Hello! Could i have a review of one of the sites I am building?

[pdxSherpa]

http://www.iwantanimage.com/

Built to offer free images to 3d gamers/3d modelrs /artist/ grandmas...whoever.
Eventually i also want to sell itmes of it like tiled image/web comics/art.

If anyone feels like it, i'd appreciate a review on:
1.general (I think I need to display that they are "free" somewhere on the main page. not too clear right now)
2.adsense, is it worth it. Can you actually make money off it or just enough for a weekend pizza.
3.add a menu. took it off and will replace it a couple of search boxes on the left hand column. Opinions on that?
4.a login to better control possible download issues.
5.anything else. feel free to say.

thank you
pdxS

[daveystokhof]

color
Too much green... I would change the content section background to a lighter color.

blocks on the right
What are these? I can not see anything inside them

ad blocks
nothing wrong having ad blocks but aligning them would make it look better instead of having 2 above and 1 under them.

[WebOutGateway]

My reviews are as follows:
1. Maybe you should provide a separate web page for your legal information, privacy policy, limitation of liability and indemnification as they are also included in your 'about us' page (it's just too congested)
2. Please proofread your text content (punctuation, spelling, grammar etc.)
3. Logo- maybe you could still enhance it, couldn't you?
4. Layout- I think you should rearrange the banner ads and pictures.
5. Perhaps you could add more menu for easier navigation.
6. Pictures- maybe you could upload more interesting pictures

[aarfseoman]

I would add the following feedback:

- If the images are really free, I would recommend adding some text possibly below each category image or some wording above perhaps.
- See how the first couple of months are like in terms of traffic and visitors to the site before turning on AdSense. You can then determine whether this is going to be worthwhile and turn it on accordingly.
- Personally, I would prefer a navigational menu option rather than the boxes on the right which are currently blank? Most visitors expect to see a menu which easily guides them on where to go, whereas the boxes on the right could be mistaken as ads or promotional activity etc.
- The logo could add the full name as it is not clear at the moment what the letters stand for. Since having a good logo for the business is so important for branding and enhancing the business profile, I would suggest further design work to improve the overall look and feel.
- The banner ads could be better aligned at the bottom of the page and ideally they need reducing in size if possible.
- I would add more calls to action, such as a contact telephone number, testimonials, contact form above the fold etc.

Hope this helps.

[pdxSherpa]

hello folks thanks for the replies.
the blank boxes on the right are suppoesd to be the ones w/the adsense adds. for some reason it works on the secondary pages (contact, support, etc..) so that will have to be looked at.
I will re think the menu. but am the idea of a search box or two seems something i may want to try, at least at first.
good point on the call to action. the contact form is also set for phase 2 along w/the search box.

[Dr John]

Your google ads code is correct.

What is (very) wrong is the number of ad blocks on the pages. Google limits you to three per page, and if you exceed that, they can choose not to display any ads at all, or just the first three. I'd guess that the more often your pages break their rules, the more likely they are to show no ads. And you are breaking their rules pretty blatantly with eight or nine ad blocks!!!

RTFM or they will disable your account.

So you either reduce the number of ad blocks or use bigger blocks, say their taller ones. Oh, and choose an ad type by adding one of these lines below the ad_height or ad_format

google_ad_type = "text"; which results in a set of textual ads
or
google_ad_type = "text_image"; which shows text or image ads
or
google_ad_type = "image"; which shows a single image ad only

I alternate with a text only to get several different ads on display (more chance of one of them appealing to a visitor), then a text_image block as the images, taking up a larger space (usually the entire skyscraper ad) cost the advertiser more and earn you more if clicked.

[pdxSherpa]

Hello Dr. & thank you much for mentioning that. I was not aware of it and will remove the bottom ones by tonight. (kind wanted them only on the side anyway, have to talk to my php person as to put them on the side line of the main page)

But that would explain why only three ads show up in some page. I thought i was coding it wrong. Also thought that three was a "suggested" limit but that'll teach me to speed read the rtfm.

Thanks again
sherpa

Your google ads code is correct.

What is (very) wrong is the number of ad blocks on the pages. Google limits you to three per page, and if you exceed that, they can choose not to display any ads at all, or just the first three. I'd guess that the more often your pages break their rules, the more likely they are to show no ads. And you are breaking their rules pretty blatantly with eight or nine ad blocks!!!

RTFM or they will disable your account.

So you either reduce the number of ad blocks or use bigger blocks, say their taller ones. Oh, and choose an ad type by adding one of these lines below the ad_height or ad_format

google_ad_type = "text"; which results in a set of textual ads
or
google_ad_type = "text_image"; which shows text or image ads
or
google_ad_type = "image"; which shows a single image ad only

I alternate with a text only to get several different ads on display (more chance of one of them appealing to a visitor), then a text_image block as the images, taking up a larger space (usually the entire skyscraper ad) cost the advertiser more and earn you more if clicked.

[NorLine]

Loading images is a bit slow, maybe you can compress them.

THe other point is that the entire right hand column is empty...is that right?

[vdbjoris]

My biggest issue I have with the site is that from the URL "I want an image" I expect to see a search engine. If I want an image, I don't want to spend hours to browse through categories to find what I'm looking for.

- So: Tag the images and add a search box!
- these days i see a lot of new image related sites, and they all have big fonts and take up a lot of space. your thumbnails are quite small, font is also too small
- What are those empty boxes on the right hand site?
- I make a couple thousand on adsense every month and the biggest tip I can give you is don't do it too early in your project. you will not make any money anyway in the beginning and you'll focus too much on it instead of focussing on the design and usability of your site. you need a lot of visitors if you want to even buy a pizza every weekend, so try to find a niche and work work work! The earn, earn, earn comes automatically. Right now, the adsense images take up more space than the actual thumbnails on some pages, eg. metal. You may get a click once in a while, but you'll loose visitors in the end.
- i don't have good experience with donate buttons, I think I made 5ct on an entire year, then I decided to get rid of it.
- make the color scheme a bit more lively

Good luck!

[Donovan80]

Green color look annoying, reduce density.

[seohuntanalytics]

Hi! Let me leave some comments and advices.
1) Add more text with keywords - this could increase your search traffic significantly
2) Add somewhat like a rating system for users so that they can rate pictures
3) Add some categories like "Top rated", "Top downloads" - this will make the process of searching more comfortable
4) It would be better to add categories to the separate list on the side, under the first ads block - this will facilitate the search
5) Add "Comments"
Well, I think that's all, good luck with your site.

[Spritanium]

Right away I notice that there's a lot of green. I think the main content area should be either white or a lighter shade of green. Right now it's really flat.

The hover effect on the thumbnails is weird. I don't really like it.

The headings on the about page have like, 10 times more of a drop shadow than they need. As a matter of fact I don't like how those look at all---why is one of the corners rounded more?

The links definitely shouldn't be the default blue. They shouldn't be blue at all, with that shade of green. It clashes a lot.

Don't center text. It looks amateurish.

Overall, the layout follows a really traditional formula, but it works. Just change a few things and it should be great.

[Aboudie]

Hi PDX

I'm not good with design and all but I can say that i frequent image hosting sites, so from a a possible customer perspective, here are my thoughts about it

I think the layout is simple and That is a plus in my opinion. I agree with everyone concern that the site is too green, try adding different color combinations to it. I would probably increase the size of the featured image, because tbh it's difficult to see specially if you want your traffic to have good look at it. I would most likely add more menu and more direction to your site. The overall feel for now is flat, but it has potential. I like simplicity, but spicing up your site a bit would do you better

The Good

Good simple layout

the Bad

Colors to bland
still need content
For an image site, the images didn't capture my attention

You're getting there though. Keep working on it

Zayd

[J in Calgary]

Hi,

I like the layout of the images. However, it's not so interesting to me as a potential customer what the "latest" ones are--that's more interesting from the site designer's point of view. I would just start with the category menu and let users jump right into to browsing images that way. I also think you have too many categories for the home page. For example, you have animals, but you also have cats. You also have separate categories for plants, leaves, flowers, and fruit. It seems more logical to have wider categories on the home page, and then offer sub-categories within those pages, with an option to "view all." If I want something with leaves for a fall invitation, I might also be interested in plants, flowers, or fruit for that same use--makes sense to put them together. If you had fewer categories and eliminated the top row of latest images, you would have room to make your images a little bigger, and you want people to really see and enjoy them.

Where it says "Latest Pictures," it would be better to have a couple of friendly sentences inviting others to use and enjoy your images for free. When I'm looking for images, I want to know two things--can I legally use them for free? And do they have a lot of variety in a style that will fit my project needs? If you fix that first thing, you will be addressing both those questions immediately on the home page.

The about page has a lot of text. A photo of you or your work, or even your art site logo would be welcome here to break up the text. Also, I would add a line at the top in bigger font or bold text saying the images are free. Your next sentence can explain that later some of them will be for sale only.

Based on the placeholder cartoon for your contact info and a few of your lines of text in your about information, you have a playful sense of humor. As others have mentioned, it's not just that the background color is too much green--it's that it's completely the opposite of playful and fun. It's grim and sad--and that's not what you are about. A soft gray would be a nice neutral color to show off your images and let your text and images convey your fun side.

I'm not a huge fan of ads, especially for an image-based site, since the ads compete with your content. However, you need to make it work for you. If you consolidate some of your image categories on the home page, you can shorten the whole page and get rid of those last two blocks under the first three ads on the right hand side. You might also want some pinterest, facebook, and twitter buttons somewhere near the bottom.

Good luck with your site!

[yestyle]

Good design but less text so you can add some text parts on site for more attractive

[JohnoLFC]

Hey pdxSherpa, congratulations on your site. I'm new to the industry, so my views are strictly personal and I DO NOT speak from experience;

The load time was fast on my computer, using Google Chrome. The first impressions weren't so good, ONLY from the aspect of seeing that yellow "Donate" button. Personally, when I see that, it puts me off the site. This is only a personal opinion and I'm sure others differ, but if this was maybe placed towards the bottom of the page, it would keep me on the site.

Away from the button, the site is nice, your navigation bar is spot on. I like the minimalistic look so I'd definitely stay with that! The hover buttons are cool too, I like the way the whole theme is in keeping with the logo. I would recommend maybe having a 'list' categories too, I know this is laid out in a table format, but I prefer if there's a list categories table, maybe floated to the left or right.

I would also maybe have the background outside the wrapper a difference colour, maybe something neutral like white. I think this would be a little easier on the eyes and make the site look more clean and professional.

Hope this helps, and keep up the good work. I have book marked the site and shall comment if changes are made

Cheers

[woolabee]

I think that the green and black colors on the site are just too dark. Considering some of the images are black and white, they don't "pop or standout" like they should.

[PicnicTutorials]

Not in love with the colors. And you have 5 seconds to tell people what your site is about. I was on it for 30 and not a clue.