site critique - 1st ever site!

vivajustice

Junior Member
Hi, this is my 1st ever website, designed myself and coded myself. I am a plasterer but spend a lot of time on my computer, and always wanted to make my own site.

As i did it myself, i know it wont be up there with the professionals out there, but i am looking for some critique, to make it better. The English needs some work too, so ignore that for now! Just looking for opinions or advice on layout and looks. Please give me your thoughts....

Plasterers Derby | SJT Plastering
 
Did you design and code this from scratch then? Photoshop to HTML + CSS, if yes, I'm impressed if this is indeed your first site!

One thing I'd say is pay attention to the padding of some of your items. by adding more space around some of your items they will appear more graphically - for instance the "Click Here" button in the footer phone numbers section.

Alignment is another big key and I'll get onto using a grid for layout. I feel like your main "Contact Us" button in your menu needs to be centrally vertically aligned rather than being slightly lower than the rest.

As for the grid layout system, your site will appear more pleasing if all of your elements vertically line up. See my attached screenshot of your site and you'll see what I mean - your main content area is pretty much a 3 column layout but there are so many different vertical lines within it that dont match up at all.

Anyway, its a brilliant start. I had this treatment a while ago - the grid layout thing was new to me not SO long ago - Think it was Berry that initially brought it up with me so although my example of the grid layout on your site wont be the best I hope it helps a bit!
 

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Yes i designed and coded it all myself, designed a quick mockup in photoshop, and then coded and tweaked it a bit as i went along. I just got a few books, read a lot of posts on sites, looked for inspiration, designed a quick layout and just played around! Took me a while mind! But i feel if i was to do it again, i would be a lot faster as i understand it a lot better now iv done it!

I see your picture and i see exactly what you mean! The elements of the page dont line up as you show me, so i will get onto that and move them around to match. Thanks for the rest of the tips too!

All these tips help, so please let me know any more opinions if you are reading this!! Thanks!
 
Impressive for a first site, a lot better than when I started!

Can also see some SEO optimization on it too! I agree with the comments about the grid and alignment, and that the contact button looks a little odd, you could make that normal text like the rest and then have a call to action button in the centre above the image, 'Get in touch', or 'Arrange a quote' maybe, and then one for the gallery or about us page.
 
Thanks fro all the replies and tips, i shall implement them the best i can!! Ive been playing around with some new color schemes and layout ideas recently, but will involve theses tips in too.

Djsounds02, thanks for the comment, its my 1st ever project, from scratch, no help, just research and a lot of reading!! Im a plasterer by trade, and christmas is always a bit quiet, so the 2 weeks i had off, i got stuck in and got the majority of it done, then once worked picked up again, i just spent a few nights tweaking and trying/adding new things. There are still bits i am doing and playing around with, so you could say its took AGES! but i got the majority of it done in perhaps a week, then just tweaked and played up until now!
 
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