This review is of the website for Boutique Solie, a Phoenix Metro clothing, accessories and gift store. It is not a review of the store or services and products provided by said store. The site was viewed on an 11x12 inch monitor with a resolution set at 1366x768 px. The web browsers being used are Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 17.0.1. This review was completed on Thursday, January 10, 2013.
Aesthetics
General appearance
This is a very simple, barebones Wordpress site with not a lot of detailed information or content. There is an extremely non-professional message that the site is not complete yet. (Generally speaking, you should never put up an incomplete site. Your site should be fully functional from the moment it goes live.) There is no copyright information so it is difficult to say how long the site has not been complete yet.
Graphics and color
On the home page, there is a random sequence of pictures that show the store and its products. The pictures link to the home page though every so often there is a broken link. I am not sure whether they wanted to pictures to all link to the home page for some reason, or if there were supposed to be pages the pictures should link to instead. Whichever it was, it does not make sense to have a marquee of images that you cannot control, and do not seem to serve a purpose beyond looking flashy.
Layout
There are no major issues with the layout, except for where they put the social media buttons. (It would make more sense to have them at the top of the page. Where they are they kind of blend into the back ground. The text on the page indicates where they are, but it should not have to.)
Typography
No major issues with the typography.
Usability
Navigation
The navigation is very simple, and there does not seem to be any major issues with it.
Contact information
There is a contact information page that gives directions and a location with a phone number. The winter hours page also has a phone number. There is no e-mail information.
Social Media
The store has an active Facebook and Twitter page. It seems as if more effort has been spent on them than on the website. (This is not a very good strategy. People should be directed by the social media to the website, and from there, the store.)
Relevant links
There are no relevant links on the home page.
Accessibility
No major accessibility issues except for the animated marquee that you cannot turn off.
Canonical
Is the name of the page in the title tag?
Yes.
Is there contact information in footer as well as contact page?
No.
Is the copyright information in the footer?
No.
Does the logo link to the home page and is in the upper left corner?
Yes.
Does the page layout follow current web standards?
No. There are some issues that need to be corrected.
Assessment
Overall, this is a site that could use some improvement. There needs to be more content about the products, services and special events advertised by the store. (And it should be updated on a regular basis.) Also, the issue with the marquee needs to be fixed.
Comments