Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

The site has been updated, what does everyone think???

Starting to get there ... It certainly looks much better than when you first started with your .com site many months ago.

Why not learn from an on-line store thats my biggest competitor.

http://www.flyingjestore.com/

Notice that they`ve included "text" below the image tables on the front page. Remember in another thread that I suggested you ad "text" ... this is what I was referring to. The reason for the text on the front page is not for your shoppers to read ... but for the search engine`s spiders and robots. Place strategic keywords within the text ... (note: don`t load it up with key words, but use them well.) and the search engines will start to index off of those key words. 

I`ve noticed that you are starting to add more product everyday .. good job!

The "New Item" feature is great .... but your thumbnails are disorted ... you may want to resize your large images or create a "new" re-sized image ... so that your shopping cart thumbnail program will not distort your images (If I`m correct ... your thumbnails are sizing down to 75x80)

I noticed that some of your Large Image pop-ups are not uniform in size. I clicked on the McQueen car and it opened a window of 1 size ... then clicked on a different product ... clicked on the Large Image and a totally different size window opened. Remember : UNIFORMITY

OK ....What are you doing to get your site indexed by the Search Engines?

Because if you don`t actively submit your site and keywords ... Flying J and others are going to "clean your clock" everyday of the year.

A couple of things I noticed:

    * Personal is misspelled Persoanl
    * Camcorders is misspelled Camcoders

Personally I would get rid of the forum. It screams "new site with nothing going on." If it doesn`t add to the site - it detracts.

The "Specials" graphic on the front page takes you to a page with no specials. Get rid of the link if there`s nowhere to go.

The "Specials" graphic mentions "free shipping". When I view source and search, the word "free" is nowhere to be found. Are search engines finding it?

If you only have one language and one currency get rid of the boxes. They just clutter up the page. In fact the British flag makes it look like a UK company.

Good luck.


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Steve,

I do appriciate the input you leave about my site, but the only problem I do have is the fact that you said you felt bad for me.....I don`t want or need anyone`s sympothy.....encourage me, offer me advise, point out mistakes that have been made(we are only human) and that sort of stuff.....and second, if you don;t care enough about other members and helping them out when you can, I would not expect anyone else to offer thier encougarment or advise when you ask for it.
Sun was created for all of us to network togeather, share ideas and advise and to encourage would be business owners to not give up when things are looking down....we are here to pull ppl up and help in any way we can.....that way we all succeed.
To everyone that has taken the time to respond, I do appriciate all the input and advise that is given and I take all of it to heart......that just shows me there are others out there that do care more about others as a community than just about themselves. I do  try and return the favor when I have something that I feel is relevent.
OK, I`ll get off my soapbox now....

We now return you to your local programing already in progress........

tjg and steve, thanks for helping a fellow community member, twc238.

look for my new topic outlining some of those features entitled, "Helpful Hints to make the most of the StartupNation Community".

it`s located in the forum area called, Category Stew. hope you can contribute there.

rich

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Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation

Paul,

I think the overall structure of the site is a good framework to work from.  My biggest suggestion would be to tighten up the design by adding some clear separation of columns, etc.  Right now you have some very good elements, such as the left navigation, newsletter sign-up, etc floating in a lot of disconnected white space. 

The elements themselves, including your top header are well done.  I also like that you feature a few of your products up-front. 

I know I`m focusing on the home page right now, but I`m in the midst of getting some other great community features up and running.

Anyone else care to tackle some other of the pages?

-------------------------

Brian Cleveland,
Web Producer,
StartupNation

Popping this up to the top ... hoping that others here will atleast visit Paul`s web site ...

and maybe give one of our fellow members some feedback.

Paul,

I`ll offer my two cents from a usability, SEO and first impression standpoint. My first impression was of indifference -- the site doesn`t look unprofessional, but it also has the "homemade" look to it. In a competitive industry like consumer electronics retailing where customers are skeptical of unknown names, it`s critical to show customers a design that conveys a credible, reputable company image. For specific design guidelines to help improve your site`s credibility, visit http://credibility.stanford.edu/

When viewing your poduct detail pages, the product specs are not consistently aligned. Readers will require more time to read and process your content, and the inconsistency chips away at the credibility of your site. Here is an example: http://rdbelectronics.net/cart/product_info.php?cPath=2_55&a mp;a mp;products_id=151&osCsid=446c1ad9d71062712f950f88402495 23 

I`d also like to see you display one of the most important action items -- the Add to Cart button -- in a consistent location where a customer is likely to expect it and see it. Currently, it is below the product specs, which means that the location varies depending on the length of the specs and often times is "below the fold", thus forcing customers to scroll to even see the button.

You might also consider grouping the price elements on your page. Your price is in the upper right corner of the main body area, but the "Saving $10.00" is listed at the bottom of the specs. I`d recommend taking a page from Amazon`s book (yep, that was an intended pun) and list the MSRP/regular price, then the customer`s actual price, and then the savings amount. For example:

List Price: $28.00 Price: $18.48 & eligible for free shipping You Save: $9.52 (34%) But make sure to apply a strike-through style to the List Price so that it`s clear to the visitor that`s the list price and not the actual price. Another important requirement for a site like yours is to include your physical address and telephone number on your Contact Us page. Whenever I`m shopping for electronics online, if I encounter a store I`ve not purchased from nor heard of, I always look for their physical address. (One of my litmus tests is to make sure the store isn`t in Brooklyn, NY due to the large number of gray market dealers located there.) In addition, if you accept phone orders or provide phone support, list your phone number at the top of every page in the website. Amazon.com and Buy.com can get away without showing a phone number, but it`ll cost you sales by not doing so. Now a word about your navigation. I cannot figure out the sort order of your Categories list. It appears perhaps to be listed in the order that you created the categories? You may consider sorting these alphabetically so that customers can more easily find what they`re seeking. I thought your checkout process was efficient, but I do wonder whether you really need to know whether I`m male or female? Also, are the majority of your customers from the United States? If so, then either make the United States the default Country selection or put it at the top of the list. Do you need my fax number? If not, then eliminate the field. Is there a specific reason to ask for the zip code between Street Address and State? If not, then put it after State where most people logically expect to enter that piece of information. Finally, would you really ship an order to Botswana? If not, then don`t offer that country as a choice in the drop down. My point is that you should eliminate fields that are not essential to the checkout process and make the fields that you do need intuitive for your customers to complete. My final piece of advice is to consider creating a more unique selling proposition. "Your one stop electronics online store" doesn`t really differentiate you from Buy.com or any of the ten thousand other "one stop electronics stores" on the internet. Perhaps you have some specialized knowledge about LCD televisions or high-def home entertainment systems. If so, capitalize on that by promoting your store as "The best online source for high definition home theater information and products." Ok, I lied, I have one more piece of advice related to search engine optimization. This URL is doing nothing to help you in search engines: http://rdbelectronics.net/cart/product_info.php?cPath=3_31&a mp;a mp;products_id=3&osCsid=446c1ad9d71062712f950f8840249523 Use a tool like mod_rewrite to change that URL to http://rdbelectronics.net/Widescreen_DCR_Plasma_TV_with_Pixe l_Plus_2.htm Make sure also that you`re pushing your product database out to Froogle, PriceGrabber and the like. Also, don`t forget to publish a SiteMap available for Google (http://www.google.com/webmasters/). Regards, Jason

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Website Strategist
InetSolution, Inc.
Website:www.inetsolution.com
Blog: turnleft.inetsolution.com

I guess this was a bad time to stop drinking........lol

Thanks Jason, that was just the type of feedback I was looking for..........

Paul,

I was just on your website again and offer my compliments to you for providing really large photos behind your "click to enlarge" link. One of my pet peeves is e-commerce sites that offer to show me a larger photo, but after clicking, I either see another thumbnail photo or one that is barely large enough to see any product detail.

Your large photos allow me to see the texture and detail of the products. Nice job!

Thanks,

Jason

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Website Strategist
InetSolution, Inc.
Website:www.inetsolution.com
Blog: turnleft.inetsolution.com