Suggestions for improving look of site

[Rich Brady]

There would be little or no point having SPP for every product on this page for instance:

http://www.hoseworld.com/acatalog/Si...straight_.html

You simply don't have enough description about the hose to warrant gving a whole page to "8mm I.D. x 1m silicone radiator hose (BSR-008)"

I think Lee's tutorial does mention it's not for all sites and that you're best having about 70 words of descriptive text before making the switch.

So you need to think about whether or not you can write 70 words worth of varying descriptions for each of your hoses.

I'm a little pushed for time, so I apologise for being brief. I'd think about having things like elbow, reducers and the like duplicated in top level sections, because if I'm after an elbow I want to be able to find it quickly and easily.

Also, I'd make more of an issue of the swaging service you offer on the Home Page, move the welcome down and the swage info up.

P.S. The globe logo on your Product Listing Document is much better than the spinning globe at the top of your page.

[leehack]

If you went to a clothes website and they did t-shirts in 10 different colours, would you expect to see 10 different products or 1 product with 10 different colour choices? Don't think of rules as such, think what is the best way for my customers to shop and for me to market my products.

The large majority of sites should be SPP, but not all, the tutorial you read does touch on this point, so maybe another read is a good idea. The forum is littered with conversations on this point too.

If a hose was sold in 5m, 10m, 20m and 50m lengths, that should be one product IMO with 4 choices of length.

[gabrielcrowe]

the method of implimentation is based entirely on some forethought.

the answer is:
'the method that makes the most sens, to your customers'

the answer is not:
'whatever is easiest for me to implement'.

The way I see it you have long lists of similar items, grouped by function.

your site (as far as i can tell) goes:

Type > Group > Item

Where type is 'silicone hose', Group is '90° reducing silicone elbows' and Item is '13-16mm I.D. 90° reducing silicone elbow'.

you need the type to be less in number. perhaps group them, and make sub types:

Type > Subtype > Group > Item

Then the group. This needs to be smaller images, side by side. you're making people scroll, its not good. lots of wasted space and time.

Then Item.

These need to be in single rows, with a divider. with zebra tables. Trt to keep them on one line. I'm sure Actinic has a 'table row' template.

You need to make the site, wider. this will allow longer table cols, and avoid content wrapping.

i'd take it out to 1000px, for 1024x768 people.

[gabrielcrowe]

that last post if of course, assuming that you wanted to ahve your products seperate like that.

you could switch to dropdowns with sizes in them and save yourself some upload time too.

[leehack]

Don't forget nowadays that providing just one method to shop is not great if you have the opportunity to provide different ways and people will like different ways. By size, by colour, by brand etc. are all becoming far more common.

[gabrielcrowe]

in short, i think what i'm getting at, is the fact that you asked for help making it looks better, but i personally feel that you need 'functional' help.

...then aesthetic help falls into place.

[Lewis]

Thanks for good responses.

If I decided to go ahead with the one header, with ID, OD, WP, etc etc idea, would it be possible to list the individual products below, ie 8mm on one line, with quantity on the right, 10mm on next line with quantity on the right, etc etc for all items.

if so, how would I do this, do i need to use blocks?(!)

cheers again

[gabrielcrowe]

lweis, i'm having trouble understanding your last post.

did you say you were going to use a table?

what on earth does "ID, OD, WP" mean?

[leehack]

Sounds like you are talking about products with compact layouts and maybe single add to cart button. Get things as far as you can take them, upload them so we can see and then tell us what you are trying to achieve. We can then guide you on that.

[leehack]

LOL i'm guessing at Inside Diameter, Outside Diameter and Water Pressure being hoses, but the post is rather vague i agree. Minimum effort to explain = maximum effort to help.

[Rich Brady]

what on earth does "ID, OD, WP" mean?

Inside Diameter, Outside Diameter and Working Pressure I think...

[Lewis]

More help, please

Hello again, I know what I want but can't quite figure out how to get it.

A similar example is http://www.stinkyink.co.uk where they have an image and description at the top of the page then a list of items below that. e.g. here: http://www.stinkyinkshop.co.uk/acata...tylus_D78.html

Or, if you prefer, I have drawn a picture:


What is this method called, compact layout? How do I even start going about this?

Thank you.