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**Duncan Rounding** · 10-May-2011, 06:06 PM

Are you sure the certificate is installed? https://www.petsinparadise.co.uk does not resolve. I presume you purchased a full certificate for your site rather than the shared SSL offered as an inclusive part of some of the 1and1 packages.

**petsinparadise** · 11-May-2011, 07:46 AM

Thanks for the reply.

No, I haven't purchased a full certificate and I suspect it is just the shared SSL that is offered. I think I will first of all get back to 1&1 to verify this.

Can you give me a ball-park cost of a standard SSL package, as I would rather go down that route. Presumably I can get this without any problems from 1&1?

Thanks

**Duncan Rounding** · 11-May-2011, 08:06 AM

I don't know the cost but 1and1 can provide this for you.

Why do you want to use SSL though? You don't need to use SSL if you are using a PSP and not collecting CC details on your own server (which you shouldn't be doing anyway).

**petsinparadise** · 11-May-2011, 08:52 AM

The main reason for wanting to switch to SSL is because of bullet point 3 found here on Google Adwords updates under the Information Harvesting item at this address: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw...lease_notes.cs

I have also been provided with this more verbose version of point 3 by a friend who told me that the personal information would probably now include address information:

3. SSL when collecting payment and certain financial and personal information
Many websites use what are known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connections to encrypt sensitive information that travels between the user's browser and the website's servers. To help ensure user safety, AdWords policy will require all advertisers to use SSL when collecting payments and certain financial and personal information (like bank account and social security numbers).

Apart from the above, I have also been a little concerned at the number of people that drop out of the buying process on our site which I've been monitoring for the last couple of months by using Google's Reverse Goal Path in AdWords. I have decided that the 2 main reasons for this may be:

1. They don't want to use Paypal as the means of paying and
2. The checkout pages are all HTTP:// until entering PayPal when it becomes HTTPS:// so they feel insecure.

That's it in a rather large nutshell!

**leehack** · 11-May-2011, 09:03 AM

I think the lack of SSL on your checkout process is a bit of a red herring for your abandoned rate, i've seen many multi million pound sites using actinic, not one of them has SSL.

For instance it's been good practice for at least the past 4 years to have delivery details in a clear and easy place to find, you certainly don't want a setup where people have to go into checkout to find out costs as you have. This site looks a little 'ragged' if i can try and be polite, tabber background is screwed, buttons look very archaic, the layout of the site on a large screen looks a mess (inside layout is not fluid and fluid layouts are just a bad idea anyway), you have a skewed card payments image. It looks unpolished or homemade if I am frank. That setup can survive to a certain degree, the problem is it raises flags of concern and you get to a stage where too many of those and you just don't feel comfortable.

I've just experienced a classic example of this myself, found a product i want for �171 on a site, next best price is Amazon at �189, the site left me wondering so many things, i went with better the devil you know.

Given that companies like Orange, Alliance & Leicester, Lloyds TSB still to this day cannot get their SSL setups correct, i think you should steer well clear, for what it's worth, SSL creates more problems that it solves IMO and should be treated like it is the devil's spawn.

**petsinparadise** · 11-May-2011, 11:02 AM

leehack - thanks for your feedback on this, it is much appreciated. Don't worry about some of it being open & honest, as I prefer it that way!

First of all, your feedback on SSL, along with that from drounding has convinced me that SSL checkout pages are a non-starter, so I shall close the book on that one.

Moving on to leehack's feedback regarding the site - yes it is ragged! It must now be 5+ years since it was built, and we acquired it just over 3 years ago. Since then, it has had various hacks, modifications and updates, so I can perfectly understand you regarding it as unpolished and homemade. However, it was largely the same basic design when it was acquired. Perhaps I should consider getting it redone if I had an accurate idea of how much it might cost!

The only thing that might surprise you is that we quite often get complimented about the site's layout when we get a telephone order! I would also say that we reckon most customers are aged 40 upwards if that is in any way significant.

Trouble is, I'm a jack of too many trades, and a master of none. Whenever I go to make changes to the website design, it's like relearning that part of Actinic from scratch each time! Fortunately, updates to Content are a lot easier as they happen quite frequently.

On that score, I wish Bold, Italic, Update and other choices were available when in Zoom, as a 4 row window just isn't big enough for the Full Description IMO. But that's another issue, and not relevant to this subject!

**leehack** · 11-May-2011, 11:31 AM

Originally posted by petsinparadise View Post

It must now be 5+ years since it was built, and we acquired it just over 3 years ago. Since then, it has had various hacks, modifications and updates, so I can perfectly understand you regarding it as unpolished and homemade. However, it was largely the same basic design when it was acquired. Perhaps I should consider getting it redone if I had an accurate idea of how much it might cost!

Ultimately, having a bespoke design is the pinnacle a site can do design wise, as to whether it is viable is another matter. I'd strongly encourage if you are thinking in that area to come up with a budget that you want to invest first, that then largely decides on what your options are.

You currently have the smart theme, which is the worst theme, it's seo setup is the worst of all actinic themes (search the forum on cgi-bin navigation if interested in that information) as is the overall fluid layout. So i think you should change without a doubt. Whether you change theme (free), use the design wizard (free), buy a prebuilt template (�100-400) or go bespoke (�1500-5000) is solely down to you and your budget.

Originally posted by petsinparadise View Post

The only thing that might surprise you is that we quite often get complimented about the site's layout when we get a telephone order! I would also say that we reckon most customers are aged 40 upwards if that is in any way significant.

This kind of information is only really useful if you also get people commenting when they don't like it, so have balance, it can create a false sense of security. You might get 5 in 100 that like the site for instance of which one comments, you might have 75 in 100 who dislike it, 25 of which still shop with you, 50 who bugger off elsewhere, none of whom say anything. Unfortunately, you rarely hear off these people and figures are conjecture at best. Your only real way is looking at stats which is what you have done and this is saying there are area for improvements. I'd say 'generally' that older generations are more willing to accept certain things and generally their technology is not so up to date (thinking wider screens here where your sites starts to get messy). The nature of your products could also be a factor in that people are possibly a little sad at that stage too, so less bothered - i'm doing nothing more than guessing with a bit of experience on these points.

Originally posted by petsinparadise View Post

Trouble is, I'm a jack of too many trades, and a master of none. Whenever I go to make changes to the website design, it's like relearning that part of Actinic from scratch each time! Fortunately, updates to Content are a lot easier as they happen quite frequently.

As a designer, I of course am biased, but i'd liken 'correct' web design to having a carpet fitted at home or a gas pipe moved. To do these things safely and properly i think good professionals need to be used. Packages like Actinic can give a false sense of how easy things are and it's true ecommerce is at certain levels, i think ultimately it depends which level you are aiming at. The higher you want to go, the more things that matter.

Originally posted by petsinparadise View Post

On that score, I wish Bold, Italic, Update and other choices were available when in Zoom, as a 4 row window just isn't big enough for the Full Description IMO. But that's another issue, and not relevant to this subject!

I agree, the interface is crap here, lacking bullet points is a bit of a shocker IMO, expecting people to do html to get bullets is clearly very wrong in 2011. I hope this gets some attention some time soon. With regards to bold and itallics, if you are applying these to the same fields in the same places in each place, this is a classic example of bad working practices. A designer for instance would set a rule that each time you created a product name (for example) that would show in bold on the layout, they'd also set the size and colour and spacing from other things around it, all automatic with you needing to do nothing each time, that's a simple example just to illustrate a point (if indeed that is the sort of thing you are currently doing).

Full respect to you for taking the feedback correctly too, it's easy to be hurt when someone talks about your baby, that attitude alone will ensure you get where you need to. For sure you need to change theme though or if that is scarey proposition, as a bare minimum change the menu to non cgi-bin nav.

You could pick up some fantastic tips by reading the site reviews in the forum, most go down the same path, valuable free info in those, few hours reading for sure, but not costing a penny.

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