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www.Ecard4all.com Critique
8/2004

The first thing that jumped at me, and was quite annoying, was the wiggly banner indicating I won an hourly prize. I am not sure about you, but most web savvy surfers do not click such banners and they are extremely distracting.

First of all, your site is dealing with e-cards, so your advertising should fall into similar categories, without be competitive. Perhaps an icon, or clip art site? And try to avoid animated banners. After a while - they become annoying, especially to repeat visitors.

First, let’s explain the basics of how a site is found in the Search Engines. A potential customer searches via keywords through a search engine, like Google. If you site happens to fall in the first 20 [the first 10 is better], then, you have a good chance that the visitor will click on your link and visit your site.

So, what entices the visitor to click and once you have them on your site, and just as important – what keeps them on your site? Marketing is the largest part of the success of any business. If your business is not properly marketed, then your sales will suffer. Proper advertising is a must – and the first key is drawing in customers. You need to appeal to their emotions and wants.

Consider first: Who is your target audience? What age group are you trying to draw in? At first glance, I would consider the 30-50 range - those are the ones that may use an e-card business and are the most computer savvy.

But then I entered your Game area. This is definitely for the teen - 35 crowd. While the games are setup very well, your main site colors need to change. Today's color seems to be orange. Bright, bold colors will enhance not only the look of the page, but appeal to the crowd you are trying to attract.

You also have a popup for your site. I "hear" it, but I have a pop-up blocker, so never will see it. Pop ups are also annoying. If this popup is advertising, then remove it. Your visitors are there to see you. Don't slap them with advertising for other companies the minute they arrive.

Put advertisements to other companies in their place - on a resource or links page. Unless you receive a tremendous amount of money or traffic per month from these banners, don't give them first crack at your customers. Move them to a resource page, and if your visitors want to visit them, they will.

Since Pagerank is partially derived from reciprocal links you need to be careful whom you exchange links. If you link to a disreputable company their illegal tactics will filter down to your site and effect your rankings in the Search Engines. You don't need to worry if they link to you - only if you link back.

Your Serach Engine saturation is very low. Once you implement the necessary changes and strategies, I suggest submitting your site again to the Search Engines and directories. And more than just Google. MSN and Yahoo still command alot of searches.

Here's a break down of a few pages of your site:

Home page:

Your ranking, according to Google is good : 5/10. That is a good indicator that you have done your work correctly - meta tags, content and submissions.

Design is fine, just remove the banner.

What's New:

Your content extends beyond the box in the "Check it out" section. Also, your Title of the page is : e-learners.com ??? Is there a reason for this? You are missing your META tags on this page. And your pagerank is a 0/10. If you site has been up for a while, then this page is not being indexed. It is not banned, but with a page rank of 0, at least Google does not merit indexing it. Contact Google and ask.

Contact Page:

Good, the banner is gone! Makes it nice to look at on the eyes. And, I notice this page has a PageRank.

When I first entered this page I received a script error at bottom of the page, under your form submission box - it said:

" Warning : mysql_connect(): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2) in /opt/bidclix/http-web/adserve.php on line 35..."

When I refreshed the page, the error went away.

I was able to submit your form, I think, without filling in anything. I am unsure if the form submitted, as I was not redirected to a thank you page. It just looked like the Contact page refreshed.

So,

1. Check your Script for errors
2. Set required fields so the form cannot be sent blank
3. Make a thank you page that the visitor is sent to once the form is submitted.

News:

Great - you are offering continually changing content, however, your site is an e-card site. Your news feeds should reflect your area of business. There are plenty of "Headline News" type of sites out there - find your own niche. Find craft articles, coupons, gift packs, etc and offer that toyour visitors.

There are many free article places where you can add content to your site for no cost. The more relevant content you add - the better your site will be for Search Engines ranking. Afterall, Content is King.

Games:

I like the games page, with the exception of the banner. However, in this format, the banner would work. But it does seem to affect your page rank bar.

While I cannot be sure, I notice most of the pages without a ranking have the banner rotating ad [at the top], while others, like your contact page did not have the banner, and also have a page rank. Conjecture: remove the ads and see if your pages get index, unless of course you are making a lot of money, or receiving a lot of traffic from these banners.

You want qualified targeted traffic - not just traffic. If you receive 100 visitors a day, and no one uses your site, then your advertising efforts need to be re-evaluated.

The advertising banners you are using are "old-school". Take a hint from our games page. This is a clean and effective way to promote other products and make an income. Banner, expeically flashing ones, just do not do the trick to the sophisticated surfer.

In conclusion:

1. Rethink the color of your site. Think in terms of your target audience.
   
2. Graphically, I would remove the top rotating banner and popup.
   
3. Rewrite your META description and Title tags to entice people to click on your link. Rework the front page to grab the reader as soon as they step into your site. They are on your site because they are looking for services you provide, so show them, right then and there.
   
4. Rework all your pages. Every page on your site is a potential entry page, so it needs to contain the necessary information.
   
5. Make your form include required fields. Create a thank you page, so visitors know their comments have been sent.

Keep in mind that you are representing your company. The Search Engine link is the Store Front – and you need to display your wares via text to draw in the customer. Once “inside” your store – show them what you have to offer.

I hope this critique is helpful to you. I wish you the best in your venture.