Criticise my website!

[redgrape1985]

Hey,

Please have a look and tell me what you think. What needs to change? what you like? what you dislike? and for the tech'ies out there, what problems will I come accross with regard to advertising etc.

www.qpjewellers.com (http://www.qpjewellers.com)

__________________________________________________ _______

www.qpjewellers.com (http://www.qpjewellers.com)

[Pritesh]

Hi it looks good the only thing i could suggest is ask your web developer to add a Sitemap to your site this will help with google and other search sites

[JamieChallenger]

My only thaught as a none designer is that the home page is a little busy. I did think maybe the pictures could be smaller with the option of enlarging them.

I like it tho, i really like the birth stones touch. brilliant.

i didnt know my wifes birth stone and i like that it then takes you to those stones only...

well done.

[Pab]

I just followed the link the site was slow to load... perhaps 8+ seconds to load the homepage. Also, the main content was below the fold and all that remained was a large white area. I refreshed the browser and it seems to be fine so I'm not sure what caused that glitch.

You do not list an address and you have an expensive phone number. To me these are barriers which would prevent me from making a purchase. An address in part adds weight to your credibility. Your aim should be to remove all barriers and give your prospective customers no reason to buy from anywhere else.

[DragonWraith]

Great site, Very slow to load using ie8 beta 2 and had to use compatibility mode to view the site (I wouldn't worry about it yet, see what happens when it fully comes out)

Loved the layout and the pictures.

Only downside I had was when I clicked the link for a gold bracelets it asked me for a birthstone choice which confused me for a second.

Thought the information was very helpful.

I would second a sitemap.

Overall one of the better sites I have seen for a while.

[DambTech]

looks like a great site, but I am looking at it in Firefox and the main content doesn't start till after the Mastercard Secure Image.

[JamieChallenger]

I am firefox and it all worked ok

[Dawg]

I thought having an address, ( and if a Ltd Company, the registered address, and registration number), was a legal requirement*.
The pay-a-lot phone number certainly adds a certain cowboy feel, which is a shame as it's a nice bright site.
Basically you need to give your contact page a bit of thought: at the moment you are saying "we'll take your money, but don't call us, we'll call you".


*From Pinsent Mason (http://www.out-law.com/page-431), Law firm.

# The name of the service provider must be given somewhere easily accessible on the site. This might differ from the trading name and any such difference should be explained – e.g. "XYZ.com is the trading name of XYZ Enterprises Limited."
# The email address of the service provider must be given. It is not sufficient to include a 'contact us' form without also providing an email address.
# The geographic address of the service provider must be given. A PO Box is unlikely to suffice as a geographic address; but a registered office address would. If the business is a company, the registered office address must be included in any event.
# If a company, the company's registration number should also be given.
# If a company, the place of registration should be stated (e.g. "XYZ Enterprises Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 1234567") though this is a requirement of the Companies Act as from 31st December 2006, not the E-commerce Directive.
# If the business is a member of a trade or professional association, membership details, including any registration number, should be provided.
# If the business has a VAT number, it should be stated – even if the website is not being used for e-commerce transactions.

[voiceswf]

Hi,

Interesting how you've done the "BirthStones"; however, your site falls flat due to no sound or motion
- it's just static.
i.e. the ring within the red rose, would look more professional if you added a little animated glare to it.

And why not have a video/voice intro. and summarise your offers with audio. Creating mp3 files are a lot easier/cheaper than you might think.

I would think of having an optin form placed above the search box (on the right); this can help build a list of customers - provide them with the latest offers on special occasions/seasons etc...

Your search box should be placed on the right - this is a usability issue. You would probably have greater conversion rates if all the content on the left was placed onto the right.

As mentioned; provide an address and get shot of that expensive phone number
PM me regarding the animated glare, voice/video introduction and optin data form.
Your conversion rates will increase.

Regards,
Voiceswf

[JamieChallenger]

I really disagree with the voice intro... But thats just me.

[Dawg]

Aaargh! Don't know about anyone else, and I suspect I'm not alone, but if I logged onto a simple selling site which started talking to me, singing, dancing or trying to show me fillums my outward bound click would be faster than a Labour lie.
Flash is useful, but used like that is a step off the cliff of reason.

[webworxindia]

I am using FF3 and the main content do start from the Marster Secure code Image and it load properly when you refresh the page.

[groovyjon]

your site falls flat due to no sound or motion

I can only speak for myself, but I wouldn't get past the home page if you added those.

[voiceswf]

Hi All,

The voice or video intro and audio for summarising offers, would be prompted by the visitors; not started automatically upon landing.

Kind Regards,


Voiceswf

[webworxindia]

I feel adding flash would be better rather than adding the voice intro into the website. A flash header showcasing the products and glamor would definitely enhance the looks of the website and will have good impact on the visitors

[JamieChallenger]

It will never get clicked, imho. But still costs money.

quality honest products and a company that can be trusted is whats needed. the other points are the valid ones. Telephone and address.

[DragonWraith]

I leave a site straight away if it has music or talking to me. It just detracks from what I am looking for.
Animation can be great in the right place but for me it always harks back to the early years when you had animated gifs everywhere. (not to say don't use it, make sure it adds something to the site)

[ryanlundwebsolutions]

Yeah personally i believe sound on websites needs to be well placed and OPTIONAL!

Your customers will get majorly annoyed at been unable to turn sound off.

Animations also have to be done well or they become gimmicky, annoying and worst of all distracting - taking focus off your products.

[Daniel Slade]

I had the same problem with ie8 Just got a huge whitespaceat the top. It looks to me like the rose with a diamond in is slightly to the left which is causing the problem.

http://www.danielslade.com/webimages/qpj.jpg

Hope it helps:)

[domokun]

A few of issues, one of them a biggy in my opinion,

On the homepage, have the prices click through to the item as well as the image. the prices look as though they are a 'button' so i was surprised not to be able to click them to proceed.

[Big issue] When I click through to the item I searched and searched for a Buy Now button. There isn't one! :eek: You have to click again to see a larger image and then you can buy. You're just lengthening the sales process and increasing the liklihood that someone will drop-out. Examples:
http://www.qpjewellers.com/acatalog/GSB_W_Topaz.html#aY8300012
http://www.qpjewellers.com/acatalog/GSB_G_Citrine.html
Get a buy now button on every item page.

If you can, try and give each page a unique Meta Title

Finally, is it possible to have a model wearing/displaying your items? This might give people like me (an inexperienced jewellery buyer) an understanding of how big an item is.

You might want to try looking for "feedback Army" on google. You can essentially employ dozens of people to give you their feedback for not much money.

Good luck!

[wood1e2]

I have to agree with others, you need

An address, if limited then the company number
Cheaper phone line, I certainly wouldn't phone it
Check this out W3C (http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.qpjewellers.com&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0), this will help with the formatting in other browsers.
I would make the main images smaller and place the alternate views next to the new 'smaller' larger image. With a huge screen I still have to scroll down to find alternate views.
This would help raise the 'purcahse area', where I would inset a star or something more eluminating like 'BUY NOW' rather than the small grey 'add to cart' button
I would remove the word 'NECKL' from your title, it is doing nothing for you
I would actually look at your title tags.
Place a description of why search results come up as they do. I searched 'diamond ring' but there was no explanation as to why the search results were in the order they were.
Maybe place an 'Advance Search' at the top of the search results page and remove the 'Results 1-x of x'. Being that my wide search produced so many results (obviously) but this will make it easier for visitors to drill down through the stock to find what they are looking for.

HOpe this helps... :)

[cjd]

Contact details - ok I finally found them under Terms and Conditions but they really must be easier to find than that.

You're using an 070 personal number - NO!!!!!

Being in the telco business, that warns me that you might be using the number to get a free divert to a mobile.

Couple that with the fact that I find it hard to believe that you're 'Europe's largest gemstone retailer' and I'm left with a few unanswered questions. The biggest being 'is this fake?'

That's not a question you want bobbing into people's minds when they're about to punch in their credit card details.

[JamieChallenger]

I have to be honest i was going to question the europes largest statement. you may be but it doesnt look like it.

[Bruce_Andrews]

For me:
Smaller headline image - it's wasting valuable space.
Have the "Sections" icons nearer the top - perhaps with smaller images.
Start the "Best Sellers" below the "Sections" logos, so that you scroll if you are interested.

Have slightly larger navigation for "Home", "Ts & Cs", etc., and have an "About Us" page that is personal, and lists a real address and phone number.
Jewellery is very personal, and I'd want to feel that I was dealing with someone that cares.

And everything about expensive phone lines - avoid them.

[J-Wholesale]

This thread is a week old, and you still haven't fixed the huge problem mentioned by a few commenters - Daniel Slade even gave you a screenshot of the problem. For me, using FF 2, there's a blank page above the fold. No visible content means no website.

There isn't much point talking about anything else until that's fixed, as I can't see anything to comment on.