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weddingzone.ie

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Hi all,

I am looking for some feedback on my site weddingzone.ie which is a wedding planning and information site for weddings in ireland it is live about a month, site is not fully finished as am adding content still and forums are not running yet as still tweaking this part as well as blog

Any help or feedback appreciated.

Thanking you
Weddingzone.ie
 
New site UrbanChickenCoops.org offers opinion & ask for same

Hi, these are just one guys opinions :)

Ok, weddingzone.ie first up, it is a good name.
Second immediate impression : pink pink pink ~ you're targeting the ladies, ok they wear the pants in such matters.

Third impression, a waft of advertising hit me on the index page and I wondered where is the content ??? I scrolled down half way and thought I found some but, no it's more advertising... Then I realised that your site IS an advertising site. Nothing wrong with that but as a first time browser (and a bloke) I didn't know that when I went to weddingzone.ie and my immediate reaction to advertising is "woah, back off". Perhaps a little descriptor at the top for first time viewers may help clarify / aviod this, which is a common reaction amongst viewers nowadays. e.g. "weddingzone.ie ~ your resource for everything to do with weddings in Ireland" I know you have a menu strip but on first impression this melts into all the other ads on the page, it having pictures too...

I just think the advertising whomp is a bit full on, on the index page... Think of the viewer, allow them a little space to float in easily...
Ok, they are visiting re wedding arrangements but to launch them straight into a wall of ads may be a bit full on.

Again these are just one persons opinions.

Maybe pushing the forum / blog section up the page may help return ownership to the viewer, or moving the forum and blog left along the menu. I just feel you can't ask people to deal with a big advertising smack without settling them in first into their comfy zone within your site.
I also noticed that the menu links go blank briefly when you hover...

I hope you'll take this opinion as singular and constructive :)
Just in case, here are some good points...

Very quick loading site, practically zero delay and I was using a usb internet stick. Extremely comprehensive content ~ it is an excellent resource. Quality graphics, nice layouts and a colourful general impression.

Hope this has been some use to you... to summise my impression in one word ~ "ownership" ~ the balance on the index page leans towards the advertisers rather than towards the viewers, yes advertising is why they are there, it's a finer point, more delicate...

If you wish to return the favour, please have a look at my site. It was done on a zero budget on a laptop myself, so bear this in mind. I won't be able to afford a web design company, so I'm mostly interested in usability...

Feel free to slate it !!! All criticism is constructive...

urbanchickencooops . org

Good luck and thanks... ;););)
 

honeymonster

New Member
It seems like a very good idea. Esp with the cost of weddings. But I dont like that big image that changes all the time. And I think your logo could be improved. But overall very good.
 
. But I dont like that big image that changes all the time.

True, the large image needs to be slowed down if possible, or at least only show one image at a time, some of them have 4/5 photos in one frame, it is confusing.

Your site reminds me of this one... CAR LEASING CHEAP LEASE CARS SALES CAR LEASING CHEAP CONTRACT HIRE DEALS Ironically it is one of the most popular sites in the UK, but it looks awful, which just goes to show something that looks nice, may be useless.

I presume the business model you are operating relies heavily on outbound ad links, which you are doing very well, it is hard to see what is an ad and what is an internal link, well done!

However Your site is seriously lacking any content, I tried the following links...
Civil Ceremonies Weddings Ireland Weddingszone.ie
Wedding Venues Wedding Hotels Wedding Castles Weddings Ireland Weddingszone.ie
Wedding Castles Weddings Ireland Weddingszone.ie
only to get blank ad filled pages, you need to contact hotels to sell site space to them, or offer a review for some payment with links to their own website. Or at the very least offer useful information to drive organic search traffic to your site.
 

ivanovitch

New Member
Truthfully, I would hit the back button straight away.

It's all hard sell.

You've got to lure me in softly to get my cash for that sort of thing. If I was using a web site to direct me as to the best way to make my "special" day as "special" as possible it wouldn't be via the Golden Pages.

Font in the "welcome to" bit is horrible. Rolling flash ads above the fold are nasty. Page is too wide. Need I go on???.

Have a look at weddingsireland.com. Engaging, gentle and potentially able to extract cash.

If I may use a wedding related metaphor - it's kind of like rolling up to a decent hotel. You know that staying there is probably not going to be that much different than every other hotel you’ve ever stayed in but, you get a sense of occasion as you roll up the gravel drive and let a man in a freshly pressed uniform park your car for you.

On that basis weddingzone is, for me, Faulty Towers compared to weddingsireland's The Shelbourne.
 

ivanovitch

New Member
You clearly have never been to a wedding conference fair.

If you own a business website and you are not trying to sell, you are doing something very very wrong.

I'm not wrong. Selling is key to any business but it's how you approach it that matters. I've seen some of your work on our streets and I think it's clever so I know you know how to convert a concept into cash. But, if you came to my house and shouted at me about how brilliant you were I'd close the door.

But you already know that.

The site is all shout but no clout. It's not attractive, not engaging and not going to be successful in it's present format.

Who was it said "lunch is for wimps"...(rhetorical question)...lunch is the time when people with a bit of vision decide what's going to happen in the afternoon.

Your business seems to have made it to the afternoon but weddingzone is still in bed.
 
Thank you Ivanovitch. I would never dream of shouting at you outside your home.

There are indeed many middle class John Lewis shoppers that would not react to this website in a positive manner. However an under exposed element to the weddings market is the lower class, they are often alienated by bricks and mortar retail outlets, but still spend a considerable amount on the big day.

Have you done any market research for your target market weddingzone.ie?

If your target market is the middle to lower class your site is well suited, however if your target market is the more lucrative middle to upper middle market Ivanovitch is absolutely spot on and your site needs an overhaul to reflect quality, substance and beauty.
 

GimmeDat

New Member
On that basis weddingzone is, for me, Faulty Towers compared to weddingsireland's The Shelbourne.

You're logic is completely infuriating! Apply it to the mega successful http://www.craigslist.org and discuss. Just because a website or a hotel (to use your analogy) is all show doesn't mean it's any use or has any substance. The best way to drive this site in my opinion is through the forum section. I agree with Urban Chicken that the new forum posts should be more obvious. My advice for the the site would be to focus the forum section on brides and a speech section for grooms.

I personally have recommended wedding venues, planning help and ideas on several occasions to nervous groomsmen. The site itself has 1000's of sample speeches and allows people to upload their own. Very handy.

The fictional fawlty towers was at least successful in all its ridiculousness. It'll be a long time before the €90 Shelbourne hotel renovation costs will ever be recovered.
 

ivanovitch

New Member
You're logic is completely infuriating! Apply it to the mega successful http://www.craigslist.org and discuss. Just because a website or a hotel (to use your analogy) is all show doesn't mean it's any use or has any substance. The best way to drive this site in my opinion is through the forum section. I agree with Urban Chicken that the new forum posts should be more obvious. My advice for the the site would be to focus the forum section on brides and a speech section for grooms.

I personally have recommended wedding venues, planning help and ideas on several occasions to nervous groomsmen. The site itself has 1000's of sample speeches and allows people to upload their own. Very handy.

The fictional fawlty towers was at least successful in all its ridiculousness. It'll be a long time before the €90 Shelbourne hotel renovation costs will ever be recovered.

Craig's List has become iconic not because it's any good (cos it's quite naff), but because it is the Grandfather of that type of web site. All other followers of that format have been simply "me too's". Some have been successful, most have failed. Probably the most successful to follow the format is eBay.

Most "Me too" web sites have a fundamental flaw, they lack innovation.

Maybe Fawlty Towers was too complimentary.

How about Rising Damp?

BTW...€90 to renovate the Shelbourne would be a bit of a bargain. I doubt I could buy a pair of shoes for that.
 
not for me thanks, its to textual and tons of misused space. Theres approx 20% unused/misused banner space at the top. Not good use of space at all Im afraid.
 
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