Veggie Advisor V2

Hi Ben,

I like your blog and to increase readership, Twitter Followers and rss subscribers I would suggest as follows:

1. Keep as much above the fold on the homepage as possible. 70% of first time viewers don't scroll homepages and make their decision about drilling in based on what they can see at once.

2. That is why I suggest getting rid of white-space in the header. The future new one-liner can be on the white area above section titles.

3. Eating out should be within context of viewer location. I don't really care what new veggie places are in Brighton as it's more than likely I will never get there in time before they go bust :) Maybe bring location tags instead of links to recent reviews.

4. You should follow us on Twitter can increase follow-up by 10% points simply because it a stronger Call to action. The same with Don't miss out next recepies and subscribe RSS

5. Improve writing style because right now it's a deterring wall of text. Use reverse pyramid style with extra formatting (bolding) to make is easer for users to scan through your articles.

6. Content pages require improvement too.

Hope this helps.

cheers!

Michael

(user experience designer & strategist)

Hey Ben

This is starting to look good, there are a few things that need a bit of tweaking I'll use notes...

So there is a fair bit of improvement needed...

Good Luck!

HI Ben, you seem to have all the necessary content to make your site informative for visitors. But there are some issues that need to be addressed.

(1) How well does your design theme suit the purpose of the site? Can you honestly say that this theme is appealing to vegetarians. To me, this theme is not suited for your intended audience. I would say taking some time to consider what is appealing to vegetarians. Now I don't mean but a bunch of different fruits and vegetables in your background. Also, just wanted to note that to me wood textures have become a tad overused.

(2) Color Scheme. You have too many neutral color choices going on here, mainly talking about the shades of brown. I would suggest to implement more "cool colors". If you don't know what I mean by that heres an article on color theory, http://tinyurl.com/y8a49dk. Cool colors are a solid choice for this type of site, and should be very appealing to your intended audience.

(3) More interesting typography. I feel like you are being too safe with your choices here. Take a chance on a font from dafont or deviant that may seem strange, but it could surprise you in the end result.

(4) Remove the underline under link titles. It makes it harder for some users to read. If you want, you could make that into a hover state. That would work.

(5) Change the bullets used in your list. I think they would better serve your site as something more interesting and suited to the theme of your site.

(6) Remove the extra underline from you pages links. I am mainly referring to the one a few pixels under the text. It seems as if you just have it there to make the section width better suited for your site. It is unnecessary and takes away from your site.

(7) On a final note, your twitter link should be spaced out from the text section above by a few pixels. Feels awkward that close.

The website is well designed, but you can give it a final touch and it will be even better!

1. Add a 1px stroke and a 1px inner glow on the menu items. Maybe a subtle gradient could help too. This will make the menu pop up from the screen.

2. Round the search box. the entire site is rounded, but the search box isn't, and it makes it looks like it's in the wrong place. Maybe a light grey stroke could help too. And i think it's better to place the magnifier in the left, but that's personal.

3. Use better the space you have. You have some dead space in the bottom. For example, the Pages is almost empty. You can find ways to fill it with some good content.

Pretty good work!

Although the website is well designed, it's missing some elements. Here are some suggestions:

1. ADD veggies to site, either in the header or footer. At first glance I have no idea what the site is about. By adding veggie elements to the site, it will eliminate this question by users.
2. If you have want more twitter or facebook users, you need to place the button where you can see it. It gets lost down at the bottom.
3. I really think you need some sort of intro text. Something super simple that sums up what you do.
4. Maybe add more spacing between you three headings (Articles, Eating Out, and Recipes) and your thumbnail. This way your headings won't get lost.

By making these changes, I think you'll achieve your website goals. Great start! Cheers!

I'm not feeling the background on this one. What about having a grocery story, produce, or a restaurant in the background instead?

nice photo, nice layout

Looks great but I would change the footer or whatever you want to call it where you have the welcome content, pages, and tag cloud --- the transparency isn't working for me but that's my opinion.

I had good first impression when first looking at this design. The background is nice but looks very similar to Jamie Oliver's iphone app.

The main content is cramped and could do with some more white space.

nice clean design- however:

• what is this site about- please add a punchline or some kind of introductory text.

• the background- i think u could use something else too.. this wooden flat background may not be the best choice- may be some pieces of vegetable (or just hint of vegetables there..) also, try horizontal lines in the wooden background instead of verticals.

• make the search box bigger.

• footer needs to be reorganized.