Landing page or no landing page? & Review Layout

[shant93]

I am in charge of making a website for some sort of webzine written by a few friends and I. (The Other Side Up)

We have a landing page here: http://tosu.tk
And the actual site here: http://tosu.tk/d

Personally, I wouldn't have a landing page, but everybody else insisted to have it because it preserved the old look we sed to have that everybody liked but that took too much space (http://tosu.tk/old). Also they prefer the landing page saying it looks more professional.

I think it would drive away users because of the extra click, but hey, I'm not in charge.

What is your opinion on the matter?

Also, do you have any suggestions for improving the landing page / main site? (the layout no the content)

Finally, if you want to produce content for The Other Side Up, you are free to do so, just follow the link at the top of the articles.

(I realise that Drupal is not extremely reliable on free hosting servers so here is a 1200x500 PNG preview of the main site's layout: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4414521/tosupreview.png)

 

[lemon-tree]

I am always firmly against landing pages, they rarely bring any benefits and I will usually avoid sites that force me through one just to get to the content. So basically, I don't need to be told what site I am going to as I have just decided to click the link to the site anyway; people are generally trying to get to your sites content and delaying that is just going to alienate your customers/visitors.

 

[shant93]

So how do I compromise between the rational decision and the whole team's wish?

 

[lemon-tree]

Perhaps keep the old 'big' header for only the homepage and then move to the smaller header when within articles? It's not a particularly good compromise, but it's a compromise nonetheless.

 

[Bigbucks2528]

A lot of people prefer to go straight to the site, I personally don't care, sometimes the best part of the site is there. It is also important for some sites (yes porn ) to find out the persons age before they enter the site, not sure if it is a law though

 

[callumacrae]

It's down.

No landing pages, though!

~Callum

 

[Gonrah]

It's down.

No landing pages, though!

~Callum

Exactly. You dont need them.

 

[essellar]

I'm with you on getting rid of a content-free landing page ("splash page"), but I seriously love the graphic. I think the best way to go about things would be to turn the "landing page" into a "cover page". It wouldn't need a lot of content -- just headlines/links that can easily be done in a magazine-cover style. Shorten the top arrow to move the splash graphic to the top, and you've got plenty of room for above-the-fold headlines that change with the content of the main site (and can fit with the graphic theme). You'd have to demote the "write for us" section, of course, but it currently looks like there is no content and all they're looking for is writers, so that's actually a fix.

Frankly, as much as I hate to hit a content-free splash page, I'm no more impressed with a blog-style presentation or a portal page. C'mon, folks -- we've got some serious tech at our disposal today, so why not use it? Take a look at print magazines for some inspiration -- those covers are all about conversion, getting people to pay cash for something they probably didn't know they wanted to read. Readers can find old content and regular columns after they're drawn into the site, but new users and regular readers want to know what's fresh and what you consider important. The zine has a personality, and the cover of the zine is the best place to find out what that personality is at a glance.

 

[shant93]

Thanks for the advice, it's my first attempt at things and I have not yet figured out how to make Drupal look good. Maybe when I have free time (Between terms) I'll start over.... again. Which I will probably keep doing until I get something right.

 

[phoenixreviews]

I would definitely get rid of the landing page, but essellar's suggestion for incorporating it into the site seems reasonable. The image works really well, and since it is a magazine it could work to use that as the header for the whole site, and have most of the content "below the fold".
Alternatively, you could use this as the header for the front page only, and keep the old design for the rest of the site. But I think it would look better to standardise everything and keep the same header site-wide.

 

[v4xde]

hi,
Depending on your contract you should do, just the design, or the copyright, or both.
If both, and only both, than on your contract you should stipulate that you decide where things are going.
Old landing page is better than all the others.
V

 

[shant93]

There is no contract, this is just some thing a bunch of students (incl. me) are doing on the side.

Also, if anyone has seen the site recently, I am trying to include a new design. The links do not currently work, and I am still trying to condense down to as little sections as possible. The whole team says it looks great, but they are saying that from artists' points of view. How about from web-designers' points of view? Do you think the block system works, are the sections below the top few completely omitted? Do the colors work?

 

[lemon-tree]

Your front page is looking good, but there are a couple of things I would recommend be altered:
• The header links (Home | About Us | The Team | Store | Write for Us) are a bit too pale and lack contrast with their background. That may be fine for students, but it may not be so great if someone has poor eyesight (Or a poorly configured monitor colour profile).
• The front page lacks the impact you should expect from a news/magazine site. Your front page is your primary route to entice people to read your articles, much like the front page of a newspaper does. The new block based design is a good start, but you really need to show off a much larger quantity of articles and images. I recommend you go and visit a whole bunch of news/magazine website's front pages (example) and see how they have laid things out and categorised things to provide readers with quick access to the content they want and make it appear that the page is the front of a busy newsroom whilst still maintaining a friendly atmosphere.

 

[shant93]

I've often considered doing that, but I have two basic problems:

A. We do not produce enough content for such a dense page, and we do not have enough decent artists/photographers to add pictures to articles

B. The header image is jut too big . I would probably try condensing that one first.