Honest website review please

[Nico Albrecht]

I would appreciate an honest website review for this site please. The more brutal the better.

Website:

http://asgoodasnewweddingdresses.com

 

[Kelly Drewett]

Hi Nico (or is it Laura?), generally it is looking good.

From a "potential bride's" point of view the site is easy to get around, easy to see what to do and where to go. I also think it is a great idea.

The photographs of the actual items are awful, but I think they may just be place holders

From a website designers point of view... the large images on the home page are visually great, but would slow down the site. Google likes a fast loading site to see what the site is about and where to go, fast, same as any user. Although it looks nice, you are preventing the user seeing the SEARCH, CONTACT, BUY, GET MARRIED which are all below the fold.

You do not need the logo again on the top images on OUR STORY / HOW IT WORKS etc.

It would be better if you had it on a secure server, as I would not want to register to the site as is.

On mobile (larger than 400px) within the pink bar at the top the social icons start to get lost within the navigation, and are not aligned.

Search engine side of things needs some work. Research key terms that people actually search for and gear the site around those. The hub looks good, I'm guessing this is the blog area that you will develop. Make sure you write about what your clients would want to hear, and, again, research the terms.

All the best, Kelly

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

Blurred images of a anything will honestly not sell it.

The image of the dress from Ian Stuart is awful... sorry, but if anything get the woman to pop the dress on again (if it still fits!! ) and take a decent picture...

 

[fisicx]

Image is everything - and the ones on the site are yuk. I know you don't have any control over what people upload but if you want people to visit and use the site you need to offer advice.

On the listings pages the email address is plain text (a spammers dream) as are the phone numbers.

And you only have 2 listings so it's not much use to anyone.

You appear to have every wordpress plugin ever invented on the site and the theme is poorly responsive - the UX isn't good on a small screen.

I added a listing and the whole process isn't good. My listing doesn't display my image and I can't edit the details.

And because you use the image upload functionality you may have problems with images uploaded from iPhone (the exif data messes with the rotation).

And there is very little filtering - which means I can inject all sorts of nasties.

Great idea but the way the site has been constructed means you will struggle to get people using the site.

 

[webhostuk]

I also find it difficult to use the navigation tab under add listing , I am not able to select any of the category under that tab , I am using Mozilla.

 

[webdesignnewcastle]

Really nice idea.

I can see what you're trying to do, but I think some better wedding dress photos would help. The photo on the home page slider of the bottom of the wedding dress is dreadful. The bath and dress is lovely.

Buy some photos from Big Stock Photos. £39 get you 10 credits.

With your website, you will or loose on the quality of the image.
Gallery pages the images are dreadful
You need to explain to use what is the ideal size of the image.

in your footer you have 2016 the date is wrong it should be 2017


SSL certificate
You need a SSL certificate
Google announced that going HTTPS — adding a SSL 2048-bit key certificate on your site — will give you a minor ranking boost

They cost between £15 to £300 depending on the provider.
Go for GeoTrust SSL from Domaincheck. £15 + VAT per year.


Alt Tags
On the Home Page, you have 9 images and only two have alt tags.

Quote from Moz about Alt Tags
"The alt and title attributes of an image are commonly referred to as alt tag or alt text and title tag even though they’re not technically tags. The alt text describes what’s on the image and the function of the image on the page. So if you have an image that’s used as a button to buy product X, the alt text would say: “button to buy product X”.

The alt tag is used by screen readers, the browsers used by blind and visually impaired people, to tell them what is on the image. The title attribute is shown as a tooltip when you hover over the element, so in the case of an image button, the button could contain an extra call-to-action, like “Buy product X now for $19!”.

Each image should have an alt text. Not just for SEO purposes but also because blind and visually impaired people otherwise won’t know what the image is for. A title attribute is not required. It can be useful but in most cases, leaving it out shouldn’t be much of an issue."


Other mistakes
Change the content to en_UK

You are using Yoast SEO, make a better home page title. "Home - As Good As New Wedding Dresses" just have "As Good As New Wedding Dresses - sell your dress"

Followed you on Twitter, but update your twitter profile. add the web address too and remove the crowdfunding links.

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

Buy some photos from Big Stock Photos. £39 get you 10 credits.

@webdesignnewcastle - Really? Surely that isn't the idea for the website... sorry, but I disagree with this comment... the OP SHOULD NOT buy stock photo's because the users need to post better images or none at all... if anything they should be grabbing an image off the net of the actual dress that they're selling and post comment on any alterations and sizes only...

 

[webdesignnewcastle]

if anything they should be grabbing an image off the net

haunted-worlds, you're encouraging people to take images, breaking people's copyright.

Copyright is a form of legal protection that is automatically assigned to content creators at the moment of creation. In other words, the moment you take a photograph, you own the copyright to it. You don’t have to register it with a special organisation, you don’t have to fill in a form or add a legal notice to the image. The rights to use, amend or sell that image are yours and yours alone.

 

[fisicx]

Buy some photos from Big Stock Photos. £39 get you 10 credits.

The images are uploaded by the user. The problem is the CSS on the homepage not the image.

Google announced that going HTTPS — adding a SSL 2048-bit key certificate on your site — will give you a minor ranking boost

So minor it's almost irrelevant compare to all the other ranking signals

Each image should have an alt text.

Not for placeholders and other images you don't need indexing.

You are using Yoast SEO, make a better home page title. "Home - As Good As New Wedding Dresses" just have "As Good As New Wedding Dresses - sell your dress"

I doubt many people will be searching for 'As Good As New Wedding Dresses'. 'Pre-loved wedding dresses' is a better homepage title.

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

haunted-worlds, you're encouraging people to take images, breaking people's copyright.

Copyright is a form of legal protection that is automatically assigned to content creators at the moment of creation. In other words, the moment you take a photograph, you own the copyright to it. You don’t have to register it with a special organisation, you don’t have to fill in a form or add a legal notice to the image. The rights to use, amend or sell that image are yours and yours alone.

And you're telling people to buy them which are not the ones that they're selling? makes even more sense eh?

With regards to what I've suggested, there is nothing wrong with linking images... people do it all the time... they're only breaking copyright if they suggest that they took the photo.

 

[Steve Alphabet]

With regards to what I've suggested, there is nothing wrong with linking images... people do it all the time... they're only breaking copyright if they suggest that they took the photo.

No, this is wrong. If you don't own the rights, then you are liable. Seen it happen many times, the client uses photos they found on Google Images, then they get a demand from Getty.

Stock photos should be the last resort, especially for smaller businesses where you need to be authentic in what you show on your website. Big companies can get away with stock pics because of their brand, but with the quality of mobile phone cameras now there's no excuse for having ecstatic office workers with Hollywood smiles or women laughing alone with salad (http://womenlaughingalonewithsalad.tumblr.com/) plastered over your site.

If you need stock images, use free sites like www.pexels.com or picjumbo. Some fantastic stuff there...

 

[webdesignnewcastle]

Other Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license image and vector images sites

(sorry can't post URL)

startupstockphotos
pixabay which has images and vector images.
StockSnap
cupcake
foodiesfeed - food base images
isorepublic
bucketlistly - travel images
magdeleine
mmtstock
fontsquirrel - fonts

 

[fisicx]

Everyone is missing the point.

The images on the site are uploaded by the seller (just like eBay).

 

[Alan]

Awful domain name - really - short & memorable and .co.uk if you are targeting UK ( which your home page search indicates ). I found some 6 letter appropriate domains in 5 seconds of thinking.

Awful pricing model - paid for ( ok free till the end of the year, but how much do people value free ) - it needs to be commission based - and that means you 'facilitating payment' like ebay does - there are too many 'free' options like gumtree / facebook / nextdoor so why would they pay you up front?

Not legal - as an ecommerce business ( that is what you are even if the price is zero and your are marketing other peoples stuff ) you need to have the business owner credentials (name of proprietor if ltd the reg details ) and trading address somewhere.

Very low chance of success unless you are really really planning to go to town on marketing, which probably means wedding fairs, visiting every bridal shop in the UK in person, cold calling gumtree advertisers and annoying them, running adwords campaigns. Even then you are likley to sink £50,000 into a blackhole.

However if you have bashed this up as a site to sell on flippa for a few hundred quid as a 'sure fire ready made business' then maybe ( personally my moral compass stops me ripping off the mugs on flippa, but I imagine it is easy )

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

Some people just get so far up their own @rse they don't see what is being said to be honest @fisicx

As I said here...

Blurred images of a anything will honestly not sell it.

The image of the dress from Ian Stuart is awful... sorry, but if anything get the woman to pop the dress on again (if it still fits!! ) and take a decent picture...

And...here

@webdesignnewcastle - Really? Surely that isn't the idea for the website... sorry, but I disagree with this comment... the OP SHOULD NOT buy stock photo's because the users need to post better images or none at all... if anything they should be grabbing an image off the net of the actual dress that they're selling and post comment on any alterations and sizes only...

Taking parts of a conversation and taking it completely out of context is typical of @upmyownarse.com TBH...

All you so called internet/website designer business chaps who have posted here offering suggestions (Other than @fisicx and @Alan ) have given the OP crap... and I mean CRAP advice, seriously look at what the website is offering to the USER... look at what the concept of the website is before you even consider posting your stupid answers... everything you've all said is utter codswallop!!

This is a website where people can sell their own SECONDHAND WEDDING DRESSES... What seriously makes it plausible to buy an image of somewhere like getty or any other source... to sell their wedding dress??!! You should all be ashamed and certainly retrained in your profession... Do you guys go on the likes of EBAY selling stuff buying images off getty because you can't be bothered to take your own photo? NO! So stop telling other people to do it.

 

[UKSBD]

The problem is you just can't trust people with uploading photos.

You may get people uploading their own photos of the dresses but you will also get people using the wedding photographers photos, photos of the dress that they saw in a catalogue, even photos of dresses that look similar.

Ebay, Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc. get away with this because they hide behind safe harbor, have their own legal teams and either make problems go away or cost it in to their business model.

Jo Smith creating a website and allowing people to upload photos to it is a different kettle of fish.

 

[fisicx]

The problem is you just can't trust people with uploading photos.

I agree. But the whole point of the site is for punters to list their second hand wedding apparel. You can't control what they write or upload or even if they manage to get their own phone number wrong.

Go to just about any local/niche/cheap auction site and you see the same thing again and again,

On this site the actual images aren't blurred. It's the developer who has made a cock-up with the homepage images.

 

[UKSBD]

Go to just about any local/niche/cheap auction site and you see the same thing again and again,

Yes, and they are all playing with fire.

 

[Alan]

On this site the actual images aren't blurred. It's the developer who has made a cock-up with the homepage images.

I don't think they are getting it - the images are not blurred - the developer has got it wrong.

This is the actual base image of the Ian Stuart from the actual web site before the

coder f**ked the code styling to make is display blurred.

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

I don't think they are getting it - the images are not blurred - the developer has got it wrong.

This is the actual base image of the Ian Stuart from the actual web site before the

coder f**ked the code styling to make is display blurred.

I got it

Even though I was told it's not allowed after posting... pfft!

if anything they should be grabbing an image off the net of the actual dress that they're selling and post comment on any alterations and sizes only...

This guy has obviously grabbed an image off the t'internet rather than posting an actual image of the dress...

*FAN FAIR PLAYS* TADAAAA



I'm not a developer/designer of websites... yet even I saw the flaws after viewing the website, obviously I didn't know that it was a coding issue... but with that said, I believe my post's are still viable...

 

[kwam-iT]

I think its a good idea, and someone already mentioned unless you're looking to spend heavy money on marketing, opting for 'preowned wedding dresses' is perhaps easier than 'as good as new' from a marketing ranking point of view. Simply change the title tag to reflect this.

 

[ADNattan]

Given that everyone's given their expert opinions on the design and images, let me throw my comments in about the copy.

It's a bit...meh.

"Find Your Wedding Dress"
Come on. We're talking to brides ahead of a day they've dreamed of for decades. Can we not put a little emotion in there? There's no excuse for being so cold.

"Use our search feature to find what you are looking for."
Well, yeah. That's exactly what a search feature does. That's not adding anything.

The Our Story page is a long ramble that could do with a few more line breaks, but at least it shows some character. It's also very focused on Laura as opposed to the customer, which is a wasted opportunity.

The step by step on the How it Works page is also confused.

Step One: List my dress
Step Two: Find a dress to buy

Eh? Surely those are both the first steps of two different journeys?

A little more thought needs to go into that copy. After all, this site needs to reassure brides-to-be that a pre-owned dress is just as wonderful as something new. Remembering the stress around my wife choosing her dress, I don't think anything here would win her over.

 

[Asjs3n4]

Looks ok but my first search produced nothing? http://asgoodasnewweddingdresses.co...-locations=500&filter-size=287&filter-fabric=

How about feedback on my website https://www.smartdealmaker.com/ and we can continue to help each other ?

 

[Asjs3n4]

you also need much better hi quality images http://asgoodasnewweddingdresses.com/bridal/ian-stuart-sancerre-wedding-dress/ does not give a quality feel...

 

[Alan]

@Clever-Cow-Digital if you read the thread, you would see that there is nothing wrong with the image, the underlying image isn't blurred, but the way the theme has been coded incorrectly has resulted in making the images blurred.

It has been nearly 2 months since the OP was advised of this issue, yet they have not done anything about it, or even come back. So I don't think they are serious about their website.

 

[Vigilion]

I would design a page for where there are no results - search when you have a limited range of products can put people off - perhaps launch with showing all dresses by default?

And then perhaps offer people the option to request a dress if nothing is found with that criteria? or ask people to widen the criteria?

 

[The Byre]

Dear Laura & Amber - you are both nuts!

T-shirt and jeans, down to the registrar's office with our youngest son on our arms and a few drunken friends and the job was done! That's how we did it.

That was followed by a 'Bring a Bird and a Bottle' party and a musical accompaniment by a Texas band called 'The Worms' playing AC/DC and ZZ-Top covers. After a bottle of Wild Turkey and a few beers, I slept in the pond.

I awoke at four in the morning for a round of puking, to find the party still going.

Our daughter's wedding went along pretty much the same lines!

 

[HostOX]

Ok so you said honest.

The Domain is too long, if anything that will be the biggest issue, man I would have to memorise that for a good few times before I remember ah so and so website sells that!

Find a smaller Domain, 100% honesty! Short as possible and catchy.

The design itself looks pretty easy on the eyes and your pages seem ok however the story page is a bit boring, maybe get some content boxes around the text and some contact info to the right?

 

[aaron web designer]

Hi, banners on pages such as 'how it works' are cut off. Footer has too much blank space. Your main image on the home page is too dark, it looks like a depressing occassion when it should be full of joy and happiness! Personally I feel it could do with livening up, more photos of happy brides and bridesmaids. Other than that it is pretty decent and looks fine on mobile!

 

[aaron web designer]

ditto on the looonggggg domain name.

 

[Alan]

The OP hasn't been back to this thread or indeed UKBF since the original posting. The fundamental and easy fix identified by us 'expert' developers still hasn't been fixed. Wasting breath here.