Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I tried loading the varios addresses I saw, both in Firefox and IE, but couldn`t load them. I`ll try again later, though. :-) The main one I tried was www.whineranddiner.net

I couldn`t view the site.  It says: "Your computer must meet one of the following requirements.   Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or later, running on Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2003."

I`m on a Mac using FireFox but it didn`t come up for me on IE either.

I think I remember your old site though.  Pet products made from old wine crates, right?  So I saw it once before with no connection problems.

I saw it on a Mac with Firefox earlier so that must be a new thing.

As for the arrow ... you can`t put a character on there that will only render in some browsers. I`d just remove it for the 30-40% of the population not using the platform and browser combination that you are.

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

"Simply Eco-Luxurious: Because your Pet deserves the Very Best"
Whiner and Diner Pet Accessories

I did remove them. Thanks again!

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

"Simply Eco-Luxurious: Because your Pet deserves the Very Best"
Whiner and Diner Pet Accessories

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

"Simply Eco-Luxurious: Because your Pet deserves the Very Best"
Whiner and Diner Pet Accessories

Hah! I just opened the site in Firefox 1.x... :-D So something`s going right...!
Right off the top, though, if you`re going to have a French-language phrase, put the approximate translation in parens. That`s a sort of courtesy style, in many cases.

When you say people are raving about this `French words` and nobody understands what they mean, then the overall sentence becomes meaningless, see?

Another thing I see is a huge opportunity for SEO writing. You may want to consult with some folks in that arena. Lots of room there, and regardless of what people argue, it`ll help your visibility. (Also, you have a typo in your meta keywords: "uxury" should be "luxury.")

Possible rewrite on the description could be:

Keep in mind that the description is what most likely will show in the results page of a Google search.

Same with the home page title. You want something that`s indexed for popular searches, then use the page content itself to promote the brand. An example would be:
The site runs really nicely, looks terrific, and most of all, offers a unique item. More and more, these days, I`m seeing that most of the problems startups seem to have derive from cookie-cutter products, copies of copies, and reselling something someone else developed. To have a truly unique product eases a whole lot of burdens.

As such, the big issue is customer education. I`d optimize the site toward unique gifts, unusual pet supplies, luxury pet supplies, "for the pet lover," "pampered dogs," "pampered cats," and so forth.

Think along the lines of what someone would type into a search query if they consider their dog or cat a child. :-) What would they look for, why would they look for it, and what are they trying to find but don`t know they`re looking for? Y`know?

On a more prosaic level, your pictures of the hand-painting are fabulous, so use them as links to take people to an order form, or shopping page. I realize they`re each hand-painted, but you can have customers click any one of the pictures and go to the "how to buy one of these right this instant!" page. :-) Right?

That`s the only problem I see at all in the site---the lack of an obvious "Buy Now" tab or button. Easy to fix, and it`d capitalize on the "Oh Wow!" response I think you`ll be getting in many of your visitors.

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

"Simply Eco-Luxurious: Because your Pet deserves the Very Best"
Whiner and Diner Pet Accessories

RE: Description too long for SEs

It`s probably true that results text is about 25 words. But what I`m finding is that writing a coherant, interesting, description is like smiling when talking on the phone. The "intent" of the sentence tends to permeate the overall description, carrying along a sort of "push" to read the rest of that description.

In other words, it`s like starting a sentence:  "Once upon a"

There comes a level of obsession where someone just HAS to go back and edit it to include the "....time!"

So too, reading what`s clearly a compact description in only the first 25 words, in my opinion tends to get people to click the link, if for no other reason than to read the rest of the sentence. :-)

artalacarte - I think I remember what the site used to look like and I have to compliment you on the HUGE improvement. Your efforts will not go unrewarded. Don`t have much time to look at it but maybe feature some of your other products on the right side too instead of just all feeders. So instead of having the 3 other products at the bottom, put them all on the right side in categories. 

Good luck to you!



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

Guitar Repair - RepairMyGuitar.com - The Guitar Repair Directory