your thoughts?

[newbie09]

Hi, I recently have changed my website: ezytunes.co.uk into a music video sharing site.

Even thought it's not completely finished yet (e.g. video categories need renaming), I just want to know what you guys think of the design and useability?

Its going to be a site where talented individuals who can sing can showcase their singing talents, get noticed, build up a fan base and also the site has social functionality so members can send messages to each other.

Do you guys have any advertising tips? I found alot of potential members and I'm contacting them, but I just want some advice so I can get off to a good start. The website is free to join so it should have a decent start.

Finding and contacting leads is one thing, but converting leads to members is another.

[Fergal]

You said in a previous thread that you were going to change the concept of the site, because you had concerns regarding copyright issues. How has the site concept changed?

I would suggest that the site design needs a lot of improvement, for it to appear professional. The top half of the page looks OK, but the bottom half where the videos are, looks as if you haven't customised the script / site design very much and it could really do with some work.

You should ask any questions you have on promoting the site in our Online Marketing, Advertising & SEO (http://www.businessadviceforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=38) forum.

[Moving thread to Website & Graphic Reviews Forum!]

[houstonVijai]

newbie09,

Seems to be a good concept but your site doesn't reflect it. My review using my favorite CODE method.

Content - You need to explain the purpose of the website in order to attract more members. DOn't see any active blog or forum. No explanation about you or website. It seems like you are just sharing the itunes song list.
Organization - Needs lot of improvement. It looks like the pictures are scattered all over the place.
Delivery - Pinkish, may be good for many but doesn't look professional.
Effectiveness - You can do lot better by not adding too many photos. Also do you have copyrights for these photos.

Hope this helps.

[newbie09]

You said in a previous thread that you were going to change the concept of the site, because you had concerns regarding copyright issues. How has the site concept changed?

I would suggest that the site design needs a lot of improvement, for it to appear professional. The top half of the page looks OK, but the bottom half where the videos are, looks as if you haven't customised the script / site design very much and it could really do with some work.

You should ask any questions you have on promoting the site in our Online Marketing, Advertising & SEO (http://www.businessadviceforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=38) forum.

[Moving thread to Website & Graphic Reviews Forum!]

Hi, sorry for the late reply.

The concept has changed. Before, the site was about uploading and sharing mp3 songs. From what I heard, if one of the members on the site uploads copyrighted mp3's, I could get in serious trouble with the law.

So now I have changed the website into a music video sharing site for talented singers to post videos and get noticed with social functionality included.

I agree that the bottom half of the site needs improvement. But my main focus at the moment is my web designer completing the development side of the site first as I'm very keen on launching the site.

He's already got so many projects on, so the design can be improved on at a later stage.

At the moment, the video categories are getting renamed, I'm going to add a slogan underneath the website title so the purpose of the site is clearly mentioned and I'm thinking of removing the forum section and adding it only when site is established.
And there are other finishing touches being applied.

I already found lots of potential members to join my site. I'm taking advantage of social networks such as myspace for advertising and also directories and many other sites.

What worries me is that there are alot of people with 1000's of friends on myspace so I'm not sure if my advertising on that site will be effective or not.

[newbie09]

newbie09,

Seems to be a good concept but your site doesn't reflect it. My review using my favorite CODE method.

Content - You need to explain the purpose of the website in order to attract more members. DOn't see any active blog or forum. No explanation about you or website. It seems like you are just sharing the itunes song list.
Organization - Needs lot of improvement. It looks like the pictures are scattered all over the place.
Delivery - Pinkish, may be good for many but doesn't look professional.
Effectiveness - You can do lot better by not adding too many photos. Also do you have copyrights for these photos.

Hope this helps.

In regards to your CODE method, I will add some more content soon, like a slogan, news article, about us page etc. to explain the purpose of the site.

You have said the pictures are all over the place. Don't you mean videos. I agree that the video section needs improving.

I don't know what you mean by pinkish. I think I need to improve the bottom half of the site to give the site a more professional look.

Copyright for photo's? They're video's. They were added by my web designer as a test. They will be removed and soon enough members can post their own videos after sign up.

Thanks for the explanation of the code method and the info. Hopefully my site will get some major improvements by my web designer.

I'm just waiting for it to get finished.

[navast]

Your website looks pretty and it`s really interesting. As a member user, Can I down load some vedio from the website?

[Fergal]

newbie09 will your site only accept uploads from the creators of the music, i.e. the band or artist?

[Sahil]

My Views:

Overall, the site looks good and it seems to be fine everything there. The video player theme looks good as well but there are few things which you need to change and they are:

Favicon: I see the default favicon of Joomla there. I would suggest you to change it to your own to make it look good.

Video: I think you need to upload good and fresh video's to make your site looks good and to make it look perfect. If your site is good then and only then a visitor will stay on your site for longer time, if it is not good then the visitor will go instantly.

Hope it helps.

Thanks!

[GekiDan]

It will put you into trouble once someone uploaded a copyrighted content on your site.
Here are some of my suggestions:

Favicon: If possible, change it to something that represents your site. You can make a simple graphic just like the letters "E" and "Z".

Featured Video: The video automatically buffers. It eats alot of bandwidth and contributes to slow loading time. You can put it as is as along as it's not automatically playing.

Logo: Create a more appealing one and use web-safe colors. Or design it as Web 2.0

[newbie09]

newbie09 will your site only accept uploads from the creators of the music, i.e. the band or artist?

Anyone can post song videos at this stage as the site is new but i'll ban those that upload videos thats not there's to avoid copyright issues.

What do you think of the changes to my site. Graphics been improved etc.

I've added videos, what do you think?

None of the videos on homepage automatically plays but the the design of ezytunes has changed.

Do you like the improvements?

[Fergal]

I don't see any major changes to be honest newbie09. The way that you ask your visitors to upload their videos to YouTube and then post the YouTube link on your site is interesting. How will your site benefit your members, over and above what they already get from uploading to YouTube?

Who are your target market, or in other words what kind of people will use your site?

[newbie09]

I don't see any major changes to be honest newbie09. The way that you ask your visitors to upload their videos to YouTube and then post the YouTube link on your site is interesting. How will your site benefit your members, over and above what they already get from uploading to YouTube?

Who are your target market, or in other words what kind of people will use your site?

The problem with youtube, is that they are too generic. My site is for a specific niche which is music. Not what you hear on tv, but artists with real talent.

I have different categories for different people. e.g. hip hop, grime etc. so users can choose what type of songs they hear. Most popular song vids will appear on the homepage. The people who watch the vids, watch because they want to listen to proper music and the artists can build up a fan base on ezytunes much better.

Also my site will be where amateur music labels etc. can look for talent as I make it pretty easy. With youtube, it'll be difficult for them to find talent. Also on my site they can include info on gigs etc.

Thats a reason why they would use my site.

[GekiDan]

I don't see any major changes to be honest newbie09.
Well, a little change in layout and logo are some of the changes I see. But what's that donate button on the right side? Moneybookers? Why don't you use Paypal? Paypal is easier to process and can accept payments directly from credit cards.

And I see that your favicon haven't changed at all.

[Sahil]

The logo looks good now and the things which were looking dirty are corrected now, and they look really good. Just few things you need to change is a Favicon. And another thing is allow donations through PayPal.

[newbie09]

Well, a little change in layout and logo are some of the changes I see. But what's that donate button on the right side? Moneybookers? Why don't you use Paypal? Paypal is easier to process and can accept payments directly from credit cards.

And I see that your favicon haven't changed at all.

What's wrong with moneybookers? I can't use paypal as my paypal account is suspended from a long time ago. Long story.

Moneybookers can accept payments directly from credit cards as well. They are like the british version of paypal but without all the complaints.

[newbie09]

The logo looks good now and the things which were looking dirty are corrected now, and they look really good. Just few things you need to change is a Favicon. And another thing is allow donations through PayPal.

I'll change the favicon. Thanks.

Does anyone have any advertising tips? I only got 2 members apart from me. I'm trying my best to get members but it's difficult and time consuming.

One of the members is a proper singer with albums etc.

I forgot to mention. I'm thinking of starting a competition for my website, in order to get members. If I offer prizes like mp3 players etc., do you think the competition is a good idea?

[Sahil]

I'll change the favicon. Thanks.

Does anyone have any advertising tips? I only got 2 members apart from me. I'm trying my best to get members but it's difficult and time consuming.

One of the members is a proper singer with albums etc.

Hi,

For advertising you can try Youtube as it is a good source. You can upload a video and at the end you can ask the people to join your site if they want to promote there band or music albums. You will get good amount of members from there.


I forgot to mention. I'm thinking of starting a competition for my website, in order to get members. If I offer prizes like mp3 players etc., do you think the competition is a good idea?

Yeah, competitions are always great for getting good amount of member and I think you will surely get good amount of members with it.

Thanks!

[dgclic]

Use the color on the top on three steps, youtub, ezy and your talent. this four square figures could be showed more.

[Fergal]

I agree with Sahil that a contest could work well for you newbie09. An MP3 sounds like a good prize, because it is relevant to your target audience. One thing to be conscious of when running a contest, is to ensure that it rewards something that is helpful to your site. For example, reward quality participation or quality uploads, as opposed to the quantity of participation or uploads. If you reward quantity the contest could result in lots of low quality content being uploaded to your site and being counter-productive.

[GekiDan]

What's wrong with moneybookers?
You can get more target donations if you have Paypal in there. :D



Does anyone have any advertising tips? I only got 2 members apart from me. I'm trying my best to get members but it's difficult and time consuming.
It's really time consuming but it's really worth it. There's nothing as easy task to promote and get lots of results. You need to spend more time on it to get more members and visitors.

Look for related blogs or sites that have a good amount of traffic, for link exchanges. This is one of the best way to promote your site.

[houstonVijai]

Competition helps but it depends on your auidence base which you are trying to target. If it is between 25-40, they are good to solve or answer trivia questions and hoping to get prizes but above the age range its tough. So you need to come with really good ones to intrigue your audience base and you should know them before you start one.

Also as Fergal said, try to focus on quality not quantity to avoid some one timers who show for the prize alone.

I would recommend writing blogs, visiting related websites and contributing them and collabrating with the webmasters to promote your websites. That would be way to go.

[newbie09]

I agree with Sahil that a contest could work well for you newbie09. An MP3 sounds like a good prize, because it is relevant to your target audience. One thing to be conscious of when running a contest, is to ensure that it rewards something that is helpful to your site. For example, reward quality participation or quality uploads, as opposed to the quantity of participation or uploads. If you reward quantity the contest could result in lots of low quality content being uploaded to your site and being counter-productive.

My web designer told me, the competition should not be open until I get more members, which makes sense.

At the moment I have contacted other record labels and music agencies to work with. So far I have got a reply off the 2. One record label wants to work with me and the other is a not for profit music agency that promotes unsigned artists. So far they are asking questions.

With their help, I can get more members, more exposure and more videos. Hopefully it works out.

Thanks to all for the feedback received.


Use the color on the top on three steps, youtub, ezy and your talent. this four square figures could be showed more.

On the homepage, I'm going to remove the members area in the top right as it shows I only got a few members. To get more members to join, I have to look more established.

In terms of the colours etc., I cant make these changes now. I'm skint so I cant afford to pay more to my web designer but thanks for the feedback.


You can get more target donations if you have Paypal in there. :D


I wish I could use paypal but its not possible as I'm suspended from them. Moneybookers are better though even if paypal are more well known. Paypal get too many complaints.

Plus do you know that there is a website dedicated to paypal called www.paypalsucks.com.

Sorry but thought you should know.

[GekiDan]

I wish I could use paypal but its not possible as I'm suspended from them. Moneybookers are better though even if paypal are more well known. Paypal get too many complaints.

Plus do you know that there is a website dedicated to paypal called www.paypalsucks.com.

Sorry but thought you should know.
You can make another account. But don't use the same credit card you used before. I'm my side, Paypal doesn't have any bad thing besides those fees they ask for personal accounts. Other than that, it's good for me.

And yeah. I knew about that site and I read some complaints. But I think they should complain on the authorities not with each other. :D

[Fergal]

newbie09, thanks for the update.


...At the moment I have contacted other record labels and music agencies to work with. So far I have got a reply off the 2. One record label wants to work with me and the other is a not for profit music agency that promotes unsigned artists. So far they are asking questions.

That's great progress, keep up the good work, onwards and upwards.