www.LetsDecide.com - Please help me launch my new site!

ogibat

Hi all!A buddy of mine and I have been building an online community site which helps people make everyday decisions with confidence. Before we can launch the full site we need to seed the database with some questions. It would be a bit dull if on launch day the site was empty! To do this we are running a pre-launch competition to collect questions, giving away iTunes and a PS3 in the process... If you have a few minutes to spare, can you check out the pre-launch competition site? I would really appreciate if you can register (its FREE!), post a question and let me know what you think...The link is: http://www.letsdecide.com</A>Thanks for your time.ogibat2007-6-7 15:53:34

ogibat

Hey thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate you having a go at the website and bothering to tell me what you think!We went for the SitePal thing because we were getting really high bounce rates on the original home page - lots of text and all that... Plus it turns out that the concept is not immediately obvious (early on people were posting very open questions not really switching on to the fact that this is a multiple-choice, poll-type Q&A thing). Things definitely improved with the SitePal though I absolutely take your point about having to `localize` - easy enough for us to pick up visitor`s IP address and deliver the `big speech` in a more acceptable accent. And its great that you like the script, we did really work on it!Any ideas on how best to spread the word as it were? We`re getting a few registrations a day but need to up that to about 20...Thanks,ogibat

ogibat

Thanks again, another fine piece of advice! We`re looking at how to bring the site proposition to life on the landing page... without using too many words!I wish a few other people chipped in with some advice too!

Startups

Hi OgibatI like the way your site is designed. Neat and bright, good work. Are there a lot of competive websites?

beachdi

From a functional/usability standpoint it was very easy to navigate and use.
I also have my volume on mute, so did not hear anything.   (i hate machines talking to me) 
Very simple, to the point.   I wonder whom your target market is?
Gen X, Gen Y, Boomers??   I personally never use sites like these, but it was kinda fun putting my question out there. 
Have you thought about letting people post their own pictures with their questions? 

Videography

I have to agree with Beachdi, I do NOT like sites that play audio or video without my permission.  I frequently work into the early AM and out of consideration to my wife who is trying to sleep, I plug in headphones just to avoid this annoyance.  Sometimes I forget.Steve Mann

InspireStudents

After viewing the site here are my views:
1- Love the concept
2- Really closely related to about.com
3- Instead of making people sign-up everyone should have some access to the site but it should be limited to make them sign up
4- What if I want to join but presently do not have a question I am unable to complete my sign-up process I did not like that about the site.
5- Have some interesting questions and replies on the homepage it would make people want to click and sign up
6- Great idea and great concept
Wishing you blessings and successInspireStudents2007-7-1 18:13:14

SitePal

Hi there,This is Vanessa from SitePal.  You`ve done a fantastic job of going with an informative, educational audio message for your avatar, and by including a call to action in the speech.That being said, it seems like your business concept mixes aspects of social networking sites and information-search engines like Google or askjeeves.com, but I think more information about the future of your site needs to be shared, or at least a list of sample questions for your users to get an idea of the concept.Also, I would suggest integrating a FAQ feature for your SitePal character -  you can create a list of questions, and record audio answers for each question.  Your visitors can choose from a list of questions, click on the topic they`re interested in, and your avatar can answer their inquiries about your product/site.  For an example,  you can go to http://www.Sitepal.com/showcase.php and filter by "FAQ".Another great idea is to begin collecting leads using your SitePal, using our Lead Generator function. Your avatar can request that site visitors leave their contact information as well as their questions in the interactive form attached to the character.  Their information will then be automatically emailed to your inbox.You can also see examples by going to the SitePal showcase and filtering by the category of "Lead Generator".Thanks and we wish you the best of luck - please feel free to contact us here at SitePal with any questions.

ogibat

First of all - thanks to all of you guys for having a go at the site and providing such great feedback, I am very grateful... please keep it coming, we`ll never get too many ideas or suggestions!I agree with a lot of the points made on the general usability issues and the shape the site should have. We are in the final execution stage of the UI design so please watch this space, I think you`ll find that some of the suggestions from this forum will make it into the launch site. I should also mention that what you`ve seen so far is the competition site, there to generate an initial database of members and questions - the real thing will be much friendlier and captivating for the visitors, plenty to do and browse before having to register etc.I am also encouraged by the response to the concept... We like it too! The biggest challenge for us I think is to really get out there and get an initial base of loyal members.Would it be ok if I let you all know when we have a beta version of the real thing so you could give us some more feedback?And, in the meantime, does anyone have any thoughts on how to get a million sign ups on a $10 marketing budget Thanks!