Request Site Review

[troydad7]

Now the largest source of information for African American homeowners.(Alexa Site Rankings).

[fred]

Sorry to be a downer here, but there's really too much going on here to give the first-time visitor any real focus.

This seems to be a "publication" style web site... but we're not sure because there's too much going on to focus on any one thing. (Which should be the most important content item)

? What do you mean by "too much"

There are too many different styles and shapes.
In the arrival screen there are 7 (SEVEN!) different borders in two different colors and two different thicknesses...

They all seem to be shouting "Look at ME"
... "if everyone is shouting, then no one gets heard"

There are too many type styles... for instance, coloring your
"Remember the dream" in different colors causes the reader
to read each individual word as a separate word or thought.
Thus you've destroyed the MESSAGE of the title.

You've got red type, you've got green type, you've got blue type,
you've got blue type with yellow highlighting.

It's as if each time you added another element, you tried to
'out-shout' the previous element.

BEST SUGGESTION:

analyze the 'kind' of content you offer.
Then establish a "content hierarchy"
Some things must be MOST important
Other things need to be supportive or "less important"
the design needs to reinforce this to the reader.

Ask: "What do you want the reader to do first"

That should be the main focal point.

For instance: Is "Roy Primm" the most important thing in this publication?

I think not. I believe "Black Homeowners" is MORE important.

But the viewer has an immediate "message" that this is about ROY. I suspect Roy should settle down some ego and take a less prominent visual position in the page. (Not saying he's not important... just that he's less important than the reason a viewer might want to read this site.)

That's just one example.

Pick up any good PRINT publication at your local magazine rack. Pick up a few. Be mindful to the type of publication, and what you want YOUR publication to be like. Then analyze how they've been successful by channeling the readers into the content.

Ask: what caught my attention? How did it guide me into the publication?

Now, do the same with web sites.

I'm not saying copy. But learn from the pros.

Good luck, my friend. Thanks for posting.