Website critiques

[Flickering Dream]

Well I have been working on this site for a few weeks now and I think I am ready for you all to take a look at it. I know some of the wording still needs polishing, some pictures can be better, and the shopping cart is not hooked up yet. All of that will happen soon.

What I am looking for is your general opinion of the look and feel of the site. Do you like how it navigates from page to page, are the pages eye catching, what would you change. Should I have more information on the page, and so on.

One question I would like answered is:

Which format looks better the Air Force candle pages or the Army candle pages?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

www.militarycandles.com

Thank you for your help.

[caryfh]

I like the picture of the Army candles better than the Navy. I believe it's because the picture is taken straight on, which has reduced a lot of the shadows that are shown in the Navy ones.

I would move the pictures on the home page. I would split center with the Navy on one side and Army on the other. Then you could have your text below that. I always try to put my most eye catching stuff on the first part of the page the customer sees, so that they don't have to page down to see my highlighted products. By moving the pictures, the customer sees them first, and then if they wish to read more about your product, they can see that the text pages down some.

I would reduce what is shown in the picture. Choose your favorite, and perhaps take a picture with some props (nothing too distracting), and really zoom in on the detail you have in the carving. On the next pages when you go to look at the different types, perhaps you could show your picture of all the candles there, and then each individual.

I would also add a background. The page looks very plain right now, and at first glance, it almost looked like one of those pages you come across when you enter a website that isn't set up yet. Maybe you could add some desert camo or other military type background just to dress it up a little bit.

Finally, I would make the font of the title of the website bigger and a little more elaborate than the text font. Perhaps test out the military font (I can't remember the name of it, but it's the one that looks like the military stencil they use to put a troops name on their clothes).

Just a couple thoughts while I had a moment. Hope that helps some. I know how hard it is to get things just right, especially when you are doing it by yourself. It took me a long time, and a lot of criticism to get my site where I can feel okay about referring people to it.

Cary

[Judy, USMC]

"Each one of our candles are individually prepared knowing that one day it will be given to a member of the United States military on one of the many memorable days of their career."

I don't know if you really want to suggest such a limited usage. May I suggest that you word it more toward general usage rather than limiting them to a presentation gift. Something like "... one day it will be used in your home or office to honor your loved one's service to their country."

Using the generic term "loved one" can apply to husband/wife, fiance, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc. Candle purchases are primarily made by women and most often they are the ones who are so very proud of their servicemember and would most probably buy one to decorate their own home.

And I agree the AirForce photos could show a little more detail.

I see that you are developing a USMC and USN line also. Did you ever think about doing an Officer's line next? Might be easier since their emblems don't change from one branch to the other.

HTH - Judy

Edited June 21, 2010 by Judy, USMC

[jonsie]

Beautiful candles!

A couple of very minor technical issues...

1. Title your home page. When editing your index.html page, change the code from:

<title> index.html </title>

to

<title>Military Candles</title>

I personally feel it is a lot more professional this way.

2. On your home page, in the photograph of the Army candles, is it just me or do those look more like bars of soap? I don't see any wicks. So my first (and lasting) impression of your product was soap bars and not candles.

Bless you for doing something like this. I think it is a wonderful idea. Create a Facebook fan page as well and link it on your home page.

Good luck!

[Flickering Dream]

Cary - Great suggestions. I have already changed the font.

Thanks Judy for the great suggestions. You are suggesting the 'voice' I have been trying to think of for the whole site. Now to retyping..

Can I use you quote at the bottom of your page?

Jonsie - great idea. I changed the page title, and the pictures were taken prior to wicking...I guess they do look a little like a bar of soap, and a large bar of soap at that. LOL And I did creat a fan page on Facebook.

Thanks everyone. Please keep the suggestions comming.

Edited June 21, 2010 by Flickering Dream
Spelling, go figure!

[Judy, USMC]

Thanks Judy for the great suggestions. You are suggesting the 'voice' I have been trying to think of for the whole site. Now to retyping..

Can I use you quote at the bottom of your page?

Go for it!

It's something I saw, adopted, and have used as a signature line on this forum since late 2007 or early 2008. The second line I changed ... from "That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it."

Unable to find an attributal original source for it. There is an article by LtCol George Goodson, USMC (Ret) at USADojo.com which was posted this year and contains that statement as the last line; but is not in the original 2007 Marine Corps Gazette article. D.H. Brown used it in the dedication for his story Honor Defended in 2009 and attributes it to ~ Author Unknown.

It suprised me a little when I used a Bing search ~ many of my posts on this forum showed up! No one has sent me a cease & desist. Without proof otherwise I believe it is in the public domain.