What are your opinions on this company and its' site?

[Geniey2g]

My name is Georgina Benjamin and I belong to a company called Perfect Suit (www.perfectsuit.co.uk).

We feel that off the peg suits don't always do everyone the greatest justice, so we decided to start a business that would allow every professional woman to feel amazing. This is power dressing at its most modern!

Our aim is to supply women with made to measure business wear that they will feel unique and fantastic in.



So to my question: would anyone change anything about our service our website?

[mumper]

Hi Georgina, PMd you.

[Cornish Steve]

Georgina,

I'm a man, so I can't comment on how women buy suits. I know nothing about your industry, so I can't comment on whether your service justifies the prices. I'm not a technical person, so I can't comment on the structure of your website (although I'm sure that others will). I can, however, comment on the impression given by the writing at your website and I can comment on issues of business strategy. So, for what they're worth, here are my thoughts.

1) I'm guessing from your prices that you are attacking the high-end market. If that's the case, you need a really top-notch site. The pages are not very polished right now, and you need many more relevant pictures. Take a look at websites for some of the large clothing companies and take notes.

2) The writing style is OK but not very precise. The average sentence is much too long, and there are grammatical errors. An error on a website (or in a business document in general) is rather like a coffee stain: You notice it, it's a distraction, and it creates a bad impression.

3) The policy statements are particularly weak. Given your target audience, I would not mention that your site is secure just because you use Paypal.

4) A website should always be focused on the visitor. You shouldn't mention that "it is not possible for us to recycle any suits that customers are not happy with". Frankly, your customers don't care.

Generally, when I visit a website, I look for the company's strategy, positioning statement, and points of differentiation. Having browsed through your site, I don't see a compelling argument. What do you offer that cannot be obtained from a specialist store in the high street? Why should professional women in the London area choose your service? You probably have a good answer, but it's not coming through at your website right now.

I hope you find these comments useful, and I certainly wish you the best.

[CG Effect]

Hi I would change the web site banner so the logo shows up better its a bit lossed in the background image. I would also add a symbol to the logo so it's easy to identify.

[Geniey2g]

Many thanks for all your comments, especially your in depth analysis, Steve.

mumper, I didn't receive your pm.

[MinuWeb]

The site could do with a more "classy" look and feel to it, you also need to show actual pictures of the suits instead of the pencil drawings.

[Rob Holmes]

I would also add that the shopping cart you're using has a couple of minor issues with Firefox and I get the following error on one of your pages,,

Warning: mysql_close(): 51 is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in /home/www/perfectu/showcategories.php on line 39

Nothing that a small facelift and a few programming tweaks wouldn't sort out!

Geniey2g - can I ask - whats the traffic like going to the site? The reason I ask is that is the traffic is low or non-existent any money spent will be in vain.

Rob

[bitsnstuff]

Hi Georgina,

I have taken a look at your site and I feel it doesn't cater for those individuals without an imagination!

You show drawings, rather than photos of each garment, which I feel cheapens the look of the site. There are small images of some of the fabrics and button selections available, however, the way you currently list everything means that all components of a suit are separate. I can't see anywhere photos of people wearing the garments, photos of the garments made up in different fabrics with the various button options, which would make it a lot easier to choose.

I do have an imagination and can dressmake, so can picture these made up, but still I don't think I would be inclined to purchase without actually seeing images of the actual items and people wearing them, as if done well, this would also, I feel, help provide an idea of the quality of the garments.

You also suggest:-

Why not choose a jacket or top to go with your skirt?
Or purchase a dress or trousers to add to your executive wardrobe?

IMHO, you again, need to provide a few ideas and have that as a link, maybe to your suggested combinations. You could, perhaps, show a jacket with each of the offered trousers and skirts, so that it would be easier to decide which look would be best.

The only other thing I spotted was this:-

Warning: mysql_close(): 51 is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in /home/www/perfectu/showcategories.php on line 39

It is coming up at the bottom of the Jackets page - I haven't got a clue what it means, but I am sure someone else here will be able to help.

I think your idea is great and could be a very useful resource. If you do decide to provide images, you could also show the accessories you are talking about giving away at the same time actually with the garments.

Kate.

[LittleAcorn]

I don't understand how the sizing works.
eg product code 1 has a length of 45cm, but there's no other options for specifying size. I assume it's not a one-size-fits-all...

[c2webdesign]

Hi Georgina,

Unfortunately first impressions did not bode too well. The photos in the logo banner are distorted and font style could be improved.

It doesn't give first impressions of an online shop selling a product. It more resembles a site offering a service (hence the shortage of products on home page).

If you have the niche in your industry the strength of that alone may be enough to bring sales. If it is quite a competitive industry with many professional sites - you may struggle.

Photos are a must. People must be able to see what they are buying to part with their cash. Also when adding an item to your cart ideally your visitor should be taken to the cart with the option ot checkout or continue shopping - on your site you receive a JavaScript pop up message saying the items has been added to the cart, but there is nothing on your site saying 'View Cart'. Now I know that this would be under 'View Order' but you need to ensure it is very clear to visitors. If you use Cart on the pop up window, you should use Cart on the navigation area.

Your site could do with some optimisation improvements, firstly the title tag has a lot of unnecessary words - shorten down to your main keywords plus your business name (in that order). You have no ALT tags on your images for (necessary for visitors not able to see the images - plus useful to add additional keywords) - plus your have a few W3 validation errors - see http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.perfectsuit.co.uk%2Find ex.php

I hope I have not been too negative. On the plus side the 10% discount image on the home page is well placed, the step by step guide on the Our Service page is in depth and you have a good contact page with visitors being able to contact you in a variety of ways.

Hope this helps,
Dean
C2 Web Design
http://www.c2webdesign.co.uk

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[Geniey2g]

Hi everybody,

Thanks for all your comments; we're on the case. I am extremely grateful for all the constructive criticism, and I think we'll have a better site for it.