Honest review needed for site

[bamboo]

Thats all well and good Bamboo but if i haven't got the traffic to my site conversion isn't gonna happen.
So if i get the foundations right i can build on them and learn more about targeting the right people and how to do it as i go.
That way when traffic is up i will be able to convert to sales.

Typical but totally wrong approach to retailing on the web.
i haven't got the traffic to my site conversion isn't gonna happen.
You will get traffic no matter what you do. Granted it will be unqualified browsers but people will arrive at your site regardless. Without knowing what your target is and building your sites message accordingly to sell your products you are right, conversion 'ain't gonna happen'

That way when traffic is up i will be able to convert to sales.
This is frankly rubbish because the traffic you are trying to attract is unqualified. You may have a very good idea of your ideal customer profile in your head from your experience to date but I'll don't see anything on your site that shows that this site is 'on message'.

More traffic will only lead to a higher conversion IF your site is saying all the RIGHT things. Yours isn't at present.

However it's your site and whether you take notice of what's been said on this thread, cherry pick the bits you like because they fit your beliefs or choose to ignore all of it the choice is yours.

I will now bow out of this thread as you have had one of the most in depth reviews of what is not working on your site, along with a multitude of fixes. Best of luck, whatever you decide to do.

[roundman]

Thats all well and good Bamboo but if i haven't got the traffic to my site conversion isn't gonna happen.
So if i get the foundations right i can build on them and learn more about targeting the right people and how to do it as i go.
That way when traffic is up i will be able to convert to sales.

[bamboo]

Too true and to the point, no prisoners taken.

I vote Derek (Bamboo) to be chief site review guru, you're sure of getting no bull, no beating round the houses, but straight to the crux and honest critique.

I am humbled but truly not worthy of such praise. No single individual on this most marvellous forum deserves to be raised above any other. We all contribute something different as Mr Beaumont has kindly reminded us all.

It's just that a lot of designers & retailers/botchers, I fall into the latter category get so wrapped up in their babies they overlook fundamentals which are staring them in the face. In this particular case men really do buy, not shop, and the OP ignores this fact. If he addressed this issue before he embarked on all the other excellent suggestions this thread contains he would see a much quicker boost in conversions IMO.

I've just watched a video which tries to understand what is going on in e-commerce worldwide with a view to understanding where it is going, as a general trend and there were a fair few shoe sites highlighted with some very good innovations that made the 'the shopping process' more like a real world one. But even these companies applied the 'shopping formula' to men's shoes so alienating a large proportion of their potential customers who simply want to buy a pair of shoes and be done with it!

Surely figuring out which sex your customers are is as fundamental as it gets and is the keystone to working out what an ideal target customer is. Crack this and continually refine the model and it will bring in the money especially in a recession as most of the competition will be spreading a wider net to catch as many customers as possible not realising that the real profit is creating a smaller more focused net and giving them the 'bait' they want to see.

[Darren B]

it was just the way the the site changes, not acatalog directory but many different sub directories, to be honest though Alan, i only glanced through it this morning and was nosing around the site.

I will take your word for it, the threads too long now for me to read it all

[acompton]

Is it me or is this not an Actinic site?

Its Actinic alright. Go back to bed again, Darren

[Darren B]

Is it me or is this not an Actinic site?

And sorry no disrespect to Derek but there are others on here who's opinion is more valuable, just through my years on this forum i have a learnt alot from the little bits, sadly though some people have abused these members invaluable free advice and they now take a back seat.

I no doubt derek will find out this over time

[roundman]

So if i dropped the corded power tools bit and made the sections
power tools (this is in place of corded power tools)
cordless power tools
etc
etc
This way it is slimming it down less clicking leading to quicker finding.
I like the no bull comments, straight forward and to the point.
The front page will be done soon but i wanted to make a start on the spp and ensure it was heading in the right direction

[parklifeclothes]

fannying around with navigation .

Too true and to the point, no prisoners taken.

I vote Derek (Bamboo) to be chief site review guru, you're sure of getting no bull, no beating round the houses, but straight to the crux and honest critique.

[bamboo]

This may seem like nit picking but believe me it isn't.
You have to go to powertools>corded>angle grinders!

As I've said earlier you really need your search box front and centre on the homepage. The reason?
Women shop, men BUY and I presume your target customer is male. Don't expect men to be fannying around with navigation trying to find the perfect power tool. They'll just click onto a better laid out site IMO.

[roundman]

Hi Guys
Have made some ammendments to my site, wanted to know if i was going in the right direction, i have had some top advice from an award winning designer.
Just wanted to know if i was implementing it properly.
If you go into my site and look at the power tools, angle grinder section and see if there is anything i should be doing different.
Thanks

[roundman]

Have made a start with the page titles am going thru and finding what words on the most popular sites and renaming mine.
So images good but too many options bad.

[bamboo]

Personally I would trial a big search box front and centre with a variety of questions such as;

"What are you here to buy today?"
"What are you looking for today?"
"Which power tool are you looking for?"

etc, etc so that those that do land on your homepage may be taken to the most likely product page. To be honest I would put more effort into getting your product pages optimised correctly so Auntie Google, or Uncle Adwords drops your potential customer right onto them.

[leehack]

LOL that dragster was pretty funny. Certainly the best use for silverline tools anyway IMO.

[Duncan Rounding]

I thought this was fitting to this thread:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7874998.stm

[leehack]

Along the right lines but too many options, I get bored looking through that lot to find what I want.