Website Critique Needed

STFTA

Hello everyone.
http://www.southtexasfta.com
Well my site is finally open as of August 31st. I have not received any orders yet but I am sure they will be rolling in soon.I had the help of Claimtheweb.com with the design and the cart. The main purpose is to be used as a retail store selling FTA receivers. I am working on some education materials as well and will update the site with those soon.Please let me know what you all think as a consumers point of view on how the site operates and flows.ChrisSTFTA2007-9-2 15:19:53

Webline

Uh, you might want to give the link for the site.
Webline2007-9-2 13:38:32

STFTA

First post edited and link added: http://www.southtexasfta.com</A>
 
Sorry about that.

Webline

Visually .... I like the logo and the general layout. Personally I prefer sites that aren`t overwhelming with graphics. Having said that, the large sale area is just a bit large, I think .... overall, your page is like 1000px wide +, which can make for a lot of side scrolling. Maybe narrow it somewhat.As far as usability, it seems to be ok, although I haven`t explored enough carts to know how it stacks up to others as far as features or anything. Products have multiple images and a lot of info for them, which is always good.For your page source/SEO ..... your meta description and keywords are empty, you need to fill these in. In your title, it`s just your company name; try a few keywords or brief description in it, before your site/company name.You have a lot of javascript that could be separated into its own file and imported. Your images don`t have alt tags, and links don`t have titles. Your main page failed W3C validation. More than likely, other pages will as well. Code to Text Ratio: 4.24%. Reduce the page code and/or add more content.....not just images.On your "Features" page, the column of items sits between the red menu column, and a bordered table. It seems out of place, or just crammed in there. I would suggest working it into your table, within the borders or something so that it looks like it belongs there, and to make it easier to tell what row the item is referencing within the table.Also, an 800 number would help.

STFTA

Visually .... I like the logo and the general layout. Personally I prefer sites that aren`t overwhelming with graphics. Having said that, the large sale area is just a bit large, I think .... overall, your page is like 1000px wide +, which can make for a lot of side scrolling. Maybe narrow it somewhat.As far as usability, it seems to be ok, although I haven`t explored enough carts to know how it stacks up to others as far as features or anything. Products have multiple images and a lot of info for them, which is always good.For your page source/SEO ..... your meta description and keywords are empty, you need to fill these in. In your title, it`s just your company name; try a few keywords or brief description in it, before your site/company name.You have a lot of javascript that could be separated into its own file and imported. Your images don`t have alt tags, and links don`t have titles. Your main page failed W3C validation. More than likely, other pages will as well. Code to Text Ratio: 4.24%. Reduce the page code and/or add more content.....not just images.On your "Features" page, the column of items sits between the red menu column, and a bordered table. It seems out of place, or just crammed in there. I would suggest working it into your table, within the borders or something so that it looks like it belongs there, and to make it easier to tell what row the item is referencing within the table.Also, an 800 number would help. Awesome advice! Thank you very much I will look into every aspect of your response. I am working on the 1800 number as I type this with a virtual pbx. I will report back soon.STFTA2007-9-2 19:38:42

STFTA

Well, I gotta tell ya....I have NO clue what an FTA receiver is. I suppose I might be interested in reading the site, but I`d sure like to know ahead of time, right?Instead of having a bit Sale sign right in the front lobby...wouldn`t you at least consider explaining why the site exists, what I would want with one of these receivers, and how they`re related to space and satellites?I can see there are a bunch of features, dishes, and accessories, none of which I know to go look at because I have no idea what`s the main product....in the first place.Suppose you walked into Target one afternoon, and before you even got through the front door, 15 sales people crowded around you and told you (hollered at you) that there`s this fantastic sale on FTE receivers! They won`t let you proceed until you`ve listened to them, and you can`t even see past them into the store. How would you feel?Your home page, I think would work better as a "This Month`s Specials" page, with a friendlier, better Home page.
 
I hear that loud and clear. So maybe a description on what FTA (Free to Air) is and what you can expect from them? As well how the products can work for the consumer saving you money.
Is that something you had in mind?

STFTA

Hello again,I have somewhat edit the page now. How does it look? I had a lot more information but it seemed clutteredWelcome to - South Texas FTAThank you for choosing us as your FTA receiver headquarters. Here at SouthTexasFTA.com we take pride in customer relations. We want you to be more than satisfied not only with your purchase but with our customer relations, checkout and delivery process. SouthTexasFTA.com is centrally located in the United States so we can keep our shipping times to a minimum whether you live on the east or west coast.We are available Monday thru Friday 9:00am - 6:00pm CST for any support calls, phone orders or questions you may have. Our newly added FAQ section above was compiled with the questions we have been asked most often. Please look it over for all kinds of information on what exactly FTA is and what our receivers can do for you.Our web site is designed to be as user friendly as possible. SouthTexasFTA.com accepts many forms of payment including Visa, Master card, Discover, American Express, Paypal and Google Checkout. You can order through our web site or pay over the phone using a credit card. Rest assured that SouthTexasFTA.com is 100% secure with all money transactions as we have 128 bit SSL encryption and do not store credit card information. SouthTexasFTA.com is now proud to offer "Express Checkout". This allows for one time purchases and lets you bypass registering on the site. This is accessible from the log in screen during your checkout process.Thank you again for choosing SouthTexasFTA.com as your FTA equipment provider and we hope you enjoy your shopping experience with us.I also added an extensive FAQ section as well.Also if you notice on the CNX comparison page, the page looks different on whether your in IE or Firefox. I like the way it looks in IE but not sure why FF displays it the way it does.Thank you
STFTA2007-9-7 1:1:55

Webline

Browsers can take the same code and render it completely different, which is why you see different things between them when looking at the same page. On a few sites I`ve done that use external stylesheets, I have 2 of them; one for Firefox, one for IE, and each is slightly different in some areas so that they render nearly identical.I would suggest moving all the javascript at the beginning of your files into an external js file, then importing it for SEO purposes.

STFTA

Okay, this is better. The font is a bit weird, but you`re moving in the
right direction for sure. I particularly like that your FAQ reference
on the home page is a link. That`s very good, and I had to go there
immediately.

What I didn`t like was that the link opened a new page. If there`s a
very good reason for opening a new window, fine, but in this case
there`s no reason. A menu bar would keep me aware of where I am on the
site, and the Back button would be all I`d need.

Additionally, you`re going to have to speak with a copywriter to get
your language more in line with proper usage. I`m getting the sense
that English isn`t your first language? If not, that`s okay...you`re to
be congratulated for how well you`re doing! But, when you`re trying to
sell merchandise online to an American audience, your credibility is
partly derived from the "sense" of the Web site.

To that end, regardless that you`re making yourself nicely understood
here on the forums, it`s just not enough to generate a strong
impression of quality merchandise on the Web site. An editor would
help, as would a writer who can clean up your overall message---tighten
it up.

For example, in your first paragraph you`re still avoiding an immediate explanation of FTE. You could change it this way:

Welcome to South Texas FTA, your one-stop-shop for "Free To Air" receivers.

Why would you want an FTA receiver? Mostly because of the rising costs
of cable television. A satellite system, using one of these receivers,
can pick up un-encrypted signals from all over the world. That means
you can watch TV pretty much for free!

The primary benefits of Free To Air systems are:

Main one
Another good one
Three is fine


From there, you can build on the content and layout, etc.

Ouch, my pride is a little bruised, well maybe not so much. English is my first language but I do have an excuse as to why it may not seem like it. That is I am from Texas and like our walk, we have a slightly different way of talking.Plus I am a computer programmer by trade and would much rather communicate in 1`s and 0`s then try to decipher this thing we call the English language.On another note, Craig I like that one liner "Welcome to South Texas FTA, your one-stop-shop for "Free To Air" receivers." mind if I use it? I didn`t think of putting the definition of FTA on the home page as it is in the FAQ, but that is probably a good idea. Especially with the attention spans most online shoppers have (or are void of) so they may never make it to the FAQ page.Ill work on the home page with what you suggested and see if I can nail this down.