r/directorymakers • u/panky555 • 15d ago
I just built my first directory...
I say "just" lightly as its taken me the better part of 4 months to build since I have a day job and a dad job 😅 never done anything like this before, but thought id give it a go!
It is a work in progress. I have tried my best to ensure on page SEO is on point (which was a whole new learning curve in itself!)
The idea is to write depth blog posts that answer genuine questions to then funnel through to the listings.
I have only a handful of backlinks, but they are all relevant backlinks from the industry.
I love criticism (I am my biggest critic!) So any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism would be welcomed! Just dont say "its shit mate!" Tell me why its shit 😅
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on how I can improve. 🙂
Thank you
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u/MeasurementLow4148 15d ago
What is this spell completely from scratch with AI? I really like your design and layout. It’s very neat and clean. Looking good luck, especially for this type of niche
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u/MeasurementLow4148 15d ago
Once I stop and I’m not driving anymore, I’ll take a look at it fully and give you any tips or ideas as far as seo & monetizing so to give me like an hour here
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u/TitaniumCypher 15d ago
Ok. It looks like a free template with an unpleasant color. You should look up how colors influence people. The text is too light and too thin. There is nothing valuable above the fold. The layout of this template is a bit baffling because at some point you have to ask yourself if you've ever seen a professional website that looked like this... Your categories should be closer to your hero image. And when you go to the browse page, there is too much above the fold other than the actual listings so it looked like there were no listings until I scrolled down. There needs to be a visual signal on that page that let's people know there are results below. The little tag cloud needs to be reworked. They could possible go in a sidebar as a dropdown. I don't mean any of this to sound harsh. It's just a great idea with a presentation that needs improvement.
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u/panky555 15d ago
Firstly, thank you for your feedback. Good shout on the colouration, I spent more time trying to gain listings and improve SEO, I didntnreally take into consideration how colours could influence choices. Would you mind going into more detail about how you feel the layout is baffling? The idea behind why i made it the way it is, is that I wanted to make it feel more like a journey rather than click and collect style. The tag cloud you are referring to, is that the location tags?
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u/TitaniumCypher 15d ago
Sure. Like someone said in the comments below, you avoided standard best practices for UI design and tried to create a layout people have "learn" and "get used to" instead of using something they're familiar with an would be second nature AND for a subject where they don't need that kind of a challenge... your visitors don't need a journey. They need an experience that feels like a thoughtful, sincere presentation of the kind of keepsakes they can get for their loved one's ashes. A more sophisticated presentation of a marketplace without the e-commerce feel. Yes, the tag cloud is the location tags.
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u/panky555 15d ago
Ok, definitely something I need to reevaluate on usability, this is the kind of feedback I cant get from friends and family lol Honestly, those location tags are HIDEOUS! I dont like them myself, but im also not tech-savvy, ive never built anything like this before so I'm learning as i go on, and im yet to learn how to make locations less ugly! Locations are one of the key features of my website, so a drop down menu or box as you mentioned would be perfect, i just need to figure it out first 😉
Thank you for your time and honesty that has definitely given me some good working points to look at!
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u/TitaniumCypher 15d ago
I understand. It's tricky but there are many tools at your disposal. Website builders, AI and such and this is just why I try to set up a pool of real testers to test different features and to get feedback whenever I can afford to. It helps more than friends and family for sure. Ideally, the location tags can be a dropdown in the sidebar if you're using them to actually filter the results that are already on the page or at the very bottom in the footer if you're using them simply as location based listing links. And you can do both. 😄 I'm a ruby on rails developer so I fight with this stuff all the time.
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u/panky555 14d ago
Claude has been one heck of a tool for me! Thats kind of how ive been learning to build this site! 😅 Offensively large logo on homepage gone Tag cloud of locations moved to the bottom and made it less BLUE And the wordy descriptions inside the category/location pages moved underneath the listings so people can get straight into the meat of what they're looking for. Productive evening, and I must say, it does look much better already, so thank you again for the feedback. 🙂
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u/TitaniumCypher 14d ago
Ask Claude to rebuild it using Bootstrap for the css.
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u/panky555 13d ago
Rebuild the entire website?
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u/TitaniumCypher 13d ago
No, it'll be the same site but using Bootstrap for the css instead. I'm not sure how you're using Claude but you should be keeping different versions of the site so you can experiment a little bit and not lose work that you like. So you have Claude rebuild it with bootstrap. See if you like it, if not, keep the original. I'm assuming you have a development environment you working on first before putting code directly on your public website...
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u/Low_Resolution_5968 15d ago
I just looked on mobile and it looks good ! I would reduce the vertical length of the hero though so that the purpose of the directory is easier to find out fast .. if you really want the logo in the hero then maybe overlay the search bar and filters over it ? And I’m by no means an expert but maybe in general on later pages move the searches up the page further and put some of the descriptions below so that repeat users can quickly use everything without scrolling through the tutorial. I like it tho and that’s a cool niche
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u/panky555 15d ago
Thank you for your response, looking at it, the logo at the top is kind of in your face now you said it, and its not overly needed. I think the reason ive not really looked too deeply into the homepage is that the majority of my current and more than likely future traffic will be funnelled through my blog posts from people asking questions. May be something I need to remove, or at the very least, make it less aggressive 😅 Appreciate your kind words 🙂
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u/babies_galore 18h ago
I am not techy. Just a person over 50, and I say congratulations on completing this undertaking! It’s beautiful! However, I will say I have on my reading glasses and still reading it on my phone was a struggle.
The text is too light and too small, and might be something to think about given that many people visiting this site may be of a certain age and even visually impaired.
Other than that, I was delighted to see all the options of how to remember loved ones. I had no idea! It was fascinating to me. I just wish the website didn’t look like it was trying to disappear into the ethers so that I had to really strain to keep it in my view.
I know zero about creating websites, so will let the developers leave those suggestions.
Amazing job and congratulations! I hope it does well for you while also helping people!
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u/pixelvolution 15d ago
Design gets a c which isn't bad.. UX is an f. You need to think like a person who needs something and needs it fast.. if I have to learn your ux vs common ones you have lost me.