Website Review

[nicky]

Hi everyone,

I have just uploaded my companies new website design and would appreciate any feedback you guys could give.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the design / ease of navigation / speed of loading.

Prehaps more importantly, I would also appreciate comments on the content, our plans (UK pricing), support section and in particular our hosting plan customiser.

http://www.fireal.co.uk/

Thanks in advance.

[Chicken]

Hmmm... well initial reaction was that you forgot to design the middle of the page. White space is a good thing, but I'm not sure it 100% works how you've done it. Needs something.

[nicky]

Thanks Chicken - any more thoughts? (content / plans / navigation)

[Mark]

Definatly need more graphics and text on the main page. too open. You might consider adding a table cell on the right of the content maybe 150-200 pixels wide to push the content to the middle of the screen.

State what control panels you offer (if you do).

Give a little blurb about your company.

Also, list some of your plans on the main page (That is definatly a must!) Those orange plan graphics will do nicely.

[nicky]

Thanks for the input Mark - your suggestions are really helpful - I am going to add a table as you suggest and add in some plan graphics onto the homepage.

[nicky]

ok, i've played around with the homepage now - hopefully it is looking a little more 'full'. Any more comments??

[robc]

Too much horizontal navigation Nicky, i remember it when under construction and it was a liquid layout, too much white space, but neat design,
about the scrolling, i cant get most of your navigation on my screen, i use 1024x768 but have my browser set to open at 800pxls wide...

Your packages are not very expensive which is good, however your starter package is a little to much for only 50 megs... hope your business goes well :)

[nicky]

I dont think that £2.80 per month is a lot for the unix50 plan (£34.99/year) when you consider all the features that are included.

I had problems with the liquid layout and so just decided to get the site up as a priority. I will be revisiting the idea in the next few weeks though.

Any thoughts on the plan builder? Are there any other hosting companies that allow their customers to design their own plans? I haven't seen many. I am also very interested to hear you opinions on the speed of loading.

[robc]

Your plan builder is a good one i think because the ones that you put in exact figures yourself often have poor cost ratios, however, you seem to tell us what each item costs, and that is good.

[Chicken]

Hmmm, well... I can't really tell where the flow is, meaning there isn't any. I can't tell where I'm supposed to look and found my eyes darting all over the page, first to the plans listed down the right, then to the navigiation, then to the middle, then to the top. Repeat. There was nothing that signaled 'start here'.

None of this is bad necessaily, just letting you know what my first impressions are.

[powersoft]

Yes, the plan designer has been used before, by our company, in fact we created this in the first place.

We have already had one incident where you copied our site, which we reported you to Donhost, and once again, you copy of our ideas.

This must be removed before further action is taken.

[nicky]

We have contacted Donhost and informed them of our position., and have no interest in bringing this ongoing dispute to the hosthideout forums.

Apologises to the moderators.

[jvn]

~ nicky,

Looks sharp! Good blend of oranges / browns.

Simple & to the point. It still opens wide and I had to scroll sideways to view the right side.

Is my American English getting in the way of the real English?
re: spelling of utilises vs utilizes
;)

[exasko]

---i like it---

very nice job! the only thing is that the banner seems blurred a little

[Spencer]

This is a nice site, but I would change the color on the rollovers. The light blue just does not match the theme.