Topic: 2 cents

[gijew]

I was bored waiting for something else so I figured I would get your guys opinions on the site I'm working on right now.  I designed it front and back.  It would be nice to get suggestions, feedback, whatever.

Thanks for taking the time.  It's always nice to get other people from the "business" in on what I'm doing = )

http://www.clcnationwide.com

[steviewdr]

Well it has a fluid layout - so well done on that front.
The flash image seems to drop a good bit when the browser window is at 800x600

The company logo isn't great - at least provide a hyperlink to the homepage. The logo would stand out better if it had a shadow or something. Anyways - I know you cant do much with the logo.

You repeat a LOT of links. A navigation menu is enough. Instead you have links in your Top Div, and dispersed many times through the main text.

I would like to see the main page stand out a bit more. Perhaps a shadow all around the page would emphasise it better. It currently seems like the colours of teh webpage (main div) match the html background too much.

Overall its ok. Could do with some more dressing up and effects in the Nav menu.
-steve

[ober]

I will just say that I agree with a lot of Steve's comments.  However, I don't think the logo is all that bad and I don't think links throughout the site is all that bad.  I'd rather have more links than not enough, know what I'm sayin?

The site does feel somewhat "template-ish", but if it is a template, it's a good one.  It's clean, gets the point across and displays the information cleanly.

My only complaint is that it feels as if you have too much "disclaimer" text. I know the bulk of it is in the footer, but just glancing at the page, your content is kind of crowded by this overwhelming feeling of being crushed by the disclaimer.  You could probably hide the disclaimer a little more and re-work the other elements to make the content POP more.

[obsidian]

not bad. i'm in agreement with most of the comments above, but i would add that i really don't like the search at the bottom of the page. that's not where a user is going to look for it. for users in smaller resolutions, they may never get down that far to find it. IMHO, it should be very visible when you first hit the page.

otherwise, not too bad overall.

[gijew]

Thank you for the opinions guys, I appreciate the feedback.  Here is what I have to say in repsonse...

 - I agree the logo is plain.  Unfortunately it was all I could do to get away from the stupid Nike looking swish the owner wanted.  I'm stuck now = )  I did have an alternate and it does look a bit better.  The logo on there (I didn't notice til you pointed it out) was the logo we decided NOT to go with.  The other one is more oval / square.  I'll have to update that one soon.

 - The reason why I have so many links is mostly for the sake of SEO.  I'm not the best at it but from what I've read and from what I've found, more links can be good when it comes to the search engines.  In my opinon they stick out to much to the actual human eye so perhaps I'll blend them in more with the page.

 - As far as the disclaimer goes, it has to be there.  This industry is filled to the brim with morons and scammers so it actually does add credibility to the site as far as the users that view it can see.  Perhaps I can get away bringing it down a point or so.

 - The search form.  I agree that it is fairly far down there.  I'm not sure where else I could put it.  If I put it up top, it would be the first thing you noticed.  I'm just trying to get the message across of what it is the company does. 

 - The flash.  I hate that thing.  I was forced to change that out for a nice graphic I made.  I'm not really good at flash so I threw that in there and it made the jackals here content.

Once again, thanks for the input and would appreciate any other suggestions.

[gijew]

I made a few of the changes that were suggested by you guys.  Wanted to know what you thought before I put them "live"

Production URL of what you already saw: http://www.clcnationwide.com
Development URL of the changes: http://dev.clcnationwide.com

Thanks again, this has really helped me out!

[steviewdr]

Yes - The shadow and lighter outside background is better - the main page stands much more proud.

I wouldn't mind a little gap at the top, i.e. not run the main div upto the top. But as you have a lot of content (lengthwise) you need all the vertical space you can get - so its ok as it.

Ya - I see what you have done with the footer. I honestly think you should take out that search.
Without that search box - the footer and disclaimer will look a lot better - more flatter neater.
As for where to put the search box - well only a small search box is required. Or whatabout a Magnifying glass even as  a link?
Another idea - is to put the Text - SEARCH THIS SITE as the last line in the vertical Nav. Then when you click on the text - a div opens (display:none to display:block) with an input box.

Thats my 2 cents!
-steve

[R_P]

First off, I like what you did by adding a little more contrast and style to the logo. The colors and layout are clean, except when viewing at 800x600 where your flash gets pushed down quite a bit. To fix this you could do a vertical-align to top or float it left so that your text wraps around it.

The border shadow is an improvement, but I believe it would look better if it were lighter and more spread out. When it comes to shadows and gradients, subtlety is best. I would also agree with pushing the search higher and perhaps making  a legal page with your copywrite content rather than splaying it all out at the bottom.

Looks good. Good luck.

[yana]

Nice site! The only thing I suggest to change is the width of the home page. It's much bigger than all the other pages.