Site up again!

[silverreef]

Got my site up and running again :roll:

Have taken on board Ozzies comments from last time and would appreciate any comments, criticisms or suggestions.

Linda

[RockLinks]

Glad to see your websites back up :d have you made any changes to the design?

[silverreef]

Only a few like the lorry banner across top of pages.

Ozzy noted a couple of important details I had missed from contact page and privacy which I have now rectified.

The only problems now are that intermittently an 'A' with a circumflex above it appears in front of the £ signs, and through Netscape the £ signs are changed to $'s, but at the moment don't know how to change either.

As I said before I would be grateful for any suggestions or comments.

:D Linda

[RockLinks]

Oh right well the main thing is you have a working site now :D

[SillyJokes]

I'm sorry but in my opinion the lorry thing lets you down.

It looks like a bit of clip art coupled with a distracting animated banner which you have just learned how to do.

Home button should be your logo and also appear at the top of your menu, not the bottom. It is one of the most used pieces of navigation on any site (apart from the back button in the browser) -don't make it hard to find.

Your images are not too bad but I would look to improve them wherever possible. You are selling something where the look of the thing is really important. Just look at asos.com and how complete gorgeous their images make this jewellery look

http://www.asos.com/cat.asp?SF=1054

In your shipping info you say you will ship within 7 days. In internet terms that is an eternity. Can you not offer to ship within one working day? or two? I would be looking for a site that can ship same day because that indicates they have the stock and they aren't going to be let down by problems higher up the supply chain.

Once you can offer same day dispatch you can offer next day delivery and this will lead to a lot more sales for you. Maybe you could offer it on just part of your stock, if not all. Choose the best sellers to try this with.

Also you are asking people to register to shop. This is madness. You don't have to register to walk into H Samuels. There is nothing annoys me more than some internet shop I am not going to buy from above twice a year forcing me to invent and remember a password "Just give me the d**m bracelet why don't you!?" ;)

If I ever do come back I won't remember the password and this will be even more annoying.

So to improve your sales I'd say make sure your images are beyond reproach, make sure you can send the order out quickly and let people check out quickly without having to give out more personal information than is required to buy and deliver the goods. And for good measure get rid of the crazy lorry.

[RockLinks]

I agree with Silly Jokes, although silly jokes made some points that i have never though off :D. I would also drag the text on the front page across the screen a little, that big gap in the middle kind of draws you away to look towards the menu and not the picture.

[buying_it]

I like the design of your shop - but you need to have a look at the site on a high resolution screen (I browse the internet at 1400x1050)

Your page is using 100% widths which breaks your design across the entire screen! link to a screenshot here (http://www.buyingit.co.uk/images/silverreef.gif)

You are best coding your layout to be about 750 pixels wide (800x600 is still the most common resolution on the internet - phht!)

Because of the way your HTML is written you only need to change the first table entry in your templates to be 750px the rest will then fit into the rigth width.

I like your colour scheme - but I really dislike the truck banner!

As for registering to pay you money! Not a chance. You are better offering the opportunity to receive special offers/register just after they have paid you the money! You get a far higher take up!

Hope this helps!

Andy

[Rob Holmes]

Hi,

After all those good points I'd like just add 2.

1. Have all the images on each page the same size.

2. Lose the lorry ;)

Rob

[silverreef]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to offer advice and suggestions. Here is my reply.

Home Button - Will be moved.
Images - Will produce better quality images and try to make uniform.
Shipping - Can offer 24/48 hrs within UK, but heard many people complain about ordering from internet and items being out of stock, so tried to play safe to avoid any disappointment. Lots of sites checked and most standard del is 3-7 days including the one SillyJokes directed me to, who charge extra for 24hr delivery.
Registration - When registering delivery info, the password is to enable us to secure the customer’s information. When they next return they do not need to fill in delivery address etc again, this needs clarifying. Need to also point out that to buy from the site previously referred to, also Tesco, Thorntons and lots, lots, lots more retail sights you go through same log-in procedure before you pay, but they ask for more personal details! You even have to register and log in to take part in some forums :wink:
100% width - Noted and will amend, then the large gap between text and large picture should disappear.

Last but not least, and by popular demand, the lorry will be sent to breakers yard.

:D Linda

[SillyJokes]

Silverreef, you have taken the comments really well.

I can understand why you don't want to let people down on your delivery promises. As you have pointed out you have to manage your customer expectations. What you will find is that you move on to a site with stock data available.

Another way we get round letting people down by not having stock of something they ordered is by not allowing them to buy things which are out of stock in the first place. Sure we loose some orders this way but the customer care burden is reduced which allows us to handle more orders overall.

ASOS do charge for next day delivery and so do we. But the point is, a guaranteed service like that costs more and people are prepared to pay for it. Standard first class mail takes around 1-3 working days.

On the registration point I would say that you do not need to register to secure customer information. We don't and their non critical details can be stored on their computer using a cookie which they agree to by ticking a box marked 'remember me'. When they come back their address stuf is all there for them.

Please do not confuse registering for Tesco with registering for a gift shop.
I shop with Tesco every single week of the year. Having once registered it is of tremenous help for them to have stored information about me, what I buy and my card details. It means grocery shopping now takes me 15 mins instead 1.5 hours.

I don't shop at Thorntons and guess why?

Forums are covered by registration because again they are often used very regularly and the mods have to be able to manage unruly people. If you use the forum a lot you can give as little or as much info as you want.

I think asking people to register to shop somewhere they are not going to visit very often is off putting and so far everyone else who replied agreed with me. I know you think you will be able to market to these regitered people but the chances are they won't even remember your name when you write to them to say you've shipped their order.

I'm not kidding. The times I have looked in vain for someone's order only to find they bought at a different shop is amazing.

[silverreef]

Understand the points you have made. Looks like it's going to be a long Bank Holiday weekend in front of the computer. :roll:

Thanks for the help.

Linda

[VeryMark]

Linda, I love your stuff, but cufflinks are more me.

... and, yep, the lorry is distracting.

[Srivvy]

Hello Silver Reef

The clip art lorry definitely takes away from the products, which look like good quality.

I would also recommend doing some work on the site to make it more search engine friendly, allowing people to see it.

The keywords tags in the code contain words that are not on the page. Search engines that read this section may see this as spam and penalise your site. It could also do with some better titles, less clutter in the code and some targetted incoming links.

Being found on search engines should be a priority if you are selling products on a UK or worldwide level.

Srivvy