New band website - Constructive Critiscism pls

SnoMan · #1 03-24-2006, 01:22 PM

Hey guys, I just wanted to hear any constructive criticism any of you may have for my band's new website.

STONE BUDDHA

There are several sections that are to be updated soon(adding bio's and media). So, for the moment please overlook areas that say "coming soon"

The level of the background music will also be raised this evening from home.

Thanks guys.

nicoli · #2 03-24-2006, 01:34 PM

You aren't going to like this suggestion, but I'd like the option of an html site. I can't stand sites with that much Flash.

Visually the site looks good.

AaronS · #3 03-24-2006, 01:36 PM

Good: Looks fantastic
Bad: Took 1 minute and 10 seconds to download at the local university's computer lab with a very fast connection. I would click it off after 30 seconds from home with my 56k modem and compression software that generally speeds things up 3 to 5 times. It would probably take 3 to 5 minutes to download at home.

Who is your target audience? Will they have access to a fast connection? Or are they like me?

I realize that many major companies assume super fast connection speeds these days, but not all of us have DSL or Broadband available. My bank has so much garbage on their home page that I click on it to load each morning and then go take a shower. Some of us don't live in major metro areas like West Virginia and live out in the sticks. If your target audience has fast connections, then go with it. It looks great. If your target audience is like me then you need to go to a simpler format.

djcruse · #4 03-24-2006, 01:39 PM

It is visually attractive and contains the right types of information. Those things alone are more than many bands include on their sites.

Flash is cool, but if you provide no HTML alternative, Google won't index your site - neither will any other search engine. But as long as you don't want anyone to find you, that will be fine.

**Josh Ryan** · #5 03-24-2006, 01:41 PM

The loading time was very long here at work (DSL). The menu shakes in some weird fashion (I'm using FF). Other than that it looks cool. I don't think you have much there that can;t be done in a similar fashion without the flash nonsense.

SnoMan · #6 03-24-2006, 01:47 PM

Aaron:

That is probably the main concern right now. DJcruse comment may be the fix for that though. Having a screen to choose an html site or the full flash may be the right way to go.

SnoMan · #7 03-24-2006, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron Schiff

Some of us don't live in major metro areas like West Virginia and live out in the sticks.

Now that is Sig worthy

SnoMan · #8 03-24-2006, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blisshead

I don't think you have much there that can;t be done in a similar fashion without the flash nonsense.

That's gonna be the tricky part. The webdesigner is very talented when it comes to flash, but hates working with html.

I designed out former site with html....and lacking was a nice way to express it's layout as well as my html skill

djcruse · #9 03-24-2006, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnoMan

The webdesigner(read as, my girlfriend) is very talented when it comes to flash, but hates working with html.

If that's the case, find someone who does work with HTML.

SnoMan · #10 03-24-2006, 02:33 PM

Well, when it comes to indexing we're in a bit of tricky water.

I hate the html site up for...say a year and a half. By entering Stone Buddha into yahoo search, the website appears listed second. Google seaching the same terms leads you to our myspace profile on the third page and the homepage is nowhere in sight.

There are now meta-tags attached to the site. I don't know what these are really, but I've heard of them before. So, I'm wondering if there will be much of an impact from our change in web-format.

We're going to look into seeing how much time we can cut by taking out the background song.

This is very helpful guys and greatly appreciated!

SnoMan · #11 03-24-2006, 02:43 PM

I'm leaning towards tracking where we are on search engines and see what effect the flash has on them for us.

RyansDad · #12 03-24-2006, 02:48 PM

I like the site. Got a question, though: why the link to a myspace site? I know I am a little out of the loop on some of this, but isn't myspace primarily for kids and people who can't/don't want to shell out the money for a real website?

pointbass · #13 03-24-2006, 02:49 PM

The Flash thing can be problematic - any Flash is blocked here at work, but html always works. It'd be great to have a choice.

I'll have to check the page over the weekend .......

SnoMan · #14 03-24-2006, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyansDad

I like the site. Got a question, though: why the link to a myspace site? I know I am a little out of the loop on some of this, but isn't myspace primarily for kids and people who can't/don't want to shell out the money for a real website?

To put it simply, MySpace is a tool.

It's an extremely popular networking service and it's very easy to use. We've gained a good number of fans(don't confuse that with number of myspace friends, the two are hardly related) from myspace.

I would recommend MySpace to any band. It's very easy to setup and it's free. The possibly exposure versus the work involved makes it well worth setting an account up.

SnoMan · #15 03-24-2006, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pointbass

The Flash thing can be problematic - any Flash is blocked here at work, but html always works. It'd be great to have a choice.

That's just the man holding you down

DougP · #16 03-24-2006, 03:03 PM

i like it, though i personally dont like websites that start to play music automatically. just a personal pet peeve of mine because i usually am already listening to music while i am surfing.

**Kelly Lee** · #17 03-24-2006, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougP

i like it, though i personally dont like websites that start to play music automatically. just a personal pet peeve of mine because i usually am already listening to music while i am surfing.

I agree. I'm always listening to music while surfing.

Anyways, the site loads fine (I have cable though) and looks really nice. The layout works and looks better than a lot of the pro band websites I have visited.

Like most here have stated, an html version would be a good addition. Just like using Myspace, the an html site is just another tool to reach more potential fans. Good luck with it!

SnoMan · #18 03-24-2006, 03:30 PM

As for the music on opening the page, we put in the play and stop buttons to remedy that. For the similar reasons we have the music playing at 10% volume, but we planned on turning it up to around 50% or so. At current, the music is hardly noticable to my ears at normal volume settings on my computer.

But, we're going to remove the music anyways and see how much time that cuts down in loading. I'd love to keep it for atmosphere, but we'd like people to view the page before closing the window on a loading screen.

lemur821 · #19 03-24-2006, 05:39 PM

If you were to go with an HTML site with a flash player, then you could get content up right away and let the music take its time. And I agree, the volume needs to come up. It took me a while to realize that it was playing.
0

SnoMan · #20 03-25-2006, 01:24 PM

Music has been removed along with some other behind the scenes alterations.

Loading times should be significantly shorter now.