heebiejeebieclu — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 12:53:16 +0000

Are you sure it isn't a template
Or has someone asked that question before? When I took a break from this forum I forget about everything
If it isn't then I really like it.
The text at the bottom is a bit small. i do really think that it is very important to have something like that, but I think that possibly it's a bit too long. If you're having to make it that small for it to fit in that box, then it's too long.
But, keep it the good work: - its a grea site!

webads101 — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 11:20:54 +0000

I like the image design on the top. Very impressed.

wcapell — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 17:05:50 +0000

Great site.

Very impressive graphics, etc.

I recommend finding and promoting a unque niche for the site rather than trying to be all things for all people.
Also...
In my opinion the long lenth of the registraion form looks a bit overwhelming. I would split the process into another section or two. Or maybe just make the first registration page shorter so people are more likely to get started on it.

QiSoftware — Tue, 28 Sep 2004 00:53:36 +0000

Maybe offer more romantic pictures... people visiting want dates and hope you can provide them with one... maybe a little less words on the home page.

Also if anyone searched -- some may feel the current profiles are a little haphazard. Maybe a little editing and a few more photos if possible. I am female and searched for a male... Maybe get some models... Is that allowed..? truth in advertising issues... not that the pictures were bad, it's just that there were not enough... and you need draws... more photos would help...

Q...

Megan — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 18:00:00 +0000

More ideas:

You could try being more transparent about your status as a new site trying to get things rolling. Something like "Be the first to try out our new service" might be good.

Try moving the quick search to the top where the welcome box is. That might encourage people to jump right in faster.

Move the line with the "First 50,000 people..." over to the right so it's not direcltly under the hands and swooshy things. If it has some white space around it it maybe more noticeable.

Guided tour could use some work (IF people are going there...) It's so boring. It should be more dynamic and exciting. Answer the question: What can I do here and why should I join? How does it work? But not with too much text. Short bullet points and lots of pictures.

Ah, found this: "CityDate offers this premium online dating service for one low monthly cost". That's a little more of what I wanted to know. The information about how this site works seems to be scattered around and there's a lot of searching and reading required to gether everything together.

Megan — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 16:21:37 +0000

Part of the problem is going to be because you don't have many people in there. What's the point of joining if there's nobody there to meet?

I'm thinking the second problem may be lack of information about pricing. You say free - for how long? Everyone knows that nothings stays free forever. I think you need to be more clear about that. There is a line under the logo stating that the first 50,000 members get a free gold membership, but other "join now" buttons don't have that information (you could just put "limited time offer" underneath, linking to the details page). Secondly, I can't find anything that states what other membership options you would have and how much it would cost. I mean, if this is going to be an expensive site I may not join even if it's not going to cost me. It will cost a lot for others and membership will therefore be prohibitive in the future. Okay, so it is in the FAQ, but I shouldn't have to go there to find that out.

Another thing is the text. I'm finding the font size too small and hard to read, and the grammar and writing style needs work.

Quote: You the member may cancel your CITYDATE, LLC (citydate.com) GOLD membership, without any penalty or obligation, at any time prior to midnight of the seller's third business day following the original date of the purchase.

What ?!??! Could you be any more confusing?

In general, I think there is a lot of ambiguity about how this works. There seems to be two models of online dating site - the montly subscription model or the tokens model. IME, the tokens model works best (see lavalife.com). It is unclear as to which option you are using here.

There are two things I would want to know before signing up: 1. Are there suitable people here for me to meet? 2. How much is it going to cost me to send and receive messages? A lot of places seem to leave that in the fine print (i.e. it's free to sign up, but you can't actually communicate without paying, or you can only use all the features for a limited time).

While I'm here, get rid of the centering on the sign-up form. It would be much nicer if everything lined up on the left side. Same thing on the search page.

In your logs, do you find that people get past the front page? What other pages are they viewing? That might be helpful.

gekkie — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 15:42:49 +0000

Dirty_Dawg See Below:

Was wondering about this statement, could you let me know (Last point I would be careful of linking to "adult" content because you may be rated in that category.)

I didnt think we linked to any adult sites, could you inform me on what link you clicked that brought you to adult sites?

Thank you

gekkie — Sun, 12 Sep 2004 07:16:57 +0000

Was wondering about this:

Last point I would be careful of linking to "adult" content because you may be rated in that category.

I didnt think we linked to any adult sites, could you inform me on what link you clicked that brought you to adult sites?

I appreciate the feedback very much and will look into the optimization tips. I am still not having trouble getting people to the site it seems more of an issue of signing them up. What do you think would you sign up for this service if you would why if no why not?

Thanks

heebiejeebieclu — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 18:38:37 +0000

Yes, I love this site. Nice clean, peffesional layout. No red layout for love, but this can often make the user think that it is a poor site. You by any chance didn't use a template for this did you?

Dirty_Dawg — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 17:12:41 +0000

Nice site.. I really do like your grapic work. I would suggest keeping it exactly the way you have it but cut down the height.

I would work on your Meta Tags... I think there are some folks on this forum that specialize in optimization.

I spidered your site, and our review team would have accepted your site, but they would have changed how it appears in our database .. something that all search engines can do without impacting your listing with others.

Your title "Citydate.com Online dating, personals, singles, matchmaking, advice, free relationship services"

This reads more like keywords than a title. We would not have this appear has your listing title. We would cut it to read Citydate.com

Your description..

"CityDate.com, 50,000 single men or women that sign up now will get a one year free online dating membership Limited Time Only. If you’re looking for online love, personals, matchmaking, advice, free relationship services then CityDate is the web site for you."

This is (for us) to long, and many search engines have a set that auto clips your chararcters. Also you have your special offer in your description, and when it expires the description will be outdated. You need one that will read the way you want to keep it..

Keywords..

"Dating service, dating site, online dating, personal ad, matchmaking, match maker, matchmaker, single, date, people, dating, match, men, women, partner, online dating service, love, romance, friendship, relationship, singles, sexy, advice, tip, single parent, free, web site"

I would consider dropping words like "service, site, maker, people, men, women, partner, tip, online, parent, free, sexy, advice, web site," these words are to general as to the relevance of your content.

Last point I would be careful of linking to "adult" content because you may be rated in that category.

My comments are intended to help and only express my opinion. I would seek advice from professionals in the area of optimization...

Have a good weekend