Is there something wrong with my website?

[bcomputing]

Hi Everyone.

Just posting to ask if there is anything wrong with my website because sales are just not happening, i have been doing my own SEO over the last month, i have had the site over a year but only started doing a lot of work etc on it this year.

From my point of view the actual site looks professional, and trutworthy. I accept credit cards, paypal, google, cheque. And my prices are pretty good.

i know there are some very big game players in the computer industry, aria etc. but there are plenty of sites out there so whats wrong with mine, lol?

Any advice or feedback and problems etc would be greatly appreciated, in regards to SEO, and the look of the site?

Be honest, if you were in the market, would you buy something of my site?

I cant list urls yet, but my website is on my profile, under the contact info tab.

Cheers

Shaun
B Computing.

 

[Dymo King]

My first comment would be that it's not imediately clear what the site sells. Sure, it says 'quality computer componants' up the top, and the 1st line of text says exactly what you sell - but when I first arrived at the site I didn't read any of that.

My eye was drawn instantly to the product pictures, and 8 out of 9 of those are either ink cartridges or photo paper so my first assumption is that you are an ink and toner site, where-as looking more carefully reveals you sell much more than that.

The problem that you have is that pc componants, and ink and toner, are hugely competitive markets with lots of big established players and hundereds of wanabees all fighting for the same customers.

Be honest, if you were in the market, would you buy something of my site?

To be honest? No. There are so many big names out there (scan, overclockers, misco are just 3 that spring to mind) why would I want to buy from a company that I've never heard of?

No disrespect intended (I'm an etailer myself), but the branding of your website suggests that you are either a small B&M store that has gone online to get a few extra sales, or you're just working out of your home and getting the items dropshipped.

Now ask yourself. If you were going online to buy, say, groceries would you goto Tescos/Sainsburys/waitrose/asda's websites, or one called "bob's corner shop online", or "XY & Sons Ltd" etc?

Sorry if that's seems a bit harsh, but I'm trying to be helpful - honest!

 

[WebSquare]

Hi

i have sent u a pm

thanks

 

[fairestcape]

The AppleZen template gives it the proper look and feel, so it comes across as very professional.

I got this error when navigating to dektop pc's

Warning: imagedestroy(): supplied argument is not a valid Image resource in /home/bcomputi/public_html/shop/includes/classes/bmz_image_handler.class.php on line 531

So check what's going on with IH2 - perhaps do a cache clear (IH2's admin panel cache clear is not reliable. You may need to do this via c-panel).

I use a wide screen, and I find your header logo too big... I am forced to scroll on every page to get your header out of the way so I can see page data. On my screen too, I cannot see the bottom of your categories dropdown - even if I scroll your menu bar right to the top of my screen! The last category I can see is Sound/Speakers - how many more are there?

We advise our clients to try to keep the header under 75px deep (most clients don't listen!)

Your home page is all text! Nobody wants to read that... Get rid of the text and put up lots of images with offers and prices. (SEE www.edutrade.co.uk )

You have many categories where there are no products. There's a setting in ZC admin panel to disable zero product categories. Customers getting to these "empty shelves" may think you're either too poor to stock them, or you're trying to impress people with a long product list.

You are in a very competitive industry, you MUST make it easier for people to see what you've got in the shop.

Do you use Googlebase? do you use XML Sitemaps?

 

[bcomputing]

Thanks for the reply guys.

the only reason it has loads of inks and paper on there is because ive just had a delivery of a load of inks and paper lol. and ive just added them so there my new products.

i see where your coming from with the tescos vs the corner shop thing. but, everyone has to start somewhere right. im not doing dropshipping. i hold all the stock thats on there, and if i dont have it , i mark it as out of stock.

thanks for the PM, ill be replying in a sec.

Thanks again guys, keep it coming lol. i just want to here what someone else thinks.

Shaun
B Computing

 

[bcomputing]

Hi,

thanks for the compliment on the template i liked it as well, thought it looks pretty professional.

And again, thanks for the heads up about the error, i'll sort that now.

I'm still in the process of adding stock to the site so the menus are empty on some places as you say.

i'll change the header as well. what resolution are you using as it looks ok on mine, and i can see all the categories as well. im using a widescreen.

Thanks

B Computing

 

[Dymo King]

Also, the address on the contact page looks like a residential address which is never a good impression to give (it may very well be a business address but it's ambiguous at best). Also, no limited company name, no registration number, no VAT number...

And on the about page -

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]B Computing started trading in 2007 online at bmcomputing. We are dedicated to providing the best prices for the products we sell. We also trade at local computer fairs across the North East.[/FONT]

So that means you've been trading for at least 7 and a bit months. Like you say, we all have to start somewhere - but I wouldn't really want to advertise that fact. Also, I'm not sure you'd want to mention the trade fairs - makes you sound 'local', whereas you really want to make yourself look as big and 'national' as possible.

An obvious flaw is that the prices don't say if they include VAT or not, as far as I can see. So people will either give up straight away or add something to the basket and then goto the checkout to see if vat is listed there - where they see the most henious of e-commerce crimes - a login/register only checkout! This is an order killer of the highest order, customers would have to be pretty determind to buy from you to bother with that... (maybe if they have everything they need and are ready to order then fair enough, but if you're forcing them to look in the checkout for vat or final delivery costs before they've even started looking around in earnest it's pretty bad news)

 

[nigel]

Just run your url through a check site I use and it returned these as the main keywords it found on your site:
ati - 12 - 2.54%
ink - 9 - 1.90%
cables - 9 - 1.90%
cart - 9 - 1.90%
dvd - 8 - 1.69%
epson - 8 - 1.69%
compatible - 7 - 1.48%
set - 7 - 1.48%
memory - 7 - 1.48%
full - 6 - 1.27%
cartridge - 6 - 1.27%
cards - 6 - 1.27%
products - 5 - 1.06%
printer - 5 - 1.06%
other - 5 - 1.06%

Not quite sure what it is you sell looking at those keywords

 

[helen@doorstuff]

Hello Shaun,

Thanks for inviting comment on your site. I have had a look at it, and I agree it looks trustworthy and professional. The things I would consider changing would be:-
1. reduce the depth of the header graphic where you say "Welcome to B Computing..." it means that I can't see any product photos without scrolling down
2. the tick boxes where you say "shop online" "quality products" etc could be links, and I expected them to be, so was confused and disappointed when clicking them just refreshed the screen. If they were links, they could be so much more interesting, like photos of your special offers, I thought the laptop photo would definitely be a link to the laptop page!
3. possibly changing the font for B Computers - or if you are wedded to it, use it ONLY for "B Computers" (make it bigger then) and use a neutral font for other words in the header
4. swap the word "categories" for the word "products" in the menu, because I spent a few minutes looking before I spotted a full list of your wares
5. agree with Dymo, ditch the necessity for buyers to log in or register - just let them buy - all the information flows in the same
6. I would make the dominating feature of the homepage photos of product, linked to more information, move your paypal etc box (& your delivery promise) up to the top left or right, so visitors see it without having to scroll down

I hope you don't feel deflated by all this "advice", because actually what you have is pretty good - and most importantly it has YOU and your commitment and ability to do all this yourself!

Keep up the good work, best wishes, Helen

 

[bcomputing]

Think i need to take a serious look at my keywords and make sure they are all over my site!

Thanks for the pointers Helen. I'll go through them seperatley tonight and see if i can sort them out!

All this critisism has made me think twice about the whole thing, but its good because i only had my opinion before so now with other peoples, has shed a bit more light onto it!

Thanks for all the comment/advice guys. Keep it coming lol!

Shaun

 

[bcomputing]

Also, the address on the contact page looks like a residential address which is never a good impression to give (it may very well be a business address but it's ambiguous at best). Also, no limited company name, no registration number, no VAT number...

And on the about page - So that means you've been trading for at least 7 and a bit months. Like you say, we all have to start somewhere - but I wouldn't really want to advertise that fact. Also, I'm not sure you'd want to mention the trade fairs - makes you sound 'local', whereas you really want to make yourself look as big and 'national' as possible.

An obvious flaw is that the prices don't say if they include VAT or not, as far as I can see. So people will either give up straight away or add something to the basket and then goto the checkout to see if vat is listed there - where they see the most henious of e-commerce crimes - a login/register only checkout! This is an order killer of the highest order, customers would have to be pretty determind to buy from you to bother with that... (maybe if they have everything they need and are ready to order then fair enough, but if you're forcing them to look in the checkout for vat or final delivery costs before they've even started looking around in earnest it's pretty bad news)

Just been looking over the posts to make some changes, and i looked into what you were saying about having login/register when you go to the checkout, and i looked on some other big computer component site (aria, overclockers)and they are exactly the same. so i don't know what you are saying here. you can add things to the cart how you like, but like all other sites, you have to login or register to buy something.

Dont see what is wrong with this?

 

[Dymo King]

All this critisism has made me think twice about the whole thing,

You shouldn't think that, the critisism is designed to help you create a better site. Thinking twice about the whole thing should only be based on if it actually works or not, not what other people say.

Just been looking over the posts to make some changes, and i looked into what you were saying about having login/register when you go to the checkout, and i looked on some other big computer component site (aria, overclockers)and they are exactly the same. so i don't know what you are saying here. you can add things to the cart how you like, but like all other sites, you have to login or register to buy something.

Dont see what is wrong with this?

My point it that these sites give you all the info you need before you have to register. Look at over clockers, add something to the basket, then view the basket. It has the cost of the parts, the subtotal, the VAT, the delivery charge and the total.

The customer can see the total it's going to cost to get the stuff to their door - then they have to register or login only when they've made the decision to purchase.

Now look at your site. Add something to the basket, then view the basket - no mention of whether or not VAT is included or excluded, and no delivery cost. As a customer I would be afraid that I have to go through the hassle of registering just to find that when I get to the checkout part you've suddenly added VAT on top along with a big delivery charge.

In such a competitive market there are so many sites to choose from that you really have to make it as easy as possible for people to see what the total costs are. Most of the time pople don't just turn up at one site and buy (unless they've previously discovered that their the cheapest) - they go to a bunch of sites and try to figure out which is the cheapest. They won't stick around if you make them jump through hoops just to find the total cost.

If you're restricted by the cart software you use, then you can aleviate this problem to some extent by making it clear on the product pages if VAT is included or not, and also clearly displaying the delivery cost.

I can't stress the VAT issue enough - in the shops you expect all prices to include VAT. But online, and especially in the componant market, you really can't make that assumption. SOme quote prices ex vat, some inc vat, and some quote both. You really have to make it clear one way or the other.

 

[MikeJonesOnline]

Hi bcomputing,

I agree with most of the above comments. Site looks good.

How about 4 main boxes on your home page headed along the lines of, toners and cartridges, bespoke computers built, motherboards and harddrives, and peripherals (not necessarily those names or categories). Then within each box a short description and sample image of what we would find in that section.

Don't forget that on each page you should have a 'call to action' - what YOU want us to do (i.e. buy/contact you) etc.

Think about telling us WHY we should buy from you rather than anyone else. What makes YOU different (service, personal touch, guaranteed money back, special offers etc).

Mike

 

[J-Wholesale]

The lack of clear delivery charges, is, I think, a big problem. I just added a spindle of 100 blank DVDs to my cart (with the intention of buying them), but without seeing the delivery charge information, I can't compare the price to Amazon, or any other site.

It looked like I had to enter all my personal information before finding out the total cost, which is just never going to happen.

Also (purely cosmetic), the edit boxes on the checkout page are all over the place and look very untidy. You should wrap a table or some CSS around them so they line up correctly.

 

[Steve2507]

but like all other sites, you have to login or register to buy something.

Our site doesn't force this. The software automatically creates an account if one doesn't exist for that email address.

 

[bcomputing]

Cheers for the comment again.

I have changed a few things on the website, i have set it so you can see inc and exc VAT, so its obvious which price you will be paying. and on the shopping cart, i have added a section which estimates the delivery charges for that order, so you dont have to go onto the checkout or register to find out how much it will cost in total, delivery and everything.

Thanks again for the comments.

B Computing

 

[Christiane]

I just had a quick browse and all the monitors say ''sold out''.

This is showing on the laptop page (which are all sold out too)

QUOTE
Warning: imagedestroy(): supplied argument is not a valid Image resource in /home/bcomputi/public_html/shop/includes/classes/bmz_image_handler.class.php on line 531

Warning: imagedestroy(): supplied argument is not a valid Image resource in /home/bcomputi/public_html/shop/includes/classes/bmz_image_handler.class.php on line 531

Warning: imagedestroy(): supplied argument is not a valid Image resource in /home/bcomputi/public_html/shop/includes/classes/bmz_image_handler.class.php on line 531

UNQUOTE

I also agree that having the new items at the bottom of the home page I thought you were selling ink mainly. Maybe change to ''featured items'' instead of new so customers are not misled.

Too many sub-categories to click on, I find.

Hope this helps.

 

[Delicious Webdesign]

Hi Hope these comments help, and sorry if they sound a bit harsh,
I like a few things like the lightbox mouseovers on the images and site looks ok and professional but

I have found something wrong with the menu system (3rd tier items) in Firefox (version 3.01) when you move slowly from the 2nd tier item to the third tier item the third tier item disapears !
Try products > systems > pcs

On the topic of menus I dont like that there is only 1 choice out of 5 for products, your top level menus should be your biggest items (PCs / Toner / Printers) currently you have things like laptops > laptops and displays > monitors ! this is old fashioned and wasteful, Look at how ebuyer / aria arrange their products

Your buttons look at bit 1998

There is nothing in the PC section

The payments methods image looks amateurish and has the logos cut from other images resulting in off white surrounds

The mouseover of the drop down menus should match a colour on your page (perhaps the yellow from your logo)

The logo needs revamping

The site is very grey

Top level menus should have mouseover text change


I can comment on the SEO of the site bit later if your interested