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Hi Eric,
I noticed that your website has been for a very long time on the market - since 1997. Wow, respect :)
The problem is new users will not pay attention to the length of your online presence. They will just look on your site and decide in seconds about using it or not.
I see 3 serious issues:
Credibility is everything. Your site's credibility suffers because of an old (which means cheep for modern users) design. Please don't get me wrong as I'm not trying to be mean but it looks like the graphical design has not been changed since 1999 :) Most of your competition has a pixel perfect, 2.0 cute, Mac-glossy, etc, ect design - they do understand that visitors thinking is like this nice looking == trustworthy
Obstacles are conversion killers and should be avoided at any cost. I noticed 3 obstacles: Download, Install & Registration. Why should people try to overcome them when they can use competitive websites with in-browser gaming experience at once, even without setting up an account.
Download & install is the biggest obstacle and conversion killer and potential security threat in peoples perception. Most of the prospect users will have hard time understanding why they should install those games and why can't they play them instantly in the browser. They also will not be sure if installing of this software is safe, and it really does not matter how many times you will mention on the website that this is perfectly safe.
As far as suggesting solutions I would recommend investing in new, good, cute design and this is the easy part. The real difficult one is to convince users that for some reason downloading is better than in-browser experience. IMHO it will be easier to change the whole gaming concept to in-browser gaming and create a special/unique experience than to make downloadible solution a success in a long run. Otherwise is just like kicking match with a horse :)
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Michael
(user experience designer & strategis)
http://www.tournamentgames.com
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1
is this an ad?
the background is uninspiring
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2
These boxes
look tired, and squished, the font is to heavy
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3
Headings
Are too big! They are bigger than that of the navigation menu, and are too close to the outline of the box. Plus I think the black color is too heavy try white
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4
Not appealing
I'm sorry, but I am a designer and I personally hate IMPACT font, and arial... As this is just a button / call to action make it cooler!
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5
Backround
This is really dark, makes me think I have wandered into a dodgy gaming den under a pub or something... maybe that's the feel you were going for?
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6
This...
doesn't make me want to PLAY NOW.... Again it's the font, and the old school style
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7
Floating
just seems like an after thought
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8
Too much
jammed into this area it feels squashed, make the page bigger
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9
Where's
the explanation about the purpose of the site? There needs to be a simple yet effective down low on what this site is for... eg: step 1.... and so forth
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10
wasted space
it's a waste
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11
Footer
doesn't seem to exist, look at the current website trends at the moment and you will note that there's a certain layout that works, and it works for a reason... google...
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12
No Home
ET - would be very upset! Jokes aside there always needs to be a home button, or menu item and there needs to be a this page state...
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13
Is this important?
IF so... move it from here, it's cluttering your logo...
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14
Drop down sub menu
It's not shown here, but it's awfully dull... go to cssdrive.com and be inspired!
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15
This should be your main headline area.
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16
This should sit in or just under your main headline area
And rather than boring "about games" change this to something more fun, like"Get started right away" or "Play like an expert!"
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17
Move this to the "Get Started Now" or "Play like an expert" section
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18
and this too
All of these first 4 or 5 elements belong together in the main headline message.
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19
Get this out of here
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20
Get this out of here
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21
Get this out of here
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22
Get this out of here
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23
I'm already at your site, you don't need to give me the URL again
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24
Get rid of these bars
What's an "entry?" Why should I care? Better to have an exciting screen shot, and put some descriptive text - "the most fun you can have...." or "the best solitaire game ever."
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25
What is this?
I know what Solitaire is, but what's a Make 13? Again, get rid of the bar, put an exciting screen shot (and if these are "arcade quality" put an arcade quality picture up there - these are too small and very pixelated. And then give some short descriptive text about what this game is, and why I'm going to have hours of fun playing it.
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26
You might change this from "Download Now"
to "Start playing now!'
