fifeclub — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:01:37 +0000

I don't know if this is under your control of cNet's, but all the graphic images in the top section have bright colorful solid backgrounds - yellow, red, orange, purple, and green. In the right setting I could see bright colors used, like for child care, but I don't think those are appropriate for you. All those bright, colorful solid backgrounds within the graphics are distracting. While this may actually be your intention to catch people's eyes, my feeling is that it doesn't fit the style or tech subject of your site which makes it look less professional.

Also, another vote to recommend a nice header graphic with logo over subtle technology background, instead of the plain text over solid background.

Good luck.

demonhale — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 02:59:17 +0000

I guess thats fixed now...
it looks quite ok today

pmj7 — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 13:58:05 +0000

If someone comes across a site that clearly indicates that all their content is from another website (a major one at that), they'll just go there.

Personally, I wouldn't bookmark your site if you had a collection of reviews such as the one for Google Toolbar. As you state, it's an extremely common tool and has been reviewed by all the big boys. If you just rehash the feature collection, etc, what am I getting from you that I don't get from a reliable source with the pros? If your review was superior in detail and more images than the pro site, *** AND *** had less advertising then they did, you might have a chance of drawing some traffic. But that would have to be the main part of your site, not just a small section.

In my opinion, if you're going to go head to head against the big boys, you've got to make it personal and beat them in at least one (preferably more than one) way.

Finally, decide what the true, main goal is for your site. Is it just an easy way to make money? Is it because you're interested in a particular topic? etc. Right now it's looking like #1.

Peter

angmi90 — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 12:22:45 +0000

Yes, I do have the rights to CNET content as I have a partner agreement with them. That's why I use http://windowsatoz.com.com as the prefix to CNET content because it puts my logo on their site.

In terms of content that's more in detail, I have done a full review (several paragraphs) of the Google Toolbar. Take a look at it and tell me that if this is what my site had, would you be likely to bookmark it and visit it? http://www.windowsatoz.com/reviews/utilities/googletoolbar.html

pmj7 — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 03:50:36 +0000

I have to agree with Megan. All I see is a huge collection of Ads, and any actual content is from CNet. What is the point? If I happen to stumble upon your site, why would I stay? Why would I link to it? Do you have the right to reproduce CNet reviews?

Peter

angmi90 — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 18:52:28 +0000

Thanks for the feedback Megan!

In response to your post, the review pages are wide because I have to be able to fit 5 products horizontally. Plus, according to my site's stats, most of my users are using 1024x768 as their resoultion, so most can see the whole page without scrolling horizontally.

In regards to the review "detail," I just completed a roundup of some value digital cameras and I added more detail to the review. Tell me if this is what you were thinking- http://www.windowsatoz.com/reviews/valuecameras_4mp.php . Thanks and keep the feedback coming.

Megan — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 15:03:49 +0000

Welcome to TWF, Alex! Thanks for looking at some other sites first.

The first thing I notice on your site is that big, huge, Cnet ad. Part of the problem is their colour scheme and design, but also that your logo is extremely bland and can't compete with a well designed ad. I would hire someone to do a good professional logo for you. You might even be able to trade some of your own talents for a logo design.

Looking at the froint page, there is a lot of stuff on here and a lot of it is pulled from other sites. It's hard to weed through what is your content and what is someone else's. If I want to read CNet's content I can go to their site (directly from that gigantic banner ad!)

Looking at some of your product reviews - I think you could be a lot more thorough here. I read your Opera 7.51 review for example (because I love opera) and it's way too short to really describe the benefits of Opera as compared to the alternatives. You don't mention specifically many of the unique features Opera has. If I was considering a switch from another browser this wouldn't help me much. I would probably go to another site that has more detailed reviews.

Now I clicked on the Televisions reviews article and got a page with even more ads. It doesn't even fit in my browser window anymroe becuase there are now two columns on the right side, plus more ads at the bottom. Is all this crap reallly useful to you? I'm finding that it's interfering with the actual content (which, again, is pretty skimpy). I chose to look at this article because I know very little about the new television technologies. I have an old school CRT set that I bought about 5 years ago. ON a page like this I would want a quick overview of the basics first and again, each model needs more detail. It would also be good to have a manufacturers suggested retail price on there so I have some idea of how they compare.

On a site like this the design isn't a huge factor, I don't thnk. The content is much more important and it seems to me that you're skimping on that because the ads & affiliate links are the real basis of the site. I'm not saying that's how it really is, that's just what I perceive when browsing your site.