my website

Hi all daz here here is my website your thoughts would be great as i am still quite new to this

www.djdazlive.com


daz

Welcome DJ Daz,

Here is my review of your web site for what is worth.

I do like the layout/info on your home page. I also liked your pics section.

Some of the images did not load for me, were in your “About” or “Location” sections.

The music play list should only have song title and artist name. Just display the information that customers want to see.

The “Enquire” section may be too hard for many people to navigate. Make it simple.

Please tell me what's going on here in this pic.

Ruben

yes i have to re do those sections on my site regarding the pic this was a 18 bday party and it was towards the end of the night so i was playing the gap band for them

daz 226 where are you located?

daz 226 where are you located?

The UK.

Welcome Daz!!!!

Welcome to the internationally acclaimed ODJT. Dont take my word on this chat with Scotch, DJ Dennis, Playback, DJMarco to name a few. Enjoy this humble fun learning network.

dazz, one suggestion.... Drop the hit counter. The pros don't have that on their site... and without you can create a bigger web presence, showing you are getting business, even if your not getting business through your site.

thanks for the comments guys its a working progress ill drop the hit counter i am aiming to upload some ics of my equipment this weekend as i have 3 jobs to do 18th bday on fri night ( allways fun) then a childrens christmas party sat afternoon and finally a christmas disco on sat evening.

i have just bought a new lap top hopefully it will be here today as i have a projector and large screen so i want to try doing some vj as i have a lot of vj tracks.

daz

you mention pro's? Please clarify the term and if it is meant as the DJ Pro's or the Web Design Pro's. I know our sites are important and we want to portray a professional view to clients of our business but are they hiring us strictly cause we have the latest trend in web building skills in our site? I would hope they recognize we arent web designers by trade. Please explain how a Bride or clients thoughts would be swayed cause a DJ had a hit counter? Then I can agree with you on this matter. No offense here I just think sometimes we think like web designers or DJs too often and forget some things wont make any difference to many prospectives. For instance if there were a poll to prove using a hotmail address for your email or your website email How many would consider it pro or less professional. Id love to see a survey on these (jtv considered) misconceptions. dazz, one suggestion.... Drop the hit counter. The pros don't have that on their site... and without you can create a bigger web presence, showing you are getting business, even if your not getting business through your site.

Jon good point!

From my view I consider both pro DJs and designers do that. Look up the big name guys that we constantly bash here on the boards... I know a certain DJ who has a flash design omits his hit counter... The purpose of the hit counter is to serve the guy with the site... With programs out there that hide the hit counter and provide a plethora of analytical information such as Google Analytics, one would be almost stupid to not know where your visitors are going, last page they view, browser(s), how long they are staying, reading, etc.

Remember this my friends, I tell my web clients this all the time. They can be who they want to be and appear how big they want to as well. Good designs work in our psyche that make us believe this is a big xyz, this is a similar effect when we are at a store and see hot pink, we are instantly trained to think "Barbie". Think one's favorite website, does it have a clean design? Do the colors seem bright, trustworthy?

A hit counter can hurt a website owner if you have a GREAT design, but lack the traffic. Suppose a client does visit the site, enjoys the content, then sees the hit counter was reset to 0 and now has only 20 views. Something will seem fishy to them, they may begin to question the site owner's business practices, even one's willingness to perform.

I'll be frank with you guys, and you can ask Ben @ NLFX this. I have done some market research into e-commerce sites, our clients are starting to ask for them now. We do have the abilities to do such; however, we are strongly advising having a print campaign (one we can aide in) or the ability to request a free catalog. This is what separates the boys from the girls on the online e-commerce community! It gives you more substance to stand on. My point is, use whatever gimmicks you can that your clients will gain your trust through, such as coupons if necessary, like "free fog machine with light show purchase". I know that is corny, but hear me out... There is a reason my business is booming in all aspects.

Here's a question for you Travis - in your honest opinion, do you think Flash websites work for or against the site owners/operators (as long as the page loads quickly)?

The reason I ask is that I've seen some of my competitors sites here in the area that are Flash enabled, and even with a T1 line, it takes a long time to load. My opinion is that if I have to wait more than 10 seconds for a page to load, I'm certainly not going to stick around - I'm on to some one else's site.

My site is static - only because folks that I have talked to and gotten opinions from have all told me they hate flash sites - that they are too busy and take way too long to get to the "meat" info they require.

I know my site isn't the best in the area, but I designed it for simplicity sake. The navigation buttons at the top of each page make it very easy to get around the site and each page loads immediately and each page is filled with the kind of info customers seek - honest and straight-forward.

Your thoughts?

my Flash site soon to be changed a complete overhaul to HTML is very quick loading cause it was built simple in one flash page if that makes sense.

The portable walkman CD player and mini speakers have to go. You're not going to use those right? So, showcase some pro gear in the masthead instead.

Some background, we do both types of designs flash & standard HTML, and of course the PHP flavored site.

Greg, My Humble Honest Opinion,

There is a time and place for Flash, you must constantly evaluate the "playfulness" of a site, the ability to quickly edit a page (all of our sites are modular, containing several movie files that can be spawned by a master movie file, it prevents a browser refresh real Web 2.0-ish), and whether the medium is worth the extra work.

In our experience, Flash pages take triple to the time to get just right, compared to a simple HTML page, there is some parallels when editing, but overall you must take a different process. From the designing standpoint for a Do it yourselfer, it is a unnecessary waste of time.

----

Now to the Client... If a flash design is not properly optimized from the author of the site, you are going to have issues with usability. One must always be aware of the following: Screen Resolution, Supported Colors, Computer Speed, ISP Speed, other usability factors. A site that is excessive in load time is going to annoy your users! I personally cannot stand flash intros, I even recommend against them for my clients, there are those that insist however lol! A site on a broadband connection that takes over 10 seconds and does not offer an alternative will cause your visitors to leave IF it occurs more than once.

I've seen many DJ's choose Dynamod Portals, these are excellent for what they do... Also I have seen some DJ's purchase flash templates, which are usually filled with extra fluff, and items the DJ thinks he removed but actually gets compiled in the final movie, bogging it down.

Just a point, if your going to get a site, don't just choose "American DJ" brand, choose a custom web design company like others here have done on the boards, but finding the right web guy can be difficult. I strive to serve my clients at all hours of the day, striving to not let a phone call go to voice mail if I can at all costs avoid it. I don't want to upsell my services, but once a few of these projects get completed, I would love to show you our current offerings, and if we could actually create a unique design for those in need of our services.

(We offer good prices on web hosting for ODJT members)

Not to keep hijacking here....

I use a quick flash intro, then its all html (I think)
I do have a web designer and I like what he does for me.

Back to Daz

Who did your voiceover? Very clean.
Welcome to ODJT. We love having international input.
Kick your feet up and stick around!