Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello, everyone...I am a newbie to "SUN", and I think this thread is truly wonderful!    So...I am going to try and take full advantage of using it...it is not often when you can get truthful feedback about your "baby" or "pet project", (especially from friends or family) and, in this case, a project that I hope will not only become my primary source of income, but, eventually provide enough income for me to also help produce seed money for an adjunct business.  Now, on to the desired critique.

My website is Working Girl Gems, and the address is www.workinggirlgems.com .  I also have utilized Hyperstreet`s webhosting as well as their website builder feature.  However, since my background is pretty extensive in computers and networking, I also utilize an FTP site to make necessary corrections and changes that I feel Hyperstreet`s program is remiss in, primarily the SEO side of this equation.  (Some of the ability to upload files is cumbersome also and I am very comfortable with FTP, so, I use it.)

What I really wish to have critiqued is the following:

1. How effective is the template design I have chosen for the business that I am in? (Artisan jewelry) I have not yet changed the primary logo (the lady that appears on all pages, and intend to when I am able to do so, so that I can more accurately reflect the industry.  Is this the kind of site that someone will feel comfortable buying Artisan jewelry from?  Should I utilize a more simplified, ecommerce "siteish" one-page type of website design, versus the one that I have now?
2. Please pay particular attention to my "Online Store".  It is the first tab on every page and it is where my "shopping cart" is for prospective customers to make purchases.  Is it appropriate for my line of business....should I utilize a separate program to make my own shopping cart and upload that to a new page(s)?
3. And last, but not least, are the rest of my web pages appropriate?  What I mean to say is, I am hoping to convey as much information as possible without being too wordy.  (I personally hate that myself, so I try to be as concise as possible when addressing any issues on my website.  I know that robots like a lot of text, however, I personally believe that well written pages and excellent SEO, combined with sufficient traffic/sales to/from one`s site can usually broach that obstacle.

I appreciate any and all comments from serious responders!  And...I thank all who do in advance...

Thanks, Deborah

(P.S.- I posted a copy of this under "Website Critique 101" I think it was called, without realizing is wasn`t the appropriate place to do so...so I copied that post here, as I should have originally!

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Working Girl Gems...Artisan jewelry at affordable prices! http://www.workinggirlgems.com

Hi and welcome,

At first glance I thought you were selling tattoos. The gallery video button turned me off, to me a video takes a long time to load and I don`t have time to wait.

The home page text is hard to read, maybe a thicker font would be easier to read. The gray text in the red box is even harder to read.

The idea is great, it just seemed dark and gloomy for the bright and well designed jewelry.

Just my humble opinion

Aaron




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Aaron Burnett Owner of We Work You Play

Errand Service
Errand Service Blog

Aaron....again, thanks!  Fast response and I agree with your assessments.  Thank you very much!

Deborah

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Working Girl Gems...Artisan jewelry at affordable prices! http://www.workinggirlgems.com

The main page looks, well, out of whack .... not in balance .... there is no flow or logic to it.

The empty lower left area isn`t appealing or practical.

The menu is in a really odd place.

I like the colors and the look, but since I know nothing about Artisan jewelry, I don`t know if the look is appropriate or not .... I think a model that is showing off your product, not tattoos, would be much more effective.

The Babel Fish and top 100 links are out of place; they should be in a less prominent area.

Your main page isn`t quite the same as the other pages, even thought they use the same elements; I would suggest make them all the same. Many pages have different colored fonts, some are hard to read.

For SEO, your code is ..... really weird .... javascript all over the place .... a lot of useless tags ( like 3 font closing tags in a row in one spot ) .... a lot of validation errors .... definitely some clean up is needed.


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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

You have a lot of meta tags that are of no value.

<META NAME="author" CONTENT="Deborah Lynch">
<META NAME="subject" CONTENT="Jewelry Store, Handcrafted, Artisan, one-of-a-kind designer jewelry">
<META NAME="Classification" CONTENT="Jewlery store, artisan, unique jewelry, one-of-a-kind designer jewelry, necklace sets, precious gemstones,  semi-precious gemstones, 14k gold-filled, sterling silver, .925 silver">
<META NAME="Geography" CONTENT="Los Angeles, California, USA">
<META NAME="Language" CONTENT="English">
<META NAME="Copyright" CONTENT="Working Girl Gems">
<META NAME="Designer" CONTENT="Deborah Lynch">
<META NAME="Publisher" CONTENT="Working Girl Gems, Deborah Lynch">
<META NAME="distribution" CONTENT="Global">
<META NAME="city" CONTENT="Los Angeles">
<META NAME="country""

The font is not consistent from page to page. Sometimes it is larger. Sometimes it`s a different color.

The script animation around the curser is (to me) annoying

The "WorkingGirlGems" graphic/banner at the bottom pf some pages, is out of place with the site... it`s color and font don`t go with the rest of the site.

~Roland

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

1. Great concept. However there are a few changes needed. Get rid of the animation around the cursor. Get rid of the Babelfish translation. Get rid of the Yahoo brand search.

2. I do not wish to sound sexist - but the phrase "working girl" has certain connotations. Obviously the entire concept is "rough trade" or something so it works but you might want to be sure that your prospects will relate. Do you think most of your prospects consider themselves "working girls"? Is that particularly flattering? Again, just a thought.

3. Product/brand needs to be front/center on the landing page. As someone else said. The site gives a first impression of being a tatoo parlor.

4. Your jewelry is upscale in appearance. So are the prices. So you might want to go with a more Betsey Johnson vibe for the site. A bit more rock and roll but refined somehow. How would you communicate blending the rock and roll attitude with beautiful jewelry? Your marketing communications should do a much better job than they`re doing right now. I am left unsure of the market position of your products.

5. Your product photos need major improvement. Thankfully this is really quite easy. (i) Go to an art supply store and buy a large piece of matte watercolor paper. Make sure there is some texture on the paper but not too much. (ii) Lay the paper flat on a table and place jewelry in center of paper. (iii) Place three or four table lamps around jewelry. You need a key light and two fill lights. Take a few pictures and then move the lights around. Take a few more pictures. This is an easy way to take great photos.

So here are some sites I found that I thought seemed more along the lines of how you should present your own site. Just a few thoughts.

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/trends/33-artistic-sites/

A lot of these sites have a more rock/roll/creative feel but still a strong sense of professionalism. I think you`ve got a fine start but you definitely need to pull it all together somehow and just execute a really strong brand. Right now you`re not really executing the concept well enough.

For your landing page - well - here`s what I would do. I would borrow a chrome motorcycle pipe and wrap five or six necklaces around the pipe. Photograph in full light. That would be a great landing page image and it would definitely convey a stronger sense of what your brand represents. Just an idea.

I think you need a really strong, crispy, well-executed "image" to sell merchandise at these prices.  

Hi, Roland:

Thanks for the input!  You know, I got these Meta tags from www.seochat.com .... supposedly, as good resource for site optimization.  The codes above are for when you have listed your site for selling items in other countries...they are called "Advanced Meta-tags"...supposedly, it gives those search engines a heads up on that fact, along with my using the Babel Fish translation cube for 8 other languages.  So...can you be a bit more specific when you say that they are useless, as in "no value"?

Thanks,

Deborah

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Working Girl Gems...Artisan jewelry at affordable prices! http://www.workinggirlgems.com

Wow. I just spent 5 minutes playing around with the animation. It`s really, really cool.

But then that`s all you get. It`s cool for sure, BUT it is a DISTRACTION from what you really want your visitors to do.

Some info on meta tags ....

http://www.webmarketingnow.com/tips/meta-tags-uncovered.html #robots




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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

You should not use an HTML Meta tag unless it serves a purpose. Useless Meta tags add unnecessary overhead to a Web page.

Here are some Meta tags that are ignored by search engines and browsers.

<meta http-equiv="reply-to"
<meta name="robots"
<meta name="revisit-after"
<meta name="resource-type"
<meta name="classification"
<meta name="distribution"
<meta name="rating"
<meta name="doc-class"
<meta name="generator"
<meta name="classification"
<meta name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing"
<meta name="copyright"
<meta name="author"
<meta name="doc-type"
<meta name="doc-class"
<meta name="doc-rights"

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter