New Homepage Have a Look

[freydaddy]

I am in the process of developing this site Toxic Online Poker Rooms this is just a homepage and is going to change when the real site is done, i just threw this up to get the domain some changing content till the big site is launched. Anyhow any suggestions and opinions on the basic theme of the site will be well appreciated.

 

[NewYorkBum]

very, very bright. Especially for poker players.

 

[Mike]

Not a bad layout, lots of text, i like the overall idea of the Toxic presentation, however, if you didn't specifically point out that this is about poker, no one would have an idea that this is what it's about. Place some poker related visuals in there, it's going to take your site a lot further.
So far, you're referring to other poker sites, are you planning on users being able to play poker directly on toxic?

Generally, it's a good site, unfortunately, there are tons of sites out there offering the same. What are you going to do to stand out from the crowd?

it's a great start, needs some more visuals and an incentive for the user to return. :tu:

 

[freydaddy]

Thank you for the replies, this site is no where near completion, i just threw up a home page to get the domain some changing content until i launch the big site, so i just put a rss feed on there, at the moment thats my only goal for the site, when the real site is finished there will be a clearer point to the site. as far as pointing it to other sites, at the moment yes thats what im doing, basically in the end it will be an informational poker website, you will not be able to play poker on the site, i am a poker affiliate, i get paid to refer players to any of the given online poker rooms. I am aware of the saturation of the industry, i have been doing this for quite awhile, there is alot of work in making this type of website excel, in any case thank you for the replies, and i am still welcoming ideas, suggestions, and critisim!

 

[Barrucadu]

Its a bit bright, personally I would expect a poker/gambling site to be a bit darker. Also the banner just dosnt suit the theme of the site.

 

[freydaddy]

Really that is the point of the site being bright, because all poker sites are dark, i own quite a few sites like that, i wanted to do something different with this one, as far as the logo, it took me 3 minutes to make, its not what is going to be staying there, i will probably do a flash header and intro.

 

[Coopey]

Site: Toxic Poker- Rakeback Offers and Poker Bonuses (Image)
Accessed: 2007-02-03/22:16 GMT

Speed
The site took a long time to load, even on a 2MB connection.
I'm unsure what caused the delay, but as most of the image files seem to be .png files, I suspect it may be this- would using Fireworks' export funtion allow smaller .gif files to be made?

Design/Structure
The !DOCTYPE statement claims the page is HTML 4.01, yet it fails to meet this standard with 16 errors.
There is a lot of CSS in the HEAD of the page, as it is a one-page site this is not too much of a problem, but it may be prudent to link it from its own .css file to- a) make your code look a little cleaner and b) apply the same style to additional pages should you expand the site.
Just under half of the code is some JavaScript which didn't appear to do anything- until an RSS news feed loaded 15 minutes after I came to the site. Is this required?

Usability
The site does not degrade well, as the page elements are arranged in illogical way, with any content pushed way down the page.
Many images, those relating to the site design, rather than any of the logos, are missing ALT tags.
It is not immediately clear what parts of the site site are clickable- the links on the right may be better-suited on the left. Also, the MansionPoker links on the left are not obvious and in a different style to the other links on the page which are all plain-text.
The above would make it very difficult for somebody using a screen-reader to use your site. It may also help search engine rankings if your DIV elements were arranged in the source, so that the content-rich ones are seen before the blank layout and background ones (although keep in a logical order for the screen-readers).

Message
It is not instantly clear what the site is about without reading the content. I would strongly suggest some traditional poker imagery (a photo of cards, or chips), you did say earlier in the thread that you were trying to be a little different, but something to visually link the site to the subject matter is good design.
Perhaps as you are redesigning the header, incorporate imagery there.
Also, is there a need for that vuglar image? Some people may be offended by it...

Domain Name
>$50
A good, catchy name that is memorable and contains your keyword 'poker'.
As the domain is for sale there is the potential it could be bought for a poker room, as it has that 'ring' to it. (Although the market seems a little crowded, so this may not happen.)

Overall
Overall, the colours give it a 'home made' look, rather than a 'professional' look. I am far from a fan of the black-green combo.
Whilst not instantly hitting you with 'this is a poker bonuses site', once the content loads, you can clearly see the 'click here, get this' message (e.g. Full-Tilt Poker - $600) which is the quickest way of communicating the message, and, I imagine, a good way of encouraging clicks.


I viewed your site on a Windows XP PC, with Firefox 1.5.
Screen Resolution 1280x1024, 32 bit colour
2MB Broadband connection