Hows this site look

[wolfdogg]

This is one of my websites. How does it look? This is the only site where i used a professional template as a rough, then went through everything.

Mainly, I feel its missing some content, or maybe just an advertising /marketing problem? The site has bombed for 2 1/2 yrs now. :crying:
LEt me know what ya'all think. Thanks
http://soldierlink.com - free family communication and hangout for the international military member abroad

[eddy9]

It has a MySQL error at the top of the page, which is -

" Warning : mysql_free_result(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/soldiert/public_html/index.php on line 208 ".

It has a huge amount of white space before you reach the footer.

It has 19 Validation warnings that would be easy to fix, for example you have - bordercolor="1" .

Other than those three things the site looks o.k, more content would be good as you say, but that will more than likely come with time.

[wolfdogg]

Yeah, i started working on it, i am trying to find out where all that space came from. You must have seen it then, cause that SQL error should be gone by now. ill check the validation errors, thanks.

[eddy9]

In your style sheet your iframe has height: 3500px; that is probably your problem.

[waffles]

It looks good. Nothing crammed on the side, nice colors, all that stuff. I might try to implament the guestbook so that it looks like it's really part of your site and not a third party thing. I can show you a few if you'd like to see some.

Also, the search doesn't work. It does nothing except reload the page. The poll doesn't work either. Just a thought, but maybe if everything worked people would come back and tell others about it.

[mikeyp]

I really like the layout. Your colors are nice and the top menu has a "metallic" sort of look to it. Thats a really nice touch. I also like the rounded corners. Good job!

[wolfdogg]

Thanks guys, im currently looking for a solution to the iframe problem, i need some script to resize the window accordingly so there isnt 2 scrollbars, or maybe ill just have to set the height for 600px so that there will only be the inside frame scrollbar. But, the iframe only controls 2 pages, the guestbook, and the forum. i used this method to include the 2 outside apps into the site. Is there a better way? open for suggestion. also, did you see iframe code on the pages, or did you just happen to see the iframe style sheet. if there is iframe code on any pages other than the above 2, then thats teh problem maybe. Thanks again.

Funny you should mention the guestbook, Waffles. Take a look at it now. I was working on that yesterday, lol. does it look more fitting now?

Also i ust ocnverted the phpbb forum to smf yesterday, so the forum is new too.

p.s. the NEW sky blue background was just to add some color, cause this style has been the same since around march 2005.

Any ideas on how i can get the traffic? that 3500 visits to the home page is 2 yrs and counting, and 2000+ have got to be me. ive tried several forums, still cant get attention. so i thought i would try this review, and it seems you guys think the site looks ok. so now i cant figure it out, if its an advertising problem, marketing, etc...

[dmwhipp]

Viewed in IE - 1024 x 748 - DSL

Your site has a nice, clean design with clear navigation and good layout. Definitely off to a good start. Here are a few suggestions to take it even further.

1. Logo: You don’t have one. I think your site would benefit from a logo that caught the eye and stuck in the users memory. In keeping with the design of your site, it could be something as simple as “SoldierLink.com” created in a different font and more eye-catching color.

If you would like to incorporate a graphic in your logo, I would suggest something common to all branches of the military, such as dog tags or something.

In fact, you could even find a good graphic of dog tags and superimpose your site title on it. Be sure to include the tag chain or it tends to look like a luggage tag. Here is a poorly executed sample of what I’m talking about:
http://gallaghersarmy.com/imagesSOURCE/Dog%20Tags.jpg

If you need any help with a logo like this, email me and I’ll help you out gratis.


2. Accent color: Although I like the simplicity and clean look of your colors and layout, I would suggest an accent color from the red family for punch. I would use it in the logo and perhaps as a mouse-over for your left navigation, possibly even headers. I would suggest something from the red family. Since the blue on your site is a bit pale, I think a plum accent would look great. In the left nav of the following site is a color that I think would look good in some variation: http://www.fasite.org/

3. Tag line/motto: Due to your breadcrumb navigation on interior pages, first time visitors to your site will have no idea of the quantity of content you actually have to offer. After probing your site I see under Activities you have/will have a lot for families, even games and links for kids. Use that empty white space next to the black SoldierLink.com and put a tag line or description of your site. Your meta description is pretty good: “Military Members Home to Communicate with Family & Friends, Chat, Web Forum, Military News and Links - Support your troops here.” I’d use a variation of that:

“A Military Members Website offering Communication with Family & Friends, Activities for Families & Kids, Online Chat, Web Forum, Military News and Links and More. Support your troops here.”

Put this in that empty white space on every page so first time visitors entering on pages other than your homepage will see the quantity and variety of content you have to offer. You might even add a site directory link next to Divisions where you can list everything on one page.


4. Code errors: Visit http://validator.w3.org/ and fix your code errors on each page. Some errors, such as ad links or affiliate links are unavoidable, but just validating your homepage I see at least a dozen that can be easily corrected.

5. Site Statistics: Use a blocking cookie to block your own IP address from your stats. I use statcounter.com on all of my sites. It’s totally free and has the option of blocking your own visits. It has great features including: customizable look, popular pages, where visitors came from, visitors browser stats, visit lengths, new and returning visitors and much more. Again, it’s free. You can also elect to have a stat summary emailed to you on a regular basis.

6. Traffic: Visit Yahoo Groups military section (http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Government___Politics/Military). Find groups that seem appropriate to your site and join large groups with a couple hundred members or more that are active (check the post dates on recent messages). Ask permission from the moderator to submit your site to the members for suggestions and feedback and then do so. This will give you traffic from your target audience and you may also get valuable suggestions.

Also Google military forums and military links and find sites that allow you to post your link. Use the phrase “submit your site” in quotes when performing your Google search for pertinent results.

Consider exchanging links with other military site and blogs. Do this with high traffic quality sites, not just directories. It is much better to exchange links with a few quality sites than a ton of useless or poor quality sites.

Here are some search results you can look through:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22military+links%22+%2B%22submit+your+site%22

All in all you are off to a great start. From your menus, your site will ultimately offer many useful resources for armed service members and I wish you much success with it.

If you have anything you need me to clarify regarding my suggestions, feel free to contact me.

Deborah

[Geoserv]

Nice layout and colors, the only thing that I didn't like was on the home page you have the same menu on the left as at the top right, I would lose the one on the left to keep all pages concurrent.

"About" page doesn't render properly on FF.

Geoserv.