Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 5:42 pm Post subject: New site for your review
Hi everyone
I have just put together a site, and being new to all of this, would like to get opinions on improving it.
I appreciate your help, thanks
Bob
www.amandasgiftemporium.com
Joined: 08 Oct 2003 Posts: 217 Location: Saint Lucia (Caribbean)
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 6:09 pm Post subject:
I'm sorry, but I didn't like your site. I spent a few minutes there and all I saw was product after product. What's in it for me? Why should I buy your products? I believe that you've broken every intenet marketing rule.
Your site seems well designed. But where's the content? You have so many products/gifts on your pages that I was confused. I stayed there for a few seconds deciding what to click. As for the smileys, I hate them!
Try to read some articles on Allan's forum and learn about the realities of internet marketing.
Sorry if I sound harsh, but you asked for opinions and this is just my opinion. Someone might disagree with all what I've said here.
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 6:33 pm Post subject: Review of my site
Hi Mantius
Dont think twice about being too harsh. I need this feedback to improve. As I said, this is all new to me and I am open to all suggestions. I just stumbled into this site, and it looks like a good place to can get the info I need.
Thanks
Bob
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 6:33 pm Post subject: Review of my site
Hi Mantius
Dont think twice about being too harsh. I need this feedback to improve. As I said, this is all new to me and I am open to all suggestions. I just stumbled into this site, and it looks like a good place to can get the info I need.
Thanks
Bob
Been there done that one I had the same products on my giftsite 6 years ago, same company too I bet. That doesn't mean you can't be successful, you can but you have a long road to haul trying to be everything to everyone.
You need to focus on a niche instead of trying to cover everything. Provide quality information, gift help, gift registry, newsletter, etc. to your visitors so they feel your site is different from the other 5,000 to 10,000 sites just like it.
You definitly need to learn about how to optimize for the SE's ... browse the SEO forum here for some starter tips. I would also suggest Sean Burn's newsletter (he is a poster here, so look him up on the member list).
As far as the overall design of the site, it doesn't look very nice in Netscape, overlapping text in the navigation area. It looks quite crowded, you need more whitespace so your visitors don't feel crowded and overwhelmed.
You have some spelling errors ... copywrite is incorrect, copyright is correct, as well as punctuation and capitalization errors.
I would keep your credit card/payment graphics small and consistent across the site.
I am on cable but I suspect your site may not load well for dial up visitors. You have java on your home page, multiple credit card graphics, plus the graphics for your products, buy buttons, cartoon button, javascript, and a multitude of other graphics that are really not needed. Less is more, text is best for SE's, and a fast loading page will please your visitors more than banners and tons of graphics. The only graphics you need are your products, and you need to optimize them to load fast.
Why a site counter? So you can show your visitors how many visitors you had? Why would they care? Get one that you can see and they can't. It's another graphic you don't need. Your host may already offer you stats that you don't need to slow the loading of your pages to use.
Safesurf, family friendly graphics ... put them on your About Us page.
I know you put a lot of time and hard work into building your site, as I said, I've been there. But the market for your site is absolutely overwhelmed with sites just like yours. You would be further ahead, IMO, to take one niche area of the products, for example, African American, Animals, Birds, Romantic decor, etc. ... just one of those and research keyphrases. Then whichever niche has the best projected profitability, build a site around that niche with good quality content, features, and sell your products.
Gifts, and gift ideas, are very hard keyphrases to rank well for.
Find the niche, get the keyphrases, match up the products, then build the site ... after you learn some basic SEO.
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 2:50 am Post subject: Review of my site
Hey Debs,
Thanks for the feedback. You brought up good points, a few of which I have addressed. I added more whitespace and lost a few icons and buttons. We will get to the rest tomorrow, it's getting late.
FYI email with 'my details' or 'my information'~~~~
Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 1761 Location: Bangor, Maine
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 1:18 pm Post subject:
Get rid of the marquis text (scrolling text).
- Annoying on the eyes. Makes people want to leave.
Get rid of the "last updated on".
- Makes your site look newbe-ish. And if you don't update for a week or a month, it makes your site look old.
Get rid of the guest book.
- Or at least move it to the About Us page. Your trying to sell. Why offer them other ways of leaving your site?
Concentrate on one or two products
- I think Debs already covered this one, but I wanted to reiterate.
The only way I would buy something from your site is if a) I was already willing to buy and b) you had the cheapest total price (including S&H). Otherwise, there is no enticement for me to buy from you. _________________ Eric D. Burdo They Made $6,513 a day With Clickbank Doing This...
I wouldn't focus on just one or two products, but I would focus on a small category or subcategory of products, then offer content and goodies to build upon that niche.
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 1761 Location: Bangor, Maine
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 9:17 pm Post subject:
Sorry, I should have said one or two categories, not one or two products. Keep the niche idea going, even though your not dealing with an affiliate site. It makes it easier to drive traffic. _________________ Eric D. Burdo They Made $6,513 a day With Clickbank Doing This...
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 10:15 pm Post subject: Review of my site
Hi everyone,
I just want to keep thanking you all for the info. I have made several changes as suggested that sounded reasonable. Now I need to investigate further into finding this niche. I'm kicking around a few ideas. I understand 'wordtracker' is a good tool for getting help?
By the way, Debs, does my page look any better in Netscape since I changed the page width? I could not view my site there.
Bob, I am still seeing the same problem in the nav section ... I looked at your source code and I believe the problem is where you see <br> before </div> instead of after it:
one example from your html:
href="flyer2/dogs.html">Dogs</a></i></b><br></font></div><div align="right">
It happens in 5 or 6 places, should be relatively easy to fix.
I do recommend wordtracker, particularly the one day admission so you can research Google. If you find a niche on Google, there is a good chance it's a niche on any SE.
Look for decent demand, competition you can beat, and a reasonable KEI, I suggest a KEI of 40 or higher. To see if you can beat the competition, check backlinks on top sites using keyphrase without quotes. If they have hundreds or thousands of backlinks, it could take you years to get in the top 10, but you should be able to get 50 or 100 good quality backlinks in less than a year if you work at it.
Don't forget basic SEO ... the forum here has some great threads on what to do.
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 3:05 am Post subject: Review of my site
Hey Debs,
Thanks for the heads up. As I mentioned, my expertize in html is limited. VERY limited. I am building this site through 'Homestead'. I basically do a 'drag and drop'. But I'm trying to learn.
I have just increased the width of this page through their program, which is almost to their max. Hope it looks better.
Thanks
Bob
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I had the same products on my giftsite 6 years ago, same company too I bet. That doesn't mean you can't be successful, you can but you have a long road to haul trying to be everything to everyone.
Keep the niche idea going, even though your not dealing with an affiliate site. It makes it easier to drive traffic.