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Dave Miller

New DJ
Feb 20, 2008
954
4
65
Northern NJ USA
www.reverenddavemiller.com
In another thread, a couple members made comments about my website.

I invite that sort of thing. If you have something to say, good or bad, let me know!

Thanks.

FeeL free to make comments about ANY of my websites, since they all have a similar design:

www.ReverendDaveMiller.com - Used to promote my Wedding Officiating service.
www.DaveMillerWeddings.com - Used to promote my Wedding Entertainment service.
www.DJDaveMiller.com - Used to promote my NON-Wedding Entertainment service.
www.DJTeddyBear.com - My former stage name. Except for the name, it's the same as the www.DJDaveMiller.com site.
www.Hit-It-Again-Roulette.com - My casino game idea. It's in the patent process.
 
You Bios page. A typo!


After years of performing as a DJ at all types of events, focus shifted to weddings in 2002. While wedding receptions have always been an important part of the services offered, and entertainment for other types of events are still provided when requested, his true passion lies in working with couples on the most important day of their lives... thier wedding day.
 
Dave -- my comments on the other thread about your site were directed to you because you slammed Cam for not using a professional designer for his promo items. I'm not saying your site looks bad, but you can tell it's homegrown. ;) That was my point.
 
DJMN said:
You Bios page. A typo!
Click to expand...
Thanks.

Dave Miller said:
... since they all have a similar design:
Click to expand...
They have similar design, but different content. So it took a while to find it on the FOUR bio pages it might on....


While I appreciate ALL comments, for the record, the comments in the other thread were referring to the design - and they implied that the design wasn't good, but didn't elaborate.
 
Randy A said:
Dave -- my comments on the other thread about your site were directed to you because you slammed Cam for not using a professional designer for his promo items.
Click to expand...
Actually, I DID get your point in the other thread. And I knew it was because I opened my big mouth.

I'm about out the door for the evening, but I'll return to that thread tomorrow to detail the points that got me to say what I said.



Randy A said:
I'm not saying your site looks bad, but you can tell it's homegrown. ;) That was my point.
Click to expand...
But I'm curious to know what makes you think my sites are homegrown.
 
Only because you asked....

1. Don't like the script text on the menu.

2. The reverend site forces me to wait for the text to appear in slideshow fashion. This is quite annoying and I wouldn't have waited as a regular visitor.

3. Not sure why some of us have two domains that separate the wedding services from the standard services. A simple page dedicated to the wedding services should suffice IMO. You should not feel you have to play yourself up or down for marketing. Just have one slick and effective name/site. (if it's for SEO reasons...meh)

4. On the DJ page the "availability" link opens a new window where the others don't.
(The availability checker is so small, you may just want to use it as a footer on each page)

5. "Don't you deserve an entertainer who cares
about your special event as much as you do?" <<<This text is stacked where it should be just one line.

.
 
I'm completely aware of my own site needing a rebuild. I'm in process.


If I could offer an opinion of what I would change on your site:

I too don't like the script font, it's hard to read.

I find the wood background and colors unappealing.

The page has a big empty space after information ends.
 
Hank Davidson said:
Only because you asked....

1. Don't like the script text on the menu.

2. The reverend site forces me to wait for the text to appear in slideshow fashion.

3. Not sure why some of us have two domains...

4. On the DJ page the "availability" link opens a new window where the others don't.
(The availability checker is so small, you may just want to use it as a footer on each page)

5. "Don't you deserve an entertainer who cares
about your special event as much as you do?" <<<This text is stacked where it should be just one line.
Click to expand...
1 - Point taken, and I see what you mean. I'm going to change that in a few days.

2 - That's actually a recent addition, but I see your point. I'm gonna get rid of that.

3 - Multiple domains allow the individual domains to stay focused. They were a mess and confusing when I was doing everything on one domain. It also enables separate DJ Intelligence links.

4A - I'll change it so it doesn't open a new window.
4B - I've seen the availability checker on every page on other DJ sites and I don't like it. For one thing, it doesn't match the style of the page. For another, having it on every page seems too pushy to me.

5 - I assume you're talking about the repeat at the bottom of the page. On low resolution screens, it won't fit on one line.

DJ Cam said:
I'm completely aware of my own site needing a rebuild. I'm in process.


If I could offer an opinion of what I would change on your site:

I too don't like the script font, it's hard to read.

I find the wood background and colors unappealing.

The page has a big empty space after information ends.
Click to expand...
Font - Understood.

Wood - That's actually supposed to look like brushed metal. It looks a LOT more like brushed metal on my stationery. I'm gonna work on that look. I'm not changing it to something different, because I still want it to match my stationery, but I'll work on it.

Space - There used to be a reason for that, but it no longer applies. I'll get rid of it.



Thanks for the comments.
 
Dave - Looked at the wedding site. The content is solid.....I think your contact info should be more prominent, not just a mouse-over in the header.

Like Hank, I'm not a fan of the font; I find it difficult to read. I understand that you trying to convey elegance; perhaps there is a cursive font a bit easier to read?

I'm not a fan of the yellow; everything seems shades of it, even the brushed metal frame; shouldn't this be more of a stainless steel, gray color?
 
I looked on your Reverend site......there's the colours I was looking for...much better than the yellows:

On your non-wedding site you have a photo of a Bride and Groom. Wouldn't a candid shot of a party work better?

Also the fonts and colors mimic the wedding site. I think the site would look much better if it mimicked the Reverend site.
 
Steve LeBlanc said:
Dave - Looked at the wedding site. The content is solid.....I think your contact info should be more prominent, not just a mouse-over in the header.

Like Hank, I'm not a fan of the font; I find it difficult to read. I understand that you trying to convey elegance; perhaps there is a cursive font a bit easier to read?

I'm not a fan of the yellow; everything seems shades of it, even the brushed metal frame; shouldn't this be more of a stainless steel, gray color?
Click to expand...
Contact info is also at the bottom of every page. This is something I've been struggling with. I'd prefer it to be more prominent, but I don't want to take away from the elegance by throwing my phone number at the top of the page.

Yeah, I'm gonna change the font of the nav buttons. I won't switch to a different script font. That would clash. I'm going to go with a sans-serif font.


Steve LeBlanc said:
I looked on your Reverend site......there's the colours I was looking for...much better than the yellows:

On your non-wedding site you have a photo of a Bride and Groom. Wouldn't a candid shot of a party work better?

Also the fonts and colors mimic the wedding site. I think the site would look much better if it mimicked the Reverend site.
Click to expand...
The grey and grey metal are acceptable? I have a bunch of cards and brochures that use the yellow metal look, with a bridal show in two weeks. I want to keep the color scheme for at least three weeks, but after that, I'll be changing that yellow...

Photos? Yeah, candids WOULD look better, but I have failed at getting photos from an event that would look good, that are accompanied by a release.



Thanks again.
 
I'm re-reading this thread in preparations to start making changes.

Hank Davidson said:
3. Not sure why some of us have two domains that separate the wedding services from the standard services. A simple page dedicated to the wedding services should suffice IMO. You should not feel you have to play yourself up or down for marketing. Just have one slick and effective name/site. (if it's for SEO reasons...meh)
Click to expand...
I hadn't noticed the "Some of us" part before.

Prior to becoming an officiant, I felt like you that there is no need to separate things. Once I became an officiant, things started to get messy. Not too many Bar Mitzvah moms wanted a DJ who is also a Reverend. Never mind that I'm Jewish....

But I can also see why other DJs separate things. One reason is if they charge different prices for weddings. Another is so the weddign business can have an elegant image, while the other business can have a casual party image.

I know of one DJ that keeps his wedding business so separate, that his other business has a different phone number. His wedding phone number is his cell phone. His other business goes to an answering machine. He believes that non-wedding clients do not want, need, or expect the level of attention that wedding clients get. Nor do they want to pay the same price. So they get the answering machine, and a more basic website, etc. Quite frankly, I think he might be on to something.
 
Thanks Dave,

I completely see separating the officiant business. I'm just not partial to the idea of purchasing two domains and doubling page production for wedding vs. non-weddings.

As long as you reach your market and stay busy, what I think matters not.
 
Well, for ME, keeping all the DJ stuff together gets messy because I do talk about officiating on my wedding DJ site. Also, when I link to DJ Intelligence, the Wedding DJ quote generator adds officiating options. The Non-Wedding does not.

As far as the added expense, it's next to nothing. I think I pay $8 per year for each domain name, and my web host allows up to 6 domains for the same hosting fee.

And web page production costs? I do my own design work. As you can tell, the content is different, but the design is fairly uniform.

Last, my marketing focus is on weddings.


But as far as staying busy? Sigh.... Not busy enough.
 
My Take:
--The menu is very hard to read and the font awful
--The colors are very unappealing
--The site is not clean it looks like a first year CS students.

I would be careful about banging fellow DJ's for not using a designer for whatever when your site looks like this. You asked...
 
Web site visualization is important. Eye Candy graphics can attract viewers to read on. But-------SEO --- Search Engine Optimization ---- is more key than anything else.

Whether or not your site "LOOKS" good is inconsequential.
If you are utilizing your web site merely as a reference site for viewers who already know you and are checking YOU out via the web site--an "Eye-Candy" site is fine.

But if you want to attract viewers via search engines -- your site needs to be more.

I always recommend HUBSPOT.com to check the usefulness of a web site.
A web grade of 55 or higher is usually adequate to get you in decent placement on the major search engines.

Content is KING. Graphics really do not compute!

The Hubspot.com free -- yes FREE--web grader tool gives you an impartial analysis of your web site.

I ran one for your sites Dave and have attached the reports to this post.
Your current Grade on your main site is only 40. Your site needs work.
Read the report, and you will know what needs to be addressed.
 

Attachments

  • Web Grade 080610.pdf
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Steve -

I question some of the comments and recommendations in the report you provided. For one thing, it says I don't have headings. Um, I think I do.

For another, I can't stand social networking, and can't believe that it's taken seriously by SEO.

I also question the value of blogs. For example, I looked at your own blog and saw a few somewhat interesting articles about some of the events you have done. I suppose it would be helpful to interested clients to know what you're doing. but I thought that's what the website is for.

I saw an entry in your blog regarding Conan O'Brien. What the heck has that got to do with you? Even more perplexing, in your blog, you announce the creation of Mike W's blog, and he has the IDENTICAL Conan blog entry!

I don't know. Maybe I'm just being stubborn. Maybe nobody except search engines reads that stuff. And maybe that's why it needs to be done.



Anyway, I made design changes to a test copy of my Reverend Dave home page. It's located at www.reverenddavemiller.com/test.html

Only that one page has been changed. The changes include:

1 - Simple font for the nav buttons.
2 - Got rid of the slide show.
3 - Changed the pale blue context background to a light grey.
4 - Although it was always on the bottom, I added my phone number near the top, on the right.
5 - I got rid of the repetition and blank space at the bottom.

For what it's worth, the grey metal background is supposed to look a little like silver. The yellow metal on my other sites is supposed to look like gold. I'm not sure if I'm gonna tweak them or not, but I haven't touched them yet.
 
Dave Miller said:
Steve -

I question some of the comments and recommendations in the report you provided. For one thing, it says I don't have headings. Um, I think I do.

For another, I can't stand social networking, and can't believe that it's taken seriously by SEO.

I also question the value of blogs. For example, I looked at your own blog and saw a few somewhat interesting articles about some of the events you have done. I suppose it would be helpful to interested clients to know what you're doing. but I thought that's what the website is for.

I saw an entry in your blog regarding Conan O'Brien. What the heck has that got to do with you? Even more perplexing, in your blog, you announce the creation of Mike W's blog, and he has the IDENTICAL Conan blog entry!

I don't know. Maybe I'm just being stubborn. Maybe nobody except search engines reads that stuff. And maybe that's why it needs to be done.
Click to expand...

You can question what you want--The report is by one of the leading Search Engine Optimization services in the country. It is based on the Hubspot search engine spider viewing your site.

Since the report listed a lack of page headings, obviously the search engine does not see the headings which you think you have. Best to check the method of insertion to be sure that the search engines see the headings.

Social networking is one of the key components to making your web site viewed. Social networks naturally lead viewers to your site. Which is exactly what you are looking to accomplish -- get viewers to your site.

As for the blog -- again, the purpose is to get viewers to the blog. The blog is a component of your web site. The content is what draws viewers, wheter it be a synopsis of an event that has been done, or a contemporary story such as the Conan O'Brien report. The idea is to generate content that viewers will take time to read. Example--I got you to read my blog through this forum posting. This improved my SEO. (Thank You!)

If I write a story on my blog, let say about the gay marriage controversy in California, and I end up attracting viewers to the blog, it has in fact attracted viewers to my web URL. More viewers, more hits--improved SEO!

Your web host should provide you with statistical reports on who is viewing your site, how often, how long, and what pages.

When I first started this SEO thing 2 years ago, my score was 29. I was getting 125 unique visitors a month who spent an average of 30 seconds viewing my site.

My current Hubspot report rates me at 86.
Last month. 1238 unique visitors viewed my site, spent an average of 2 minutes, and returned again for a total of 2612 visits to the site.

Whether you agree or not, SEO works, and the results are startling.
 
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