Why not my site?

[SillyJokes]

Wow, 20, two kids and struggling with a business. You know, even if this venture doesn't work out I predict big things for you.

Next time you will make a much better job of it.

 

[gemd89]

Well i havent given up on this venture yet! Hopefully one day in the future...

Gemma

 

[SillyJokes]

You've got a good generic URL so possibly if you rethink it a few times you will hit on a winning formula.

Good luck

 

[gemd89]

Thanks, hopefully want to make it a full wardrobe clothing store! So clothes for everyone, something like oli.co.uk or lipsy.co.uk, unfortunately i havent got the budgets that these stores have but ill get there

Gemma

 

[fisicx]

Gemma,

If you want to fill a wardrobe then you need to get rid of all the costumes. If you want to sell costumes then then get rid of all the clothes.

And look for quality not price. Cheap tat gets labled as such, even people on a budget don't want rubbish costumes.

But most importantly you need to sell the products not just dispaly them.

 

[Deleted member 61074]

i fail to make the link between fantasy wardrobe as a url and the advise given earlier to drop the adult stuff.

i wouldn't look at a site with this name for kids stuff you need to clarify in your mind whether you want the kids market or the adult and not try to mixthe 2.

I agree with Michelle - there are far too many people who think build a site and the business will come. It simply is not true - you need to ask why should people buy from you and not the other 50 fancydress sites out there. You say you are a bedroom business - this is fine on ebay as you are monitored by your customers/reviews etc etc, but on the www you need to look bigger, people have to be confident you are not going to take their money and run, we ned to know they wil lbe able to contact you if something goes wrong - mobile phone does not cut the mustard, you must have an address and landline.

There's nothing wrong with using paypal in fact its better as people know they can seek redress through them if the goods dont arrive.

if you are cheaper than everyone else - then sell on ebay. Use this to learn your marketing skills, use all the help files on ebay. Come back to your own site in 6 months after you have built up a following. Whenever you send an email to a ebay customer use your domain email to get your domainname out there

 

[buyfromtheuk]

So i started my online business in april this year, my products are cheaper than competitors but yet im still not getting very many orders in, can anyone offer some advice?

Ive added keywords etc to help me with SEO but nothing is happening.

If anyone wants to take a look fantasy wardrobe, i cant post links as this is my first post here.

I do sell fancy dress and party supplies.

Thanks and advice appreciated
Gemma

Try my free SEO ideas http://www.buyfromtheuk.co.uk/Ranking/Rank.htm it worked for me and lots of other people who try it.

 

[Deleted member 61074]

i fail to make the link between fantasy wardrobe as a url and the advise given earlier to drop the adult stuff.

i wouldn't look at a site with this name for kids stuff you need to clarify in your mind whether you want the kids market or the adult and not try to mixthe 2.

Further to this, i notice you are now selling ladies clothes.... dont make the mistake of thinking you will make more sales if you list more products. You are now in danger of devalueing the fancy dress aspect of the site.

my suggestion - think about what the name Fantasy wardrobe conjures up - to me its adult lingerie. Who is your target market?

Also remember the average conversion rate for ecommerceis 1-4% near 1% for a new site in a competitive market. Hence you need 100 visitors to stand a chance of a sale.

 

[silvermusic]

i fail to make the link between fantasy wardrobe as a url and the advise given earlier to drop the adult stuff.

i wouldn't look at a site with this name for kids stuff you need to clarify in your mind whether you want the kids market or the adult and not try to mixthe 2.

I agree with Michelle - there are far too many people who think build a site and the business will come. It simply is not true - you need to ask why should people buy from you and not the other 50 fancydress sites out there. You say you are a bedroom business - this is fine on ebay as you are monitored by your customers/reviews etc etc, but on the www you need to look bigger, people have to be confident you are not going to take their money and run, we ned to know they wil lbe able to contact you if something goes wrong - mobile phone does not cut the mustard, you must have an address and landline.

There's nothing wrong with using paypal in fact its better as people know they can seek redress through them if the goods dont arrive.

if you are cheaper than everyone else - then sell on ebay. Use this to learn your marketing skills, use all the help files on ebay. Come back to your own site in 6 months after you have built up a following. Whenever you send an email to a ebay customer use your domain email to get your domainname out there

There's a lot of good advice there. On eBay promoting yourself as a small time business and being more intimate with customer relations works well, I played on that well for many years. However, in the bigger world of the web it doesn't work. A rags to riches story ending up as a big national company might though, I'll tell you when I reach that level.

Not adding loads of irrelivant and additional product is spot on too. If you're a large company with thousands of diverse lines it's a bit different. If you're small focus on being the best in a small market.

eBay is great for dumping slow moving or end of line stock, but as a main venue nowadays forget it unless you're selling £10 notes for £9. After a year or so really working hard on one web site I stopped listing on ebay some weeks back, and damn that felt good.

As for selling on ebay because you're the cheapest don't do it, there's always a load of busy fools that will undercut you and the fees have a nasty habit of getting out of hand. the amount I spent in my last full financial year horrified me when I think what else I could have done with the money.

Totally agree about PayPal, It's still my most popular payment method used by customers, it also seems to have broken out of it's old eBay images as well. Personally I use it on other sites if I'm not familiar with them for peace of mind.

 

[silvermusic]

I think if more people were honest to small businesses in their birthing period there wouldn't be so many in the failed businesses grave yard. People need to be more realistic and not come and use the business forums to massage their own egos but to expect honest and sometimes frank advice from people who have a little more experience that they do.

So true, I wish a few more people had been blunt and honest with me when I started up. Looking back I made some really stupid mistakes. I was very experienced in retail, but in reality knew little about the basic nuts and bolts of running my own business. Cash flow was some sort of alien concept and that nearly killed my business more than once in the early days. My accountant however was a real diamond and really helped out putting me right on many things, something I'll always be grateful for.

 

[Luc]

Didn't want to read all the posts, hope this one is not redundant. SEO is not only about having keywords on your site, but also about having many other sites linking to your site, which boosts it's credibility in the eyes of the search engines.

And it takes time before Google starts sending more traffic in your direction anyhow.

You could spend a lot of time reading and learning about SEO or maybe spend some money on a good SEO expert.

 

[evilonion]

its late,
but just a quick reply. i use the same cart for several of my shops.
for conversions try dropping the catagories from the front page and push the featured and specials up.

there is no need to have catagories in the middle and navigation to the left.

I did an online poll and about 60% of my visitors which took part said they did not like middle navigation as it was confusing.

My sales have now gone from none a day, to about 1-3 per day for adult related products... doesnt sound a lot i know but i dont spend a penny on advertising so im happy for now.

 

Back to the site again....

Had another look and the lingerie seems to have gone but many of your products still look cheap and nasty. You are now sellings bags, tops and all sorts of other tat which means the site has no real focus or direction.

I would never buy from you because you appear not to care about your visitors. The product descriptions are almost non existant, the page layout is disastrous, the call to action in the wrong place and the images of such low quality that I can't properly see what I get for my money.

Right back at the start you said you were the cheapest. That's not a good USP. It should be the right product at the right price. And you need to sell me the product, convince me that my life would end if I didn't buy the fancy dress outfit. All you are doing at the moment is displaying the goods, you haven't convinced me that I can trust you, that your products are of decent quality and I'm going to look good at the party in my spongebob outfit.

BTW - since you only have a PO Box address, a mobile number and no email your trust score just took a nose dive.

Like we have mentioned in other threads, your idea of good web design IMO isn't great!

Whilst the site isn't anywhere near perfect based on the other threads I have seen you post on and the examples of good websites I have seen you post I think Gemma ought to take peoples opinions with a pinch of salt. How people can criticise another site when their site is less that perfect is beyond me.

Gemma just a word of advice, please check out peoples own websites and gauge for yourself if their opinion is worth taking onboard. EVERYONE has an opinion it's up to Gemma to figure out who's opinion and experience matters.

There is far too much bad advice on here and advice from people who do not know better themselves just simply like voicing their opinion. I think if posters aren't careful they could end up making costly mistakes.

My advice would be to start from scratch again and take professional advice off the site with a local developer. Your business will reap what you invest into it. A badly designed site will not make you as much money as a site that is designed by a professional, I can pretty much bet my life on that!

Our sites people are our storefront, we need to invest in it to make money. You wouldn't buy clothes from a shop that was a dump and the same goes for a website, even more so if your industry is competitive.

If you decide to get your site designed by a professional company please make sure you actually speak to at least 10 and meet in person with your top 3-5. You need to have a great working relationship with these people so you need to work with someone or a business you like and you feel understand you and your goal.

Please also make sure you see their portfolio of sites and take at least 5 references that you can contact and ask the site owners their thoughts and what they like about the company/dislike.

IMO there is a stability in going to a company that is more than a freelance designer but again this is personal choice.

My web designers are fantastic and a lovely team who can pretty much do anything I ask. PM me if you or anyone else reading would like their contact details as I can heartily recommend them and I think my site will prove they are more that capable.

I wish you every luck Gemma and if you'd like any advice from myself (I'll let you decide if my advice is worth anything) drop me a PM.

 

[fisicx]

Whilst the site isn't anywhere near perfect based on the other threads I have seen you post on and the examples of good websites I have seen you post I think Gemma ought to take peoples opinions with a pinch of salt. How people can criticise another site when their site is less that perfect is beyond me.

If you read my advice again you will see I didn't critisise the design, only the way the products were presented. It is the inconsistencies and lack of product information that needs work not the design.

 

[greeny]

cool
really good info here

 

The way the products are listed and the layout IS the design! lol

 

[fisicx]

The way the products are listed and the layout IS the design! lol

Err no. The categories on the left isn't a design feature and the lack of descriptions and poor image quality isn't a design feature either. These are attributes of the CMS not the template that is use.

It's not the layout of the page that is an issue, it's the actual product range and the lack of useful information for the visitor. For example, the material is a significant issue for those with allergies, if it's missing from the product description then the sale may be lost.

 

I'm not going to argue with you. I have better things to do.

We clearly have a real difference of opinion and I am not going to justify myself again to you.

 

[iyereoboite]

Woah!

If I wanted to get a fancy dress costume for my children I'd steer well clear of yours. I don't want to browse a site with my offspring looking at a site has 'adult party suppies' and 'ladies lingerie' links on the homepage and the category list.

That aside, the poor quality images, sparse descriptions and general lack of passion for the products you are selling don't inspire. And to tell you the truth - the costumes look cheap. I'd rather pay a little more and get a good quality costume.

EWD fisicx is a harsh guy/girl...he did the same thing to me when i started up a site, but take his/her words as constructive criticsm

 

[gemd89]

Working on the new design and wont have the categories like that, it will be easier to search and also the product image quality will be better and have more informative descriptions

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, keep them coming.

Gemma
http://www.fantasywardrobe.co.uk

 

[smallman101]

Getting your own site to a good place in search engine listings is difficult - There are simply hundreds of people out there who will claim to do it for you but then they will also charge through the nose. The best thing to do is look to places such as Ebay and Amazon and use them as ADVERTISING. Make your listings look almost identical to the page where the product/service is catalogued on your site. Remember you want people to look at your Ebay listing and get the impression they are looking at your site.

Somewhere in your listing make a point about the price including all Ebay and PayPal fees because if people see this they may think "well if this guy does have a website outside of Ebay and i have to pay these Ebay fees, why shouldnt his external pricing be lower?"

 

[silvermusic]

Somewhere in your listing make a point about the price including all Ebay and PayPal fees because if people see this they may think "well if this guy does have a website outside of Ebay and i have to pay these Ebay fees, why shouldnt his external pricing be lower?"

Sorry, but that really is a bad piece of advice, you'll get ebay listings pulled for that stunt and maybe even suspension from selling. you clearly know little of eBay's workings, which change on a weekly basis. You're simply not allowed to knock eBay in that manner, and it's something they're cracking down on hard at the moment.

Converting eBay customers to web site customers is like pulling teeth too. Most prefer to trade within the safety and confines of eBay, trust me I've been trying for the past three years.

Any links to a website or mention of it and it stands a very real chance of getting pulled from the site. the only slight exception is on your "me" page, but even then there are strict guidelines about what's allowed and what's not.

Pricing goods cheaper at different prices on different venues if you're trying to cross promote is a sure fire way to p*** off potential buyers too, think of it from their point of view and see how you'd feel.

I price goods on Amazon differently BUT I make no mention anywhere that my amazon ID is related elsewhere, even my email address uses a different domain name from the one I use on my web site or eBay, you'd never connect the two.

 

[evilonion]

Working on the new design and wont have the categories like that, it will be easier to search and also the product image quality will be better and have more informative descriptions

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, keep them coming.

Gemma
http://www.fantasywardrobe.co.uk

Hi, i know its very tempting to sell all sorts from a site... i dropship, i also dropship goods like these... the best advice i can give right now is to drop all the rest of the stuff... concentrate on fancy dress... find a niche, and push it... having lingerie and other stuff on a fancy dress shop doesnt look right and will put of customers.

If you want to sell other items like that i would create a new site for clothing.

 

[gemd89]

The site is being redesigned just for clothing, thanks

Ive also listed a few products on ebay - may get a little trickle of traffic from them and get rid of the stock i have at home

Gemma

 

[gemd89]

Thanks and keep the advice coming.

The website is being designed to just advertise the clothes

Gemma

 

[gemd89]

Getting your own site to a good place in search engine listings is difficult - There are simply hundreds of people out there who will claim to do it for you but then they will also charge through the nose. The best thing to do is look to places such as Ebay and Amazon and use them as ADVERTISING. Make your listings look almost identical to the page where the product/service is catalogued on your site. Remember you want people to look at your Ebay listing and get the impression they are looking at your site.]


The fees on ebay are ridiculously high to be honest and people get booted off for advertising their own businesses. I have added lots of content to the site, changed the categories so there is not so many levels of hierachy and added a few things in, anything else?

Also having a redesign to the front page and have added longer product descriptions and making the site more focused to a clothing store covering a large market.

Gemma

http://www.fantasywardrobe.co.uk

 

[Jessies Little Angels]

What do i need in the about us page then? So i need a landline contact number, i guess this doesnt have to be an 08 number people are confident with a landline number? A business address i dont have as i work from home currently and havent got funding for premises at the minute, i was hoping this would change - catch 22 there at the minute. I will add more information to the products.

Thanks for the advice so far, keep it coming

Gemma

Hi Gemma,

I am also a small business in exactly the same boat! i advertise on Facebook and Twitter and it does work with getting a customer base and its easy to update to them all at once with new products etc.

I work from home and i use my home address as a business address until i find such a time i can move to my first shop!

Let me know your twitter name and i will gladly follow you.

Jessies little angels

 

[zone1creative]

So i started my online business in april this year, my products are cheaper than competitors but yet im still not getting very many orders in, can anyone offer some advice?

Ive added keywords etc to help me with SEO but nothing is happening.

If anyone wants to take a look fantasy wardrobe, i cant post links as this is my first post here.

I do sell fancy dress and party supplies.

Thanks and advice appreciated
Gemma

Hi Gemma,

If you goto Google and enter site:fantasywardrobe.co.uk into the search box you will quickly find why no body is finding your site.
All the page titles are the same and the meta descriptions need work.

As well as one site SEO you need to start generating themed links to your site from other relevant UK based sites. If you want to do this yourself then you will need to start doing some research or get yourself onto some courses.

Also branding is important to a sale. You will need to look unique and give a reason for the customer to trust as they most probably have never heard of your company.

Also go back to estore builder and ask them for advise
they quote the following on their site

We don't abandon you once we've taken your money.
Our goal is to invest in your success. We know that if your business is successful, you'll be back for more!

 

[love2hire]

You have amended the site but you are still falling into the same trap, why are you trying to sell lots of different things, focus on one.
If you are doing fancy dress do that, if you are doing baby clothing just do that.
Too much of a mix will confuse people and drive them away.

Also i'd change your name, fantasy wardrobe doesn't relate to what you are selling, fantasy implies sex or adult dressing up!

 

[fisicx]

Also having a redesign to the front page and have added longer product descriptions and making the site more focused to a clothing store covering a large market.

But most people won't be landing on your homepage so this not really going to help. Nothing really wrong with your curent homepage, it's the product pages that need the TLC.

 

[webroot]

Hi there.
If u want some seo support send me PM

Regards
Greg

 

[gemd89]

Got ya with the product pages.

Will pm you root

Gemma

 

[Bazah1]

Try adding a background image to your site; you could change this at different times of year e.g. Christmas, New Year, Halloween etc... I think that would help brighten up your site and increase sales.

 

Good site,good products,good prices.

Some of the images could do with being larger others fine.?

I would get a PPC expert onboard untill you have enough money and the site has rippened to get a pro SEO on board.

Earl

 

[Bazah1]

I just mean that if i came to your site looking for fancy dress for Christmas, I would not see Christmas or a link for Christmas so i would go look at another site. It seems like a missed opportunity that's all.

 

[fisicx]

Good site,good products,good prices.

You really think so?
Take a look at this product: http://www.fantasywardrobe.co.uk/check-shirt-p-1872.html
The enlarged image isn't even the same colour and there is no image of the wolf. Admittedly it's only a tenner but where is the incentive to buy?
The page title is "Fancy dress costumes, halloween fancy dress costumes with secure online payments-Men-Shirts-Check Shirt" and the main nav at the top still indicates that this is a fancy dress site.

Gemma, as mentioned already, you need to sell the products. It's not good enough to just put the images and suppliers description on the site, you need to entice me to buy.

 

You really think so?
Take a look at this product: http://www.fantasywardrobe.co.uk/check-shirt-p-1872.html
The enlarged image isn't even the same colour and there is no image of the wolf. Admittedly it's only a tenner but where is the incentive to buy?
The page title is "Fancy dress costumes, halloween fancy dress costumes with secure online payments-Men-Shirts-Check Shirt" and the main nav at the top still indicates that this is a fancy dress site.

Gemma, as mentioned already, you need to sell the products. It's not good enough to just put the images and suppliers description on the site, you need to entice me to buy.

I did mention the images.

Good products at the right price sell themselves.

Crap needs a bit more work.

The OP needs traffic,traffic,traffic from a targeted source

Earl

 

[evilonion]

at the moment id forget seo, forget ppc, forget advertising, id sit down and work out what direction you want the company to go in, get a plan together, and stick to it.

At first it was fancy dress but had a mixture of everything, now its clothing but as fisicx says it still advertises as fancy dress.
personally i think the party side and the stag/hen is a great angle and i would pursue that a lot more.

i would also make use of the featured products options in your cart software. remove the new products and replace it with featured products which you can control.

it looks like you are using zencart, the featured products can be found by going into your admin then, catalog, then featured products.

If you then concentrate on one part of your site you can re write the descriptions for both your customers and seo, get that section sorted and advertise, then whilst selling those parts work on the other bits of your site.

just my 2p worth.

 

[gemd89]

The site is going through a design at the minute completed for just after xmas going into all different types of clothing.

Thanks for the ongoing advice
Gemma

 

[gemd89]

Working on product images on descriptions constantly.

Gemma