Website Review and Suggestions

**Shadrach** · 01:29 PM

Having some trouble with conversions so I wanted to get some feed back on some changes we made in the spring.

Old TimberghostShop Detail Page

New TimberghostShop Detail Page

Is there something we are missing? Thanks for any help..

Shadrach

**chrishirst** · 07-07-2010, 04:33 PM

And what exactly was it that you did??

And WHY oh WHY does everybody put those stupid "social network popups" exactly so they obscure the very thing you want people to CLICK ON!!!!??????
For goodness sake if you must have them put them out of the way of the "BUY THIS PRODUCT" buttons!

You want people to BUY the stuff primarily not bring along another set of timewasting "tyre kickers" that reduce your conversion rate even more!!!!!!

**Shadrach** · 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

And what exactly was it that you did??

Really? You can't tell any difference? I think we changed too many things to list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

And WHY oh WHY does everybody put those stupid "social network popups" exactly so they obscure the very thing you want people to CLICK ON!!!!??????
For goodness sake if you must have them put them out of the way of the "BUY THIS PRODUCT" buttons!

I think your missing something again here.. The bookmark pop-up doesn't obscure anything but the ssl certificate. Certainly not the "Add to Cart" button.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

You want people to BUY the stuff primarily not bring along another set of timewasting "tyre kickers" that reduce your conversion rate even more!!!!!!

For something like a bookmark that drives nothing but free traffic. I don't care.. they can come 'kick the tires' all they want. If there's one sale for every 2000 free visitors.. I'll take it. The conversion rate I am referring to is for PPC.

Honestly.. and Respectfully, I'm a little disappointed in the quality of your review.

Shadrach

**chrishirst** · 07-07-2010, 05:21 PM

Quote:

The bookmark pop-up doesn't obscure anything but the ssl certificate. Certainly not the "Add to Cart" button.

Are you sure about that?tgs.png

Quote:

Honestly.. and Respectfully, I'm a little disappointed in the quality of your review.

Well would you like me to tell you how wonderful it is when clearly it isn't

I see no differences betwen the pages that would make me more likely to buy a product!

Quote:

The conversion rate I am referring to is for PPC.

Then that make the inclusion of the "share thing even more nonsensical.

PPC landing pages are about IMPACT and had you said it was a ppc landing page I would have looked at it differently

reduce the header on the page, lose the navigation, get rid of the superfluous stuff.

YOU have paid to get that person to the page and you want them to buy the product not mess about with reviews (that's after they have bought it), social networking ( that's if the find the page by accident or AFTER they have bought it)

They land on the page and you then have to say

BUY THIS PRODUCT

not suggest that they have a look around first and then maybe purchase a pocket knife instead, clicks for those are probably cheaper.

**zomex** · 07-07-2010, 05:55 PM

Chris while I enjoy your humor at times I think you were a little disrespectful here.

To the OP:

I would like to start by congratulating you on a nice website. Your new page is my nicer than your old one. A couple of suggestions:

- Your logo and telephone number do not stand out enough. I'm not sure about the best way to go about it but you may be able to fade your header image a bit although that may loose the nice look.

- As Chris said the social networking button is right below your buy now button. When you scroll over the button it covers up the buy now button which is a big problem in my opinion. I would also recommend checking your stats to see how many people use that button. I was thinking of adding one but decided not to after asking myself how many people would really use it.

- You may wish to add a bit of padding to your description text (see attachment).

- Popups are a little bit "old school" these days, you may wish to add a script such as lightbox to open your images in a box dynamically on the same page.

Regards,
Jack

**chrishirst** · 07:49 PM

Naah! You'ld KNOW when I'm being "disrepectful"

Quote:

I would like to start by congratulating you on a nice website. Your new page is my nicer than your old one. A couple of suggestions:

- Your logo and telephone number do not stand out enough. I'm not sure about the best way to go about it but you may be able to fade your header image a bit although that may loose the nice look.

Now that's a review looking at the page from a "random surfing" point of view, and yes it's a nice enough page for a catalogue site, So, sure if you happen to be browsing around looking for "outdoor gear" you would read the info then maybe "save to favourites" and go looking for somewhere cheaper.

But this is a selling page, there should be NO distractions, no "frilly bits", when they have clicked the "Add to cart" is when you can suggest other things to them.
WHY would you buy traffic only to have them "bookmark" it and get others not to buy anything, after all YOU can "bookmark" it yourself for NOTHING.

You have got them there to sell them a product, they have clicked the advert so they are two thirds the way to buying, take them the other third and make the sale!!

**Shadrach** · 07-08-2010, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Are you sure about that?Attachment 4511

Ok.. I see your point. But I am having trouble duplicating the problem. I have looked at it in FF, IE, Safari and Chrome. None of these display the bookmark script that way. What browser were you using? Is that a factor?

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Well would you like me to tell you how wonderful it is when clearly it isn't.

No.. Actually I would like an honest constructive review, positive or negative, without the reviewer being a smart @ss.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

I see no differences betwen the pages that would make me more likely to buy a product!

...

PPC landing pages are about IMPACT and had you said it was a ppc landing page I would have looked at it differently

Landing pages in and of themselves are not simply about impact. In fact, the layout of a landing page, which is what this review is about, is mainly about minimizing stress. Stress is always minimized when a customer comes to your page and intuitively knows what they can do there and how they can do it. The impact of the page, the things that positively influence the customer to buy, is completely the responsibility of sales copy. The only way the layout of a landing page can influence a customer's likeliness to buy is by creating stress.

Stress like what comes from concern over the security of credit card information..

Old Landing Page -> No SSL.
New Landing Page -> SSL Prominently displayed in close proximity to "Add to Cart" button.

Stress like being unsure exactly how to place your order..

Old Landing Page -> Product Options(Size, Color, etc.) and Customer Actions(Add to Cart, Bookmark) in order but not quite neatly
New Landing Page ->Product Options(Size, Color, etc.) and Customer Actions(Add to Cart, Bookmark) neatly ordered in an intuitive chain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

reduce the header on the page, lose the navigation, get rid of the superfluous stuff.

This is more of a catalog site than one designed purely for the purpose of selling a single product. We want them to be able to navigate around and add products to their order. We get more ROI that way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

YOU have paid to get that person to the page and you want them to buy the product not mess about with reviews (that's after they have bought it), social networking ( that's if the find the page by accident or AFTER they have bought it)

Reviews are an integral part of the buying process. They allow the customer the opportunity to see an unbiased opinion. We are in the business of selling things and our customers know that. To display customer reviews gives our sales copy an unbiased endorsement. Not having reviews creates stress as customers feel like they are only hearing the voice of the company whose sole purpose is to exchange products for money. Even having a few negative reviews is important. Not having negative reviews also creates stress because customers intuitively know that no matter how great the product is there will always be people who don't like it. Having all glowing reviews gives the impression the reviews aren't representative of the public's opinion of the product if not completely made up by the company trying to sell the product.

In my opinion, please enlighten me(respectfully) if I am wrong, the sole purpose of redesigning the layout of a landing page is to minimize the reasons you give your customer Not to buy. The reasons your customer has to buy should be found in your sales copy. That's really the reason for requesting the review. Last year there were a couple of products we sold extremely well using the old layout and the same sales copy. Now with the new layout and the same sales copy, we are getting clicks but few sales.

Thanks,
Shadrach

**Shadrach** · 07-08-2010, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zomex

I would like to start by congratulating you on a nice website. Your new page is my nicer than your old one.

Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zomex

Your logo and telephone number do not stand out enough. I'm not sure about the best way to go about it but you may be able to fade your header image a bit although that may loose the nice look.

Yeah.. I've been noticing that. It's just a photo overlayed with our logo and phone number. Replacing it should be really easy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zomex

As Chris said the social networking button is right below your buy now button. When you scroll over the button it covers up the buy now button which is a big problem in my opinion. I would also recommend checking your stats to see how many people use that button. I was thinking of adding one but decided not to after asking myself how many people would really use it.

You're right that is a big problem. I wasn't aware of it. I have been sitting here for 15 minutes trying to get it to do it. It was something our web designer had decided to implement and when I built the new page I just carried it over.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zomex

You may wish to add a bit of padding to your description text (see attachment).

I'll do that. The text is somewhat cramped.

Thanks,

Shadrach

**chrishirst** · 07-08-2010, 04:28 PM

Quote:

we are getting clicks but few sales.

And what does that tell you?

There are two different kinds of landing page, and the two should be kept apart.

A search landing page from SEs, your own search, browsing the site or a direct link which is the "soft sell" approach where you need to convince the customer that they really do want that product and they are quite right in buying it from you.
On this page you have all the things that make customers "omfortable".

The other is a Paid landing page. The "Hard Sell" Here you don't want so much verbiage and "frills" and if you are using Adwords, reducing wasted words and page clutter will improve your quality score and help to lower the click costs.

You have the two jumbled together. It is a waste of your money to get visitors to your pages just to read.
This is where "bounce rates" and "conversion rates" start to mean something, if you have paid nothing for the visit then them browsing the site, clicking whatever is acceptable, it's cost nothing and you may make a sale at some point.

IF that visitor has clicked on a paid advert they have already made up their mind, if you distract them at this point it has just cost you money.

**Shadrach** · 07-16-2010, 05:36 PM

Ok.. I've made two of the changes you guys suggested and am working on the third.

"Bookmark" script is gone..
Description Text given more margin to make text less cramped..

I have some concerns about our shopping cart page as well as the check out page. Would you mind checking them out for me? What would make you less likely to complete a sale?

TimberghostShop

Thanks,
Josh

**chrishirst** · 07-16-2010, 06:10 PM

lose the [product] has been added to the cart alert dialog because the modal nature of it interferes with the purchase flow.

Use something like a bar that fits under the menu.
http://www.modtalk.co.uk/article/c-a...ascript-alert/

Errors on the shipping address page need to be made FAR more obvious, putting a small message on the page (in the same font and colour) is insufficient THAT is where the modal alert dialog SHOULD be used! OR make it stand out!!!!!!!!

remove the delivery step and include that on the shipping page.

The less steps you have between deciding and paying the better.

**VirtuosiMedia** · 06:18 AM

Shadrach, the best thing that you can do to increase conversions on your site is not to ask opinions or solicit reviews, it's testing your site. Here is how you can perform a test:

Keep your old version as a control group (this should be your most popular product). We'll call this Page A. If you don't have conversion rates for this page, you should measure that before proceeding so that you have something to compare.
Choose a variable on Page A to test. You can choose anything from the product picture to the price to the location of the 'Add to Cart' button. Let's assume that you've chosen a different picture.
Create Page B. Page B should exactly the same as Page A, except that it will differ in one aspect - the variable you have chosen to test. For our example, you use a different picture.
Serve Page A to 50% of your visitors, Page B to 50%. Measure conversions for both and see what performs better. Run the test as long as you need to until you have conclusive results.
If Page B is an improvement, implement the change and test another aspect of the page. If it's not, find a different aspect to test as your variable. Repeat as necessary.

Some notes:

Only test one variable at a time. Start with what you think is the most obvious thing to test and work your way down.
You can use Google Website Optimizer to help you do the A/B testing.
If you want to test quickly, use Google AdWords to drive traffic to your test.
This should be a continual process. If you stick to it, your website and conversions will improve.

From a design perspective, I would suggest adding some whitespace around the edges. All of your page elements are butting up right against the left and right sides (and each other).

**Shadrach** · 07-17-2010, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

lose the [product] has been added to the cart alert dialog because the modal nature of it interferes with the purchase flow..

I think I can just turn off that option. Or either send the visitor directly to their shopping cart when they add something to it.

I am really limited as to what I can edit here. This is a turnkey shopping cart. Most of the time I can either use a function or turn it off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Errors on the shipping address page need to be made FAR more obvious, putting a small message on the page (in the same font and colour) is insufficient THAT is where the modal alert dialog SHOULD be used! OR make it stand out!!!!!!!!

remove the delivery step and include that on the shipping page.

The less steps you have between deciding and paying the better.

Yeah, they just gave us a one step checkout with the last update. But really it's more like a 3 step. I don't know why they didn't just put all the fields in one form. Not just the delivery options with shipping info, but why have the email field separate? The only one that makes even a little sense is the payment info. But I would still rather have it all on one continuous form.

I think I can at least get it to display that error message in red and bold though.

Thanks,
Shadrach

**Shadrach** · 07-17-2010, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtuosiMedia

Shadrach, the best thing that you can do to increase conversions on your site is not to ask opinions or solicit reviews, it's testing your site.

We are using a turnkey shopping cart. I really only get one shopping cart page and one checkout page. I can really only make small changes using CSS and even then only limited.

That more than anything is why I solicit advice. There really isn't anyway to test. I could always wait a few months to see if we had an increase in visitor value and other metrics but interpreting what all that means would be really difficult with no real way to tell what changes are causing the increases.

So I have to just get the best advice I can find and hope it works out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtuosiMedia

From a design perspective, I would suggest adding some whitespace around the edges. All of your page elements are butting up right against the left and right sides (and each other).

I had thought of that.. Also I was thinking of adding some background color and images to make the visitor feel as though they are being ushered through the process. I also think adding the SSL on both the shopping cart page and checkout page would help.

**VirtuosiMedia** · 07-17-2010, 11:20 PM

You don't have to test concurrently (two pages at once)- you can also test sequentially (one page variation at a time). The important thing, however, is to test only one thing at a time because, as you said, if you make a bunch of changes, you won't know which change had what effect. If you're having trouble getting the traffic volume for adequate testing and you're willing to invest, you can use Google AdWords to generate that traffic.

SSL is definitely a good idea. I wouldn't add a background color, white is good. In fact, you might want to consider getting rid of your current background for all white and expanding your layout horizontally a bit (it's a little cramped).

You have a lot of the right elements on the page, but I think that perhaps they could be organized better. The product rating should be up top next to the product, but it should be separated from the reviews, which should stay below. You may want to consider asking a few former customers or someone to write reviews. Reviews will improve the conversion rate.

A few other things you might want to consider (depending on your skill and the shopping cart you're using):

More images of each product.
Related products will help your conversions, upsells, and search engine footprint.
A category column on the left.
More ways to filter products on the category pages.