First site attempt

[pgimson]

New to the forums and the software. I have plodded my way to finally launching my site mainly thanks to the many contributors in these forums. I picked up useful code changes (all of which was a different language when I started this project) and by following the discussions managed to implement some changes that I think made my site look better.

I am still working on content and I am about to implement a drillpine.biz add- on for multi images which will enable me to get rid of the apparent duplicate products, that only vary in colour, as I have to show pictures of each alternative colour.

I knew/know absolutely zilch about SEO. I appear to be getting into the first google page on my baselayer product which has pleased me and I must now expand that content style to the other pages.

I would welcome any comments that may help me make a better site. I used the "smart theme". Not really happy with the vertical text navigation, would prefer buttons.

I have enjoyed building the site. No sales yet in the first 2 weeks but I expect it will be a slow process!!

Thanks
Paul

http://www.mymerino.com

[meden]

my first impression on landing on the home page is that there are no images and it's not immediately clear what you are selling...only when you look below the fold do you get an inkling of your product. There is way too much text at first hit (good for SEO no doubt but if you don't grab your prospects attention in at least the first 10 seconds then they are gone elsewhere)

[leehack]

You really want to be looking into that department menu you are using, the smart theme sucks in this area using cgi-bin links. This has been discussed stacks of time on the forum already, i'd suggest pulling up a pew and having a read for an hour or so. If you must use the smart theme, then you have to change the department navigation IMO.

[acompton]

The home page is a little bland. Use that nice NZ river picture as the header, and get some product pictures on the front page.

When you have added the colour picker, switch to Single Page-per-Product and get rid of the Extended Info pages.

The section heading, "T Shirt", looks at first glance like you only have one.

Men's, Women's and Child's should all have apostrophes.

How are you driving traffic to the site?

Have courage: it took me two weeks to get my first order

[pgimson]

The home page is a little bland. Use that nice NZ river picture as the header, and get some product pictures on the front page.

When you have added the colour picker, switch to Single Page-per-Product and get rid of the Extended Info pages.

The section heading, "T Shirt", looks at first glance like you only have one.

Men's, Women's and Child's should all have apostrophes.

How are you driving traffic to the site?

Have courage: it took me two weeks to get my first order

Alan

Thanks for taking time to look at the site. A few questions.

Header - Do you mean as the first fragment or next to my logo? If the latter I do not know how to do that.

If I reduce the text content,the best seller photos will be higher. Are they sufficient as product photo's? Should I try to place that whole section higher up the home page?

What is the benefit of single product per page is it better for search engines?

Why remove the extended info pages?

Cheers

Paul

[acompton]

Header - Do you mean as the first fragment or next to my logo?

Its the whole of the top bar bit (currently blue). It might need some template editing to achieve what I'm suggesting.
I was thinking of something like this: www.geegees.co.uk (not an Actinic site).

If I reduce the text content,the best seller photos will be higher. Are they sufficient as product photo's? Should I try to place that whole section higher up the home page?

You may need some fragments with images to achieve this. The best seller photos always seem to end up a bit low.

What is the benefit of single product per page is it better for search engines?

Yes.

Why remove the extended info pages?

Look around the forum. There are numerous posts about this.

[Rich Brady]

Paul,

The header is the area at the very top of your site where you have the mymerino logo.

You could use a program like photoshop or fireworks to incorporate the river image and your current logo. Also, you are using .png files which are very large file types. You've be better switching to .jpgs .gifs to keep the load time down.

Moving the Best sellers to the top is a good way for you to get your products in the faces of your customers rather than making them scroll down, so swapping those around would be an relatively quick and easy fix.

Using SPP is much better for SEO than multi product pages. It will allow you to edit keywords and description specifi to that one product, which will drive customers to the exact product they want rather than a list of similar items.

I don't tend to use Ext. Info pages and as you only seem to have the washing/care instructions in there I'd have a brochure page dedicated to "caring for you merino product". Perhaps you could detail some hints and tips on the page to help pro long the life of the item and then provide a link from your product to that page.

Don't worry about the no orders, it will come.

[acompton]

On second look, that picture contains the Zque(?) logo and may be copyrighted to them. If you wanted to pursue that suggestion, you would have to look for a free or low-cost similar image from a photo stock seller.

[Rich Brady]

On second look, that picture contains the Zque(?) logo and may be copyrighted to them. If you wanted to pursue that suggestion, you would have to look for a free or low-cost similar image from a photo stock seller.

I hadn't noticed that either Alan, good point.

I don't tend to use Ext. Info pages and as you only seem to have the washing/care instructions in there I'd have a brochure page dedicated to "caring for you merino product". Perhaps you could detail some hints and tips on the page to help pro long the life of the item and then provide a link from your product to that page.

You could also send a leaflet out with all your items "Taking Care of your Garment" and give them the link back to said brochure page. Encouraging return visits to your site and you never know, you may get another sale.

[RuralWeb]

A very good first site IMO - it would benifit from some "action" pictures of the products. Having spent many months in Calgary I know the area well and that your market at this time of year will be skiers - XC & Downhill so get out on the trails and take a few shots. The area is ideal to show the products being used in an extreme environment - up on the galcier get some climbing/hiking shots and really sell the stuff. Downhill MTB is also good in the area - why not get a few bears wearing the stuff

[RuralWeb]

Oh and for the women a few Mounties

[Darren B]

Y If you must use the smart theme, then you have to change the department navigation IMO.

I knew there was something i ment to do after various upgrades

[pgimson]

Updated website

Well guys, I have taken your advice on board.

I have implemented a couple of add-ons purchased from Norman at http://www.drillpine.biz

I think I have converted to SPP as suggested in your replies. I still have to change the menu in smart theme.i was thinking of using the Norlist or Collapso add on. Will they solve the menu issues without messing up the overall design? I haven't had a chance to look or try either yet.

Am I moving in the right direction?

One question. my site seems to adjust the page width automatically to the screen resolution in the main body so that it fills the page. However, my header remains static and the right side is cut off if the area for displaying the screen is narrower i.e. on a laptop or if I bring up bookmarks in Firefox ( page resizes but header shunts to the right). I guess there must be a layout change somewhere but I haven't been able to find it yet. Any help on this one?

http://www.mymerino.com

[Mike Hughes]

One question. my site seems to adjust the page width automatically to the screen resolution in the main body so that it fills the page. However, my header remains static and the right side is cut off if the area for displaying the screen is narrower i.e. on a laptop or if I bring up bookmarks in Firefox ( page resizes but header shunts to the right). I guess there must be a layout change somewhere but I haven't been able to find it yet. Any help on this one?

Your header is a single image 1563 pixels wide. That's the problem.

Mike

[pgimson]

Your header is a single image 1563 pixels wide. That's the problem.

Mike

How wide should it be to fit when the site rescales? Have looked in settings/site options/ cannot see any place to change values