Site Review - Something I'm Missing ???

[mythandmagic]

Hi guys,

Can you please review my site, bosslighting,co,uk.

i have taken onboard a lot of fab advice from this forum to make improvements.

However, with now 500+ unique visitors a week, im still lacking in sales.

I can rule out the pricing - as they are competitive.
Look of the site seems ok?
Navigation ok ?

Not sure on the load speed is ok ?
Products easy enough to find ?

We also rank quite high on 70% of our keywords.

All advice welcome, feel free to make test orders

Kez

[acompton]

Kez,

The site has improved a lot since I last looked at it. It has a nice overall look. I don't know why you're not getting sales - maybe people are nervous of having items delivered that are, by definition, easily breakable. Do you have a lot of competition? Do you know where customers are dropping out?

A few points I noticed.
1. The Google ads will take people away from your site.
2. "Contactor Instructions" - this looked like a spelling error a first glance - I know it isn't, but is there an alternative heading? or could you bury this in a Technical Info page?
3. I couldn't work out how you're taking payments. The index page says NoChex secure online payments, but the Ts & Cs have the standard phrase about "They are only decrypted after they reach our computer" which implies you are using the CC detail capture and encryption.
4. Delivery charges on the Ts & Cs don't have a currency
5. The Ts & Cs should have a link in the top menu bar.
6. Which goods are in stock and which are not. The Delivery Schedule lays out a complex formula, but the individual products don't indicate their stock status.
7. The text on some items ends up being a long, thin column. An example is Ozone Generators.

Alan
www.greenknightgames.co.uk

[Wilfy]

It is here: http://www.bosslighting.co.uk/

[mythandmagic]

Thanks Alan,

Thought myself adsense was effecting sales, I had the attitude, if the product they want is not on that page they will just leave, or i will get paid for them to leave for a similar product on the adsense.

Since having it on site (approx 3 weeks) sales did drop, not sure if its because of the adsense, but i will be dropping it to see if things improve.

T&C's now changed accordlingly too.

I know theres a lot of techy write ups on site, but only as it has been requested alot ie. contactor instructions, lamp types etc. so we make a point of it being seen..

People tend to stay longer on the site, but even with google stats theres no really pinpoint place people drop out.

We are getting orders, so i cant see there being a problem with checkout stages.

the mind boggles!

[acompton]

Kez,

I does take time to develop customers. Its sounds like you're heading in the right direction, but its just a slow process. You also don't have a natural 'boom' time (like Christmas) which tends to break down customers' reluctance and then lead to further sales during the year.

Alan

[RuralWeb]

with now 500+ unique visitors a week, im still lacking in sales

the conversion rate for a typical site is about 1% so if you are getting 5 orders a week you are average.

[leehack]

Remove the adsense adverts, they look terrible to me.

The site width needs scrolling to the right on 1024 and needs reducing a little, if you're going for fixed width then go for about 950-960 wide leaving a defining border around. Alternatively gor for fluid and fix the site to be 90-95% width.

In order for some people to buy items on your site that they will undoubtedly be using for illegal purposes, they will need to gain some trust in you and also be recommended by others. If your prices are competitive and you are ranked as you wish for your keywords, then its just a case of being patient.

[mythandmagic]

illegal purposes ??????

95% of our site is aquatic and floodlighting...

I'm sure there will be some that will use our envirolites for growing the whacky backy, but most are from companies that grow there own veg etc.

So i dont think trust is an issue.

Conversion rate at the moment is dire - approx 0.3%

[RuralWeb]

Conversion rate at the moment is dire - approx 0.3%

What do you expect it to be? - 0.3 is ok for a new site, it can take many years to become estabilished on the web.

Conversions from search engines are always lower than other referers eg bookmarks

[mythandmagic]

Just expecting from the amount of visitors that conversions would be higher.

As you say 1% is average, I would be happy at this.

If 0.3% is about right for a 6 month old site then i will perservere and wait.

I just figured, if ive got 99% of it right, why shouldnt i get the 1% as you say.

I'm glad i asked though, Its always great that someones willing to help out the less experienced.

[leehack]

500+ uniques per week is quite low, a reasonably busy site could expect to achieve that each day. Maybe the inclusion of a forum where members can discuss issues would be a good addition and would drive some extra traffic to your site.

Its frustrating at times and it's real hard to pinpoint why certain things happen, sometimes it is just time. In the meantime i'd try and concentrate on things that could encourage more traffic, such as a forum, interesting articles etc.

When you say you are listed ok in search engines, does that mean first pages? Theres a vast difference between 1st and 2nd spots and 8th and 9th in traffic terms, try and fine tune your results to get the highest possible, that will certainly encourage more traffic also.

[RuralWeb]

just figured, if ive got 99% of it right, why shouldnt i get the 1% as you say

As lee says at 500 visitors per week you are knowhere near 99% right - get 500 an hour and you will be nearer 99%

Just because you are getting people coming to the site dose not mean they intend to buy anything - check your stats and see what search terms they are using to find you site they may not match what you are selling!

[mythandmagic]

Yeah, we have thought of a floodlighting etc type forum using the vbulletin, problem is keeping it under tabs as ive seen its quite complex and time consuming.

we are ranking page 1 for a good number of products

ie. 125w envirolite
ie. coralvue

Just a couple of high rankers

As everyone say, actinic is great "out of the box" SEO and it is for us.

[RuralWeb]

its quite complex and time consuming

Welcome to the world of e-marketing - relying on SEs is a potential disaster. Actinic is great out the box agreed BUT it only takes an algorithum change by google and you may vanish off the face of the earth - when that happens you will think that 0.3% was wonderfull.

You should take very oportunity to use other methods of getting people to your site, that way if google drops you its not the end of the world. In jagger last year hundreds of websites went bust when thier rankings changed and they had no other traffic sources.

[leehack]

Anything you do to improve your website is almost guaranteed to take ages, be time consuming and frustrate the hell out of you. With things like a forum, they do take time and effort to get off the ground, but ultimately they will almost run themselves, with just a little policing needed. Anything in which you invest heavily in now, but it will have a huge advantage and improvement in the future and more importantly run itself, has got to be worth considering.

Take this forum for example, without it, actinic wouldn't be half the company IMO and the best part of it all, they only contribute a minimum nowadays. Thats a tremendous asset to have, but does take time of course.