well i finally got brave enough to get a website up and going. it's from yahoo and is only a point and click but a huge accomplishment for me as i don't have an ounce of computer savy in my whole body! as indydebi and others on here have said you aren't anybody if you don't have one, so here i am!

please fellow cc'ers let me know (gently please!) what you think and if you have any suggestions. thank you!

http://www.cindyscakery.com/

Hey Cindy, I really like your website, it gives lots of information and really clear pictures. My only reservation is that the pale pink you've used for a lot of your text is perhaps a little too pale; I found it a bit difficult to read, and I guess more importantly, a little too easy to ignore. Think about how very quickly most people click on and off web pages, so you really need to have something special and eye-catching to make them stay on each page.

It's a very small point on what I think is a REALLY good website. I hope it brings you lots of customers!

Cindy, I think your site looks fine, it is very easy to read and navigate and how you have your pictures is great. My only suggestion is to remove the Elmo cake as a licensed character you have on there is not legal to sell. Even if you made that and charged nothing for it someone may think that they could order one like it. Good Luck with everything!!!
evelyn

thanks so much for the suggestions!

you website is really good! very easy to navigate. and wonderful work you do!!
i would agree to change the color of the text. it was difficult to read.
but other than that...you did an awesome job!

I think you did a nice job! I would also change the font color, and is there any way to make your slide show photos bigger? They are pretty small and it is nice to see a larger photo if possible : )

i agree with sugarandslice. great website but the text color should be a tad darker.

i'm also not too crazy about the different colored text throughout the "prices & info" page. i would suggest sticking with at most 3 different colors to be used for text consistently throughout your entire site.

i should also say i'm not a fan of center justification for text. might i suggest full justification since all most of your descriptive text lives inside their own little frames.

i'm drooling over your gourmet flavor combinations.

I agree with those that said the pink is too light. Also capitalize the names of the characters.. ie. Dora, Diego & Disney being they are proper names..

But the cakes are awesome.. I can only hope to create such beautiful cakes someday!!!

Congratulations...

I agree with everyone else about the text, but your pics are gorgeous and your website is slammin! Great Job!

Looks great Cindy!

Jen

thanks for the feed back everybody! unfortunately there's no way to customized the text colors. i thought the pink looked better than the black or brown. i was trying to keep to a palate of pink and purple, touch of gold and a bit of brown but added the other colors on the celebrations page to "perk" it up. but maybe not? guess i will change it to black or brown..... also with the justification it will only do so in the "box" they provide for you to write in. so maybe i should just make it all justify to the left. there's also no way to make the pics bigger either everything is by templets.

It looks great!!
I did notice a few typos (I'm a child of a graphic artist who is a grammar and spelling stickler so I tend to notice things others may not). Under celebration cakes and info: you wrote "no frozen product made who knows when and where". I'm sure you meant to put "made by who knows when and where". Also on the testimonial page, the corner says "one-of-a-kinda". I'm guessing you meant to say one of a kind (unless it's a play on words?) Just trying to help

What does Yahoo charge for hosting a web site? Can you put a logo on the header? I'm looking to get my website running (I have a blog and facebook page that are doing well for me) and I've been looking around for a good deal.
Thanks and your cakes are AWESOME!!

thanks cubfan for spotting those typos. i have been looking at it for weeks now and my eyes are bleary! yahoo has "special" where the first two months of web hosting are $7.95 with the balance of the year @ $9.95/mth, domain is free. they require a full year up front and say they will automatically re-new you at the end of the year but you can cnx anytime with a refund for any unused time. not sure if that's a super great deal but i already had a yahoo email addie and with some reseach for webhosting sites yahoo very high. not sure about the logo. don't have one so i didn't check into it.

thank you for the compliments on my cakes!!

Thanks for the info, cas! I'll look into it! Then I'll ask all of you guys to critique mine!

"no extra charge for cake shapes other than round" in the wedding policy area. I get that you charge extra for round cakes. I think.

I really liked your website also..Easy to read and clear..I would maybe look at changing your advance notice or Lead time to less than 4-6 weeks as it may deter customers who haven't made plans for a cake especially in a month or longer.Most people think about the cake 2-3 weeks in advance.If you state you need longer they may pass and order somewhere else.JMO Nice cakes..You will be great!!

Just some reaaally nitpicky grammatical things (I edit for an academic journal, which is why I noticed. They're really small):

"Whether you desire a simple and classic or decadent and elaborate or fun and wacky cake it will be made especially and uniquely to your tastes, literally!"

---I would edit this to be "Whether you desire a simple and classic, decadent and elaborate, or fun and wacky cake, it will be made especially and uniquely to your tastes"

"I strongly believe cakes must taste as good or better than they look which is best achieved by using only the freshest and most delicious ingredients."--add a comma before which

"I strive to meet and hopefully exceed your sweet expectations helping to make your event truly memorable."--add a comma before helping. Maybe change "I strive" to "I will strive"?

"Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will let Cindy's Cakery be a part of your next special event!"--add a comma before "I."


Otherwise I think it look great! I also agree with the pink being too light.

thank you tguegirl! i really appreciate the grammar help! i wish i could customize the pink to be a bit darker but this program does not allow it. in order to stay in my color palette i would have to choose black, brown or dark purple. not crazy about any of those choices

Your website is very nice, and your cakes are truly lovely. Just one note from me, and I'm speaking as someone who doesn't have a website, be careful about posting cakes of licensed characters. I know that Disney, for example, doesn't like anyone infringing on their likenesses. I had a friend who's sister did cakes a while ago, and she posted photos of a cake she'd done, then a week or so later received a letter from Disney's legal department telling her she was infringing on their copyright.

Just a word to the wise.

thank you kathys90! i did remove an elmo cake that i had done for a friend. the disney characters on the castle cakes were customer purchased toys that i placed for them so i thought it was okay. maybe i should put a disclaimer for yoda that it shows skill but i am unable to sell it.

Yes..I wish also..Lately in the last 6 months I have people emailing the week or days before and it is kinda last minute especially if you have to make fondant accents etc...but you never want to say no so I grin and bear it!!


Laurel

thank you gottabakenow!

YOu have some very good info on your site!

- Your list of flavors, cake/icing/fillings, is very impressive!
- I like that you have an address, phone and email on the site instead of just a "fill out this form" thing. (I HATE "fill out this form" things!)
- Your prices page is very thorough with good info needed by folks when placing an order. Pricing is clear and easy to understand (you dont' have to be a math wizard just to try to figure out how much the cake will cost!) I like the copyright disclaimer, the food safety and allergy entries.
- I like how the photos are set up ..... I can see all of them all at once yet I'm also able to click on those I choose to view close up.
- Your wedding policies page is also very thorough with good, basic information that a bride needs to know, written in easy to understand layman (i.e. "cake civilian") language. YOu've provided good links to help them plan their cake (i.e. servings chart)

Things you might consider:
- The pink font (already mentioned) is not as easy to read as the other color of font you used on the other pages, but since it's on the testimonials page (not a high priority page .... important, but not as high on the ladder as, say, the prices page), it's workable.
- You have a great links page, but I 'd suggest you try to group similar links together to make ti a little easier for brides/clients to select the links that may help them in their planning process: Cake Photos, Wedding Blogs, Other wedding Vendors (venues, photog's, wed planners, etc), wedding supplies, etc.

OVerall, I'm VERY impressed with your site! Easy to read/comprehend, good photos, good basic info that's not too vague and not too detailed/confusing.

Having built several websites from scratch, the first thing I look for is speed. There is what we call and "8 second rule"... being if someone clicks on your site and it doesn't pull up within 8 seconds, they usually lose interest and move on to another.

That being said... I really had a good speed repsonse when pulling up your pages. Generally picture pages can take forever to load, yet yours were fast and smooth. The lightbox slideshow feature for your gallery looks modern and appealing, so good call.

As for your font colors, I'm glad to see you took advice of everyone and changed to a more readable color. I have to agree the the pink was hard to read. You still might consider changing the "testimonials" color.

I know you are using Yahoo's provided templates, but they are based on CSS layouts and should allow you to change the colors of multiple items simply by changing the number on the CSS.

If you are having trouble with anything don't hesitate to ask and I will help you the best I can.

It's looks good and I think anyone visting it should have an easy time navigating to find exactly what they need to.

Great job!

thank you so much debi! to have your distinguished approval is an honor to me. i have been soaking in all the debi-isms that i can since i joined CC. i was hoping that you wouldn't mind my link to your wonderful cake cutting demo i will try to make the changes you suggested about the links. thanks again for the compliments!

Made you a logo.. if you like it and want it I'll send you the master. Can change to any colors you want easily... can make multiple colors if you want.
Looks better blown up bigger I think.
Anywho.. just felt like messing around with it.