AuctionBytes 'Critique My Site' Feature: PrivateSpacers.com

Ina · Joined: 02 Aug 2001 Posts: 452 Location: Massachusetts, USA

Today's Critique My Site is PrivateSpacers.com
http://www.privatespacers.com

The AuctionBytes Critique My Site feature asks readers to visit an ecommerce website and make suggestions on how the merchant can increase its effectiveness and make it more buyer-friendly. Readers can submit their own websites, too, by emailing the editor.

This site owner is looking for help in gaining control of her website, details are found in the January 7, 2007 issue of AuctionBytes-Update:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y207/m01/abu0182/s03
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Ina Steiner, AuctionBytes.com

cctreasurechest · Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 1

Hi,

I saw your request about getting some feedback on your site. It's funny but I've been looking for something like this so it really piqued my interest.

A couple of things that I noticed from a customer perspective:

1) you really need a shopping cart! I probably would of ordered already if you had one. I don't want to email you and you let me know the shipping costs. Is it possible to offer a flat rate for shipping.

2)Shipping fees should be stated or at least estimated on your site

3) Does the screen come in other colors. The picture with them rolled up leads to believe they do?

4) I don't like that when for example I click on about me. Your logo and top pictures are the same. Use some new pictures, make each page unique. The way it is now you need to scroll down to read the info. I thought there was nothing there.

5) show more examples of how this is being used, expand on the college dorm and even the craft show idea, use more pictures etc.

I like your site overall, I like the colors. It looks fun and hip for the college student but i think you could really market this item to the crafter or store owner. Just about anybody. I think it's a great item! I think if you could change a few things it would be great.

Dawn
www.capecodtreasurechest.com[/url]

conspicuouschick · Joined: 13 Jun 2006 Posts: 11

It's a cute site, nothing fancy but definitely gets the job done. I like the product too, btw, but since the request was for suggestions and such:

1. Get thee a shopping cart of some sort. There are many 'out of the box' carts online that you (or someone else) can implement and allow folks to make purchases right from your site. Best part, many are FREE, and have extensive forums where other users give support and help.

Okay upon further review, I noticed the paypal button at the bottom of the page, which will allow someone to make a purchase. However, the "make a purchase" link on the top which just refreshes the main page is a bit confusing. Perhaps if the paypal button was moved near the top or something? Also, if your paypal is a merchant account that takes credit cards, make it very clear on your page that you do take credit/debit cards as well as paypal.

The bonus of most shopping carts though is that they can/will calculate shipping for you. My shopping cart as a number of shipping modules you can configure (depending on if you want to utilize usps, ups, etc) based on weight, etc. When the customer inputs their shipping address, it will provide accurate shipping, thereby making it unnecessary for your customers to contact you before making a purchase.

2. Get thee control of thine own site! You need to be able to make changes, as well as view your web statistics and otherwise. It's never a good idea to rely on someone else for the content, care and feeding of your site. I have no idea how your site was designed but many can be 'template' driven and therefore very, VERY easy to alter and update, even by someone who is fairly html-ignorant.

After that, there are a number of things you can do to drive traffic to your site, and make it search engine friendly. If you'd like more detail about the shopping cart I use or any other questions, please feel free to contact me. I know this stuff can be extremely overwhelming!

Cristy
http://www.conspicuouschick.com

Losdev · Joined: 10 Sep 2005 Posts: 188 Location: Leicester, UK

Hi

Happy New Year to you. The overwhelming belief that is now spreading faster than MRSA through the NHS is that anyone can post a website, selling products and make a profit.

A few years ago this was the case, but now, as the internet user becomes more 'savy', extra care and attention needs to be evident.

To attract buyers you must first gain their confidence, make your products stand out, offer as much help and advice regarding purchases, returns, spec and options, make the site clean and easy to use but also slick and professional looking.

When we review sites for re-work we use an internal scoring card to demonstrate areas of development. We take the view as a client and designer. We have carried out a brief overview for this site and we do hope you find it useful.

Marks are out of 10. 10 being the optimum and 0 needing urgent attention.

1 Visitor Confidence: 2/10. Nothing to tell us where you are located, telephone numbers or payment/server security info.

2 Distance trading compliance. 0/10. No stated terms, no privacy policy, no returns info, no buyer protection info.

3 Product Information. 2/10. No specifics, very generic, layout needs work, promotion is poor.

4 Making a purchase. 0/10. No other options than paypal, not product specific, "I know I have bought a spacer but which one?"

5 Design. 2/10. Looks OK for a home user site, but for retailing it does not impose authority or professionalism. Resolution is ok in 800x600 but begins to degenerate as the res gets higher.

6 Cross browser performance. 8/10. Performs well in big 4 browsers.

7 Search engine performance. 1/10. Very poor off page usage of tags, keywords and description are poor (35% to 49%)

8 Stickiness. 1/10. There is very little to encourage us to remain on your site longer than 10 seconds. Maybe case studies, etc would assist.

9 Call to action.0/10. Nothing is indicated as to what you wish us to do? Call you, buy one?

10 Overall feeling of confidence in using this site. 1/10. This site gives me the feeling it was designed at home and launched very quickly without much thought. It could almost be a deliberate information gathering site with no tangible purpose...sorry.

Final score 17/100. Ranks: Low.

Sorry if those scores seem harsh, but we view all sites on the same critique to ensure consistency. Now for the good news.

We have made some brief recommendations for your site to assist in the critiques request.

1 Re-evaluate your product, split it up into size, colour etc and make it more than just 1 item. Add these into a shopping cart. This will allow the buyer to remain in control and allow certain fundementals to be observed.

2 Add trading terms and privacy statements a.s.a.p.

3 If you choose NOT to use a cart, add an information page(s) on how to buy and elaborate on your product.

4 Call to action. Decide on what you want the visitor to do and make that the star of each and every page.

Hope these points help, do feel free to contact us if you have any direct response to this post.

Kind regards and good luck.
D.Jephcote BSC. PCM. Cert Web Apps.
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Website Maintenance
Discount Office Supplies

jcrawford · Joined: 15 Dec 2001 Posts: 185 Location: Omaha

Hi Peggy,

I agree with Losdev. There are many changes you need to
make to your site to make it more effective.

You provide a link to the company that made your site.
Are they unwilling to help you? If not, invest in some software
and learn how to use it.

Once you gain control of your site, I would suggest including some pictures of smiling happy people using your product.
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Jim Crawford
"ingenious creativity"
www.CrawfordDirect.com
www.OmahaFineDining.com