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Please critique my website

FayetteamShopsFayetteamShops subscriber Posts: 3
edited January 2009 in Website Critique
Hi,
My name is Kathy and I just started a new online shopping website called Fayetteam Shops.  I have combined drop shipping (I have set up a store on the website) and I also utilize affiliate marketing.  I have tried a couple of marketing strategies (free gift choice with purchase, product reviews and price comparisons for a weekly featured product) I have ads on MSN, Google, and Yahoo.  I have plenty of views and clicks, but I have not made one single sale.  The site has been active for a little over a month.  Please help me by giving me an honest opinion and any advice is welcomed.  The site is www.fayetteamshops.com
Please let me know the following:
1. Do you understand, or have any questions about, the information on the site?
2. Does the Web site flow?  Does the information roll easily from one page to the next?
3. Is it easy to use and find your way around?
4. Did you lose patience trying to find what you need, waiting for pages to load or links to work?
5. Are images, the right size?
6. Are products or services clearly displayed?
7. Is the shopping cart easy to use? Do you trust it?
8. Are all forms easy to understand, fill in and send?
9. Do you like how the Web site looks and works? If not, why?
And anything else you want to add.
Thanks!
Kathy
Fayetteam Shops

Comments

  • JmesJmes subscriber Posts: 4
    Hi Kathy
    Well, for starters, your site looks very well made. And from what you say you`ve invested a lot of money and time into it, so lets give it a walkthrough
    Lets look at it from the visitor`s point of view:
    I land in your homepage and:
    A. It doesn`t have a fav icon (that little icon near the page name on top of your browser, see SuN`s fav icon for an example)
    B. It doesn`t have a meta title, the page is listed as `Home`
    C. Your navigational bar is too crowded and easily misleading you should edit it. I`d suggest the following:
     - Move the About Us and Contact Us to the right side of the nav bar, as they`re the least important.
     - Create a bottom nav bar (mostly for technicality, being search engine friendly, and free some space in the main nav bar). Include in it the Privacy Policy, a Terms of Use, a FAQ and a site map
    D. In your Contact Us page add an email address, a phone number and a physical address. the more information you give the less likely a visitor will be discouraged from contacting you
    E. In the About Us page... tell more about you , you hardly say anything there. say something both about your business, and about you. Include a small picture of yourself or your business (or both) to appear more credible
    F. Your main page is too long. This is perhaps the most important advice. You NEED people to understand exactly what this site is about, and what it sells, at first glance. I think it was CraigL who suggested to print out your home page and give it to someone who has never seen it, and ask for his opinion. You can`t let your visitors wander about and wonder what you`re selling. you should move your `Shop for Valentines Day` down, or to another section all together. Place several products in small pictures, or product groups. You could also write a few sentances about you (1-2 max, don`t tire the customer)
    G. Rewrite your search option into a search field, and place it somewhere on top of the screen. The less clicks a user has to make to buy something, the more likely he will.
    I think you need to do some rethinking about the design of that page
    Good luck
    Jmes
  • FayetteamShopsFayetteamShops subscriber Posts: 3
    Thanks so much Jmes!  I really appreciate your time and advice.  I will definitely redo the navigation bar, the about us page, contact page and the main page.  On the main page I will try showing pics of products with the category link above the pic and the store link below the pic.  Once the changes are made I will post an update.
    Thanks Again!
    Kathy
  • FayetteamShopsFayetteamShops subscriber Posts: 3
    Hi Craig,
    Thanks so much for looking at my site and for all your advice.  I have to admit, though, I am confused.  I took some time yesterday to change my home page to show the small pics of products in groups like Jmes suggested and I am in the process of changing the pages of the different categories to offer more choices for different products and stores.  Do I need to put more ads (like sale ads) from my affiliate stores on the home page?  Do I keep the small pics in the categories, or delete them?   When I think about going to the mall or window shopping downtown, I think about the manequins and displays in the windows and the sales that are advertised.  Do you have any suggestions on the most effective layout for my home page.  I have read alot about different marketing strategies to make people buy and that is why I have the free gift with purchase and the weekly featured product review, etc.  I guess I am looking for some good advice on how to make people buy. I have lots of views and clicks, but no sales. My idea was to be an online shopping site that would utilize drop shipping and affiliate marketing.  I have looked at other shopping sites like Overstock and Amazon and tried to take some ideas from them, and I can see that they have sale ads as well as products offered on their home page.  I understand that I need to make people want to buy from me, I guess I am just not sure how to do it.  I appreciate your help and advice.
    Thanks,
    Kathy
    Fayetteam Shops
    www.fayetteamshops.com
  • vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40
    Hi,
     
    You may have some limitations on what you can do / change because you`re using officelive.
     
    You face a problem many ecommerce sites (and static sites) have - a large variety of products or information to sell or communicate - and how to do that effectively. Many people try to get everything on their home page... figuring, if it`s not there people will not see it (or buy it). The problem is, if you have everything on the home page, it is usually too much information for the viewer to process and they have difficulty or get frustrated trying to find exactly what they are seeking.
     
    So - I suggest dramatically reducing the amount of products on your home page and increase the size of the representative images. You might focus on a few categories of products rather than specific products.
     
    A critical design decision for an ecommerce site is the organization and naming of product categories and the products themselves. You want to use category names that are representative of the products therein and ideally also a targeted search term (keyword).
     
    Another approach to get better search results is to create several static web pages each focused on a specific category to be "landing" pages - that people get to via a web search. Then link those pages to the respective ecommerce pages.
     
    Technically, your "shop by store" links are javascript and not be of any value in search results. Where you shop by category links can be found via web search.
     
    I`d also recommend eliminating the link border around the images.
     
    ~Roland
     
     
     
    vwebworld1/13/2009 1:24 PM
  • FayetteamShopsFayetteamShops subscriber Posts: 3
    Hi Roland,
    Thanks for your advice.  I think I will keep the category frames, but use less pics and more word links to landing pages as you suggest.  I am also going to offer a monthly newsletter with the featured product, more sales and the offer to sign up for the newsletter, so I can get that info off of the home page and have more room for sales and promotional links from my affilate stores.
    Thanks again.
    Kathy
    Fayetteam Shops
    www.fayetteamshops.com
  • vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40
    The idea actually is for the landing pages to link TO the ecommerce shop/category.
    The landing pages are single web pages focused on one or two categories or products...so that they can be better optimized for search results.
     
    Re: the pics on your ecommerce site - look at other ecommerce sites and you usually see some larger images of a featured product or representative product(s). Also, with a clear marketing message. Many times this changes with the shopping season.
     
    IF you already have people signed up for your newsletter - it is a great marketing tool. Just don`t flood the subscribers with emails.
     
    ~Roland
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