It Takes a Village... to Critique a Village... :)

[Lora]

Hello All

I have had my Ning network for 4 years now and I would love some feedback and perspective and any suggestions I could use to improve my site. I think I am doing everything I can....

The site is The Vintage Village and we are a Social Networking site and a Promotional Networking site for people who buy & sell Vintage & Collectibles.

Membership is FREE, only the people who want to partake of the promotional services have to pay. I also generate some revenue by doing ads from my members with links going to their perspective shops online.

I keep the main page as a virtual lobby and members and viewers can navigate their way from there to groups and discussions and items for sale.

At first glance, do you get the idea that you can buy & sell and that it's also a community? Do I get that message across clearly?

Out of 2400 members, on average about 120 pay me. Keep in mind that most members are buyers and enthusiasts. :)

My main issue is increasing the amount of paid members. If you were a seller, why wouldn't you sign up for the service?

Are there other Ning features I should be using?

Thanks so much in advance to anyone who takes a look and can offer any input!!!! :)

[Fire-Tech]

Clean & loads fast.

I would move your tagline "Where Vintage Never Gets Old..." to the actual header image and raise the Nav up / reducing the brown space and moving the content above the fold more. I'd also consider keeping the background image stationary.

Looks good :)

[Denis]

Hi Lora,

Nice site there and your niche is unique. People who get to your site definitely need it.

I found something interesting on your site; Mingjolt Games.

Did you add them from Ning apps.? Mindjolt Games used to be my favorite Ning application until the partnership between the company and Ning was disrupted for some reason. Since then we have struggled to find other ways to have games on our site. So I am surprised to see Mindjolt Games still working on your site.

[Lora]

actually.... I keep meaning to investigate that... funny no one has complained! I can't get it to work. I thought it was just me.

[Lora]

thank you, but what do you mean stationary??? lol :) My background doesn't move... :) Do you mean keep it the same as the sides? :)

[Fire-Tech]

Yeah, "Where Vintage Never Gets Old..." is a great line. I just think it would look better in cursive just like the the word "the", but put it under "Vintage Village" in your header (make it part of your header).

Use this to keep the background from moving with the page (background makes ya bit dizzy when you scroll. Just my opinion). 

Just load your current image to your file manager (or a blog) and put the url in the code below.

Add to Advanced/CSS.

body {background-size:100% 100%; background: url(YOUR BACKGROUND IMAGE URL GOES HERE)fixed center top;
}

If you haven't already; make sure you optimize your background pic for the web for faster load times with PS, or here's one that Jen recommended that works good too.

Once again, these are just fine tuning ideas. Everything really does look great!

[Nor Cal Social Media]

Absolutely fantastic!

Great job Lora! You have put in such a quality effort in terms of design sense, web usability, and optimizing end-user experience that it would be a challenge to critique.  There's not much glaringly wrong to speak of, but if you want to take it to the next level, I'll give you some food for thought :)

Design Sense: Again, exceptionally well done. I'm an advocate of rethinking Ning sites from "social networks" to "social media environments". That shift in paradigm is worth your consideration too. Think about the media experience people encounter on your main page. In other words...what is the entertainment value. Antiques Roadshow, for instance, has an entertainment value that draws people into the niche interest whether buying/ selling or for conversational purposes. Your site follows a more static media concept driven by activity based content. It's interesting for sure, but not necessarily media intensive. The photos are more visual intensive, but you do have those defined to a specific purpose. The graphics are very good but not necessarily impressive in how they convey the concept of the site as a whole. In order to take it to the next level, I think you would need to break from the static header, ad panels, and module feeds and offer a more comprehensive multi-media dynamic that presents the value of the concept to the niche interest as a whole.

Web Usability: Super job! You've put incredible thought into it. Surely people have everything they need to find out what they want, how to use, what to expect, etc. It is a very manual process though. In order to take it to the next level, I think you need to look at simplifying it as much as possible. You actually have too much information and too much going on. Because of that, you have more you need to explain, and what direction you have doesn't stand out as much as it could.  So think "less is more" and aim for intuitive as much as you can. I know you've already carefully thought about this, but there is a lot more you could do that maybe an outside perspective can help on. I suggest showing some people your site in person and observing how they make their way through it, where their attention goes, and the difference between what impression they get and what you would actually like them to take away from it. A simple one might be the games. That to me is a distractor. It adds to the complexity of your top navigation, pulls away attention from other things that should stand out more in your main page body, and might create some confusion in that limitted attention span people are giving you when you should be iterating and reiterating the core value proposition.

Optimizing End-User Experience: I have to say it looks like you have a vibrant community.  Certain things I look for are how frequently and deeply utilized your various modules are. Good job there- I'd say you're above average. I also look at the general tone of activity. You and your members appear to be pretty happy :). Lately I've been discussing the importance of establishing a mutual agreement to ensure both creators and their communities get what they want out of the social network. To that, setting the right goals and proposing the right values are essential. My network concept shares some of the dynamic you have in catering to businesses and putting them within their market. A huge challenge in that is presenting the dual value proposition- one to your business members who are your paying clients, and another to the general audience who your businesses want exposure to. What happens is you create a disparity or conflict of interests. You end up trying to serve both ideas on the same page and each are weaker for it. This also complicates your choices in design and usability.

O.K. What I think you should do is refocus on your clients' target market. Make the social network for the general community interested in "vintage" and deliver to them a dedicated value proposition. Work with your business partners to do this better and actually make it less about them. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but the more people that get in, the more exposure they can get through their premium association to the project. Most of what you are offering businesses is great. The SEO, traditional ad placement, and storefront options or right on. the difference I'm talking about is an adjustment in presentation and perhaps slight change in behavior on the site.  You minimize the value proposition to "sellers" maybe to a link and group and  refocus "buyers" to people interested in vintage- your community.

Noting you are @ 15K page views a month, a change like this could get you closer to that 100K both you and your clients need to take it to the next level- i.e. increased ROI on sales of products for clients, and greater ROI in sales of services for you.

Hope that helps!

Best,

Anthony

[Lora]

wow............ thank you Anthony... the check is in the mail!!!! lol :)

I will have to message you... :)

[Christina]

I love it Lora. Looks great.

I also think that the sidebars should stand still.  Otherwize it looks good :)

[Lora]

Thanks but but but.... lol..... but they don't move! lol:)

Hmmm... are folks seeing something I'm not???

[Design Faerie]

yes your sidebars are definitely scrolling--would look nicer static...but love the vintage look and your header--NICE!

[Writer Chick {Diane}]

I love the look, the colors, the header, everything design-wise just appeals to my eye. 

And take their advice about making your background stationary...you will LOVE it...trust me!  Only the middle module will scroll and your side design will stay fixed. It will give your site a very polished look and be easier on the old eyes. lol

I also agree with the idea of moving your tagline and making it part of your header design. 

I have one issue, and this comes from being a writer and a teacher. Sorry. LOL  You are capitalizing words that shouldn't be and it looks really bad to the casual visitor, especially to those who notice these kinds of things. Example: 

Buy & Sell Antiques, Vintage & Collectibles. Join our FREE Community filled with Informative Articles, a Research Group & More!

Only the first words in these sentences should be capitalized.  I  understand that you are probably capitalizing the others for emphasis, but it is incorrect to do so.  Maybe some will disagree with me and think it's okay to disregard grammar rules in this instance.  But, I think it lowers the professionalism of a site when people do this. 

Buy & sell antiques, vintage & collectibles.  Join our FREE community filled with informative articles, a research group & more!

 

I love that you don't buy into that whole "less is more" philosophy for your main page. Others would disagree with me.  But, I was surprised to find that the site is fully public, along with that much detail on the main page.  I have a lot on my main page because mine is Public/Main Page Only. I use that main page to tease new members to join.  So, with that thought in mind, you might consider uncluttering your main page a bit...but in all honesty, I LOVE IT the way it is! 

 

[Lora]

I struggle with the information part all the time.

Over the years many people complain that they do not know where to find info, so I created the Member Info Center and yet folks still could not figure it out. So over time folks have asked me to add more ways to find stuff, so it does create redundancy... I agree 10000%... but it's what folks have asked for... :(

The main page is our "Lobby" and it can be hectic but it also gets folks going and excited as opposed to saying ... it's no big deal... :)

And I agree about the caps, I do it for a visual effect... :)

And now I think I understand what you all mean about a fixed side image....

I view my page full screen so I don't see much of the sides, as you can see in this screenshot. How do I get the side modules to stay put!!!! lol :)

Where is that option?