I think I'm ready...

AZkat · #1 (**permalink**) 11-20-2008, 05:35 AM

Hi Everybody,

I am just about to the point of submitting my site to some directories, and
see if I can get the traffic going. I would really appreciate it if some of you would take a look and tell me what I need to fix or adjust. Be honest..but gentle

It's an SBI site built with their blockbuilder.

Let me know if you see any technical problems. Please evaluate my
voice. Does it come through? Is it credible? Sympathetic? How is the
look and feel? (I'm going for soothing/calming, but realistic). Do I inspire
confidence?

My target audience is people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, especially the recently diagnosed ones. Does my site come across as
helpful, and make the diet seem more do-able? Most people are totally
terrified when first diagnosed. They have so much information to learn.
The doctor and dietician don't really give much practical help. I'm trying
to fill that gap. Most mothers work full time and don't have time to do
tons of research. I want to help them. It's scary not knowing what is
safe for you, or worse, your child to eat. I'm trying to make it easy to
follow and understand, even if you aren't a college graduate.

So if you could look at the site from that perspective it would really
help me. And all the usual grammar, style, and technical stuff. I still have
lots of pages to write, but the basic structure is there.

Thanks,

Kathy

My site is: www.gluten-free-diet-help.com

P.S. Is there a way to get pages indexed faster? Yahoo and MSN haven't indexed anything yet, except Yahoo has my home page and it's been 2 months. Google has about 17 pages out of 34.

mirage2009 · #2 (**permalink**) 11-20-2008, 06:32 AM

good job Kathy,
the design and colours are great, the content is organized, really a great job.

only one minor detail I think you might wanna change which is when you click a link from the nav bar on the left you enter that page ok but the link turns into a light grey that blends with the green background and is unseen so try to darken that a little, but really really good job.

AZkat · #3 (**permalink**) 11-20-2008, 07:32 AM

Thank you Mirage, it means a lot to hear that you like my site.

I tried to change the background on the Nav bar, but I'm not sure what part
will change that fade out. I don't like it either...maybe Lisa knows how I can
change it? It's an SBI template, so the options may be kind of limited.

Do I come across the way I hoped? It's hard to tell on your own writing how
it comes across to others.

Kathy

mirage2009 · #4 (**permalink**) 11-20-2008, 07:39 AM

you're doing perfectly fine. continue adding more useful content and getting more incoming links.
also add your link in your signature files on forums and in your email.

I don't know about SBI much

but your problem is coming from:

when you press a link of a page lets say "contact us" it is actually an image called contact-us.jif you are directed to a page named
contact-us.html , on that page the contact us link button is swapped with another image called contac-us-ON.jif wich hac the lite grey and background you don't like.

I don't know if you can change that in SBI or not!!

lisa · #5 (**permalink**) 11-20-2008, 10:36 AM

Hi Kathy

No, while you are using the SBI! template you can not change that. But if you opt to start "Uploading Your Own HTML" as instructed in Site Central then you are free to do whatever you wish.

nivla · #6 (**permalink**) 11-20-2008, 01:06 PM

Maybe 3 dashes in the domain name have something to do about it?

Jordy3738 · #7 (**permalink**) 11-20-2008, 10:10 PM

Wow, I love it...Is there a way to center the site on the computer screen? I have a wide screen and the site is aligned on the left side of the screen.

I would offer one very small suggestion. I noticed on your Celiac page that you have a link going to someones website. I always try to make the link open in a different window when they will be viewing a page that is not on my site. This is minor but it can keep you from loosing a visitor.

AZkat2 · #8 (**permalink**) 11-20-2008, 11:08 PM

Thank you all for your comments. Lisa, thanks for your answers too.
I appreciate all of you taking the time to look my site over.

Mirage, I will start using my site in my sig...once I can. You may have
noticed the 2 after my name...I had some technical difficulties so I'll have to
wait a while now. That's why I didn't respond earlier, sorry about that. Thanks though!

Jordy, I did try to center it once, but that particular template can't be
centered, what it did was made a break in the wood-like things on either side.

I will put the link into a window though. Thanks for the advice.
Glad you liked my site!

Kathy

journeysoutheast · #9 (**permalink**) 11-20-2008, 11:40 PM

Nice site, I have seen a topic listed on two sites this week about having trouble finding dehydrated hiking food for this problem. They both said they searched google but couldnt find anything. whiteblaze has a topic on it now. It's just a suggestion, but providing info would make your site attractive to the hiking/camping community.

AZkat2 · #10 (**permalink**) 11-22-2008, 12:10 AM

Thanks Journeysoutheast,

Glad you liked the site. I will see what I can find that might be useful for them,
thanks for passing the information along to me!

Kathy

sammyspam · #11 (**permalink**) 11-26-2008, 08:54 AM

wow your sites really good looking, it just seems to give a nice vibe off as soon as i entered. Its clear, good colours, good layout.

Anyway enough about looks, your content is just as good, reading through some pages it was interesting and well informed. Great site.

AZkat2 · #12 (**permalink**) 12-02-2008, 08:30 AM

Thank you for the kind words sammy, glad you liked it.

Kathy

jaqes · #13 (**permalink**) 12-11-2008, 01:21 AM

I have completed my website with nice designing. Now i about to start SEO.

nobi · #14 (**permalink**) 12-15-2008, 01:37 PM

nice colors and feel - good information - easy to use
I like your site.
I guess you have around 20 - 25 visits a day now, as your Alexa ranking is about 3.3 million.
It has already a value of more then 700,-$ check this link and see for yourself http://www.websiteoutlook.com/

As I don't know much about gluten I was first overwhelmed because you went right into the topic and I didn't know what this is all about. I personally would wish when I enter a site that I get an explanation about the topic immediately without having to search for it. I mean just give a short and clear definiton about gluten for the newcomer right on the homepage.

But you are on the right track. I am in the same situation like you with my SBI Site. (2 months old)
It is very exciting isn't it???

Good luck!

James · #15 (**permalink**) 12-15-2008, 09:11 PM

Kathy,

You have really done some excellent work here. The main thing is always content and you have put in some real work developing this material. Not only that, you are providing a real service that can help a lot of people.

There is one small change I would make technically in addition to a few of the things others have mentioned (I don't think this has been noted already). The navigation button for the page you are on at any time is faded a little too much so that it is unreadable. I would adjust that a little. I am sure you will find improvements to make as you go along, but you have done a great job so far.

You have a great opportunity for specific promotional ideas for your site that many others would not have. That's another topic, I suppose, but there are many health publications and even doctors, etc., who would agree to promote your site as part of their educational interests. You also have a good opportunity to sell through a link to Amazon if nothing else, any books or other materials that could help people with this need.

I certainly wish you the best in this project.

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