Site feedback?

[sarahlorrain]

My bounce rate is pretty high, and I need to lower it; because I need to make more money with this site. I thought I needed to change the layout a bit. The layouts on my other pages are a bit different from eachother, but I'm in the midst of changing that. Basically, I want to know what on my home page makes you cringe and go "ewww yuck" or "what was she thinking?"

My entire site is in html, in case that isn't obvious, LOL

http://www.homejobsformom.com

 

[jnjc]

I find the menu of options up the top of the screen a little off putting, because there are so many options in it. Maybe you should group all the various types of jobs together on a separate page and just have one option on the top menu called "Job Types"

 

[sarahlorrain]

Awesome! You are the third person who's made a comment about my navigation. So, I guess that's what I'll change. I'm wondering if I should just try to have less links; perhaps change the color too? Or should I switch to a navigation menu on the left hand side of the screen? Any ideas are welcome; thanks!

 

[jnjc]

I think you need to simplify the top menu by removing or sorting some of the options. Another thing you could do is have a Drop Down Menu Called Job types with each job type under it. I have put a link to an example below. If you don't like the Drop down menu have a separate page called something like "Job Types" and have a side menu on it with each job type, As the user selects a job type the center content shows the appropriate links etc...


I am a fan of MooTools for JS stuff, have a look at these sites:

Top Menu
http://www.chrisesler.com/mootools/mootools-dropmenu.html

Side Menu
http://demos.mootools.net/Fx.Styles

Or you could get fancy with a "sliding" menu like the one on the mootools website (hover over Download etc.):

http://mootools.net/

Or if you see a top menu you like on some other site let me know and I should be able to help you out.

I am not sure what your level of expertise is, but I like the idea behind your site and I am willing to give you a hand to sort it out.

 

[Healthy]

I'm wondering if I should just try to have less links; perhaps change the color too? Or should I switch to a navigation menu on the left hand side of the screen?

Yeah I agree that this is at least a contributing factor. I would cut the number of links up top to maybe 5 that are the most popular/necessary.

I would also use a css template with divs, instead of the tables as this is largely antiquated. You might consider using a sidebar to house the other links, but generally simpler is better.

I would also advise doing some site seeing and visit some blogs/sites that are in the same niche as yours to get some more ideas.

 

[sarahlorrain]

I would love any help, and I'm very grateful for it. I have no idea what css template or divs means, though.

 

[Healthy]

I would love any help, and I'm very grateful for it. I have no idea what css template or divs means, though.

I would start here: http://reference.sitepoint.com/css

After you have a basic understanding of what css is, you can go download a free template from somewhere, probably can find some in this forum, and easily give your site a whole new look. This is another place that has some nice templates (http://www.opensourcetemplates.org/)

Another thing you could consider is using wordpress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPress), but if your site for the most part doesn't change a lot, then it may not be worth the effort.

 

[jnjc]

Hi,

Your site looks better having the trimmed down menu. Another couple of points:

a) There seems to be a lot of google ads on the site, I know you need to make money but it seems excessive and is clouding the actual content.

b) This is linked to point a, you need to make your content stand out more. It's not bad on the home page but on pages like below it's difficult to see what is ad and what the content is:

http://www.homejobsformom.com/customerservice

You might want to experiment with div tags to style your text. A quick example would be

<div style="background-color:#f1f1f1">

Content goes here

</div>


I have done a very quick example here:
http://www.solasit.com/sandbox/webdesign/hjfm.htm

If you do this you may get away with having the google ads...

HTH,
JC

 

[ian]

I would get rid of the borders on the navigation table, they look like the standard table border used with frontpage. I would also consider hosting your forum on your own website as opposed to a free service.

 

[dreamcon]

Hi,

Your site looks better having the trimmed down menu. Another couple of points:

a) There seems to be a lot of google ads on the site, I know you need to make money but it seems excessive and is clouding the actual content.

b) This is linked to point a, you need to make your content stand out more. It's not bad on the home page but on pages like below it's difficult to see what is ad and what the content is:

http://www.homejobsformom.com/customerservice

You might want to experiment with div tags to style your text. A quick example would be

<div style="background-color:#f1f1f1">

Content goes here

</div>


I have done a very quick example here:
http://www.solasit.com/sandbox/webdesign/hjfm.htm

If you do this you may get away with having the google ads...

HTH,
JC

nice work.... still seems navigation is more than 1.8
pages shouldn't be long because sometimes those increases the bounce rate

 

[full house]

Your site is too dull for me! If thats the case show the services being offered, don't make it hard for the users to see find what they need. Make it user friendly . . .