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Site Name: Sea of Space
Owner: Mike
Reviewed by: Georgina
Reviewed on: 1st September 2010

Site Name & First Impression

I don’t mind the site name as it’s quite unique. When I see your site I see the tagline of your website, and it becomes obvious that this is a hosting site.

One of the first things I notice is the background, which isn’t of the best quality. It’s a bit fuzzy and looks like it’s been stretched out so that it is pixelated. However, I can see that the website is easy to navigate.

Coding and Validation

According to the HTML validator you have 28 errors.

In your META tags you should write “sea of space” in single quotes so that it doesn’t interfere with the HTML code. This is causing a flurry of errors.

You have a lot of <div>s:

  <div id="page">
    <div id="page-bgtop">
      <div id="content">
        <div class="post"><div id="fanupdate">
<div id="post1" class="post">

Some of these are superfluous. You can cut down how many you use. If you aren’t changing the styling of single <div>s, then you do not need to include them. They are not necessary.

Take note that you have list coding in your sidebar which is not being used properly. The proper structure for an unordered list is like so:

<ul>
<li>list item</li>
<li>list item</li>
<li>list item</li>
</ul>

Nothing goes between </li> and the next <li>, nor should a <h1> be included in a list item. You should look over this coding as it is rather messy.

According to the CSS validator your code is valid with several warnings.

You use embedded styling here:

<div style="clear: both; height: 1px"></div>

Putting this styling into your stylesheet would be a better idea:

#name {
clear: both;
height: 1px;
}

Browser Compatibility & Usability

Your website is looking consistent in Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome and I don’t see many differences between the looks of your website across these browsers – only the fact that the text towards the bottom of your sidebar appears larger in Safari and Chrome. You may need to look into your tags and make sure they’re all being closed.

I have a minor issue with the text on your website. As the content section has no solid background, the pixelated background makes it hard to read. I also don’t particularly like the use of light text on a dark background so that is something to reconsider.

Your site’s navigation isn’t that hard to figure out, but I think the text could be made a bit bigger and the navigation with a lighter shade/colour for the background would make it stand out, not to mention would make the layout more interesting – which I’ll go into detail below.

Layout

The header image used in the layout is a bit dull, perhaps because it is in contrast with all the greys and blacks in the layout. I think the quality of the image could be much better to start off with. The text on the image is something that should be improved. The blending mode of the layer with the text could be changed so that it fits with the image better. The cyan colour of the tagline’s text would be clearer if it was black or a dark shade of grey.

Since you have a background colour for the sidebar, having a background for the content would balance the layout out more. I have already mentioned the bad quality of the background. I think that the background is unnecessary and doesn’t really add much interest to the layout as a whole, so perhaps a solid colour will do.

I also think that while the original header image seems to be a nice photo, it doesn’t thoroughly reflect “Sea of Space”, or a hosting site, for that matter. I think that you should use a photograph that is of the sea only, if you wish to keep a similar theme going.

Content

In your sidebar welcome message, I feel that there is no need to mention the .co.cc domains. Since they are free, anyone can grab the name they like (and that is available) whenever they wish. Perhaps you would sound like a helpful host if you mention that you will register and set up available .co.cc domains for hostees.

Since you have no “new hostees”, perhaps you don’t need the section in the sidebar just yet. As for the chat box, I don’t think it’s necessary. If you are using this as a support function I don’t recommend it, as these chat boxes/tagboards can be easily spammed and some people prefer to contact via email. Perhaps you should keep this strictly for general questions.

You also don’t need to mention competitions when there are none running.

Sub-domain

On this page free alternative than should be free alternative to. I feel that the form should be more spaced out on this page.

Domain

On this page ect. should be etc.

The data in your tables on these pages are pretty squished. You should add padding to the cells or set a width for each column so that they look more organised. On these pages it might be a good idea to mention how long it will take for you to go through applications. On this page in particular, you don’t even mention what domain the applicant would like to have hosted.

Adopt

I don’t really have any comment for this page, but since these domains are free, there is not much use in having them “adoptable”.

Support

Nothing much to say here. For support you should provide a separate form, so that users aren’t using the same form for multiple purposes. This would not only make it easier for them to state their request in their message, but it would make it easier for you to go through your emails/forms.

Other

You link to a “hostees” page in the footer. You have no hostees and you have a link with anchor text reading “Apply?”, however, this links to the homepage.

On the terms page, if there are a warning should be if there are, a warning.

You link to the testimonials in the footer, too. I believe you have forgotten to end a field with </textarea> because your sidebar has disappeared and there is a lot of coding in the input field.

Originality & Creativity

I think your layout is really dull. A hosting site can have a fun layout or one that isn’t necessarily “professional” but I think yours could be improved. I like the tagline very much as that is something that could potentially let your hosting website stand out from others and make the name easy to remember, but I feel that there needs to be work done on other parts of your website.

You’ve got the catchy tagline, but now I think the layout needs a makeover. If necessary, purchase or use a free professional design. It will give your website a bit of flair especially if you use a unique layout.

Organisation & Errors

Your hosting website has clear sections and is easy to navigate. But in terms of information, I think it could be more organised. The information in the tables could be made clearer. You seem to be missing information that is crucial to a hosting website.

Perhaps a brief history of the website is appropriate, as well as general hosting rules and more information on support. It seems that your website is really incomplete. A page of frequently asked questions and a page showing further features of the package would be beneficial.

Your sidebar should have more useful information – this would be a good place to put any site statistics or a brief history of how the website came to be.

Overall Comment

I think you really need to work on your website. You need to attract potential hostees but I believe a great deal of this depends on the look of your website, which you need to focus on.

You’re off to an okay start but there are a few key points I have:

• organise your pages, organise the content on those pages
• be as informative as possible, as people seeing this website are relying and depending on you
• you are working on selling something so don’t only be convincing, but make sure people have everything they need to know on the website
• this is why an “FAQ” would be useful
• people want to trust you, so provide some information about yourself or more about the site
• keep in mind that a unique layout can capture attention and make people interested

I’d just like to mention that I don’t think you will get many hostees because people are usually looking to have control over their domains and website – they would most likely want a cPanel of sorts. I don’t anticipate that your website will go so far; you have no hostees at the moment.

Rating

(out of 5)