No Sales but why???

[source4finance]

Guys,

I think everyone will agree with this statement. To get a readable/site people buy from you have to give them enough information to feel comfortable buying from you.

This ties into SEO, contnet, product, price... everything. Websites are no quick fix for anything.

You need visiotrs = SEo
You need credibility = content
You need product & price = product and "right" pricing

To take this further, take your pick from the hundreds of designers we have on here who know infinitely more than me... We do business finance not SEO or web design! (I bow out graciously.. unless you would like the links to the free info that will help you understand all this stuff!)

Very best of luck
Tim
tim*at*tal-commercial-mortgages.com

 

[Jayneilovecats]

Hi Rebecca,

On a very positive note purely from an animal lover and especially a worshipper of the feline kingdom!( I am currently a slave to 8 felines); I do like the site. Ok I agree it needs a bit of tweaking here and there, but nothing that can't be solved. I prefer your site to zooplus, pet planet and pets at home. It is personal, and am I right you are an animal lover, is that your dog? He is beautiful. Anyway, I feel shoppers will sense the personal touch. Now I shop online (as I have 4 young children too and one who profoundly autistic he can't cope with shops) I shop for clothes, food, furniture everything. Now I wonder is there any chance you could sell cat food? I would seriously be interested in buying from you website:food and non-food. Your prices are reasonable. I am also a fundraiser/helper for cats protection etc and I wonder if at any time you could operate a fundraiser scheme. How this works is you ask potential people to buy a fundraising pack - various levels from basic to in-depth. I know people who do this and it does bring in advertising for them too. Afterall, they are distributing leaflets to people they know etc. It can be any charity of their choice. The other thing to help you to get noticed is join the blue cross forum they do have a very good blog. I am a member and I think there is a section for all domestic animals. I am also a member of the your cat magazine chatroom.

These are just suggestions from a humble pet owner so please not too many criticisms please..from anyone. I have no technical knowledge so I can't speak for that side. By the way, Rebecca, once you help fundraise for a charity (or someone else does in this case) you can link to the charity's website..good advertising, possibly?
I used to be a direct sales rep for a couple of toy companies and I used to offer fundraising as well and it worked for me (I didn't have a website)

It is nice to see lots of good responses. This is good as I am in the process of setting up my own small business and will definately need lots of help from everyone!!

 

[Pmax]

The home page looks a bit home made which could lose customer confidence.

Agree with Joanne. That's the first impression when visiting your website!

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Hi Rebecca, rest assured, as I said, I will not get involved any more in this thread. The frustration was that you have good products, but everyone appeared to be telling you to seo your cart, which wasn't possible I am glad you have found a solution, and apologise again, for any distress caused, it wasn't my intention. My comments were not aimed at yourself

 

[UKSBD]

Sorry only flicked through some replies, but from what I have read you have
been advised to,

Redesign your site
Get an SEO
Ensure your prices are competitive
Gain customer trust

None of that is cheap, you have already found you can't sell your products
on ebay, there are 100's of other small online stores doing it, there are 4 or
5 very nice big sites already doing it, most people have local pet shops near
them.

 

[Christiane]

Glad to read you have sorted out an eshop, you'll find it will make life a lot easier for you.

In the meantime, very slow to load.

I buy treats online for my two dogs, so had a look and saw this one at 240GBP Dentafun mini knotted bones - you might want to put a dot in there somewhere, I've done similar mistakes, so I know it's not easy to check evertyhing when you do it all on your own.

Do you intend to stock the Antos range? None of the pet shops around me do, and I always end up buying it on ebay.

 

[rebecca-edwards]

I'm sorry but are you telling me to give up if so your comments not needed or wanted

Sorry only flicked through some replies, but from what I have read you have
been advised to,

Redesign your site
Get an SEO
Ensure your prices are competitive
Gain customer trust

None of that is cheap, you have already found you can't sell your products
on ebay, there are 100's of other small online stores doing it, there are 4 or
5 very nice big sites already doing it, most people have local pet shops near
them.

 

[rebecca-edwards]

Well thats a mistake wouldnt expect any1 to pay that much lol.

Antos we shall be stocking int he next month or two have a few suppliers for them so you may keep looking if you like. Hopefully shoudl be up and running in next few weeks so keep eyes peeled for a faster site lol

Glad to read you have sorted out an eshop, you'll find it will make life a lot easier for you.

In the meantime, very slow to load.

I buy treats online for my two dogs, so had a look and saw this one at 240GBP Dentafun mini knotted bones - you might want to put a dot in there somewhere, I've done similar mistakes, so I know it's not easy to check evertyhing when you do it all on your own.

Do you intend to stock the Antos range? None of the pet shops around me do, and I always end up buying it on ebay.

 

[pete1141]

www[dot]petharmony[dot]co[dot]uk

Thank you for your densier they are things I didnt know the only way i can see of fixing this is by gettin g a bespoke website which is not really in my price range at the moment but have been looking into it

Rather than spend your money on a bespoke website,I would suggest opening an Ebay shop. It worked for me. Admittedly my website was very poor but with Ebay and Auctiva (approved by ebay and free !) you get a whole worldwide marketing package and suite of software for £6.00 a month for the basic shop . OK I admit I don't like paying Ebay's selling fees,but their world wide coverage is fantastic. recently I've sold to Mexico, Hungary, Czech Republic, Brazil,Thailand ,and Japan. Places I've never sold to before in ten years of trading .
Ebay is especiall

y good for unique niche market products like mine So if you've got something different have ago .I put a link on my old tatty website directing buyers to my Ebay shop !
My Ebay shop generated instant sales from day one . Ebay items are promoted prominently on Googles sponsored links so often a link to your Ebay shop or item therein is right at the top of the Google search list. 
My tip also is always put a few items in the Ebay auction .This will draw punters to your shop.