My "takes his time" web designer has finally asked my for content - yey!

But, what I had written months ago is kind of boring
(More of a cake decorator than a writer ...)

Any suggestions on the page that everyone will first see?

Something that says, "my cakes rock, you should hire me!"
But, in a more elegant way....

Thanks for your advice guys!

i think pictures speak louder than words You should just let them do the talking. And please don't put any flash clips.. most people will simply run away from flash (i am one of them) because they serve no purpose except hog the client's bandwidth. I work as a web developer for a bio-tech firm and these are the guidelines I follow while designing web-pages.. this is prolly an overly techinal overview.. and I am sure your web designer knows all this.

1. Home page should illustare what the site is all abt. Thus the need of a catchy caption/title. Please steer away from flash intros. If you must have animation, do it in a banner on top that sorta advertises your products (look at the site below)
2. Home page should also have contact info including an email address for clients to contact.
3. Make sure that all images load quickly.. people in front of computer screens have the attention span of 1 yr olds.
4. Have a link site map on your home page.
5. Absolutely must have an About page that explains your (or your businesses) philosophy, goals, history.. this is YOUR page. Most businesses also have another page especially for potential investors.
6. Always "test" your site with as many lay-people as possible before going live. We get so wrapped in the process that we tend to not see as lay-people do after a while
7. site should be easy to navigate. No page on your site should be more than 2 clicks away (at the most three in instances where you have to click on the thumbnail to open a larger version)
8. It would be nice to put pictures of you and your team.. with their mini-biographies. gives it a nice personal touch..

One of the sites i like a lot is :-
http://www.approva.net/

they make audting software (long way from making gorgeous cakes, but they are selling their stuff too..)

sorry this is so long..

these just popped into my head for slogans-

We bake your dreams (come true)
100% Magic.
Uncommon cakes.
The better cake.
Once eaten, forever smitten
Imagination unlimited
Don't just dream it. Eat it!
Cakealicious

Wow! Thank you so much!

Thanks t_h for all the great info. You convinced me to nix the flash intro. that I was still thinking about.

bikegal

The below are strictly my pet peeves so take them for what they are...

Alot of animated things will slow down loading (f0r dail up people) and can get very distracting.

I prefer one back ground for the whole site. Changing back ground and lay out with every page distracts from the sites content.

Thumbnails where you can click to see the bigger pictures are nicer to your dail up people. When you put 10 huge pictures on one page it often takes forever to load and I will often give up before seeing everything.

Having buttons for every link can often cause problems. They take longer to load than just word links.

Keep in mind that not everyone is lucky enough to have dail up. Also not everyone's screen size (resolution) is the same. So while something may look great on your computer, it may not be showing up the same on someone elses.

Let your pictures be the main focus of your site. To me that is the most important part.

Figure out how you want to have the site laid out then that will give you a chance to go back and figure out where you need any comments.

Consider trading services with a copywriter and having your site professionally written.

Be sure to test your site in browsers other than IE.

I agree with balloon whisk.. You can get the overall llo/captioing etc done professionally and then you can hire a web-design student to maintain it as and when needed. Have you thought of forms for ordering online? You may not want to do this in the first version.. but it is good idea for 2nd or 3rd website improvements!

I love music. There are quite a few songs out there that would really OOOMPH your website!!!

Glad to know I'm not the only one with one of those take your time types. I suppose it's possible there are others in the world aside from myself wanting a website. In coming up with a plan, look around at others...things that annoy you when you are surfing the net and things that you like. Don't copy but use those types as a model. I hate "intros" and when I asked my guy he said if it takes more than 8seconds folks normally click out of a site. So, my site doesn't have that type of intro although, it's still a work in progress and much left to do.

I can't think of the site right at the moment, but there is a cake site that has some very pretty cakes, but I can't stand it long enough to look at the cakes! It has graphics all over the background - I think it is just a lot of shimmery effects of some sort. That wouldn't bother me so much but when you click on a picture it kinda sloooooooooooooooooowly shimmers into a larger picture and it takes way too long. By the second picture I'm disgusted and ready to go elsewhere.

I also do NOT like music....I turn the speakers off if there is music. Also, I won't even give the website a chance if they have floaty things that follow the pointer. Nothing is worse than that.

Keep it simple...a little whimsy is nice, but that also depends on your style. Hey, Perry....next time I'm in Manhattan, I will stop by your place.

I have just put my site up www.montibelles.com and used a company that allows me to do it myself. They have the software that makes it VERY easy and that way I can maintain and change it whenever I want without having to pay someone to do it. if you are interested in doing your own, check out:

http://www.ixwebhosting.com/cgi-bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=MontiBelles

I love this place...

MontiBellesBakery Thinks for that info.. And you website is great!!!
Same for the others TexasSugar & boonenati