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STFTA

posts: 12

Sep 02, 2007 1:23 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Hello everyone.

http://www.southtexasfta.com


Well my site is finally open as of August 31st. I have not received any orders yet but I am sure they will be rolling in soon.

I had the help of Claimtheweb.com with the design and the cart. The main purpose is to be used as a retail store selling FTA receivers. I am working on some education materials as well and will update the site with those soon.

Please let me know what you all think as a consumers point of view on how the site operates and flows.

Chris

STFTA2007-9-2 15:19:53
Webline

posts: 687

Sep 02, 2007 1:38 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Uh, you might want to give the link for the site.
Webline2007-9-2 13:38:32


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

M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons


STFTA

posts: 12

Sep 02, 2007 3:20 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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First post edited and link added: http://www.southtexasfta.com

 

Sorry about that.

Webline

posts: 687

Sep 02, 2007 3:49 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Visually .... I like the logo and the general layout. Personally I prefer sites that aren`t overwhelming with graphics. Having said that, the large sale area is just a bit large, I think .... overall, your page is like 1000px wide +, which can make for a lot of side scrolling. Maybe narrow it somewhat.

As far as usability, it seems to be ok, although I haven`t explored enough carts to know how it stacks up to others as far as features or anything. Products have multiple images and a lot of info for them, which is always good.

For your page source/SEO ..... your meta description and keywords are empty, you need to fill these in. In your title, it`s just your company name; try a few keywords or brief description in it, before your site/company name.

You have a lot of javascript that could be separated into its own file and imported. Your images don`t have alt tags, and links don`t have titles. Your main page failed W3C validation. More than likely, other pages will as well.
Code to Text Ratio: 4.24%. Reduce the page code and/or add more content.....not just images.

On your "Features" page, the column of items sits between the red menu column, and a bordered table. It seems out of place, or just crammed in there. I would suggest working it into your table, within the borders or something so that it looks like it belongs there, and to make it easier to tell what row the item is referencing within the table.

Also, an 800 number would help.

























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

M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons


STFTA

posts: 12

Sep 02, 2007 7:35 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Visually .... I like the logo and the general layout. Personally I prefer sites that aren`t overwhelming with graphics. Having said that, the large sale area is just a bit large, I think .... overall, your page is like 1000px wide +, which can make for a lot of side scrolling. Maybe narrow it somewhat.

As far as usability, it seems to be ok, although I haven`t explored enough carts to know how it stacks up to others as far as features or anything. Products have multiple images and a lot of info for them, which is always good.

For your page source/SEO ..... your meta description and keywords are empty, you need to fill these in. In your title, it`s just your company name; try a few keywords or brief description in it, before your site/company name.

You have a lot of javascript that could be separated into its own file and imported. Your images don`t have alt tags, and links don`t have titles. Your main page failed W3C validation. More than likely, other pages will as well.
Code to Text Ratio: 4.24%. Reduce the page code and/or add more content.....not just images.

On your "Features" page, the column of items sits between the red menu column, and a bordered table. It seems out of place, or just crammed in there. I would suggest working it into your table, within the borders or something so that it looks like it belongs there, and to make it easier to tell what row the item is referencing within the table.

Also, an 800 number would help.



Awesome advice! Thank you very much I will look into every aspect of your response. I am working on the 1800 number as I type this with a virtual pbx. I will report back soon.
STFTA2007-9-2 19:38:42
CraigL

posts: 9051

Sep 03, 2007 3:14 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Well, I gotta tell ya....I have NO clue what an FTA receiver is. :-) I suppose I might be interested in reading the site, but I`d sure like to know ahead of time, right?

Instead of having a bit Sale sign right in the front lobby...wouldn`t you at least consider explaining why the site exists, what I would want with one of these receivers, and how they`re related to space and satellites?

I can see there are a bunch of features, dishes, and accessories, none of which I know to go look at because I have no idea what`s the main product....in the first place.

Suppose you walked into Target one afternoon, and before you even got through the front door, 15 sales people crowded around you and told you (hollered at you) that there`s this fantastic sale on FTE receivers! They won`t let you proceed until you`ve listened to them, and you can`t even see past them into the store. How would you feel?

Your home page, I think would work better as a "This Month`s Specials" page, with a friendlier, better Home page.
STFTA

posts: 12

Sep 03, 2007 11:44 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Well, I gotta tell ya....I have NO clue what an FTA receiver is. :-) I suppose I might be interested in reading the site, but I`d sure like to know ahead of time, right?

Instead of having a bit Sale sign right in the front lobby...wouldn`t you at least consider explaining why the site exists, what I would want with one of these receivers, and how they`re related to space and satellites?

I can see there are a bunch of features, dishes, and accessories, none of which I know to go look at because I have no idea what`s the main product....in the first place.

Suppose you walked into Target one afternoon, and before you even got through the front door, 15 sales people crowded around you and told you (hollered at you) that there`s this fantastic sale on FTE receivers! They won`t let you proceed until you`ve listened to them, and you can`t even see past them into the store. How would you feel?

Your home page, I think would work better as a "This Month`s Specials" page, with a friendlier, better Home page.

 

I hear that loud and clear. So maybe a description on what FTA (Free to Air) is and what you can expect from them? As well how the products can work for the consumer saving you money.

Is that something you had in mind?

CraigL

posts: 9051

Sep 03, 2007 4:28 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Yah, there should be a welcome, here`s what we sell, here`s what they are, and here`s why you would want one (need one?). It`s the "customer journey" part of the process. Then there`s the "call to action" which isn`t very clear either, but at least is present with the sale notification.
STFTA

posts: 12

Sep 07, 2007 12:36 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Hello again,

I have somewhat edit the page now. How does it look? I had a lot more information but it seemed cluttered


Welcome to - South Texas FTA

Thank you for choosing us as your FTA receiver headquarters. Here at SouthTexasFTA.com we take pride in customer relations. We want you to be more than satisfied not only with your purchase but with our customer relations, checkout and delivery process. SouthTexasFTA.com is centrally located in the United States so we can keep our shipping times to a minimum whether you live on the east or west coast.

We are available Monday thru Friday 9:00am - 6:00pm CST for any support calls, phone orders or questions you may have. Our newly added FAQ section above was compiled with the questions we have been asked most often. Please look it over for all kinds of information on what exactly FTA is and what our receivers can do for you.

Our web site is designed to be as user friendly as possible. SouthTexasFTA.com accepts many forms of payment including Visa, Master card, Discover, American Express, Paypal and Google Checkout. You can order through our web site or pay over the phone using a credit card. Rest assured that SouthTexasFTA.com is 100% secure with all money transactions as we have 128 bit SSL encryption and do not store credit card information.

SouthTexasFTA.com is now proud to offer "Express Checkout". This allows for one time purchases and lets you bypass registering on the site. This is accessible from the log in screen during your checkout process.

Thank you again for choosing SouthTexasFTA.com as your FTA equipment provider and we hope you enjoy your shopping experience with us.


I also added an extensive FAQ section as well.

Also if you notice on the CNX comparison page, the page looks different on whether your in IE or Firefox. I like the way it looks in IE but not sure why FF displays it the way it does.
Thank you
STFTA2007-9-7 1:1:55
CraigL

posts: 9051

Sep 07, 2007 3:11 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Okay, this is better. The font is a bit weird, but you`re moving in the right direction for sure. I particularly like that your FAQ reference on the home page is a link. That`s very good, and I had to go there immediately.

What I didn`t like was that the link opened a new page. If there`s a very good reason for opening a new window, fine, but in this case there`s no reason. A menu bar would keep me aware of where I am on the site, and the Back button would be all I`d need.

Additionally, you`re going to have to speak with a copywriter to get your language more in line with proper usage. I`m getting the sense that English isn`t your first language? If not, that`s okay...you`re to be congratulated for how well you`re doing! But, when you`re trying to sell merchandise online to an American audience, your credibility is partly derived from the "sense" of the Web site.

To that end, regardless that you`re making yourself nicely understood here on the forums, it`s just not enough to generate a strong impression of quality merchandise on the Web site. An editor would help, as would a writer who can clean up your overall message---tighten it up.

For example, in your first paragraph you`re still avoiding an immediate explanation of FTE. You could change it this way:

Welcome to South Texas FTA, your one-stop-shop for "Free To Air" receivers.

Why would you want an FTA receiver? Mostly because of the rising costs of cable television. A satellite system, using one of these receivers, can pick up un-encrypted signals from all over the world. That means you can watch TV pretty much for free!

The primary benefits of Free To Air systems are:
  • Main one
  • Another good one
  • Three is fine
From there, you can build on the content and layout, etc.
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