Site Review Please

[Matts]

This site is for a client of myn. I have only just started doing freelance work and this is my first Real Estate site.

So here it is: http://stclairrealestate.com.au/

The site is not 100% finished and i know there is a problem with the lightbox's but its basically all done.

[DCVegas]

I liked the colors, and the design is nice (the raised, drop shadow center div is cool).
My constructive criticism:
You might want to look at your images - 2 of them that look a little messy to me:
The flash nav menu - it is slick, but the rounded corners need a little work.
This image and the header image have odd white spots all over (unless it's my eyes that have the spots):
http://stclairrealestate.com.au/temp...pagebottom.gif

The pages load a little slow, it seems to me - it looks like you're passing in flash vars to create a new swf on every page for some reason:

<script type="text/javascript">
var so = new SWFObject("http://stclairrealestate.com.au/menu.swf", "menu", "800", "46", "8", "#");
so.addVariable("variable", "varvalue");
so.addVariable("wmode", "transparent");
so.addVariable("z-index", "100");
so.write("nav");
</script>

Not sure why you're doing that, could be you have a perfectly good reason, but that could slow down surfers. Also, every page I hit seems to be querying maps.google.com - whether or not you're showing maps.

[Matts]

Thanks for the reply.

The only way i could get google maps working was by putting it in the index template which means its on every page rather then just the page that the google map is on, i still need to look into this and try fix it to help with load times.

Im not sure what you mean with the flash?

Is there another way to display flash without using the embed tags thats no longer work in IE? I don't know much javascript so any help here would be good

[DCVegas]

Are you using a CMS or just a template engine? You should be able to edit individual pages either way.

Oh, I see you're using swfobject - derr. My mistake, I thought you were doing something wonky with the flash objects on your page. I should be using swfobject too, but I'm lazy. That whole 'click to activate' debacle with ie happened so long ago I'd forgotten about it. I fixed mine (I'm still using adobe default embed tags :P ) and haven't touched it since. But know that I think about it I guess I should get around to updating my flash calls.

[cbc58]

imo -

a.) the word welcome is hard to read
b.) for me on my screen there is too much space between the top part of the page and the content I want to see. I like a website that gives me everything I need when I loaded it and don't have to scroll down.

just my opinion.

[mkrotchie]

I agree with cbc58, there is a lot of empty space at the top of the page that could be better utilized. I, as well, need to fix my click-to-activate flash.

[FairwayandIsle]

There was a lot of empty space ... it just took some time to load fully for me then that space went away. I do like what you did with the nav bar.

[Nolans]

I would also maximise the space around the sides of the webpage to provide more information and make the images lighter,possibly lose the blue. But it's good to see another aussie site.

Best of luck.

[36towns]

the website does load a bit slow, can I ask what content management system is that?

[ericbramlett]

I would change "properties for sale" to "search now" or something to that effect & swap its location with the "first time home buyer" location. That's really the #1 reason people get online - to search for homes. Also, I would make the "advanced search" page your default search page - the "search" link on top will be missed by 90% of your browsers, and the advanced search really isn't overwhelming.

Just my 2c!