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Bailey
4 Large


Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 4336
Location: Lake San Marcos... north of Connie, northwest of the Best.

PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:28 pm    Post subject: That's what friends are for... Reply with quote

... as he ponders in deep thought.

Since retiring last December... Smile ... I have come to the realization that money doesn't grow on trees... :-( .
My V123 site will run out next month. I know that it will still be there, but it will just be a "holding place". I have had another website... free of course... that I haven't developed too much. I'm sure many of you have heard of Freewebs. So I wanted to run this up the flag pole... and see what happens. I used only the tools that were available through the website... although I think I read somewhere that you can develop it better if you are comfortable with HTML and all that techno stuff I have trouble with. As Frank knows... I do have a domain reserved, but I haven't used it as yet... ( www.jimsvoice.com )
Ok... no more boring jabber...
The cheapest VO site on the NET.
I'm open to all suggestions, opinions, critiques... whatever, about turning this into a silk purse... or a nice wallet... or a change purse...
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"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
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bobsouer
Frequent Flyer


Joined: 15 Jul 2006
Posts: 9882
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim,

The one thing that jumps out at me, something I would change immediately, is that animated "click here" business. I don't think you want to annoy people when they visit.

Overall, the design is fairly clean. (I'm sure you're familiar with Deirdre's thoughts on microphones in a VO site design.)

When I have a bit more time, I'll write again with more thoughts.
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Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
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Jeffrey Kafer
Assistant Zookeeper


Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 4931
Location: Location, Location!

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd lose the following:

1) Counter. Does anyone besides yourself care how many visitors you've had?
2) Google search bar.
3) I'm not sure what maranethe chapel is, but you might want to move it to a links page. Unless you only do VO for Christians, it might be a turn-off for those who aren't.
4) Don't underline anything in your text unless it's a hyperlink. People will try to click on it.

And a curiosity: You have a mic with musical notes. Are you a singer?
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com
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Yoda117
M&M


Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Posts: 2362
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The needs to die.

Likewise the google search and counter, which have already been covered by other posters. Additionally, I'd toss the top banner if you could... it has nothing to do with you and doesn't fit the site in general.

Additionally, the links. I see the usual stuff, but you're missing one that might be of some importance, that being your gear. Tell me just a bit about what you're using, because your demo might be great, but if you're using a $19 logitec headset mic, I'm going to have some issues using you. If you don't have confidence in what you're running to let me know, I'm definitely going to be a bit wary.

Finally, the left side needs work. Match the background of the clipart (BTW do you have something that's more VO since that's what you're trying to sell me.) with the strip that goes down that side. Going from grey to white just kind of takes away from your site. Keep it consistent.
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Voiceovers by Gregory Houser
Philadelphia based Voice Actor

Blog - A man, a martini, and a lot of microphones
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Donovan
Cinquecento


Joined: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 595
Location: Raleigh/Durham, NC

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree that some of that stuff should go.. but in his defense, I'm pretty sure that with FREE websites, those banners and search bars are not removable. Having that there allows for the free-ness.

But the crazy "click here now or die" button should be ixnayed.
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Donovan

www.DonovanVO.com
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Jeffrey Kafer
Assistant Zookeeper


Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 4931
Location: Location, Location!

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Donovan wrote:
I agree that some of that stuff should go.. but in his defense, I'm pretty sure that with FREE websites, those banners and search bars are not removable. Having that there allows for the free-ness.


ok fine, but a web site with custom domain costs, what, 5 bucks a month?

If I advertised that I used a $5 wal-mart mic, y'all would laugh at me. Why is a website any different?
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
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Dave
Lucky 700


Joined: 11 Nov 2004
Posts: 727
Location: Houston, Texas

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JeffreyKafer wrote:
Donovan wrote:
I agree that some of that stuff should go.. but in his defense, I'm pretty sure that with FREE websites, those banners and search bars are not removable. Having that there allows for the free-ness.


ok fine, but a web site with custom domain costs, what, 5 bucks a month?

If I advertised that I used a $5 wal-mart mic, y'all would laugh at me. Why is a website any different?


Bailey,

Whatever else may or may not strike your fancy design wise...

You gotta get your own website instead of the freebee. When I visited just a moment ago, I got a banner at the top advertising/playing the computer generated voice. Not good. No-siree.
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Yoda117
M&M


Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Posts: 2362
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JeffreyKafer wrote:
Donovan wrote:
I agree that some of that stuff should go.. but in his defense, I'm pretty sure that with FREE websites, those banners and search bars are not removable. Having that there allows for the free-ness.


ok fine, but a web site with custom domain costs, what, 5 bucks a month?

If I advertised that I used a $5 wal-mart mic, y'all would laugh at me. Why is a website any different?


DING!

we have a winner folks!

godaddy is like $7 for the domain and 3.95 per month depending on special and plan.

yahoo does specials every few months with a $2 domain deal.
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Bailey
4 Large


Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 4336
Location: Lake San Marcos... north of Connie, northwest of the Best.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK... I've made the changes that were suggested... I think I covered all of them, and I sterilized the site of microphones. I do realize that a "free site" does have its drawbacks... like Ad-zilla. To make myself more legitimate... and right with the world... I'll look into a "paid for" website... as long as I can still use my domain name that I mentioned at the beginning of this thread.

Many thanks for all of the time taken to review and respond... it is greatly appreciated. I'll do a search through the threads for info on price, and where to acquire a "real website".
Smile
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"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
VO-BB Member #00044 W00T
AOVA Graduate 02/2004 ;
"Be a Voice, not an Echo."Ninja
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bobsouer
Frequent Flyer


Joined: 15 Jul 2006
Posts: 9882
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim,

A significant improvement.
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Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
ISDN, Source Connect, phone patch
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Bailey
4 Large


Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 4336
Location: Lake San Marcos... north of Connie, northwest of the Best.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yoda117 wrote:

DING!

we have a winner folks!

godaddy is like $7 for the domain and 3.95 per month depending on special and plan.

yahoo does specials every few months with a $2 domain deal.

Thanks Yoda... I'll check it out.

Bob S... thanks for the kudo.
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"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
VO-BB Member #00044 W00T
AOVA Graduate 02/2004 ;
"Be a Voice, not an Echo."Ninja
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Donovan
Cinquecento


Joined: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 595
Location: Raleigh/Durham, NC

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 8:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I use lunarpages.com to host my site and have been really happy with the pricing and service. Just another thing for you to check out.
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Donovan

www.DonovanVO.com
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Jeffrey Kafer
Assistant Zookeeper


Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 4931
Location: Location, Location!

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bailey wrote:
OK... I've made the changes that were suggested... I think I covered all of them, and I sterilized the site of microphones.

Much better, sir! Very clean and professional. One tiny little thing and this is petty, but there's an awful lot of space at the top of the page before your name. anyway you can reduce it?
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com
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Yoda117
M&M


Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Posts: 2362
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm with the others... much better.

not wild on the generic banner at the top of your page (not to be confused with the advertising), but it's 1000% better than what it was.
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jrodriguez315
A Hundred Dozen


Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: New Jersey

PostPosted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 7:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have you ever thought about using a pre-designed template? There are even sites that have templates you can use for free. Here is one you might want to browse. At a minimum, you might get some ideas from it.
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