Help Me Design My Website

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Hi, I need some ideas or advice on my website www.migfix.com. I'm starting a website for repairing mig guns & I will have some used equipment on it. I've already started it but am still working on it adding things. If you wouldn't mind taking a look at it & see if there is anything you like or don't like or something I should add to it. I sure would appreciate your comments. Thanks, Scott www.migfix.com[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]www.migfix.com
Reply:Scott, you need someone who does this for a living.   JohnSMAW,GMAW,FCAW,GTAW,SAW,PAC/PAW/OFCand Shielding Gases.  There all here. :
Reply:Decide what you want the site to do, then pay someone to set it up. Is this just a yellow pages ad for your services or are you trying to sell stuff directly from the site? Either way, the front page should be much simpler - take off the ads for other people at the bottom if nothing else, but I personally would be aiming for something that fits entirely on one screen at 1024x768 so I'd drop everything after the "our goal is..." and think seriously about whether to have that paragraph. Also, the centre picture looks really, really bad - as though you've used MS-Paint to scale it up or something. The text is really hard to read. Definitely dump the quicktime (I can't view it, I just get an error message) and use a non-animated flag. Movement advertises you, it shouldn't be used to distract from you.My inclination would be to put the row of links down the left hand side (3 lines of text there is too much) over the top of the boxes image, remove some of the entries and shorten the rest, make the top logo clickable (homepage) and remove the "home" entry, redo the centre image so it's readable and make the url clickable, make the "goal" slogan all one colour and font and probably smaller. That would be it for the front page. Also, "contact us" should be the last/rightmost menu  item, often that's all people want and they don't want it hidden in the middle of a line of text. Put your phone number on the front page if you have to, but you *must* have a contact link and that must have the number. The footer text should be text-centred not page-centred (ie, move it right a little). On "repair procedure" the "Enter supporting content here" text should probably not be there. Don't underline or change text colour just for the sake of it. If it's underlined it should be a clickable link. If it's red or purple it had better be really, really important. Like "do not look into laser with remaining eye" important.Also, license any image you're using or otherwise make sure it's ok to publish them on your site. Those cartoons, for instance.I'd be happy to design your web page for you, check out www.trisled.com.au for an example of my work ( I set it up and taught them to maintain it). $50/hour, minimum 8 hours.Finally: never, ever put "under construction" on your page. If it doesn't work, don't put it up. That's like shipping a repair with the cover off and a note "I lost the screws, buy some more and bolt the cover back on".
Reply:First off, your site has to load quickly.  I got tired of waiting for your link to open and lost interest.  Your customers will do the same exact thing.Find sites that you like and make a note of them.  Simple is good.  These inspiration sites make a world of difference when you are communicating what you want to a site designer and will save both of you a lot of grief.  Even if the sites you like do not apply to your industry, having something to point to that visually and functionally appeals to you is an excellent starting point.  You might end up with a site that you like the looks of and another that functions the way you want. You can typically have a site designed for around $250-$500 depending on the number of pages and the complexity.  Or you can spend weeks learning how to do it yourself and possibly end up with a clumsy, unprofessional site.  The folks that do this for a living make it look easy because they have all the answers.  Just the basic questions will take an hour of research for the beginner - like how wide to make the site.That's my two cents.ScottHaul a bike without straps - visit  www.mxtras.com  to see how!
Reply:I've done this for 18 years, contact me if you'd like help for a decent price.John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Thanks guys for being brutely honest with me. That's what I wanted. I'm a big boy I can take it. After I got over the black eye I made some changes & will make more later. I've got a buddy of mine that is a web designer that is going to help me next week. Thanks again[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]www.migfix.com
Reply:Clean and simple. The less fluff the better. Avoid moving .gifs and lots of flash content at all costs. I should be able to get to whatever I want on your site within a couple of clicks.My $0.02 worth
Reply:Keep in mind that you have to get your point across in less than 3 seconds.  This is accomplished through visual representations (pictures).  If you get their attention, they are likely to read a line or two of the text and maybe hit another page.Advertising is an art intertwined with phsycology.  It's facinating to learn about and I am just starting to scratch the surface with my advertising attempts.ScottHaul a bike without straps - visit  www.mxtras.com  to see how!