Footballguys Needs Your Help (1 Viewer)

[Joe Bryant]

Hi Folks,

Every once in a while, I really do need your help. This is one of those times.

David and I have felt for a while that our www.Footballguys.com site needs a major upgrade in how it looks. It's just too drudge reportish looking with all the stuff we have. It's a problem as we want people to be able to see all the features we offer. But when you throw so much at them, it's cluttered.

We also know it needs to be more professional looking.

What I'd ask for you guys is for you to give me some links of sites that you think do a great job with a similar business model. Meaning sites that are in the business of selling information through a subscription. I know the finance / stock investment guys do a lot of this. And I'm sure other areas do as well.

Basically, I'd love to hear your thoughts on

1) Other sites you think do a great job with this

2) What it is that you like about them specifically

And just general thoughts on what you think would make for a much improved Footballguys site.

Thanks for your help - I respect what you guys think a ton.

J

 

[munchkin]

NPR.ORG

The site layout is easy to follow with a format that's easy on the eyes.

There may already be a way to do this which I haven't found but is there a way to link a menu of all major articles on a player in one location. In other words if I was doing research on Player X and wanted to find if Bloom had him listed in his Buy Low/Sell High, Matt wrote something on him in his 20/20 Hindsight and he had also been listed in a Prospecting article I could find that info in one spot instead of fishing around on the Weekly Listings?

Thanks

 

[SuperJohn96]

Give Keith a raise.

 

[riverpirate]

Glad you asked. The e-mail service is phenomenal but, quite honestly, I really don't go to the site that often. It's VERY hard to find what you're looking for. I would make the following general suggestions:

- The home page should include all of the "burning" information needed for the upcoming fantasy week. Big time news like injuries, roster issues, and things like that should be right in front of a user's face the minute they log on.

- A lot of the information is organized chronologically, which doesn't necessarily correlate to the level of usefulness. I would re-categorize it into areas like the "burning" needs listed above, statistical analysis and predictions, depth charts, and other related areas of analysis. When I'm going to do research, I have a specific area in mind as to what I am looking for. I'm looking to get the information about that area, not in browsing through the site sifting through when each new piece was posted. Chronological posting WITHIN the categories makes sense, but not at the top level.

- On gameday, it's really hard to find a solid and reliable source for inactives and game-time decisions. I would love to be able to log on to the site an hour or so before kickoff and have an easy-to-read, team-by-team breakdown of last minute decisions. If it's there, I'm not seeing it.

Hopefully that helps. Again, I get my value from your e-mails alone, so an improvement on the website is bonus. Thanks for all the great work you do.

 

[switz]

Hi Folks,Every once in a while, I really do need your help. This is one of those times.David and I have felt for a while that our www.Footballguys.com site needs a major upgrade in how it looks. It's just too drudge reportish looking with all the stuff we have. It's a problem as we want people to be able to see all the features we offer. But when you throw so much at them, it's cluttered.We also know it needs to be more professional looking.What I'd ask for you guys is for you to give me some links of sites that you think do a great job with a similar business model. Meaning sites that are in the business of selling information through a subscription. I know the finance / stock investment guys do a lot of this. And I'm sure other areas do as well.Basically, I'd love to hear your thoughts on 1) Other sites you think do a great job with this2) What it is that you like about them specificallyAnd just general thoughts on what you think would make for a much improved Footballguys site.Thanks for your help - I respect what you guys think a ton.J

Hire me.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Hi Folks,Every once in a while, I really do need your help. This is one of those times.David and I have felt for a while that our www.Footballguys.com site needs a major upgrade in how it looks. It's just too drudge reportish looking with all the stuff we have. It's a problem as we want people to be able to see all the features we offer. But when you throw so much at them, it's cluttered.We also know it needs to be more professional looking.What I'd ask for you guys is for you to give me some links of sites that you think do a great job with a similar business model. Meaning sites that are in the business of selling information through a subscription. I know the finance / stock investment guys do a lot of this. And I'm sure other areas do as well.Basically, I'd love to hear your thoughts on 1) Other sites you think do a great job with this2) What it is that you like about them specificallyAnd just general thoughts on what you think would make for a much improved Footballguys site.Thanks for your help - I respect what you guys think a ton.J

Hire me.

Show me some of your work and give me some insights on what I'm asking. J

 

[Clay Nation]

Basically, I'd love to hear your thoughts on 1) Other sites you think do a great job with this2) What it is that you like about them specificallyAnd just general thoughts on what you think would make for a much improved Footballguys site.Thanks for your help - I respect what you guys think a ton.J

Joe,I agree with you, the site does need a good face lift. However, I tend to grade sites on a sliding scale. By that I mean there are two factors in my grading: Content and Layout/Style. If the site has excellent content, I can deal with a poor layout/style....If the site has lousy content, then it sure as hell better have a great layout/style. You guys are definitely provide excellent content which happens to be the hardest battle to overcome.Your site is so unique because there is so much information. I feel that you should focus your time/money/energy on improving the user friendliness of the layout because there is a ton on information. It tends to freak me out when I click on the "Articles" tab and then I see several hundred links. I would love to have that page be a detailed search tool so that I could easily locate the articles I was interested in. By having detailed tags in certain articles, you could have a very useful search tool to find all information regarding a particular topic/player/team of interest. I know that this doesn't directly apply to your website, but newegg.com is one of the most successful ecommerce sites because of the amazing layout and search capabilities. If you aren't familiar with newegg.com, it would be worth your while to play around with the features on that site.On the current fbguys site, I really like the header links that take me to each weeks content (be sure to keep this element). The information for each week could be organized and presented in a cleaner manner, but I really like having it broken down by content each day and knowing when to expect certain articles to be posted. The main nav bar needs some serious improvement. You definitely need to reduce the # of categories on the main nav bar and add drop down sub categories when hovering. For instance, I don't like not knowing what information is included under "MyFBG" and "Tools." A simple drop down list of subcategories would be very useful when trying to quickly navigate the site. Also, I would consolidate the categories and sub categories and rely more upon useful search features on the pages.Another site that does a good job of archiving a ton of information is rivals.com. The homepage is a little cluttered for me, but it can immediately direct you to the most popular content. If you took away the banner ads on Rivals, I would have to say that it is one of the best subscription sites that I have come across. I like having the new content on the main page with quick access to archived material as well.You guys already have one of the best football sites in terms of comprehensive content, just work on the layout and ease of navigation so that everyone can quickly find the information that they are searching for....Thanks

 

[TLEF316]

i'd provide links to certain "high traffic items" (WW report, weekly projections, running/passing matchups, ect) on the forum home page (if possible). Even as a subscriber, i spend most of my in-season time on the forums anyway. It would be nice to be able to get to the stuff i want without going to the cluttered home page.

 

[Crazy8s]

http://www.amsus.org/index.php/home

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

Hi Folks,Every once in a while, I really do need your help. This is one of those times.David and I have felt for a while that our www.Footballguys.com site needs a major upgrade in how it looks. It's just too drudge reportish looking with all the stuff we have. It's a problem as we want people to be able to see all the features we offer. But when you throw so much at them, it's cluttered.We also know it needs to be more professional looking.What I'd ask for you guys is for you to give me some links of sites that you think do a great job with a similar business model. Meaning sites that are in the business of selling information through a subscription. I know the finance / stock investment guys do a lot of this. And I'm sure other areas do as well.Basically, I'd love to hear your thoughts on 1) Other sites you think do a great job with this2) What it is that you like about them specificallyAnd just general thoughts on what you think would make for a much improved Footballguys site.Thanks for your help - I respect what you guys think a ton.J

If you want to follow successful examples in business, you should always copy what the adult industry is doing. I'm not joking. That's how VHS beat Beta and how we knew Blu Ray was going to oust HD DVD. Specifically:* Don't have just one way to get to popular content. No matter where you put it people might miss it. Put the same links everywhere; just give them different designs.* Use more images. Not as much as they do, obviously-- they're in a visual industry. But you should be able to get the rights to more images than you use now.* Put up more free samples throughout the year. Just a small piece of what subscriber's get. Or release a full sample from the week before. It can't be so far back that people don't remember how that week turned out. The previous week has no value to subscribers anymore, so why not use it to show off what people missed while it's fresh in their minds?* Offer a trial membership-- $10 for two weeks, for example. Maybe $5 for one week. If they like it, they can apply that toward a full membership. * Put out a small amount of new content every day. Don't flood the site with a bunch of new stuff on one day. Updating everything incrementally encourages people to keep checking it and coming back. Every. Single. Day.I'm not a member so I don't know if you do this, but a personalized start page would be a good idea. That way people could choose what links they put on it (the ones they use all the time so it's easy to find). Maybe team-specific newspaper links, the articles they read the most, whatever. However they like to use the site, let them build that page.* Offer text alerts when important new content hits the site. Is there one article everyone wants to see when it comes out each week? Let them sign up to be notified exactly when they can access it. * I mentioned this on a different thread as a half-joke, but I think it could have merit-- offer a platinum package for $99 or something that allows e-mail access to an expert or more personalized service. You'd have to work out how that could be run, but for high-stakes players it might be a good investment. I think they would pay more for VIP treatment.I'm sure you'll get some great ideas. Good luck.NBZ

 

[The Man With No Name]

How about a search function on the home page and/or a drop down menu of everything that is there. It sucks having to look all over for something that you want and don't know where it is, and sometimes just giving up because you can't find it.

 

[SuperJohn96]

http://thebestsiteontheplanet.com/

 

[nlgb1]

fftoday.com

thought i'd go with another fantasy site simply because its easy to relate to.

this site does an AMAZING job in terms of accessibility to their material. the downside is that its a free site, and the site isnt updated often. however, if FBG could use a similar site model, with much more frequently updated material and far more features, it would be a great upgrade over the current site.

 

[Steel Dillo]

What ever you do, make sure that it doesn't become so bloated and blingy that it takes longer to load.

Slow websites are much worse than fast websites with mediocre design.

 

[Joe Bryant]

What ever you do, make sure that it doesn't become so bloated and blingy that it takes longer to load.Slow websites are much worse than fast websites with mediocre design.

Thanks. What type of internet connection are you talking about for this? Slow on dialup? Or slow on cable modem?J

 

[GroveDiesel]

Honestly, I think that you're limiting your scope too much by comparing yourselves to other subscription sites. First and foremost you're an information provider.

I think that you should be looking at sites like ESPN.com, SI.com, Foxsports.com, etc. to see what they do well. Mouse-over sub-menus are definitely a must. Easily searchable and archived material is a must.

Figure out which items are your most popular and make those the most easily accessible. When ESPN puts up a new column by Bill Simmons or Gregg Easterbrook the headline is one of the larger headlines and easy to find.

I think that ESPN does a nice hook for their Insider service. You can click on one of those articles and read the first paragraph or so, but have to subscribe to see the rest. Implementing that could hook more people.

I'm not sure just how serious you are or what your budget is, but I happen to be friends with one of the top website analytic and marketing guys in the world. I'd be more than happy to put you in touch with him. He's definitely not cheap though, although he has lots of contacts in the industry that he could point you to as well.

ETA: One that I'd look at to see how badly they screwed up is Footballoutsiders. I love those guys, but their site re-design is a trainwreck. WAY too much going on. It's not clear where stuff is, when the item was updated, where the source of the article is before clicking. It's just really confusing and extremely overwhelming.

 

[gheemony]

1. Make the entry point for subscribers a customized experience (like my MyFBG). For example, my home page should say "Welcome, Gheemony!". Then one column of information should be new content, presented with newest content on top. I hate having to scroll to the bottom of the page to see what's current. A second column should be the FBG News Feed for my players (as selected in MyFBG). A third column should be projections based on one of my MyFBG scoring systems (with button to switch scoring). Would be limited to FPTs projected - click through to see full projections.

The point is, when I login, I should have a FBG home page that fits my preferences. So great if on one page, I can see (1) news about my players, (2) new content, and (3) custom projections. I can then click through to everything else.

2. Make mobile-friendly version. Check out a site like ussmariner.com on the web and then on an iPhone. Totally different. I should type in footballguys.com on my iPhone and get a streamlined version of my custom home page. Maybe one headline of "New Content", followed by the latest 3 articles and a button to "see more. Then another headline of "My Players News", with the latest 3 headlines and "see more". Lastly, custom projections.

All content, including projections, should be auto-convert to a mobile-friendly format. Check out fftoolbox's mobile rankings site.

3. I don't know how to put this except, "your organization is awful". It's too hard to find things. It takes too many clicks to get to a page. It seems like every other week, there is a thread in the Shark Pool for "I can't find X (like Dynasty Rankings) on the site."

For example, let's say I need to decide who to start in one league. Here's my process:

- Go to home page

- Click MyFBG link

- Change team news box to selected team

- Click team news

- See Joe's projections

- Back button

- Select QB, select Bloom's projections, select league, click on see projections.

- Repeat for EVERY position!

Why can't there be one page with your projections and with Bloom's projections (even if just FPTs)? Much like the dynasty rankings. I should be able to sort and see an average of the two. In the preseason, player pages have all sets of projections. Weekly projections should have both yours and Blooms on the same page. This is just one example. I think you need to have a staffer (or ask for volunteers) that just tests the site for usability.

Other examples:

- The football over the current week identification system is out-of-date. Should just default to current week, with a drop down menu for selecting content from a prior week.

- Repeating content should have easy links to past content. For example, if I am in week 16's Buy Low/Sell High, to get to week 12's edition, I have to click week 12, scroll down, search hard for the link, then click through. At the bottom of week 16 should be a link to all past editions. Same for Roundtable, Gut Check, etc.

4. Add a similarity score tool & similarity scores to each player page. I think Chase or Drinen or someone has already looked at this type of scoring (see PFR). Just add it. Everyone doesn't have to agree on the right system.

5. Add Crank Scores to player pages.

...

I'm sure I'll come up with more ideas and will post.

Appreciate your interest in hearing feedback and making improvements.

 

[NoFBinLA]

This is just off the top of my head- but have you ever thought about picking an 'Article of the day' (or week) and then having a portion of the article - just the intro paragraph maybe or a tad more - with a link to the full subscriber article.

featured prominantly on the front page?

I think this would accomplish a couple of things - entice more new subscibers, direct current subscribers to some content you feel should get extra eyes and might be missed and finally give a writer a little pat on the back.

If the incoming reader ISN'T a subscriber they get a taste of what they are missing and when they are redirected to the 'not a subscriber/become one' page maybe they sign up. If they ARE a subscriber, then they are taken directly to the feature article of the day/week.

I don't know HOW that would be percieved by non-subscribers but if I wasn't one and saw enough articles in a week or month that interested me, I'd likely sign up and give it a shot. Maybe that's where the earlier idea of mini or sample subscriptions come in. You aren't sure, you like the taste and you want a bigger sample. For 5-10 bucks you get a little more. At some point, maybe you pony up for a full ride since $5 a week adds up quick.

I think - aside from maybe pulling in a few bucks in drive-bys - it also will help to show some of the pay stuff up front and get people thinking about what else they are missing.

If the content subject varies enough, you might also get some extra traffic from the subscribers to features they normally miss.

Anyway, just off the top of my head. Let me know if I wasn't clear about something.

 

[NoFBinLA]

1.

2. Make mobile-friendly version. Check out a site like ussmariner.com on the web and then on an iPhone. Totally different. I should type in footballguys.com on my iPhone and get a streamlined version of my custom home page. Maybe one headline of "New Content", followed by the latest 3 articles and a button to "see more. Then another headline of "My Players News", with the latest 3 headlines and "see more". Lastly, custom projections.

All content, including projections, should be auto-convert to a mobile-friendly format. Check out fftoolbox's mobile rankings site.

THIS

We live in a mobile society - the more mobile/iphone/droid/blackberry friendly you can be the better. I used to carry my laptop to drafts - it's be nice to just carry my phone.

I also echo everyone's suggestion of a customized intro page once you enter the pay area. We're a country obsessed with ourselves and anything you can do to make us feel super-special is probably a good idea.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Hey Guys,

I appreciate all the content suggestions. Keep them coming. But what I'm really focused on right now is the look and feel and layout. What are some sites with similar business model to FBG that you think do a great job in the look and layout?

J

 

[meschrak]

Joe,

Thanks for asking us to provide feedback!

Upgrading the look and feel of the site will only get you so far. You need to not only address the site's creative, but it's information architecture and usability.

I agree with GroveDiesel that you are limiting yourself in the scope of your search. Look at other sites that deal with massive amounts of information outside of paid content and football related sites. FBG deals with multiple types of data: statistics, opinion articles (long format), blog posts (short format), etc... Here are some sites that tackle similar data types however I don't think one perfectly fits FBG.

Newsvine

http://www.newsvine.com/nfl?category=sports

I like how Newsvine integrates the site-generated content with user-generated and 3rd-part content. The strength of FBG is your ability to analyze the data and provide recommendations to your readers. This format also allows you to supplement your data with additional opinions allowing us to take it all into consideration. Email alerts or "follow on MyFBG" (micro subscriptions) would be a cool way to notify us when new information on our teams/players has been added.

CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/...dex.html?hpt=T2

Whitespace. Visual hierarchy. Color. The current FBG site feels restrictive, boxy and suffocating due to improper use of spacing and hierarchy and the fact that it's all contained in a framed window (the green border). I think CNN does a great job at providing a nice format for longer articles as well as integrating social media, related articles and real-time user feedback (comments at bottom). Adding the ability for us to login and comment using Facebook Connect would be a great start.

Data.gov

http://www.data.gov/details/954 and http://www.data.gov/reports/agencyparticipants

Your statistical pages could benefit from a strengthened hierarchy and more breathing room. These Data.gov pages shows a few different types of data. I think they do a pretty good job of being easily read and digested by the user. They are also able to do it without adding a lot of graphical styling which will help the pages remain quick and responsive.

Wikipedia.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_favre

Not the most beautiful site, but I think the wiki concept would be interesting to apply to your player and team pages. I imagine a growing database of football knowledge with the potential for user submitted content being added to the record. Obviously we would focus more specifically on fantasy history, statistics, etc... all the features you currently have on the site.

NPR

http://www.npr.org/

I agree with the previous poster -- there are some nice things going on with NPR's recent redesign. They pack a lot of information into the homepage, but yet it doesn't feel overly claustrophobic like the NYTimes site.

Other general thoughts...

Identify and stick with a FBG style (fonts, colors, etc...). The homepage right now uses so many colors and typefaces, that the hierarchy is diluted.
Consider the use of space (white space), increasing the width of your pages, and improving the readability your data heavy content by evaluating your type sizes, line heights and lengths.
Identify the primary content destinations and increase their visibility. Move less frequently used links to secondary and tertiary locations. See NPR (especially the footer).
Improve the visual consistency between the site and the forums
Continue to look for ways to engage the users ( rated comments and user profiles for example )Best of luck on the redesign!

 

[gheemony]

Not subscription but...

NFL.com (minus the video)

fftoday.com

 

[Nemesis]

* Put out a small amount of new content every day. Don't flood the site with a bunch of new stuff on one day. Updating everything incrementally encourages people to keep checking it and coming back. Every. Single. Day.I'm not a member so I don't know if you do this, but a personalized start page would be a good idea. That way people could choose what links they put on it (the ones they use all the time so it's easy to find). Maybe team-specific newspaper links, the articles they read the most, whatever. However they like to use the site, let them build that page.

I have asked for something similar in the past where a subscriber could go to his FBG homepage and select what gets emailed to him on a regular basis rather than what FBGs "thinks" you need. (I think this is called "cafeteria style").Joe: You responded at the time saying you thought it was a good idea, but now may be the time to implement this feature.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Joe,

Thanks for asking us to provide feedback!

Upgrading the look and feel of the site will only get you so far. You need to not only address the site's creative, but it's information architecture and usability.

I agree with GroveDiesel that you are limiting yourself in the scope of your search. Look at other sites that deal with massive amounts of information outside of paid content and football related sites. FBG deals with multiple types of data: statistics, opinion articles (long format), blog posts (short format), etc... Here are some sites that tackle similar data types however I don't think one perfectly fits FBG.

Newsvine

http://www.newsvine.com/nfl?category=sports

I like how Newsvine integrates the site-generated content with user-generated and 3rd-part content. The strength of FBG is your ability to analyze the data and provide recommendations to your readers. This format also allows you to supplement your data with additional opinions allowing us to take it all into consideration. Email alerts or "follow on MyFBG" (micro subscriptions) would be a cool way to notify us when new information on our teams/players has been added.

CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/...dex.html?hpt=T2

Whitespace. Visual hierarchy. Color. The current FBG site feels restrictive, boxy and suffocating due to improper use of spacing and hierarchy and the fact that it's all contained in a framed window (the green border). I think CNN does a great job at providing a nice format for longer articles as well as integrating social media, related articles and real-time user feedback (comments at bottom). Adding the ability for us to login and comment using Facebook Connect would be a great start.

Data.gov

http://www.data.gov/details/954 and http://www.data.gov/reports/agencyparticipants

Your statistical pages could benefit from a strengthened hierarchy and more breathing room. These Data.gov pages shows a few different types of data. I think they do a pretty good job of being easily read and digested by the user. They are also able to do it without adding a lot of graphical styling which will help the pages remain quick and responsive.

Wikipedia.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_favre

Not the most beautiful site, but I think the wiki concept would be interesting to apply to your player and team pages. I imagine a growing database of football knowledge with the potential for user submitted content being added to the record. Obviously we would focus more specifically on fantasy history, statistics, etc... all the features you currently have on the site.

NPR

http://www.npr.org/

I agree with the previous poster -- there are some nice things going on with NPR's recent redesign. They pack a lot of information into the homepage, but yet it doesn't feel overly claustrophobic like the NYTimes site.

Other general thoughts...

Identify and stick with a FBG style (fonts, colors, etc...). The homepage right now uses so many colors and typefaces, that the hierarchy is diluted.
Consider the use of space (white space), increasing the width of your pages, and improving the readability your data heavy content by evaluating your type sizes, line heights and lengths.
Identify the primary content destinations and increase their visibility. Move less frequently used links to secondary and tertiary locations. See NPR (especially the footer).
Improve the visual consistency between the site and the forums
Continue to look for ways to engage the users ( rated comments and user profiles for example )Best of luck on the redesign!

Thanks.J

 

[stbugs]

Personally, I never liked the home page as a way into things. I just brought it up on my laptop and the top 40% or so is nothing related to your FF info and there is a ton of whitespace on the left and right of the box. There is so much room to add better entry points. I like the "weekly" links to go to the correct page and to look back if needed, but why not have one link on Week X for Cheatsheets with a last updated date (instead of 3 or 4 links) and then on the Cheatsheet page use dynamic HTML to show current/history, i.e. which way a player has moved during the week. Others mentioned above having so much information and also hard to find things so I think reducing the links and spicing up that one page would work wonders. How cool would it be to see a cheatsheet that shows players movement during the week and then clicking on the player wondering why and see all the articles/news that makes you realize why. When you have 50 or so links on Week X, it isn't always user friendly to find the latest greatest one. Also, if you do this you could section the weekly pages, i.e. projections with rankings and matchups with SOS, etc. and have a smaller number of links.

As to a brand new feature for those of us that go into the shark pool a lot, a table of the most recent threads in the shark pool right on the player page. Not sure exactly how the search works, but having the shark pool threads (like the injury links) on the FBG main site next to that players matchups, etc. would be nice.

Also, I really agree with the comment about about making all the articles, etc. much more player oriented. If I am looking at Player X, their page should have links to all articles in which they are mentioned. Almost Wiki-like if you will within the articles to link to the player pages. Some articles (listings mainly) have links but others do not. On the opposite side, nice to know if some player is on an upgrade list or mentioned in a passing matchup article, etc.

While on a roll, just thought of another feature. Cheatsheets and projections are nice, but how about an analysis of how much of the projection/ranking is based on the matchup? What I mean is that if Peyton averages 20ppg and you project him for 15ppg because he is facing a tough defense and Big Ben averages 16 ppg and he is projected for 16ppg because he faces an exactly average defense, knowing that Big Ben is really only ranked higher because of Peyton's matchup might change who you would start. Some people value matchups more than start your studs and vice versa, so it would be cool to know how much of the projection is matchup vs. player ability. Feel free to throw some freebie my way if you use it!

 

[Highway Robbery]

Maybe like some of the adult sites...

 

[Your Mom]

What ever you do, make sure that it doesn't become so bloated and blingy that it takes longer to load.Slow websites are much worse than fast websites with mediocre design.

I personally like the website, but I am boring and don't like change.DO NOT make it like espn. That site annoys me.

 

[Steel Dillo]

What ever you do, make sure that it doesn't become so bloated and blingy that it takes longer to load.Slow websites are much worse than fast websites with mediocre design.

Thanks. What type of internet connection are you talking about for this? Slow on dialup? Or slow on cable modem?J

Cable broadband.I hate it when websites make me wait while it loads some animation that I could give a crap about. A couple examples of this are popsci.com & popularmechanics.com. I love the information, but the pages take too long to load.

 

[daveR]

What ever you do, make sure that it doesn't become so bloated and blingy that it takes longer to load.Slow websites are much worse than fast websites with mediocre design.

ETA: Waiting for remote servers to post their advertising content absolutely fries me!

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

ETA: Waiting for remote servers to post their advertising content absolutely fries me!

This. MFL's taken to loading streaming video ads that bollox up the page while you wait. Don't do it.

 

[Fallerjw]

1. Mobile friendly or iPhone/Droid/BlackBerry apps, or both. This has already been mentioned, but things are definitely moving this direction.

2. Ease of navigation. I find it difficult to find things at times, and often feel like I have to click through too many pages to find what I want. Maybe sub-menus would help this.

3. Customizable news feed. Allow users to customize if they want items sorted by category that they choose, by team, by time, etc.

4. Text alerts on gameday (or other times?) related to status of players on your teams (customizable)

 

[DigiVoX]

For me, an issue is wading through all the content. Although some of the weekly titles of the content is clever, I have no idea what type of information they provide at a glance. With tons of links on the weekly pages, I just don't have time to wade through all of it. I may be missing out.

I think a few simple solutions are as follows:

1. Allow to sort content by popularity (amount of times a link has been clicked; or some type of star rating system available to the readers to use). Personally, I open/read ANYTHING by Waldman and Bloom. They are the best writers on the site. There may be others that I'm interested in, but I just don't know about them.

2. Provide simple, short descriptions of the articles at a quick glance.

3. Separate dynasty content into its own section. Redrafts, I draft my players, set my lineup, and maybe pickup a few waiver wonders during the season, but for the most part, I don't put much research into them (works for me: I won 1 of 2 12-team redrafts that I was in). I delve into the articles for DYNASTY CONTENT. I want to know who the guys on the radar are. The Audible is great for this (would be cool if there was a transcript of each episode so I could quickly scan for key words). The historical data articles are cool, but more fluff than anything for me. I ENJOY INSIGHT INTO THE UP-AND-COMERS THE MOST. More articles by Waldman and Bloom would be awesome!

There you go!

 

[None_More_Black]

Not subscription but...NFL.com (minus the video)fftoday.com

I was also going to suggest NFL.com. Very well organized for the amount of information they have. Attractive design that is easy to navigate. I also think the homepage needs more content to get people interested in the site. Putting the fantasy news on the front page instead of having to click on news similar to rotoworld. The Huddle also does a good job of getting more information on their homepage but I think that site is a tad cluttered.

 

[noneother]

Joe, I wont go too deep here but you may have two distinct separate goals here.

Ease of use / layout

And driving subscriptions.

Briefly one suggestion is index articles by author and topic. So I can drive right into Sig's rookie articles. But I may skip David's data model of the week.

Additionally subs. Make it easy drive subs through Google market. Amazon. ITunes via iphone Apps. The less data a customer has to enter the easier they are to bag.

I would love to talk a bit more. Maybe via linkedin

Later

 

[munchkin]

For me, an issue is wading through all the content. Although some of the weekly titles of the content is clever, I have no idea what type of information they provide at a glance. With tons of links on the weekly pages, I just don't have time to wade through all of it. I may be missing out.

I think a few simple solutions are as follows:

1. Allow to sort content by popularity (amount of times a link has been clicked; or some type of star rating system available to the readers to use). Personally, I open/read ANYTHING by Waldman and Bloom. They are the best writers on the site. There may be others that I'm interested in, but I just don't know about them.

2. Provide simple, short descriptions of the articles at a quick glance.

3. Separate dynasty content into its own section. Redrafts, I draft my players, set my lineup, and maybe pickup a few waiver wonders during the season, but for the most part, I don't put much research into them (works for me: I won 1 of 2 12-team redrafts that I was in). I delve into the articles for DYNASTY CONTENT. I want to know who the guys on the radar are. The Audible is great for this (would be cool if there was a transcript of each episode so I could quickly scan for key words). The historical data articles are cool, but more fluff than anything for me. I ENJOY INSIGHT INTO THE UP-AND-COMERS THE MOST. More articles by Waldman and Bloom would be awesome!

There you go!

This is true but I also feel the Roundtable discussions are great along with Prospecting, Rookie Profiles, etc. (the IDP stuff is a Huge help). It is very difficult to keep up with the movement of defensive players and your staff does a great job of pulling out and ranking players on a weekly basis. No way I could keep up my IDP teams without it.I am still waiting for Cecil, Sigmund and Matt to do their Music/Movie segment

 

[phthalatemagic]

* Offer a trial membership-- $10 for two weeks, for example. Maybe $5 for one week. If they like it, they can apply that toward a full membership.

I don't think they need to do this. Joe already offers a satisfaction guarantee or your money back, and that's really solid IMO.I think they have too much information. They need to split up some of the writers into groups, or boot some, or something. FBGs is to where can find so much information it's going to conflict. This is annoying.

 

[Ariakis]

Get early weekly projections out earlier each week and do more dynasty related stuff and look and feel is far less important to me.

That said, your weekly waiver wire and upgrades column should be time stamped with changes when there are any.

Your ongoing rankings aren't current and when older than 14 days kind of challenging to work around it to bring up anything.

 

[MCguidance]

Simple

http://www.golfpride.com/

More involved - This could be a bit much with the flash, but I like the simple and yet it has everything it needs in the drop downs.

ETA Please send out emails when studs are inactive, TIA.

 

[gheemony]

1. Mobile friendly or iPhone/Droid/BlackBerry apps, or both. This has already been mentioned, but things are definitely moving this direction. 2. Ease of navigation. I find it difficult to find things at times, and often feel like I have to click through too many pages to find what I want. Maybe sub-menus would help this.3. Customizable news feed. Allow users to customize if they want items sorted by category that they choose, by team, by time, etc.4. Text alerts on gameday (or other times?) related to status of players on your teams (customizable)

 

[gheemony]

Personally, I never liked the home page as a way into things. I just brought it up on my laptop and the top 40% or so is nothing related to your FF info and there is a ton of whitespace on the left and right of the box. There is so much room to add better entry points. I like the "weekly" links to go to the correct page and to look back if needed, but why not have one link on Week X for Cheatsheets with a last updated date (instead of 3 or 4 links) and then on the Cheatsheet page use dynamic HTML to show current/history, i.e. which way a player has moved during the week. Others mentioned above having so much information and also hard to find things so I think reducing the links and spicing up that one page would work wonders. How cool would it be to see a cheatsheet that shows players movement during the week and then clicking on the player wondering why and see all the articles/news that makes you realize why. When you have 50 or so links on Week X, it isn't always user friendly to find the latest greatest one. Also, if you do this you could section the weekly pages, i.e. projections with rankings and matchups with SOS, etc. and have a smaller number of links.

As to a brand new feature for those of us that go into the shark pool a lot, a table of the most recent threads in the shark pool right on the player page. Not sure exactly how the search works, but having the shark pool threads (like the injury links) on the FBG main site next to that players matchups, etc. would be nice.

Also, I really agree with the comment about about making all the articles, etc. much more player oriented. If I am looking at Player X, their page should have links to all articles in which they are mentioned. Almost Wiki-like if you will within the articles to link to the player pages. Some articles (listings mainly) have links but others do not. On the opposite side, nice to know if some player is on an upgrade list or mentioned in a passing matchup article, etc.

While on a roll, just thought of another feature. Cheatsheets and projections are nice, but how about an analysis of how much of the projection/ranking is based on the matchup? What I mean is that if Peyton averages 20ppg and you project him for 15ppg because he is facing a tough defense and Big Ben averages 16 ppg and he is projected for 16ppg because he faces an exactly average defense, knowing that Big Ben is really only ranked higher because of Peyton's matchup might change who you would start. Some people value matchups more than start your studs and vice versa, so it would be cool to know how much of the projection is matchup vs. player ability. Feel free to throw some freebie my way if you use it!

I also like the idea of adding historical projections to player pages. So when I look back at a player, I can see what he scored, and I can see what you and Bloom projected. That would help me understand whether a player's performance is easy or hard to project (relatively speaking). Would also be nice to add a column for the pure Game Projector projection for a player. Sort of a computer projection without any influence by news or a person's opinion. Akin to Accuscore.

 

[3nOut]

Hi Folks,Every once in a while, I really do need your help. This is one of those times.David and I have felt for a while that our www.Footballguys.com site needs a major upgrade in how it looks. It's just too drudge reportish looking with all the stuff we have. It's a problem as we want people to be able to see all the features we offer. But when you throw so much at them, it's cluttered.We also know it needs to be more professional looking.What I'd ask for you guys is for you to give me some links of sites that you think do a great job with a similar business model. Meaning sites that are in the business of selling information through a subscription. I know the finance / stock investment guys do a lot of this. And I'm sure other areas do as well.Basically, I'd love to hear your thoughts on 1) Other sites you think do a great job with this2) What it is that you like about them specificallyAnd just general thoughts on what you think would make for a much improved Footballguys site.Thanks for your help - I respect what you guys think a ton.J

Hire me.

No, hire me.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

* Offer a trial membership-- $10 for two weeks, for example. Maybe $5 for one week. If they like it, they can apply that toward a full membership.

I don't think they need to do this. Joe already offers a satisfaction guarantee or your money back, and that's really solid IMO.I think they have too much information. They need to split up some of the writers into groups, or boot some, or something. FBGs is to where can find so much information it's going to conflict. This is annoying.

I disagree. Everyone offers that; it's nothing special to make that claim. I'm sure it's true, but on the Internet people aren't thinking about how easy it would be to get your $27 back or whatever. They're thinking "well, it's only $5. if I don't like it I'm not out very much."

 

[QuizGuy66]

Hey Guys,

I appreciate all the content suggestions. Keep them coming. But what I'm really focused on right now is the look and feel and layout. What are some sites with similar business model to FBG that you think do a great job in the look and layout?

J

While free, the NASCAR-news website www.jayski.com is a good example of a website that went through a big streamlining fairly recently. It's similar in the sense that it has a huge volume of content of many different types. It was much more disorganized in its prior form. So you can see the difference, here's a link to the old jayski.com format from the internet archive: Right Here

If you can add tags that would be great. Making the search function go beyond player names would be a big plus as well.

One thing I'll also say is right now the content that is in the "News, podcasts, buzz, and contact us" sections is quite hidden. That is to say the podcasts are a cool feature that I'm sure are undertrafficked because people don't see 'em.

I agree with the speed concept as far as stuff should come up fast - a clean design helps this. Take what average connectivity is these days (I dunno what it is) and probably make it load fast on something like 3 times slower than that. Especially for a website that has a lot of repeat users such as this, quick clean design is a big plus.

I don't use rss feeds, but for something like injury reports/actives/etc do other folks think they'd be a useful addition?

-QG

 

[DetroitDragons]

Great stuff Joe,

Can't wait to see the unveiling next year after your FBGs digest all great ideas in the thread.

Prior to subscribing to FBGs, I subscribed to Rotoworld and their season pass.

http://www.rotoworld.com/premium/seasonpas.../main_page.aspx

I did like how the "Oracle" was laid out as compared to MyFBGs, though the content quality/quantity pales in comparison to FBGs.

Also agree with the need for integrated MyFBGs landing page.

 

[Black]

3. I don't know how to put this except, "your organization is awful". It's too hard to find things. It takes too many clicks to get to a page. It seems like every other week, there is a thread in the Shark Pool for "I can't find X (like Dynasty Rankings) on the site."

For example, let's say I need to decide who to start in one league. Here's my process:

- Go to home page

- Click MyFBG link

- Change team news box to selected team

- Click team news

- See Joe's projections

- Back button

- Select QB, select Bloom's projections, select league, click on see projections.

- Repeat for EVERY position!

Why can't there be one page with your projections and with Bloom's projections (even if just FPTs)? Much like the dynasty rankings. I should be able to sort and see an average of the two. In the preseason, player pages have all sets of projections. Weekly projections should have both yours and Blooms on the same page. This is just one example. I think you need to have a staffer (or ask for volunteers) that just tests the site for usability.

I agree with this...the content is awesome, but it is all over the place. This is my first year as subscriber, and it took me til midseason to figure out what was most useful for my weekly needs. That said, here are my recommendations:1. The weekly content is hard to parse through. I don't read IDP stuff since I don't do any IDP leagues. It would be nice to color code or 'group' the different types of data presented each day...'rankings', 'stats', 'editorials/articles', IDP focus...Dynasty focus, whatever. It just needs to be organized better. I read about 4 of the 10-15 things posted daily (often more than once) and have a hard time finding and re-finding them.

Another thing I have seen is rather than laundry list each time you post and repost Dodd's rankings (for example) on Tuesday, and Thursday...just have a single Rankings area, and have a 'Last Posted/Updated' date next to each posting. When you re-post it, don't post another new link somewhere to Dodd's updated rankings...just go to the place his rankings are always Linked, and update the DATE next to it...."NEW 1/12/2010"

There is a distinct difference between News, Rankings, and Editorials/Articles (Dynasty Implications, Round Table). I feed your News into an RSS reader, I check the site daily for Editorials/Articles, and I come look at Rankings when I am ready to look at Rankings. I don't need the Rankings mixed in with the Articles. That being said...here's how to improve your Rankings...

2. The pure projections (and lack of subjective rankings) can cause alot of consternation and grief. Rarely do any of us set lineups purely on projections. We balance our rosters and measure upside and downside. I have seen complaints in the Shark Pool about how 'player x' was ranked higher than 'player y'. I wonder if FBG can break some ground on Rankings, and make them smarter.

I loved the preseason rankings where the writers could make comments about players, talking about their upside, risk, and why they put them there. Having something like that would be very beneficial. I have also thought if there was some way to list a guy's Floor and Ceiling, even if subjective, would be very useful. Then when you see Quinton Ganther or A. Foster listed in the top 15 RBs week 15, you'll know you might be playing with fire.

The other thing I think that would help rankings is to have a HOTLINK for each player to the Passing/Rushing matchup for that player and the "Defense Stats against that player's position"...ie, the area where if I have Andre Johnson vs. TEN, you show me how TEN has done vs. WR this year game-by-game. That is an awesome offering you have, but hell to find, especially when I am comparing 10 WR.

I'd be happy to help in more detail...have the web guy PM me if you want a High Level Design to layout the requirement as I see it.

 

[NoFBinLA]

I wish I could direct you to a main pay site which I like the design of Joe but, frankly, I don't subscribe to many sites at all. Have a subscription to the ESPN Insider b/c someone bought me a subscription to the mag and I guess it came with. And honestly there are parts of the ESPN site which have always driven me nuts.

A lot of the paid sites I see aren't really all that well designed and while a LOT of free sites look like hell, some (like the aforementioned NFL.com) look good. Heck I HATED the NFL.com redesign (still don't like all of it) but it's grown on me in part because finding the top articles (as well as scores and videos) are right there in front of me on the front page.

I'll see if I can find some real nice sites to direct you too - but I also think there are some great ideas in the thread as well I hope you look at.

 

[Pickle Rody]

Hey Guys,

I appreciate all the content suggestions. Keep them coming. But what I'm really focused on right now is the look and feel and layout. What are some sites with similar business model to FBG that you think do a great job in the look and layout?

J

I think that if I was focused on "look and feel and layout" I'd have to consider content as well because the content should drive the layout. It's pretty clear that a lot of us can not find the content we want very easily and it is due to the current poor layout.The look and feel of the website needs improving, yes, but improvement can mostly be accomplished be having a more subscriber friendly layout. To have a more subscriber friendly layout FBG needs to listen to what their customers are saying about content and how they would like to see that content linked within the site. Once FBG figures out what their customers want vs. what FBG can realistically provide, FBG can revise the layout to do just that.........help the customer find the information (content) quickly and efficiently. By adjusting the layout to better serve the customers desire for integrated information by category(s), look and feel are also addressed. Font size, page space efficiency, colors, web tools (drop-down menus, tabs, etc.) are all part of the layout design process (I am assuming) and the layout should be driven by the content and how to best view that content.

Also at this time, FBG should look back at all the content suggestions provided in the past (and here in this thread) and see if any of those are worth incorporating into the new layout (because the content drives the layout.)

Sorry Joe, I don't have any website links for you to compare, I just wanted to throw my thoughts out there on the whole content vs. layout thing. I'm not a web designer or anything, these are just my thoughts on the basic process. I just think content and layout go hand-in-hand. Especially on a site as information comprehensive as this one.

Rody

 

[Wadsworth]

Ease of use and quality of content are so much more important than a "professional" look. Look at Google, Amazon and eBay, three of the most successful sites on the internet and all three are extremely simple in terms of design. Spending your time on improving the content and making the user experience more intuitive would be much more beneficial in the long term than any style change. I understand that's not what you are asking for, but it can't be said enough.

 

[guderian]

Ease of use and quality of content are so much more important than a "professional" look. Look at Google, Amazon and eBay, three of the most successful sites on the internet and all three are extremely simple in terms of design. Spending your time on improving the content and making the user experience more intuitive would be much more beneficial in the long term than any style change. I understand that's not what you are asking for, but it can't be said enough.

 

[QuizGuy66]

Ease of use and quality of content are so much more important than a "professional" look. Look at Google, Amazon and eBay, three of the most successful sites on the internet and all three are extremely simple in terms of design. Spending your time on improving the content and making the user experience more intuitive would be much more beneficial in the long term than any style change. I understand that's not what you are asking for, but it can't be said enough.

craigslist probably is the ultimate example of this.The ability to customize for subscribers would be good (however with an easy ability to show "all" options as well). That is to say, if you don't care about IDP, you can choose not to have it amongst the default content that comes up (but you can still easily see it through a "show all" type of option.I agree wholeheartedly with the repetitive daily menu list - I also think this hurts you a bit in the expectations department when things get behind schedule (managing that schedule is a whole separate thread in my opinion).Trying to look at the site as if it were the first time seeing it - the nonintuitive nature really does strike me. Each of the choices you have "Forecast, Forums, etc" could be revamped and turned into quick menus. With as many solid contributors as you have, it's interesting that the "Must See" content is buried in smallish font in a sorta-obscure way. I think having a pulldown menu with say, "Meet the Footballguys" - or just "Our footballguys" with a box quick box with the last name and speciality/title of section would help. It also would give the user a better sense of just how much football knowledge is available and let users who prefer a particular writer easily see their stuff.clunky exampleButton saying "The Footballguys"mouse over to get a pulldownBryant (one/two words)Dodds (one/two words)Bloom (one/two words)Herman - KickermaniaDrinen - NumbermaniaThis doesn't preclude pointing folks to some of the same content elsewhere (as others have noted) but it does allow people to see their favorites quickly.See the jayski.com example i noted above - particularly how they very compactly handle the pages they have for the 50 or so race teams under the "teams" button.-QG