Okay Boys and Ghouls, Gather round. Today we look at Grimstone.net, on the very first edition of...
I have to say, Grimstone.net actually has a lot of good stuff going for it! While there are a few suggestions I can make, I think that, on the whole, this is a pretty good website. So let's get started, shall we?
For those of you who are new to the game, the term “Above the Fold” Reffers to how much content fits on the screen without having to scroll. Now this varies based on monitor resolution, and window size, so something that might be Above the Fold for you, may be lower down on my browser, or Visa Versa. This is why you almost always see ads at the very tip top of the screen. Above the fold ads often pay more then other ads, and placing them at the top guarantees they are above the fold no matter what the viewers screen size.
I must say, you certainly have done a decent job at keeping things above the fold. On my screen, with the browser maximized,(screen resolution 1680 x 1050) I can see the entire comic above the fold! Considering how large you run the comic, that's not bad at all!
It would be hard to get much more above the fold, but there are still a few changes we could make to squeeze a few more pixels out. Now, if it sounds like I'm nitpicking as we go through this article, it's because you haven't really left me much to point out. So congratulations!
The first thing we can do to squeeze some out some room is downsize the header and navigation buttons. Both of these things are a tad large for what they accomplish. A reduction to 75% of the original size can free up a bit of space and bring a bit more of our comic up within view.
Another improvement we could make is the introduction of marketing tools. Do you use Twitter? Reddit? Facebook? Stumbleupon? I don't see any info up here on how I can spread the word! If you don't use these services, you should consider it. Letting your fans spread the word for you is an easy way to get free advertising. Many people implement a toolbar just bellow the comic.
I also noticed the content areas of your blog and other pages are white text on a black background. It might be wise, given your chosen dark colour scheme, to create a white field around your blog and page content, so it better stands out from the red and black. A white backdrop will catch the eye better on a darker website. This is important since you will have a very limited time frame between the end of the comic and the start of the next page, to get your readers attention.
I also noticed your archives. While the archives themselves are fairly straightforward, The about page, and front page sidebar both list 'Storylines”. They aren't mentioned on your archive page either. These SEEM to take you to different parts of the archive, but the completion of the storyline doesn't lead in to the next part of the archive. This is a little confusing, and has me wondering about continuity. Keeping this all sorted out on the archive page might alleviate some potential headaches.
Now, I assume that, if you where interested in running Banner ads above the fold, you would be already. But for the sake of readers, I'm going to go over how we could run a banner ad as well.
Header banners are rarely a good idea if you want to make money off your comic. While they look great, they take up valuable space that could be working for you to bring in a little more cash, via third party ads, or by alerting readers to your own store deals. Therefore I am a huge proponent of the sidesaddle logo. That would be a square or nearly square logo that can sit next to an advertising banner at the top.
The header image actually works very well though, believe it or not. The skeleton and Vampire tell us right away what we can expect, without having read any of the archives. And the logo font helps set a great mood. But there's one extraneous item we could get rid of. The haunted mansion. While it does reinforce the theme, it doesn't really say much that isn't already said by the anthropomorphic skeleton.
If we where to dump that image, and place the cast OVER the logo, we've suddenly created a sidesaddle logo, kept the key elements, and freed up a great deal of space that can now run a full sized banner ad.
Now, with a LITTLE bit of reworking on the side saddle logo, to decrease its width, You could even fit a LEADERBOARD Ad up there!
Well, That about sums up my advice. Over all you have a good site. While you could tighten it up a tiny bit, you're not bad off as it is. Keep up the good work!Until next time...
~Jarred D. Leverton