# I made a website. Would like some feedback on it



## Haakond (May 4, 2020)

Hi!

During the lockdown, I got into the position where I could take more composing jobs.
Because of that, I decided to make my own website to be able to promote myself and to have a place where people can check out my music and contact me.

I found WIX, that was pretty easy to use for someone like me, with no programming skills or knowledge.
Now, the website is finished. I was wondering if I could have some feedback on it. Is there more stuff I could add, or stuff I should remove? How does it feel to navigate etc? I added a blog there too, where I want to put up small updates on what I am working on. I also want to do some tutorials in the future there. I have also been thinking about adding a shot with some royalty-free music people can buy, along with PDF-scores. Anybody have any experience with that?

Here is a link to the website:








Video game composer | Haakon Davidsen | Norway


Haakon Davidsen is a composer from Norway. He has written music for several video games and movies. He is located in Norway. He writes in many different styles, and can compose music for you




www.haakondavidsen.com





Thanks!


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## doctoremmet (May 4, 2020)

Pretty cool! Like the blog <3
Will DM two nit-picks. Keep it up!


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## gst98 (May 4, 2020)

couple of things:

1) The fonts for Bio, testimonial etc, I would not underline them and there is a nicer font for those.

2) Get a real email. No numbers and definately not hotmail. Use Gmail, and pay for a custom adress so so you can even get gmail out of the address.

otherwise it looks nice


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## thefudgeman (May 4, 2020)

The word is spelled TESTIMONAL not as you have it, but otherwise excellent


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## jneebz (May 4, 2020)

I like it! For professionalism, change the spelling of "Testemonials" to "Testimonials" especially as it's one of the first thing visitors see on your homepage.


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## Haakond (May 4, 2020)

Thanks everybody! This is very helpful. I will fix the misspelling ASAP! And change the fonts.
I will fix a new email too. What would you suggest for that email to be? [email protected], [email protected] or something else?


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## doctoremmet (May 4, 2020)

My vote goes to:
[email protected]


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## mybadmemory (May 4, 2020)

Hi!

I'm a graphic designer by trade (and a hobbyist composer) and I think the site looks really clean and nice overall. I just have two small comments:

1. The kerning (letter spacing) in you "logo" or name-mark is off, making it read as Hakon Da Vidsen rather than Hakon Davidsen. I'd most definitely decrease the space between the A and V as a minimum (though there are a few more quirks as well, though not as major).

2. It's spelled testimonials with an i. 

Oh, and I really like you music btw. Love the JRPG inspired stuff!


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## doctoremmet (May 4, 2020)

mybadmemory said:


> The kerning (letter spacing) in you "logo" or name-mark is off, making it read as Hakon Da Vidsen rather than Hakon Davidsen. I'd most definitely decrease the space between the A and V as a minimum (though there are a few more quirks as well, though not as major).


Ah. Someone who knows his or her typography! Nice. Did you ever read this? You may love it (I did!)

warning:
Once you’ve read one entry, chances are you will read all and lose a few hours haha. Totally worth it though...









How To Make Your Text Look Futuristic


We’ve already seen how Eurostile Bold Extended is spectacularly effective at establishing a movie’s timeframe. But if Eurostile isn’t enough, there’s more you can do to clarify yo…




typesetinthefuture.com


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## Bernard Duc (May 4, 2020)

The website is simple (which is great!) and clean. It also loads decently fast. Only small thing I noticed, on "short" pages, like Testimonials, people on bigger screen will have a big white space at the bottom. I'm pretty sure there is an option in Wix to push the footer to the bottof of the screen if the page cannot fill the window.


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## doctoremmet (May 4, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> chances are you will read all


Especially the Alien and Bladerunner entries are excellent! Oh! And the 2001: A Space Oddyssey one as well


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## Jeremy Spencer (May 4, 2020)

Looks great. Just one comment....do not, I repeat DO NOT provide your email address and phone number. You will end up being bombarded with spam emails and texts. I would just have an extra “contact” page, where someone can simply fill out a form and submit it. If someone is serious about contacting you, they will do this.


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## Nico (May 4, 2020)

and test your contact form regularly! :D


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## Brian99 (May 4, 2020)

Looks good! The only thing I would change is the title on the bio page from "About Me" to "About the Composer". If you leave it at "About Me" the contents should read "I" did this or "I" did that instead of the pronoun "he".


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## Haakond (May 4, 2020)

mybadmemory said:


> Hi!
> 
> I'm a graphic designer by trade (and a hobbyist composer) and I think the site looks really clean and nice overall. I just have two small comments:
> 
> ...


Thank you for checking it out! I tried to replace the logo now, but had a hard time tweaking it 100% right. Ended up changing the font. Do you think it is better now, or should I use the old?
And thanks for the words about my music


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## jonathanparham (May 4, 2020)

Looks good. I agree with everything above. Curious though. You said you use WIX. I thought wix would always be on the web address? for instance https://www.haakondavidsen.com.wix. Or did I assume you had your own domain?


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## Haakond (May 4, 2020)

Thanks to everybody for all the help! This was amazing.
I have tried to edit all of the stuff mentioned. Hope you like the edits!








Video game composer | Haakon Davidsen | Norway


Haakon Davidsen is a composer from Norway. He has written music for several video games and movies. He is located in Norway. He writes in many different styles, and can compose music for you




www.haakondavidsen.com


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## Haakond (May 4, 2020)

jonathanparham said:


> Looks good. I agree with everything above. Curious though. You said you use WIX. I thought wix would always be on the web address? for instance https://www.haakondavidsen.com.wix. Or did I assume you had your own domain?


Yes, if you have the free version. There are payment plans where you can remove it!


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## doctoremmet (May 4, 2020)

The menu option still has the typo:


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## jonathanparham (May 4, 2020)

Haakond said:


> Yes, if you have the free version. There are payment plans where you can remove it!


ah hah. I always see this advertised on YOUTUBE but was wondering. Thanks for the answer!


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## Haakond (May 4, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> The menu option still has the typo:


Ooooops, my mistake!! Fixing it now!


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## Thundercat (May 5, 2020)

Excellent website and music! I hope you get a lot more business from it! You deserve it! You are very talented!


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## Haakond (May 5, 2020)

Thundercat said:


> Excellent website and music! I hope you get a lot more business from it! You deserve it! You are very talented!


Thank you so much!


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## fretti (May 5, 2020)

I think it's a great looking website 

From my personal preference one thing I'd change is on the front page right below your name the 'Musician & composer'.

I always like it more in these cases if it's 'Musician & Composer', looks imho a little cleaner and like the two are actually equal (that's at least how we do it in presentations for clients)

Also the 'about the composer' on the main page:

I think you missed a punctuation mark on that last sentence?
Again I'd also think about changing some of the words to capital letters; like 'I make music for Film, TV and Video Games.' (for my taste the TV stands out a little to much)





(Just my two cents; ultimately you should do what you like best)


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## CGR (May 5, 2020)

Haakond said:


> Hi!
> 
> During the lockdown, I got into the position where I could take more composing jobs.
> Because of that, I decided to make my own website to be able to promote myself and to have a place where people can check out my music and contact me.
> ...


Nice work Haakond, and I enjoyed your music. A few minor things I noticed:

1. The About Me page should read in the first person ("I am a composer and musician . . . " etc.)
I find writing in the third person a bit odd on a website promoting an individual.

2. The circular image above "MUSIC FOR GAMES, FILM & TV" on the homepage has a blank grey screen.






A colourful multitrack project on the screen would look more interesting


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## MartinH. (May 5, 2020)

Haakond said:


> Hi!
> 
> During the lockdown, I got into the position where I could take more composing jobs.
> Because of that, I decided to make my own website to be able to promote myself and to have a place where people can check out my music and contact me.
> ...



When I loaded the page the embedded player on the landing page wasn't loaded immediately and there was no indication that there was an important thing missing, so I scrolled right by it and was gonna say "I rate your website 0/10 because it took me more than 9 seconds to get any music playing". I would recommend to either try to get that thing to load faster, or put something "behind" the embedded player that says "please wait a few seconds while the player is loading" or something like that. At a glance the rest looks fine to me.
Just my 2 cents.


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## Reid Rosefelt (May 5, 2020)

I like it. Very professional for a Wix site. 

Based on looking at the analytics for many websites I've worked on, most people don't get past the first page. As a marketer, I always advised people to get their most important stuff there so no clicking would be necessary. So for example, with a film the trailer and synopsis would be right on page one. What's most important to you? What do you absolutely want to make sure they don't miss? 

On my screen of your page one I have to scroll down to see your musical examples. Page one just looks like your name. You can't assume that people will scroll. 

From a design point of view, my main issue is with the "Music" page. Everything is very quiet and subtle and then all of a sudden there are these huge pictures. I think it would look better and they would load faster if they were smaller. But more importantly, you have to scroll more to see everything. I also don't know if it makes sense to link people to projects that are in development. IMO, your credits are only the music they can hear, whether they are films or games or demos.

In terms of social media, I think it's best to only link to the networks you are really active in to promote yourself as a composer. For example, you have a link to Twitter and you haven't posted there since April 2018. And if you are using social media (which isn't a bad idea), then stress it more (bigger icons).

But overall, really nice job. These things are very hard to do.


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## Haakond (May 5, 2020)

@fretti Thank you! I agree, fixed it!

@CGR Thank you! Yeah, did not think of that before you mentioned it. Good idea, makes sense. Edited the text, and took another photo with more files on it!

@MartinH. Hmm, that was weird. Never had that problem, and I had to test it on several WIFI. Anyway, I added a text underneath it. Thanks for mentioning!

@TigerTheFrog Thanks! I guess you are right, people can be lazy, haha. Not sure if I want to move the music player higher, as I kinda like to have my name on top, like a header of some sort. Do you think I should make the music player smaller? I should maybe link the projects right to the music, if the game is in development. But I also think it feels more "professional" if it goes directly to the companies sites. I have to experiment with that.
What, the Twitter link sent you to my tweets from 2018? I tweet pretty frequently, maybe each second day, so not sure why it sent you there. Need to investigate that too. EDIT: Oh, I see why. That is just my pinned tweet on top! The following ones should be the newest.

Thanks everybody for all your feedback. This is so helpful. Setting up a site is pretty easy, but setting up a GOOD site on the other hand...


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## Reid Rosefelt (May 5, 2020)

Haakond said:


> @TigerTheFrog Thanks! I guess you are right, people can be lazy, haha. Not sure if I want to move the music player higher, as I kinda like to have my name on top, like a header of some sort. Do you think I should make the music player smaller? I should maybe link the projects right to the music, if the game is in development. But I also think it feels more "professional" if it goes directly to the companies sites. I have to experiment with that.
> What, the Twitter link sent you to my tweets from 2018? I tweet pretty frequently, maybe each second day, so not sure why it sent you there. Need to investigate that too. EDIT: Oh, I see why. That is just my pinned tweet on top! The following ones should be the newest.



You've worked on this for a while and you know what you want. You have a good eye and have done a great job.

My only advice would be to look carefully at your analytics after the site is up. How long do people spend on which pages? Do they listen to your music? Which tracks? Think about those kinds of questions. And then make your judgments.

Good luck!


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## Billy Palmer (May 5, 2020)

I really love your music! And your site look nice and clean - great work 

My only comment would be about the bio.:
Possibly the way you start each sentence with 'when he was...' is a little repetitive.

Writing a bio is hard though. Also short is good though imo, so well done !


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## Haakond (May 5, 2020)

TigerTheFrog said:


> You've worked on this for a while and you know what you want. You have a good eye and have done a great job.
> 
> My only advice would be to look carefully at your analytics after the site is up. How long do people spend on which pages? Do they listen to your music? Which tracks? Think about those kinds of questions. And then make your judgments.
> 
> Good luck!


Thank you. I have innstalled the Analytics app on the phone, and I keep an eye out for that! I can try to experiment with the music Player, see what gives the best experience


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## Haakond (May 5, 2020)

William Palmer said:


> I really love your music! And your site look nice and clean - great work
> 
> My only comment would be about the bio.:
> Possibly the way you start each sentence with 'when he was...' is a little repetitive.
> ...


Thank you very much, for both checking out the website, and for your words about my music!
You are correct about that, need to rewrite it! It is so hard to write something easy and informative, and still keep it clean. Should maybe find someone to help me with that, because writing about myself was pretty weird, haha.


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## Christopher Rocky (May 5, 2020)

Very nice website my friend! Its actually great that you have shared this as I've taken a lot of the advice for my own website! great music you have on there, I hope it gets you a lot of work!


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## Haakond (May 5, 2020)

ChristopherRock said:


> Very nice website my friend! Its actually great that you have shared this as I've taken a lot of the advice for my own website! great music you have on there, I hope it gets you a lot of work!



Thanks! Of course, feel free to get some inspiration from my site! I took a lot of inspiration from other composers websites. Would be fun to see your page too. Thanks, so far this website has not made me rich, rather the opposite, but I guess I just have to be patient!


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