CLUB WEBSITE : Fri Apr 08, 2011 4:29 pm  

Club Website is for fans. We want to attract people back and make the club look professional. We have two players photographs and neither have been at the club for months having left. George Raynor and Jonny Presley in there 2007 season shirts hardly shows an effort being made. Please see what a website should look like. It should not be a list of your last 5 items. On your homepage, I want to see prices, league tables, fixtures on view, I want up to date pictures on the front page. News, in one place. Most of the links on the left are irrelevant or out of date. We sell little except on match days and this is our shop window. It needs a major clean. The graphics and logos might look pretty, but are they serving the purpose. I suggest we employ a commercial manager / web designer who has a clue about Rugby league and what it's website should be achieving. The below is not fab, but knocks spots off ours. I would say it is a realistic standard to aim for. It is not a matter of doing a load of work and bringing our up to date. It needs commitment to keep it that way day in and day out. Compare this to ours http://www.widnesvikings.co.uk/

Club Website is for fans. We want to attract people back and make the club look professional. We have two players photographs and neither have been at the club for months having left. George Raynor and Jonny Presley in there 2007 season shirts hardly shows an effort being made. Please see what a website should look like. It should not be a list of your last 5 items. On your homepage, I want to see prices, league tables, fixtures on view, I want up to date pictures on the front page. News, in one place. Most of the links on the left are irrelevant or out of date. We sell little except on match days and this is our shop window. It needs a major clean. The graphics and logos might look pretty, but are they serving the purpose. I suggest we employ a commercial manager / web designer who has a clue about Rugby league and what it's website should be achieving. The below is not fab, but knocks spots off ours. I would say it is a realistic standard to aim for. It is not a matter of doing a load of work and bringing our up to date. It needs commitment to keep it that way day in and day out. Compare this to ours http://www.widnesvikings.co.uk/

Re: CLUB WEBSITE : Fri Apr 08, 2011 4:53 pm  

To be frank Widnes will have someone full time whereas we will more than likely have someone doing this as part of a combined role. I remember we had a new general/commercial manager who was involved in an accident and hopefully now recovered. What gets my goat is the demand by Very Frank that someone does this, perhaps as part of our [edit by guess who] of a prime minister and his aim of a big society and an army of volunteers perhaps he will volunteer his services.
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Lets cut out language like that. We have family's reading this site.

guess who wrote this.

Re: CLUB WEBSITE : Fri Apr 08, 2011 5:32 pm  

Entitled to my opinion. Just making a fair point. Maybe some people think our website is Super League standard. I know ours is done by somebody paid to do it also.

Are they earning their money?

Re: CLUB WEBSITE : Fri Apr 08, 2011 6:34 pm  

Whilst I agree in principle to Very Frank's comments about the improvements to the website it does come across as demanding. Sometimes I think people think the club has has endless supply of cash. We are a small club with ambition and reply on goodwill by fans. Maybe at times people need to understand that some tasks at the club are done by people out of love for the club, not for payment and they do their best. Rather than constantly saying we should do this, that and the other lets take account of this.

Yes, the website is a bit outdated and there are better out there, but as Spymaster says these people are probably working full time and exclusively on this. I'm not sure the club can afford this at the present time. In the future who knows.............?

Re: CLUB WEBSITE : Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:35 pm  

How long would it take to have an embedded table?
Photos from this season inserted?
Not demanding hours of labour, but the club is paying somebody to do this and in my opinion they are getting a poor product. Yes I know people volunteer there services and do put bits on there for the fans. Rach for one. I have to say thank god Rachel does. If it were not for her efforts then I don't think fans would get anything from the website.

Dominance I never demanded anything. Just expressed an opinion about an area where we are not quite keeping up with the rest of the field. I like anybody else is entitled to have an opinion. Just as you are entitled to yours and it might be right that there are higher priorities.

Re: CLUB WEBSITE : Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:38 pm  

Very Frank - As I have said I agree with your points in princinple. You obviously know more about the clubs website situation that me but how much money can the club throw at this. You sometimes only get what you pay for.

Just to clarify, I said it comes across as demanding, and words such as "I WANT" give that impression. You raise good points and I like to debate. It's maybe not what is said, but maybe how it's said. Just a thought.

Re: CLUB WEBSITE : Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:35 am  

i've designed and maintained web sites for several bodies. in my experience i start off putting a load of content on that i think should be there. it is then up to the owner to supply new content. for the site to stay current this has to be done frequently. it also has to be supplied to me digitally so it can be entered easily.

maintaining a web site takes HOURS and is a pain in the backside. if the owner isn't interested in supplying me with content then i'm not going to bother with putting any on there. after all, i've done my bit (the hosting, design and initial input) result: stale web site.

i'm not saying that's definitely the case with the Cougars' site, but that's my personal experience. many times i've been asked to do a new web site when what's actually needed is new content for the existing one.

pretty layout is all well and good, but content is king.

Re: CLUB WEBSITE : Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:38 am  

Not wanting to sound demanding or having a go, but correct me if I'm wrong, the Clubs website still has our prices for 2010 season on it's match day tickets page. PRICES Adult Ground £14.00 Concession Ground £7.00 Under 16 Ground £4.00 Stand Transfer £1.00 http://www.keighleycougars.com/?page_id=37 I'm sure I paid £11. Maybe it's me who has lost my marbles. Now in a none demanding, and only polite requesting way could I request after being a third of the way through the season somebody checks the website prices match what prices people will pay on the gate. Photos I see have been updated on the front page.

Not wanting to sound demanding or having a go, but correct me if I'm wrong, the Clubs website still has our prices for 2010 season on it's match day tickets page. PRICES Adult Ground £14.00 Concession Ground £7.00 Under 16 Ground £4.00 Stand Transfer £1.00 http://www.keighleycougars.com/?page_id=37 I'm sure I paid £11. Maybe it's me who has lost my marbles. Now in a none demanding, and only polite requesting way could I request after being a third of the way through the season somebody checks the website prices match what prices people will pay on the gate. Photos I see have been updated on the front page.

Re: CLUB WEBSITE : Wed Apr 27, 2011 6:25 pm  

Also a good idea would be to put the correct time the gates are open.

Re: CLUB WEBSITE : Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:29 am  

Very Frank - If I was in charge of the club you would get my vote for our chief website designer. Especially now in your non demanding way!

In all seriousness, it is an error and does make the club look a bit unprofessional. It's only a 2 minute job to update so let's hope someone at the club is reading this and can remedy.