Need some reviews/feedback on header design

[Onlyme123]

Hi there,

I am in the process of designing a website for my local community.

The website will feature local businesses, events and jobs.

I have put together the following header/navigation/CTA (call to action) concepts and would like to ask which one they prefer and why.

Any additional feedback and comments on colour, spacing, positioning of elements etc would be welcomed.

Thanks!

Idea 1:
https://ibb.co/nQbG8vR

Idea 2:
https://ibb.co/PcpkQYs

Idea 3:
https://ibb.co/TKTf6n4

Idea 4:
https://ibb.co/yNgqwR3

Idea 5:
https://ibb.co/sHnY5tk

I have also created a poll.

 

[Scalloway]

I don't think your poll is working but for what it's worth I prefer Option 5 (headed Option 6).

Are you planning to use a picture as part of the header?

Would a Facebook page not be simpler?

 

[Fagin2021]

It's a bit like a 'spot-the-difference' competition but two things stand out. The first is that (unless you plan to change it) - it doesn't work on mobile. The menu bar fonts are unreadable. You'd be better designing for mobile, then expanding it for desktop.

A LOCAL NEWS link is missing. Do you plan to include it?

Sorry - couldn't resist ...

 

[fisicx]

Most of your visitors will be using a phone. So start with the mobile layout.

as to colours, not good. Not easy to read. You need a very light background for the links to stand out.

 

[Onlyme123]

Thanks for the replies.

The website will be mobile optimised. I have designed desktop to give a "larger" view of the elements.

In terms of colour, what parts are hard to read? Is it the blue on the green? I have designed it with a contrast ratio in mind. If I use white on green, it doesn't pass the test. The dark navigation background was to make the links stand out from the rest of the page.

 

[UKSBD]

I prefer 1 but it looks a bit too bunched up.

I would give it bit more top and bottom padding so the blue and green bars are both a bit deeper.

It's all personal choice though, ask 10 people and you may get 10 different opinions

 

[fisicx]

The blue and green. It's also quite confusing as there is no clear focus. Not at all sure how it will look on a phone. Those two rows will take up a lot of screen real estate.

And we read from left to right. Having most of the links and options on the right is a poor UX

 

[Onlyme123]

I could drop the green and use just the blue, but the green was my favourite out of the blue and green.

In terms of no focus, what would you suggest? Maybe have all the items on one line? The main elements I have are the main nav, login and register and a CTA, so not sure how I can reduce those to take up less screen space.

 

[fisicx]

What is the purpose of the site? What do you want people to do when they land on the site? What is your marketing plan? Who are you targeting?

Sort the header out once everything else is in place. And keep it simple. The absolute mimimim of elements. Just one link for login, no avatar or anything else. Unless an element adds value don’t include it.

But build the header after you have created all the content.

 

[Onlyme123]

The website is to provide local residents with information about businesses, events, news and jobs.

The aim is to get businesses to list their business, events and jobs. At first it will be free and then I will introduce paid options to promote their listing.

When designing I have always got the header in place first and then designed the other pages, soo doing the header last is against the grain for me.

I am going to rethink the design and post some other ideas. I initially had a search bar in the header as I felt this was important, but my town is fairly small so there won't be thousands of listings for users to search for. Do you think I should still include a search bar? I have rea it is ad UX to have the search bar hidden by an icon which I currently have which is why I am rethinking it.

 

[fisicx]

So go right back to your marketing plan. How are you going to promote the site? This will dictate what goes on the homepage. From there you can point them in the right direction. But as most local residents will use their phone you need a very simple header. I'd just have:

Home | Directory | Events | Contact

That way it can be sticky and always on view.

The only people needing to login will be those adding content so put their login link in the footer. The email you send them will have the link to the login page.

You are going to be doing most of the work for quite a while, getting people to edit their listing or add events is hard work and most won't bother. Consider also there are already a number of places people can list their business (GMB, own website, nextdoor etc) and events.

I'd also forget about making any money. The number who will pay will be minuscule. Probably won't even cover your hosting costs.

Local directories can work well but they take a lot of effort to maintain.

 

[Onlyme123]

This is a competitor, although not near me:
https://wandsworth.town/

I have my homepage mostly in place which has the following:

- About
- News (this will be initially website news, although it may develop into news about the town)
- Business categories
- Featured business
- Latest business listings
- CTA
- Featured Events
- Latest event listings
- Latest Jobs

If you were looking for a local business, would you search or browse? I am wondering now whether to include the search or not. Maybe I could just include it on the main business and event page?

 

[fisicx]

That's a pretty awful site. Most of the events have already happened!

From your homepage:

- About - get rid, nobody cares
- News (this will be initially website news, although it may develop into news about the town) - who is going to write this?
- Business categories - Good
- Featured business - get rid, unless I'm actually looking for that particular service it's pointless
- Latest business listings - see above.
- CTA - for what?
- Featured Events - why? All I want to see it what's on next/this weekend
- Latest event listings - see above.
- Latest Jobs - don't even bother with this

If I were looking for a local business I'd use Google, nextdoor, referrals, suggestions from friends. I wouldn't be searching a local directory unless it listed ALL local businesses. And even then I'd probably use the GMB three pack.

This is why you need to go back to your marketing plan. How are you going to promote the site? What the expectations of the visitor? If you are telling people you have details of all local events then the landing page needs to be a full list of what's on in your town. Which means you need to add all the events - the organisers won't be cause they will have their own marketing channels.

Look at this:

https://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do-in-london-this-weekend

The timeout writers created that page - not the organisers of the events.

 

[UKSBD]

It's bad enough trying to do sites like this for small villages where you have enthusiastic committees who put on, advertise and send you info about things happening in the village.

Without people like that though it's almost impossible

Regarding the directory side of it,
You will have to be extremely active, both Online and Offline to get businesses registering, adding and keeping information updated.

Very few businesses will just visit the site and add their details, even if it's free and idiot proof.