yet your site title is 'Las Vegas Web Design'. I am I missing something here? I genuinely thought that you was from America until I saw your profile. Perhaps the reason for the low take up is the general confusion as to where to your based.

Good argument. That consideration outweighs my argument.



A perfect compromise!

Hey Ryan! Overall the site is extremely well done. Your organization of content is well thought out. Line spacing and readability is excellent. The two columns are balanced out just right with text and simple graphics. A real professional site.

But... the header isn't up to speed. Sorry... I would suggest finding someway of making it more interesting. At this point in time, it's either undone or uninteresting. On my screen I can't see the noise so to me it's just slightly gradient. I know you like things simple and tasteful. I'm not suggesting putting up bright lights which refer to the Vegas strip or anything, but there has to be a way of jazzing it up just a bit!

I live in Las Vegas and London, and I spend about 6 months in each place. I'll be moving back to Vegas in a week, which is why I'm working harder on trying to get the site back on track.



Yep, like I said, I'm working on it! I promise I won't leave it the way it is for long

nice work!

clean, easy to read, and fast.

Only thing that bothers me are the gigantic footer links (why so big?) and the big red banner that's just taking up space.