Website review please

[Alan]

Hi,

Looking for any feedback really.

The purpose of the website is mainly to support the plugins that I publish on WordPress.org, when people are looking to see if they want to upgrade, to show what I am and what I do regarding plugins.

It is a bit specialised, as for instance there is no phone number, it isn't locally targeted etc and it isn't ( in the main ) the primary sales channel.

It doesn't yet have the full portfolio of plugins, as I'm a bit time limited.

https://fullworks.net

Alan

 

[sipexa]

When I scroll down the page, upper menu section shows menu items with white collar and can not easily read (at main page).

May be changing thumbnail of Easy Responsive Pricing Tables like others as circle can be good.

May be changing products menu item with Products & Widgets or Product & Services (due to VPS security section) can be good.

 

[Alan]

When I scroll down the page, upper menu section shows menu items with white collar and can not easily read (at main page).

Thanks an omission

May be changing thumbnail of Easy Responsive Pricing Tables like others as circle can be good.

You like the circles - interesting. I was tend towards rectangles ... but i am graphically challenged and work on a fivver sized budget

May be changing products menu item with Products & Widgets or Product & Services (due to VPS security section) can be good.

Maybe products should just read 'plugins' or even 'WordPress Plugins' to be very clear.

I can see why when you look at VPS security - you think it is a service - but it actually a WP plugin

 

[sipexa]

For second one; if all of them seem same it can be perfect, type of it can be different according to your choice. But if you wish to make all of them rectange, may be using bootstrap class="img-rounded" seen more good. (example exists at w3schools)

For third one, yes when I read it, I understood that you are providing VPS security service to people who use wordpress.

 

[UKSBD]

You like the circles - interesting. I was tend towards rectangles ... but i am graphically challenged and work on a fivver sized budget

border-radius:50%

https://www.uksbd.co.uk/border-radius/

 

[Alan]

lol I know how to create circles with css What I can't do is draw pretty pictures

 

[fisicx]

Why all the pretty backgrounds and stuff?
What don't you show me the plugins when I land on the homepage?
Where can I add a comment?

If like me most of your visitors arrive from wordpress or their dashboard they will arrive because they want more information or help with something.

So make your support pages easier to use. Rather than dump everything on one page, split it out into support topics: installtion, configuration, troubleshooting etc. Allow people to comment on each of these pages with their questions.

I'd also consider changing the font - it's not that easy to read.

And put the plugin names in the menu

 

[Alan]

@fisicx a few questions, don't take them as defensive just want to understand more detail

Why don't you show me the plugins when I land on the homepage?

Why would this be important, no one is going to find the home page directly are they? It is only there to hold the other pages together if some one started to explore the site. Surely people either land on an inner plugin page direct from the WP plugin links - or from long tail in the support forum / technical documents / blog posts.

It is true that currently if they are research the 'author' it will hit the home page, there are plenty of buttons to see the plugins.

Where can I add a comment?

Why is this important? Obviously the blog posts you can leave comments on.

I'd also consider changing the font - it's not that easy to read.

It's Open Sans! I'm surprised - Open Sans was developed by Google for legibility across devices. What would you recommend?

 

[fisicx]

OK, to answer your questions.

If this just a support site then keep the homepage very simple and just show the plugins. There is no need for any of the other guff you have on there. Especially the background image - not even sure what those blocks even are.

People will be on a support page and may not understand something you have written. Allowing them to comment on that page means they can ask a direct question about something you wrote.

For example, I have instructions on how to set up PayPal IPN, people leave question as comments like this: https://quick-plugins.com/quick-paypal-payments/instant-payment-notification/

It's not the font, it's the font size. 2.0 REM is a bit big. Making it a touch smaller improves readability. I usually just leave it at 1em/100% and let the browser sort it out.

 

[Alan]

not even sure what those blocks even are

It was the only abstract image in my existing bigstock portfolio that wasn't depressing. I think they are blocks of coloured chalk

People will be on a support page and may not understand something you have written. Allowing them to comment on that page means they can ask a direct question about something you wrote

OK - I need to think about that - as I have support forums for premium plugins and the WordPress.org support thread for free plugins - so I don't want to create too many channels - perhaps just links 'if you have a question about this page -> premium forum -> free forum '

 

[fisicx]

Why have two types of support?

Keep it simple and just let people email/comment with their issue. I've got a lot of upgrades on the back of support questions and even more bespoke work. Hiding all the answers behind a login means google can't index the content which means peolpe can't search for answers.

Think about Mary in Idaho who has installed the EventBrite plugin but even after follwoing your instructions it still doesn't work. She's gone to the troubleshooting page but can't find the answer. If you allow comments she can ask the question directly.

Or Abdul from Uzbekistan who can't configure the premium plugin and goes to the support page but doesn't login - he can ask a question without to set up his account.

 

[Alan]

Keep it simple and just let people email/comment with their issue. I've got a lot of upgrades on the back of support questions and even more bespoke work. Hiding all the answers behind a login means google can't index the content which means peolpe can't search for answers.

The premium support isn't hidden ( except posts that are marked private ) so it is indexed by Google - https://fullworks.net/support-forums/plugin/rightmove-blm-to-xml-convertor/

Think about Mary in Idaho who has installed the EventBrite plugin but even after follwoing your instructions it still doesn't work. She's gone to the troubleshooting page but can't find the answer. If you allow comments she can ask the question directly.

Interesting here whether pushing her back to the WordPress.org support page for the plugin creates activity that is beneficial for SEO on WordPress.org, which is - after all - where all the leads come from ...

Thinking about it - your plan probably is better as people may be reluctant to ask 'stupid' questions on WP.org and also its probably not too good a form on WP.org to respond with 'read the documentation - but if you really can't sort it out pay someone like me to do it for you'

 

[fisicx]

I never send people away from the site. In fact on the wp support forums I push them to the support site as that's where all the answers are. I missed the link to the support - look at the site on your phone and the layout isn't good. But that's Genesis for you...

And the support forum needs me to sign in to ask a question. Adding a comment on the relevant page is far simpler and quicker.

PS: your premium plan thing doesn't work. I clicked on the link and the page just reloaded in a new tab: https://fullworks.net/pricing/rightmove-blm-to-xml-convertor/

 

[Alan]

I have turned that on for plugins. Lets see how that goes.

 

[Alan]

PS: your premium plan thing doesn't work. I clicked on the link and the page just reloaded in a new tab: https://fullworks.net/pricing/rightmove-blm-to-xml-convertor/

Thanks thats a bit important - bl**dy javascript for you.

 

[Alan]

p.s. so this is just me driving myself mad ... I use my own pricing tables plugin for that page - which has a premium version - that I haven't yet released - that allows javascript to fire up the purchase pages - but like an idiot I have installed the free version on my own site!!

 

[Scott@KarmaContent]

I missed the link to the support - look at the site on your phone and the layout isn't good. But that's Genesis for you...

Looks fine on mine, can't see any major issues?

 

[fisicx]

I had made some changes to a plugin and was FTPing the files but the changes weren't displaying on the support site. After much shouting and cursing I realized I'd been uploading to the test site.

 

[Alan]

If you want to see the checkout page ( I have no control over ) use the get now button of https://fullworks.net/products/widget-for-eventbrite/ whilst I fix rightmove

 

[fisicx]

Looks fine on mine, can't see any major issues?

The important bit - the download/upgrade is down the bottom of the page after all the content with the massive font size and narrow content. If Alan binned the pointless image you could have the links in the content and bin the sidebar.

If you want to see the checkout page ( I have no control over ) use the get now button of https://fullworks.net/products/widget-for-eventbrite/ whilst I fix rightmove

Good lord! That is a quite horrible checkout page.

And it's not working properly. I closed the modal and all I see now is the spinner.

Can you upgrade the plugin from within the free version?

 

[fisicx]

Looking again at the site and it's not really clear what your intention is.

Is it a support site or is it a marketing site?

It's a sort of halfway house at the moment, neither one thing nor another.

 

[Alan]

To answer the other question first - yes you can upgrade from within the options of the free plugins without leaving the WP dashboard.

To answer the other question, it is a bit of both. Only one plugin doesn't have a free version ( the one with a pricing table) all the others are either free or free+premium, and the fremium approach is what I'm primarily building on. So the purpose of the site is mixed.

I created the site primarily as I need a mechanism to sell the one non freemium plugin ( which used to sell from on a different domain totally ), otherwise for the freemium plugins that is all perfectly handle-able by wp.org ( and indeed there should be no reason for those plugin owners to visit except for research )

Still early days .. but I wanted to get rid of all the previous 'Fullworks' website as the strategy has substantially changed and to make it clear ( to my self ) what I was focusing on.

 

[Petr Gogolin]

This is a great tool which helps with some technical aspect of site quality related to load speed: https://www.webpagetest.org/

For low budget functionality testing I'd utilize services like https://www.usertesting.com/ or if your budget is bigger then hiring a specialist to do moderated in-person user testing, some pointers on this here: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/