Thursday, January 3, 2013

New Years and Some Help Please!

I'm not going to lie...2012 was not overly friendly to me in the horse department. I did a whopping 1 and a half hunter shows, and no horse trials. Last year, I did roughly 10 A shows and 4 horse trials. Big difference from the norm!

And the reason for this was my boys. Romeo is seemingly doing well in his third rehab stint, but Johnny is not really making any progress since his surgery. He actually got WORSE after surgery (we are talking lame at the walk!), but when he got reshod, he seemed to improve and is probably a 1-2/5 lame depending on the day.

" 'ello ladies. "
Additionally, I've been working really hard on my new website! However, while I initially named my new company, I'm not sure how I feel about it now. Here are the ideas I have so far...and I REALLY need your help!

mississippi equine supply
the wholesome horse
the eclectic equine
the elite equine
elite equine ___ (supply? shop?)

My website is here, and I'd really like come critiques. I can change whatever needs changing, including the name/website. If anyone does websites or knows anything, I'd really like some feedback/help!!!


Also...next post I will be talking about the new guy in my life...aka my new half lease horse. :) excited!

10 comments:

  1. Eek, hope the rehab goes well. That can be a huge exercise in patience for sure.

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  2. So sorry to hear that Johnny hasn't gotten any better. As far as the website goes it seems a little dark to me. I don't know where I read this, could have even seen it on TV, but I heard that lighter colors draw people in on products more so then dark backgrounds/colors. Excited to hear about your new horse opportunity!

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  3. Thanks guys! Will see what I can do to fix the colors. I really appreciate the feedback. Keep it coming!

    Lauren- It is hard!! He seems to be doing well, so fingers crossed. I'm just happy that he is happy.

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  4. For your website:

    Home page: "We believe in the having excellent products in order to make happy horses." This sentence doesn't really make sense. Perhaps remove the first the "the"?

    Home page: Could you perhaps highlight the Freedom Feeder in some way? The way it reads now seems out of place for the home page. Maybe something like FEATURING Freedom Feeder, blah blah. Or proud supplier of Freedom Feeder and having links to more information or something like that. I would prefer your home page to have a little more about the company and to seem less like a sales page. I gather that you're planning on having other products in the future? Or are you just planning on be a supplier of Freedom Feeders and not selling anything else?

    Sales page: This is minor, but I personally am big on consistency so I would either use "pound" in both descriptions or "#" in both descriptions. I would prefer the former as the latter seems to be a UK thing and pound is pretty basic.

    About Us page: I personally prefer this to be directly after the "Home" page.

    About Us page: Thoroughbred should be capitalized.

    About Us page: I would also bold "weight issues" since the other two are bolded.

    In general, I do agree with Shelley that is is a bit dark. I understand that the layout is one that's pre-designed but I believe if you had some lighter colours it would be more pleasing to the eye. I would also choose one photo for the top vs two (grey horse and barn alternate now).

    For the name, I'm not sure I would use Mississippi Equine Supply as to me, that makes me think of an actual shop that's located in Mississippi vs a website that ships (speaking of - you might want to make a blurb on your sales page about where you ship to; US only, US continental only, etc). I quite like "The Wholesome Horse"... has a nice ring to it.

    Hope that isn't too nitpicky! I just have an analytical brain.

    I haven't followed your blog for long so I don't know much about your boys, but I do hope they recover sooner rather than later!

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  5. love the website I love how the blue contrasts with the black!

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  6. Thank you thank you for the critiques!!! Julie I really appreciate it. Amber, thank you!

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  7. It looks like I am seeing it after the changes but I think it looks great! It is easy to navigate, has all the things I would look for to find out about the product/purchase etc.

    Sorry that Johnny isn't doing so well :( Hoping he makes a great comeback in 2013! :)

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  8. It looks as though you've incorporated many of the suggestions above. I have a few more if you're interested ... your header photos for each page change, which is ... okay? but it would be more professional if the dimensions remained the same. I actually really like the home page header photo and would like to see it carried across the entire website. Just my opinion, of course.

    You need to fix you Facebook social icon on your home page as it is not working.

    I like the color palette and the font. I also like the order of your pages; they make sense and create a logical flow as you're browsing the site. The site title is also a good choice and seems a good one if you plan on offering a variety of product that improve a horse's domesticated life.

    Nice job!
    Karen Sweaney from www.bakersfielddressage.com

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    Replies
    1. Karen,

      thank you! I just updated some facebook info, so that's what the problem was. Should all be fixed now! The header photos are all the same as well.

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  9. Website looks great, my only suggestion is the actual font - I would choose something a little more common and boring - like times new roman. I know it sucks, but it's the base for professionalism.

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