Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

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Excellence is the result of dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible.

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Excellence is the result of dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible.

Personally, I don`t think theres much that really sets you apart from other sites. You advertise your products, talk about why it`s unique or different or better, etc. But to an average visitor, there isn`t anything solid, or any evidence right away, that you really are better than the others. Obviously, your visitors can`t smell or taste your product right away. I`ve never purchased food or drink products online, simply because it`s easier for me to go down the street to get what I`m familiar with vs. going with the unknown; I already know what I`m getting.

Their edge, in many cases, is their names, which are popular and known. You are up against bigger, better known companies, so you have to work harder to get peoples attention, set yourself apart, get people to trust you and your product. Free samples might help, or free shipping on a sampler, but that can be extrem ely expensive on your part. So  part of the trick is to  throw a convincer in there, something to make your visitors say "Yes, I want to try this", and follow through.

Part of that, to me, is the images you use. Waves and reefs and buildings are not conveying anything to me about this being a superior coffee; they are just imagery for the names/categories, but don`t tell or show me anything as a potential customer. I want to see the product in some form with clear pictures.

If it is roasted to order, does that mean it is done when I place the order? How long before it is shipped? How fresh is it when I get it? Maybe simplistic questions with obvious answers, but myself  I would like it spelled out clearly and fairly soon if I`m considering it. Something like "Shipped within hours of roasting!" would be beneficial.

Basically, tells us why this is beneficial to us, and not so much about yourself, right up front. You already know about you, and we can learn about you on your "About Us" page; make the benefit to me clearer first.

When you say "good ecomm software", I can`t comment really on the cart functionality, but checking with W3C there are almost 200 errors in the code, an excessive amount of javascript and css, and I don`t see things like h1/h2 tags. Cleaner, corrected, optimized code would help for SEO. Much of the text is too small and difficult to read. And the main page looks like a standard shopping cart site layout, nothing to really catch the eye and grab a users attention.

You`re dealing with coffee lovers, which I am, and I`m sure you are too; make it appeal and sell to me, which it isn`t. If you visited your site for the very first time and knew nothing about your company or products, would you be convinced to buy?



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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

Thanks for the beneficial tips, I will use them to create a more friendly website.


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Patzer`s Jewels-N-Gems

Fundraiser 1.0™ - Raise Up To $11 Million Dollars in Capital- Learn How!

Hi Kevin :-)
Here`s an observation for you, which I believe is part of the issue: You`ve posted what you`ve done, and there`s no Web URL to your site. Dadministrator made an important point about your visibility within a highly competitive field, and you thought it wasn`t pertinent to this particular topic of a Web site critique.

Webline brought up a further point that the site doesn`t really speak to the customer, paying more attention to who you are and what you do. So it seems there`s a perspective issue here, with the "energy," so to speak, wanting to come from the customer, to the Web site.

It should be the other way around. The flow of effort should go from the site to the customer.

Using this filter I`ve been discussing, asking for the purpose of a company`s product or service, I took a look at your site (after finding it through your profile). I asked myself, "What`s the purpose?" I then looked to see if there`s information about "a way to" do something.

Your master news flash headline is interesting, but tells me nothing useful other than prices are going up for coffee. Your prices aren`t going up, but I haven`t even gotten to where I know your prices yet.

The immediate next content area talks about how you have great coffee---"or so you say." And that`s the point: How would I know this at the start of the site?

So again, I applied the filter: "Here I am at a site of some sort. What`s the purpose? What do they offer that`s a way to do something new, different, unusual, or what-have-you?"

I went to the Featured Items, then the Merchandise, and saw a lot of brewing or grinding machines. So I figured this is a company that likes coffee, and they sell grinding machines and stuff. But that doesn`t seem right---there`s all this stuff about coffee itself.

So I went to the "Our Coffees," and saw a list of coffee types. I clicked around and nothing linked to anything, so I figured it`s interesting, sort of, but doesn`t do much for me.

Then, after all this wandering around, purely because it`s a site critique (I would have probably left much sooner), I found the list of coffees on the far right. It seemed just that, a list, without anything being highlighted as a link. And finally I found the prices for each type of coffee.

My conclusion, based on the "to what purpose?" question is that this site is an advertising site for various coffees and machines. It`s "a way to" read about how coffee prices are going up, and the coffee we buy isn`t all that great.

That`s your offer.

I don`t think that`s what you intend to be offering, right? Where`s your sales pitch? How does your site give me a compelling new "way to" what....?

Thank you all of you - that`s exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for.  Now it`s time to go to work. :)

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Excellence is the result of dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible.

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Our Goal Is Your Success!
Founder Girls with Goals

1. Your styles ( in the page code) should be moved to an external style sheet.
2. To help conversions - you should reduce the number of clicks required for the viewer to purchase the product.
3. I would change the content of the home page to feature more product.. that`s what you want to sell.

~Roland

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