Critique My New Website Please!!!

Business By antonia74 Updated 31 Dec 2006 , 3:06am by sweetcakes

antonia74 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
antonia74 Posted 18 Dec 2006 , 5:22am
post #31 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by nglez09

Quote:
Originally Posted by antonia74

That seems to have more bearing on the power of your computer/internet connection versus my website though, but I'll pass it on.



I'd really go ahead and contact her because I highly doubt it's my computer, IMHO (or those of the other twenty people).
icon_lol.gif





Thank you Nglez09! As I said...I will.

It's actually just an upgraded website, I've had one up for 6 years now. Business is awesome for us, but a funkier site should get us more of the non-traditional orders we love to do and less of the requests for slab cakes, etc. that we aren't really about.

My web designer is www.flashgurl.net She's amazing!!

nglez09 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
nglez09 Posted 18 Dec 2006 , 5:34am
post #32 of 52

You have amazing work as well! Why haven't you been on the FoodNetwork? icon_lol.gif

Either that one show where they go to the prominent food stops or on a Challenge?!

crimsonhair Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
crimsonhair Posted 18 Dec 2006 , 5:39am
post #33 of 52

I love your new website. It didn't take too long to load for me either. It is very easy to navigate and your photos are all fantastic.. Great job.
Liz

antonia74 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
antonia74 Posted 18 Dec 2006 , 5:40am
post #34 of 52

that's kind of you, thanks!

Well, I've been in a few magazines and a couple of ads in the past 4 years, which was an honour. icon_redface.gif I'm actually just working on an online video for decorating too. It's scheduled for release in April 2007, so I'll keep everyone in touch about that and send a link to it when I can. It should be fun!

cupcake Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
cupcake Posted 18 Dec 2006 , 7:58am
post #35 of 52

I am on DSL also, took long to load, once loaded did just fine. Nice website.

acookieobsession Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
acookieobsession Posted 18 Dec 2006 , 2:10pm
post #36 of 52

I did finally wait for your site to come up, and of course it is great. i like the way that the pictures are larger now and you do not have to click on each one to see it. That took a while to do before. Too much clicking. I think I have read an article that people only give you so many clicks before they find what they want or move on.

I noticed too things that would be nice to change, but I think they are more of a personal preference thing. One,a s someone mentioned the next buttona dn the end could possibly change to end or previous. I think I have seen it before as it just changes to previous on the last page.

And it is a bit cumbersome to return to the home page to change groups. Perhaps a smaller menu at the bottom that allows you to choose to go directly to your major groups.

As I said these are proabably just personal preferences, but I do a majority of my shopping and researching online. SO those are things that jump out at me.

I do love the new colors and as I said the larger pictures are great.

Mandica12182 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Mandica12182 Posted 18 Dec 2006 , 3:17pm
post #37 of 52

Takes a long time to load...but once it did it's awesome!!

antonia74 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
antonia74 Posted 20 Dec 2006 , 9:04pm
post #38 of 52

Thanks everyone!! It still takes a bot of time to load, but the designer is working on that. (It's a toss up between slimming down the amont of photos on the site OR lowering the clarity of them as a whole. I prefer the latter choice frankly! I've really narrowed down the number of photos I used to have on the old site, which is a good thing! icon_lol.gif )

I've had her put in a progress/loading bar, fix the "back/next" buttons to disappear when you come to the end of the gallery, more prices for the categories and my city/province to the contact page...all suggestions from you guys! icon_smile.gif

As for the "About Me" page...maybe one day! thumbs_up.gif

Sugarbean Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Sugarbean Posted 20 Dec 2006 , 10:07pm
post #39 of 52

Hey Helen,

I've noticed a small "mistake". When you click on Traditional Wedding cakes. And then you go to flavours your heading is Non-traditional Wedding Cakes.

I noticed all your other's have a heading that match the area your in. icon_smile.gif

antonia74 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
antonia74 Posted 20 Dec 2006 , 10:15pm
post #40 of 52

hey! you're right. icon_eek.gif I'll email her that error right now. Thanks!!

Feefs Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Feefs Posted 20 Dec 2006 , 11:20pm
post #41 of 52

Hi,
Just tried to see your website -- am on a new pc with wireless DSL and it is taking an awful long time to load - if I was looking at sites for wedding cakes etc, I would have probably moved on from your site by now & gone to the next in the list -- but since I'm not and I am curious to see how it looks, I'm not going anywhere! hehehe.

-- Fi

edited to add: once the page loaded it looks nice - the preview pics load quite quickly and look fantastic. Kudos to your web designer.

mitsel8 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
mitsel8 Posted 23 Dec 2006 , 4:08am
post #42 of 52

You are my cookie idol!
I love your site and your cookies. The typeface and colors are very cool and hip. You are always an inspiration.

Leslie

antonia74 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
antonia74 Posted 28 Dec 2006 , 11:06pm
post #43 of 52

Okay, she's fixed some errors and put a great loading/progrss bar on the site now. It seems to take 20-30 seconds to load for most friends/family members I've asked to check it out. If it takes longer...there's apparently not much we can do about it without losing either a bunch of the photos or a lot of the clarity . (Don't ask me....I know icing and baking, not megabytes and home pages!) icon_confused.gif

Thanks for ALL the help and advice!! icon_biggrin.gif

Feefs Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Feefs Posted 28 Dec 2006 , 11:33pm
post #44 of 52

Hi there
Sorry, but for me it is taking the same amount of time to load as it did before.

The reason for this would be that you are using flashplayer which in turns loads EVERY image before showing anything at all. Also, your family & friends may be using the same ISP as you which could explain why they aren't having such a slow transfer rate.

I would consider moving away from flash if everyone else seems to be having a slow load also - It took me 2 minutes to get the page/s to load and if I was looking for cake ideas/maker .. I personally wouldn't wait that long.... but thats just my opinion.

-- Fi

AgentCakeBaker Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
AgentCakeBaker Posted 29 Dec 2006 , 9:49pm
post #45 of 52

Your website is great. The only thing I think needs improvement is when the page actually loads. I know I can be impatient when it comes to searching the web and if a page takes a while to load I would stop it and find something else to look at.

Overall, I love the site.

antonia74 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
antonia74 Posted 31 Dec 2006 , 12:08am
post #46 of 52

A million "thank-yous" to you all!!!! Your feedback was awesome and has probably saved me losing a bunch of future clients who don;t want to wait for the load time! (I would never have known it was any slower than my own computer did it.)

The web designer seems to have fixed the loading time issue now, by NOT having all the photos load at once. Now they load when you click each section's gallery individually. I think it's much better!! icon_smile.gif At least the Home Page loads fast and catches their attention!! Tell me if you disagree or if the delay is still bad for you?:

www.marmaladecakecompany.com

JaneK Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
JaneK Posted 31 Dec 2006 , 12:18am
post #47 of 52

Hi Helen,
It loads quickly and I clicked on each section and all the cakes came up quickly..when I clicked on a thumbnail it also loaded quickly..no probs at all and it looks great!!!

Happy New Year!

Jane

dacakelady Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
dacakelady Posted 31 Dec 2006 , 12:39am
post #48 of 52

Oh my goodness!! Everything works just fine, very fast and I must say the cakes and cookies are breathtaking. I am so jealous...I really feel inspired now to step my game up, lol...Nothing for you but Hi Fives, Snaps, and Kudos!! Congrats!!! thumbs_up.gif

antonia74 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
antonia74 Posted 31 Dec 2006 , 12:47am
post #49 of 52

yahoo!!! It's fixed!!!!! icon_lol.gificon_biggrin.gifthumbs_up.gif

Tuggy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Tuggy Posted 31 Dec 2006 , 12:58am
post #50 of 52

Congarts - your new site is just WOW! And it works perfectly thumbs_up.gif

antonia74 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
antonia74 Posted 31 Dec 2006 , 1:31am
post #51 of 52

Tuggy! I just LOVE your new frog!!! icon_lol.gif

sweetcakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
sweetcakes Posted 31 Dec 2006 , 3:06am
post #52 of 52

im not on high speed, but it loaded instantly, i had no wait at all. loved it, the colours the way you have displayed the cakes and cookies. id be very happy if it were my site. its simple, professional and direct. id surely contact you for a cake if i lived in your area.

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%