Honest review needed for site

[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

[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

[acompton]

Is it me or is this not an Actinic site?

Its Actinic alright. Go back to bed again, Darren

[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

[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.

[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]

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.

[Darren B]

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.

And this is something i have never really thought about, as i said i have picked bits up over the years and this is another of those

[parklifeclothes]

Not only is your text hard to read when half way thru' a line in changes colour white to orange to red and back to white (presumably to highlight things like south west of England, family run) but also as it's all centre aligned, it really doesn't make for reading.

Centre aligned is alright for headlines and very short bits of text, but if you want someone to read lots of text it has to be left aligned/justified IMO.

Personally if you have something I need and I can't find elsewhere I would buy but your site doesn't make it easy to shop/read and for this reason you will lose many many sales. I know you want to keep the 'corporate' colours but why not go for a clean white background and have your just your logo in the 'corporate' colours.
Its really important to be giving the customers what they want in an easy to use enviroment and this is what your site fails ion at the mo, IMO

[roundman]

i appreciate all the comments, the last question i asked was about the changes i had done in the power tools section.
i am experimenting with the site and wanted to know if this was an improvement or not.
i will address all of the issues the site has as soon as i can get my head round all the info i have been given, as you can imagine at the moment it is brain overload with lots of learning.

[roundman]

Yes colours will be addressed in the design stage, i do not have the design program so am unable to change it.

[RuralWeb]

have had some top advice from an award winning designer.

If this is true then why are you still asking basic questions

[roundman]

i'm not a webhead and like i say i am still learning.
it's one thing to have advice it's trying to find which way to put it all into action.
i am trying different things with the site and simply wish to know if they are better?
i'm sure everyone here started somewhere and was not born with an actinic manual in their hand.

[RuralWeb]

i'm sure everyone here started somewhere and was not born with an actinic manual in their hand.

Dont get pissy - if you have been given advice then it is generally better to stick with one view point especially if they are good as you say. You will NEVER get a consistant opinion on a forum and usually thats were the confusion comes from

[roundman]

not pissy at all.
Just so much info to take inas i say, i wanted to know if the changes i made were an improvement on the site or not.
Yes the advice is as good as i say, SPP i believe is the way forward for my site, having just experimented with it i thought i might ask for some feedback on it.
And your right opinions do vary greatly