Sales very poor

[RuralWeb]

It is difficult to turn jobs down but sometimes you need to if the client does not want to put the effort/cash into the project. It is particularly important as a designer to understand that a site template can look pretty but if the product images, PSP etc do not match the design quality and the site is not built to rank well on organic searches then 6 months down the line the client will be on the phone asking were the sales are.

Measuring the number of visits and saying 1% should be sales is a very rough method. As jo says what were they looking for when they came to the site - if you do not sell it then you are not going to get a sale, Adwords needs carfull targeting to get best effect and SEOing the site for organic results is never ending. Building the site is the easy bit - getting people to it and then buying is more difficult and will cost far more than the cost of the site in most cases.

[Faulkds]

I agree with you there....

No good having an all singing and dancing website if it isnt found in the SE'S

You need a budget, and I would say your looking at £3k starting any internet business.

[RuralWeb]

I read recently that Tesco spend £100,000 a year on SEO/Adwords - I know many others who spend £30,000 - in a competitive market you will need a big cheque book.

[pinbrook]

I would say your looking at £3k starting any internet business

I'd say this figure is pretty accurate, if you are going to do the job properly

[fentonalex]

Alex - you have given the best advise you can, sounds as if the client is simply hoping for an internet miracle.

Re Adwords you may find it better to use keyphrases rather than brands. eg I notice that for "Paul & Jo" you sell tops, dress, tunics, how do you know all the people who clicked through on that brands weren't looking for paul & Joe )

Thanks Jo, the thing is though - this is a dipping your toe in type of idea - this should get the ball rolling and then we'll see if its worth putting more money in to make it better. With the best will in the world, the client is a new business and wanted their catalogue up on the web, quickly and cheaply and they have at least got that.

I advised them to use product names for the PPC campaign at the start, which they have I think. Once the site is indexed, we'll see where we are.

Take the point about SEO etc. I've actually had a lot of joy optimising sites myself, I don't think an external company would do much better and the client wouldn't pay for it at this stage - but thanks for the advice. I feel a bit restricted optimising these pages because I'm still learning how Actnic works, which could explain why the tags are a bit strange. The accessibility and seo of this site isn't what it would be normally because of this. All you Actinic gurus out there have no doubt long mastered this, but believe me, I know what I'm doing with the search engines, I've been successfully consulting in this area and run presentations and workshops on this subject for small businesses. Remember also that this is a new site and as such isn't yet indexed in the search engines.

I think Paypal is an issue, but I've been closely monitoring the path of visitors and it seems people are taking a good look through the site, but never adding to basket or getting as far as PayPal. It could be that the photography is not inspiring people - but it could also be that there is not enough incentive to buy - maybe a discount, a promise of free returns or the enforcement of the fact that these are good prices with free uk delivery.

[RuralWeb]

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[fentonalex]

hmm - seems to work this end could have been a temporary error. Just in the process of making some code / database tweaks to get better optimisation, although site is selling really well, could always be doing better!

[pinbrook]

The thing is though - this is a dipping your toe in type of idea - this should get the ball rolling and then we'll see if its worth putting more money in to make it better.

This is where we disagree, I feel there is little point in the dipping your toe in approach, as you tend to get as much return as has been put in to start. (You wouldn't do a day's training before entering the London Marathon)

For an ecommerce site to suceed it needs to have one/some of the following
1 very specialist - people have to buy from you as there is no where else - these sites can get away with a bad site (I've got a site with 10% conversion rate, its fairly specialist and we entered the market after other sites were there, but they were half hearted efforts and we have taken most of their trade - feedback on the site has been good images, easy to find products and day time phone number)

2 exsisting loyal customer base (eg mail order firm, Marks and Spencer)

3 selling in a competitive market with a site that has the edge over the competition

the 3rd option then needs a combination of the following

good SEO to get found (or huge PPC budget)
excellent site that people remember and tell their friends about
good navigation
good pictures
competitve prices (without added postage, vat etc in checkout)
good customer service, returns policy
credibility (security PSP etc)

It may be better for the womanswear site to have a few design classics on the site, with better pics etc, where people can do a clear comparison. Abit like selling DVDs it doesn't matter who you buy from as you know the product you will receive, you just want either the best price or the quickest delivery

[Mike Hughes]

I kind of agree with Jo, but to me the most important thing about any commercial website is the value proposition. i.e. what are you giving the customer for their money.

A 'toe in the water' website can be a good way of testing the value proposition, even if the website design isn't up to scratch.

Mike

[fentonalex]

Hi Jo, the client approached us to get her catalogue online quickly, which I think has been done. This has been up for a week so far, so it's a little early to guage success or lack of it. If a client approaches us, we give them our best advice - but ultimately, they decide what they want and usually they are unswerving in their desire to do something.

Like I say though - the e-outlet site doesnt really conform to your 3 points, its just doing well I think by hammering every means possible of driving traffic and sales with a very sought after product.

I would hazard a guess that even with a double budget, the Muse site wouldn't have sold much so far - but its early days. If it was selling ipods etc. it might be selling better!

Thanks for all the thoughts so far - v.interesting.

[pinbrook]

the e-outlet site doesnt really conform to your 3 points

it ticks several boxes in my 3rd point, along with desirable product and the DVD analogy

[fentonalex]

A 'toe in the water' website can be a good way of testing the value proposition

That's the thinking Mike. Something needed be up quickly and it is. Maybe now thanks for your feedback, the client may consider re-doing the photos and upgrading from just PayPal. I can't help thinking though, even with these things, it might not sell too much. Spending hundreds of pounds on a piece of clothing you've never seen or tried on could be a risk with or without these things?

[pinbrook]

if the client has a shop doesn't she already have a mechant acct?

[fentonalex]

I think *what* you are selling is pretty important. Some things will sell better than others online I think.

[Faulkds]

I agree with both what Mike and Jo are saying....

When I’m looking at an Ecommerce site im looking for the following things key elements rather than just the design etc.

1 Price

2 Delivery times

3 Contact - is there anybody I can speak to or is it just via email.

4 Method of Payment - I don’t use sites that have just Paypal I prefer Worldpay etc.

I have been running my site now for 3 years and going the route of having a payment facility like Worldpay was probably one of the better decisions I've made. It inspires customer confidence, people don’t want to think that your site is being run out of a bedroom.

If you build the site on a shoe string then you’re only going to have to do it properly at a later stage.

My advise to anyone who is thinking about setting up an ecommerce site is the following :-

Test the market e.g with an EBAY Shop.

Once you've found your market and making a profit put all the money into your ecommerce site.

This way you can still be selling your products and investing the money into your web site. Unless you have the money to invest in the first place..... :-)