Oh, this is going to end so well....

I'm web master for SmithCustomGuns.com and I have just rewritten their web site and would like some feedback from the people who actually know what they are looking at.

All I'm asking for is an honest evaluation of the design and navigation.  I'm sure that things are mispeled... gramma not correct, that's not what I want to know, what I want to know is......

If you were in the market for these kind of services, would you use Smith Guns based on the web site.

Click the "email the webmaster" link on the home page and leave your feedback.

Thanks
Nate

I like it.  

I would make the home page more about the product and services and skip the ton of pictures of guys hanging out at the range.  Get to what's important right away.

Nice catch, I had left his mission statement off the homepage.  Done wordsmithing, its posted now.

Unfortunately I don't have all the items to fill the "sales" page with.

Why does your web-page not fit on my web-page?  I have to use a scroll bar to see everything.  All my other web-pages fit.

Agreed. Lose the hunting, 3-gun, and tactical pictures, and focus on the guns more for the homepage slideshow.

Save those other pics for the gallery.

Changed the slideshow.

Q: what is the consensus on using the Photobucket slideshow?  I normally use Visual Slideshow, but the owner wanted the ability to manipulate the slideshow without having to learn web authoring.  The compromise was Photobucket.  Any thoughts?

Ogive, what browser are you using?  I only have the ability to test in IE 7 ~ 9, Safari, Chrome, Mercury and a small handful of mobile browsers.  Some browsers do not report what they are or the resolution they are displaying so the site will not scale properly.

I really, really appreciate the feedback,

My thanks to all who looked, and a tip of the hat to those who voiced an opinion.

Again, thanks
Nate

I checked out the site last night and just now.
I like the change in the introductory slide show to less pictures, more
about just the firearms.
I use Firefox and have to scroll from side to side.
Under the competition, hunting, three gun tab the photo shop
gallery does not display the arrow right/left buttons or the pause button
just little black boxes with tiny letters in them. It might just be my browser.
Over all a very nice presentation.

Same here im using Firefox 26.

I didnt look at your code but it kinda looks like your table for the 4 advertisements on the bottom are pushing the whole page wide.

OK, got that fixed, you were right the table was 1606 instead of 1350 max.

I reset the slideshows to Flashplayer from HTML, which loads faster.  Only downside is mobile devices  so I have placed an html link below each.

PLEASE don't look at the code... there is sooo much $h1* buried in there, I think if you look deep enough you might even find Jimmy Hoffa.

Worst part of all this is that I do this for free... Sure hope he didn't get what he payed for...

Nate

I provide IT support for a few friends/family who are web developers, so I've critiqued a few in my time. Not knowing your requirements, I obviously can't really say much, but I have some thoughts you might want to think about.

1. Side menu bars don't really scale well in tablet/mobile situations. They were standard back in the day, but usually menu bars have moved to the top & bottom of the page, sometimes masquerading as a tab bar. If you're doing side bars you really need to also develop a mobile version of your site, it just always seemed easier to me to try to limit the differences between mobile and desktop.


2. The colors are a little.. stark. The black and grey feels a bit spartan. It's fine if you're just looking for clientele like those of us here on arfcom, but if you're trying to others it may come off a bit militant. Even Arfcom uses gradients and textured backgrounds to try to decrease the rapid color changes.


3. Give some thought to switching to a CMS system like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal. Your development time should shink some, and you can get custom templates. It will also natively try to take care of a mobile presentation, and you can get easier widgets to things like your visit counter.


4. I would probably try to include a description (and possibly image) of the gunsmithing services. While we may all think we know what your customer means by certain things, again someone with less experience may not know what half of those things are. Agreed, they can call and ask, but a lot of people are lazy. The more information you can provide, the better people become attached to your services. Quality pictures are really nice, especially when presented contextually.