January Site of the Month: Strictly Swimming
Our Site of the Month competition has had a bit of a revamp and is now bigger and better than before.
It now runs in conjunction with our Group of the Month, so all of the websites we come across while mingling with that particular group go into the pot, along with those submitted to us on Facebook and Twitter. What’s more, the winner now receives a SOTM badge to put on their site along with a goody bag and a feature on this here blog.
January's group was Health and Fitness and we were pretty impressed with the great and varied websites you guys have created, from kick-boxing to reflexology. But the site that really stood out to us was Strictly Swimming.
Who are they?
London-based swimming coaches with a difference – all of the top level coaches have a background in sports science, are current or former competitive swimmers and apply the biomechanics of swimming to their lessons, which are available in private health clubs around the capital.
Winning credentials
The homepage immediately grabs your attention with great use of a slideshow displaying special offers and sporty images of swimmers - showcasing the different features that can be found on the site.
The colour scheme is consistent throughout - black and white fonts sit against a striking yellow background and coordinate with the images displayed, showing careful attention to detail.
Content is informative and engaging, telling readers what they need to know, with sections outlining their methods, video analysis techniques, biomechanics, venues and lesson types available.
The ‘Meet Our Coaches’ page adds a personal touch, allowing potential customers to learn about the backgrounds of the coaches and their credentials.
The website is easy to navigate, the drop-down menus are ordered well and they also make use of features such as tables for the price lists.
We liked the fact that Strictly Swimming also offers a newsletter feature – another great way to stay in touch with the community.
Over to Paul, the creator behind Strictly Swimming
“We were very happy to receive the award of Site of the Month from Moonfruit. We’ve been using Moonfruit since 2007 and our favourite features are the integration of HTML Snippets and the extremely user-friendly design process.
We aim to be a top-level brand as we work out of luxury health clubs. We feel our website reflects that – everyone comments that they really like it."
Asked to sum up Moonfruit in five words, he said: “User-friendly and stable platform”.
Visit Strictly Swimming.
What do you think of Strictly Swimming’s website? Fancy having your site crowned Site of the Month? Our next group is Cakes and Bakes, so if you have a website that falls under this category, tell us on Facebook.
Want to create a free website with Moonfruit? Go to our homepage to find out how.
Comments
It is great! I would like to know what image gallery they are using :)
what tool are they using for the slideshow on the main page? it's not the normal one provided on the slideshow.
I see this doesn't work on html 5 ie. my ipad or iphone. I guess moonfruit didn't tell these people it doesn't work properly. Change to another supplier as moonfruit can't deliver
Great site! really fantastic! Well done guys and gals!
@Anna, the image gallery is actually the slideshow in moonfruit! Very cleverly done!
@yharch3 erm, it dont work in HTML5 because, erm, its not in html 5! But guess what, if you download puffin or journeys on your ipad or iphone, the website works! and in 2 months it will auto change into html, (time to clap clap like a seal) but you all ready know this dont you, becuase you know how to code in HTML dont you yharch, and you know that moonfruit is primarilly flash based, but you know that dont you. Get a life, and stop slagging companies off cos you cant do it. Moonfruit are doing a great job!
@Anna+Joe to do this slideshow, you just have to change the options so that everything is invisible, then send it to the back, you will also have to add the 3 buttons (as the top right) to the actual image.
As a side note, tried using word press today, ERGH horid!
Thanks moonfruit and well done Strictly swimming!
@ Mrsystematic
The only thing I noticed though is your slideshow slides in from left to right - but the MF one only fades in and out.
Maybe I have missed something on the slideshow settings mate? Deff something mf could do with and upgrade of the slideshow to be able to add links to each seperate image to take you to another page as they are a good technique for slideshows.
Ps really great website too and deserved of the award
Hi Dino!
Not sure about the current system, but im sure mine did that before?
Anyways, I found this for you. If you upload your pictures to Flickr, then use this link http://flickrslidr.com/ you can create your own slideshow and embed! How cool is that!
Have a great day!
Sean | SmileEikaiwa.com
Hi all, thanks for the great feedback - especially Mr Systematic for sharing your expert slideshow knowledge. You raise an important point about now being able to view Flash (and Moonfruit v5) websites on iPads and iPhones if you download Puffin Browser or Journey Web Browser (App Store). Useful info for those waiting to switch to v6 as well as those who will opt to keep their v5 sites.
Puffin Browser: http://www.puffinbrowser.com/index....