On the whole I think the site is laid out well, is functional and simple, however there are a few niggles that I have about it. The site loads nice and quickly and only needs a few minor changes.
On first glance, and during the initial loading of the site, (approx 1 minute) the "left column" overlaps onto the main body of the page, which was a little disconcerting for about a minute or so (Looking at the site through a 56Kbs modem connection) but then pops into place with no overlaps once fully loaded. That was a relief! Once all the java is loaded moving around your site is pretty quick.
I have been reading DevPro for a while and saw some of these page reviews, and thought I'd like to get my sites in there for review at some stage, but decided I'd better do some reviews .. tit for tat and all that.
First and foremost the box called categories changed size on load up nearly causing me to jump out of the page.
This is what I think about toolup.com
You may need rename or rearrange things a bit. For instance
- Logon item in top menu could have been called Login
- Sales item in top menu could have appeared before Shopping Cart
- Shopping Cart should not be first.
The initial format is fine, but I found the marketing aspects of the site lacking.
Find out what readers had to say about the Damashi in this DevWebPro peer review. Read the reviews and pick up some tips for your own site - you may be making some of the same errors!
First impressions
The home page loaded quickly on a dial up connection - good. It is also good to have an example of what is on offer on the homepage. You are listed well on Google for "karate books" and "karate videos". The initial impression is gaudy - very yellow, red and blue! The discount videos page almost hurts the eyes.
On the first loading of the site what hits me is the abundant use of red and size of text. The page just jumps out and smacks my eyes. Ok this is a karate site but still.
It's a brave soul that puts their site up for a review and a smart one. In no particular order, I believe there are three main parts to a web site:
Appearance
Design
Content