Left Navigation bar and general improvements

[MASTERforge]

Hi,

I would like to spruce up my left nav bar
http://www.masterforge.co.uk/

It just looks too plain, simple and not easy or quick to read. Not only that, it links to subcategories that arn't even evident until you click on a main category.

I would like to make it look cleaner, easily navigable and possibly roll-over so people can see the sub-cats.

I am worried a change will effect my google ranking as it is pretty good now.

I am also looking to spruce up the site and make it look more prettier and a bit more interactive.

Like how this site:
http://www.ymaa.com/
Notice how its prettier and has things like embedded video. They are not a competitor so its ok to use them as I am trying to express that I like my site but want to make it a lot more sexier

I think most of this is probably beyond my skills so I would be happy to let one of the skilled guys on here who have helped me out over the years work on it.

So I guess what I am looking for is suggestions on how and what I could do to make it sexy! And, for people to come forward who are capable and willing to work on it.

[bamboo]

Here is a competitors site that just looks more exciting than yours IMHO which is of no use really as I am not in the market for swords.
However I do know this guy makes a fantastic income from this site.

http://www.samurai-sword-shop.com/

Edited to add
Play close attention to the amount of stuff on the buying pages that lands above the fold.
Also see how big and in your face the add to cart button is.

[completerookie]

don't go down the ymaa route, its boring, tedious, not very inviting - I questioned what the heck you see in it.

changing subtle things like the banner image and make it go full width (hiding overflows with simple css) , add some colour to complement the colours of the swords you sell,

change the hovers on the menus so that we can see where your'e hovering. Introduce some more colourful (obvious) breaks between the products,

but ymaa - yuck - why?

[jont]

don't go down the ymaa route - I questioned what the heck you see in it.

but ymaa - yuck - why?

Indeed - nothing on that site merits blagging IMHO!

A simple and effective solution with the LH navigation is to block them out so the background changes colour on the hover state (check out the executive theme for an example).

[RuralWeb]

your current theme was avaiable in v7 and you are using non of v8 features. Just try changing the theme to executive and reducing the text length in the nav and you will get a far better looking site. Then get somepropper single product pages working and ditch the Ext info get best sellers and new products down the side and also bought and related items working in the single product pages. Get video into the pages where needed. Not rocket science.