suggestions please,

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virginia_Bob

virginia_Bob

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Feb 18, 2005
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Powhatan Virginia
www.dbjflowers.com
State / Prov
Virginia
Just got our new website on line. I would really appreciated it if you folks could take a look and give me any suggestions. I havent got a shopping cart on it yet but am trying to figure it out. Also the name of our shop is Designs By Jo.
Since that wasn't available as a domain name. I bought: http://www.dbjflowers.com and http://www.powhatan flowers.com. I bought the powhatan url because I thought it would be easier for customers to remember and find. Any thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob
 
There are some quick changes you can make to help your site rank better. I'll give you a list later today or tomorrow. Just on my way out the door, now :)

Ryan
 
Bob - if I may be so bold - you need to optimize your images - the first one I checked was 97K and that's huge - try running them thru an image optimizer where you can control the amount of compression.

You should be able to get images that size down to no more than 25K - I usually shoot for less.

Here's several of them you can even use online

http://www.google.com/search?q=imag...ox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGIC

Smart move on getting your citynameflowers as well - that's what we feature in all our local advertising. We also got citynameflorist.com and citynameflorists.com as well
 
Bloomz,
Thanks for the advice. I tried the optimizer and I can see where the less bandwidth will be a good thing. I haven't had a chance to do the pics on my site yet but I definitely will.

I very much appreciate the help.
 
Bob - depending on what program you use fo your graphics, many of them now include an optimizer for web graphics.

I use Paint Shop Pro from Corel, have been with it since verion 3 and now it's on 12 - and you just go Export to jpg or gif and a window pops up where you can control the amount of compression and compare it to the original image and see how much it degrades with the various amounts of compression, as well as set transparencies for gifs.

Like I said - I usually shoot for 25K or less.
 
Bob,

Firstly, I agree with JB. Your images should be optimized for the web. There is no hard and fast rule, but I try to keep pages under 100-150kb. Faster page loads are always better.

Here's my list of tips:
  1. Canonical: Add this code to your .htaccess file
    Code: 
    Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
rewritecond %{http_host} ^dbjflowers.com [nc]
rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.dbjflowers.com/$1 [r=301,nc]
    Right now your site appears as either www.dbjflowers.com or dbjflowers.com. To a search engine they are separate sites.
  2. Title Tags: Each page needs to have relevant title tags that include keywords to target. "Home" just doesn't cut it :) Try "Powhatan Florist | Designs by Jo | Powhatan, VA" for the home page. For the About Us page try "About Designs by Jo Florist in Powhatan, VA" as a title.
  3. Put your street address in the footer - you've got lots of space down there, make use of it by helping visitors and SEs know where you're located.
  4. Use an email address on your own domain. It just looks so much more professional :)
  5. Use text navigation, not images. This will help greatly with getting the content pages indexed.
  6. Use the ALT and TITLE attributes on every image.
  7. Use the TITLE attribute on every link.
  8. Embed a Google Maps map on your Contact page.
  9. Interlink your pages. If you refer to your Testimonials page, make it a link.
  10. Wrap all your text in <p> paragraph tags.
  11. Make better use of white space around your text. Don't be afraid of using short paragraphs, as large blocks of text scare people away from reading. Padding is your friend.
  12. Look at the attached file for a quick example of how I employed #9-11 on your About page.
  13. Use H1 once on every page with text that is similar to your title text.
  14. Use H2 for other headings, not images.
  15. You may or may not have done the following, but if not - you should:
    - Create a sitemap.xml file and submit it to Google, Yahoo & MSN
    - Create a robots.txt file and include a link to the sitemap.xml file
    - Block bots from accessing cgi and image directories
  16. Add a blog on your domain. You've given the site a personal touch by including the message from Jo and commenting on your religious motivations for your business. Continue that theme with regular comments on life, business and daily events from Jo.
  17. Critical point: Don't name your pages "gpage.html" - name it something relevant to the contents, like "testimonials.html." Remember, you aren't likely to rank for keywords you don't use. Also, use 301 redirects to point to the newly named pages so you aren't giving people Page Not Found errors.
  18. Use a javascript email link, or an image ... unless you really want to "increase your manhood 8000%" like all those fun emails promise :)
That's enough to get you started :)

Ryan
 

Attachments

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I'll leave the technical stuff to the pro's.

Your site is beautiful. The format is different and I bet it will work well.

Great job!

Jason
 
Good, great advice from Ryan above with one warning:

One problem I've found -if you're using Front Page (Which I do) you can't modify .htaccess and still edit the page in FP. FP requires that file to be totally owned by FP.

I know this by trying some mod rewrites about 2 years ago for short urls - it was a nightmare and I ended up pretty much rebuilding my whole site. Thanks goodness I had a backup of .htaccess

I'm about 90% sure this is no longer the case with Expression Web, which doesn't rely on Front Page Extensions to work properly.

An interesting thing I've run across - if you even OPEN a page created in FP with Dreamweaver - DW immediately carnivores the code and you better have a backup of it. I'm sure this is somehow by design. If you edit live on the server like i do it can be a huge problem.

I'm learning Expression Web now - spent about a month learning Dreamweaver and decided I didn't like it. Microsoft has managed to copy all the good features from it now anyway. I know the DW "snobs" claim DW to be so much better but it just isn't true any more. 90% of the features in either program you'll never use anyway. All you need is a good editor, and most of us are used to thinking the Microsoft way.
 
bloomz said:
An interesting thing I've run across - if you even OPEN a page created in FP with Dreamweaver - DW immediately carnivores the code and you better have a backup of it. I'm sure this is somehow by design. If you edit live on the server like i do it can be a huge problem.

I'm learning Expression Web now - spent about a month learning Dreamweaver and decided I didn't like it. Microsoft has managed to copy all the good features from it now anyway. I know the DW "snobs" claim DW to be so much better but it just isn't true any more. 90% of the features in either program you'll never use anyway. All you need is a good editor, and most of us are used to thinking the Microsoft way.
Click to expand...


Problem #1 - Editing right on the server. <shudder>
Problem #2 - Not keeping backups

The reason DW corrects FP code is that DW actually values standards compliant code (heaven forbid!).

Besides, EWB only supports ASP.NET (not PHP, Ruby, etc). EWB does have nice CSS controls, but leans heavily on tables for design (hello 1999!).

I do find it funny that someone so into having the best POS is so content to settle for less with his web software :)

Ryan
 
Put your street address in the footer - you've got lots of space down there, make use of it by helping visitors and SEs know where you're located.
Click to expand...

Yahoo! local uses this as a requirement for a local listing now.

The reason DW corrects FP code is that DW actually values standards compliant code (heaven forbid!).
Click to expand...

The standards have been revised or solidiefied since the last release of FP, too. Can't judge it by things which didn't exist at the time.

Besides, EWB only supports ASP.NET (not PHP, Ruby, etc).
Click to expand...

Common misconception here--ASP.NET can be written in PHP or Ruby. In fact, PHP runs faster on the ASP.NET implementation (FastCGI) than on its native framework. You can also write ASP.NET in Java (called J# because of trademark rules).
 
Infinite said:
Problem #1 - Editing right on the server. <shudder>
Problem #2 - Not keeping backups

The reason DW corrects FP code is that DW actually values standards compliant code (heaven forbid!).

Besides, EWB only supports ASP.NET (not PHP, Ruby, etc). EWB does have nice CSS controls, but leans heavily on tables for design (hello 1999!).

I do find it funny that someone so into having the best POS is so content to settle for less with his web software :)

Ryan
Click to expand...

I had backups - that's how I restored htaccess. I also rename and save as before I edit anything. And every month or so publish a copy to my hard drive.

I care less about psp or ruby on rails or Santa on roller skates - I'm running a commercial website - not a playground.

What you call "correcting" I call carnivoring - you maybe didn't understand what I said - why on earth would one not be able to look at a site with DW without it tampering with (eating) the code? Not re-saving it or asking it to do anything, just opening a page or site. Scary. That's exactly what everyone used to complain about with the early FP. It took it upon itself to "modify" your code. It doesn't do that any more and hasn't since about 2000. Like I said tho - I think this is by design (spell as competition).

From what I've learned so far about EW - it is trying to get me away from using tables and using strict compliance CSS design - that's why I am learning it. (I have two 400 page books I am reading on css now - and they make my head hurt, one is called HTML Utopia - Designing without Tables). WYSIWYG CSS design is a great helper. "Passionate about standards" is one of their promo lines.

I gave DW a real good try - I wanted to learn it - built a site with it, spent at least a month and probably between 60-100 hours using it, and decided I didn't like it. 6 months later now I can hardly remember what I learned. Not good. Macromedia forces one to think differently from the Microsoft mentality, which most of us are used to. What I did was waste a whole bunch of time learning something I can do every bit as well with EW.

Expression Web is a real contender as far as I can see.

But how did I know someone would try the down the nose approach at a FP user?:poke:

I guess what I'm saying is don't believe those that tell you if you don't use DW you're somehow not a real web programmer (yes including our gracious host here) - it smacks of those who claim windoze is for morons. "My web software is better than your web software" neener neener neener.

opinions vary
 
bloomz said:
I guess what I'm saying is don't believe those that tell you if you don't use DW you're somehow not a real web programmer (yes including our gracious host here) - it smacks of those who claim windoze is for morons. "My web software is better than your web software" neener neener neener.
Click to expand...

Na - real programmers hand-code.

:)
 
RJD said:
Common misconception here--ASP.NET can be written in PHP or Ruby. In fact, PHP runs faster on the ASP.NET implementation (FastCGI) than on its native framework. You can also write ASP.NET in Java (called J# because of trademark rules).
Click to expand...

Thanks - I just wanted to get JB's panties in a bunch, so I scanned 2-3 reviews of EW looking for negative points :)

Ryan
 
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I think your colours are very modern and your website is very easy to access. What I really love about it is the fact that you do not have too much information on each page. It is designed well for customers who can just buy and fly:) So well done....I know how time consuming it is to get it done right.

The ONLY negative feedback I would give though would be the fact that your homepage is too bland. That photo of the lady needs to be replaced by something bright and happy. You need OOMPH on your first page to make the customers want to look to all your other pages. Make your first page the tempting page....once their in....the photo's on all the other pages will speak for themselves.
 
Love the brown color, and I, of all people cannot give you any techical information, but will add this suggestion: at some time, you need to get someone to proof-read for spelling errors. Those just jump out at some folks. I saw "permanent" misspelled, and I was on your site less than 15 seconds (busy day ahead!)
 
i would make all of your text bigger and add extra line-spacing to give the site a "lighter" look. almost all web usability and conversion experts nowadays talk about big easy-to-read fonts and lots of white-space to make the site easier on the visitors.

i notice your not using CSS, which is a killer as far as making quick changes goes...
 
No one else mentioned this ..so I guess I will.. Put prices on your pictures.. or put prices somewhere on each page.. People get intimated or lose interest if they don't see prices. If you do not want to price specific pictures put a price range..
otherwise you will get a lot of lookers but no buyers..
Even if your site is for 'informational purposes' and not a shopping cart site by not noting prices you will lose people who may want to buy.
JMHO

Carol
 
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Thanks Connie. My spelling stinks. I have proof read the thing a hundred times and I am still finding mistakes. I will go on this afternoon and correct that one.

You guys don't know how much I appreciate this.

Bob
 
Mark,
What is CSS? I am really on the low side of the learning curve doing this thing.

Thanks,
Bob
 
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