Web development, design, and site optimization.

A local radio station in my county is CJLS Radio. Having been on the air since 1934, they remain a staple in my town. Some may argue they have lasted this long simply because they are the only option still to this day for getting both local news information and a mix of new and old music including local bands.

They also have an atrocious record number of bad, bad, bad websites. The one that exist today actually is an improvement on past sites. But how does it really fair against the nit-picking of DropTheMike.com?

1.  First impressions.

Wow am I in 1994? At first glance it looks like a collage of low-res pics, dated graphics ripped from other sites, and a boxy design complete with frames for the main content. My first impression is that the website is far from a priority and little if no financial resources have gone into the project. Likely designed by someone with little to no website design experience.

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Being a big fan of mostly Boston sports franchises (sorry Bruins fans I will never cheer for the Bruins over my beloved Canadiens) I can’t get enough of WEEI on 850 AM. It is the #1 sports talk radio station in North America for a reason. Great personalities both on-air and guest who call in, it is what entertainment was meant to be. That aside they have long had a rather dreadful website. One I would check out once in a blue moon. It was far from appealing or worthy of frequent visits. Well this week they launched a new website and I thought this would be a great site to start my “Website Review” segment with. This segment will just be a quick analysis of what I think works and or doesn’t work on a given site. All in good fun and not to be critical but to provide constructive criticism where needed.

1.  First impressions.

With any website you need to have a solid understanding of where your visitors are coming from and where it is they want to go when they visit your site. In this case I am a fan and listener of theirs and I want to go online to A. find out more information about the on air personalities and B. Listen to a live feed online when I don’t have access to a radio. Now while I go look for these I may be attracted to other areas but first and foremost I expect to find what I initially came for. Read the rest of this entry »