Web Site Cleanup Services: Before/After Case Study
Singer Source
Singer Source is a Maryland-based business that provides directory information on classically trained singers. It lists both singers who are available for jobs, and jobs needing to be filled. An active dynamically-driven calendar of events lists a wide variety of concerts and recitals throughout the DC metropolitan region.
The owner designed a basic site many years ago but had only updated content in recent years. The site needed both an architectural review and a facelift.
What was wrong?
- Indiscriminate use of multiple font sizes, colors, and faces.
- An unevenly applied navigation system; internal pages didn't necessarily give users the full scope of navigation so hitting the back button was necessary to get around the site.
- A fixed narrow width on some pages made the page look lonely and shrunken on larger, more modern browsers, and an undetermined width on other pages meant the content stuck out way to the right of the top banner.
- The most important information was hidden visually and, sometimes, inside hard-to-find pages.
- The site looked "old style".
- The calendar of events had to be done manually and the formatting of the weekly newsletter was becoming such a time drag on the owner that she was behind in production.
What's better now?
- The use of a commercial template gave the site a clean, new look.
- Clear navigation system at the top of each page, with section-specific subnavigatio menus on each internal page.
- A consistent stylesheet with fonts, colors, sizes, and layout defined to ensure conformity throughout the site.
- A dynamic calendar was implemented (using Thymesoft) to facilite both the owner's inputting of data and to allow external users to suggest events for inclusion: a huge timesaver.
- Primary content visible "above the fold" on all pages.
- A PHP-driven form enables visitors to automatically sign up to the weekly e-newsletter.
- A new 'favicon' (small icon that appears on the right side of the address or in the tab visually identifying the web site).
- The code is clean and validates according to W3C.
- The owner is happy!