Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I need imput on my website.

I currently have a home based business selling these bags through my website and I also do vendor shows in my area.  I designed tthe website myself through dot5 webhosting and used Sitebuilder.

I am getting some traffic, but not many sales.  I would like to know what I can do to get more sales.  My prices are less on these bags than most other sites that sell them.  I currently use Paypal shopping cart. 

I will be expanding my product line soon and will focus only on recycled eco-friendly handbags and accessories

I would like to know if my site is userfriendly and if there is something in my content that I can change to generate more sales.

I love these bags and take pride in great customer service.

Thanks and I appreciate any advice that I can get and am open to suggestions. 

My website  www.thehandbagcloset.com

Hey Baggirl,

You got a decent website which reflects your business but still can improve to make it look professional.  Here are my suggestions,

1. Images aren't really clear and when clicked they open in seperate window. You can post some good images and also make them enlarge in the same page or top layer of the page. There are lot of javascripts available to make this work for you.

2. Your logo and site name could be better and also select a slogan for your website which is attractive.

3. Guestbook signup goes to differnt website which I don't think its advisable. If you are hosting your website, may be hosting company provides free tools which you can use so you can stay in your own website domain.

4. Your email doesn't reflect your domain name. Don't you have an email account from the host provider.

5.You have reasonable amount of keywords, you can still do the anlaysis and add more related to your product.

These are just few of them. Hope it helps. Let me know if you need help.

Hi houstonVijai

Thanks so much for taking the time to look at my website!  You really gave me some great suggestions which I will work on. 

I am not very skilled at the images thing.  I have a mini studio here which is where I take my pictures, but also use stock photos.  As far as the enlarging suggestion, that is where I am really stumped.  My sitebuilder gives me a choice to blow up my images either in the same window or on a new page.  I would love to be able to figure out how to use an application to scroll over the images for close ups.  Javascript is something I know little about.  I am also worried about my last page where I have the closeups of the colors available.  I am trying to figure out a way to make that look more professional.

I will work on getting a logo and putting my slogan in more places to make it really stick in my customers mind.  It is actually  "  Be an eco-conscious fashionista"

I'm learning more everyday.

Thanks again for the suggestions.  I guess the images will be the area where I would need the help.  The rest can be easily taken care of.

Baggirl

Great!!

Don't hesitate to ping me for any help. I will be straight up if I can help quickly with no strings attached or need time and money.

Vijai

Hi,

I agree with everything that the previous poster suggested, but I don't agree that your site is decent. It's not professional at all and that's one of the main reason why you're not getting much sales. It sounds that you have so much passion for what you're doing, but your website looks like an afterthought. I've designed a few websites that sell bags (see my portfolio) and having a professional look really makes a difference.

Read these few articles from my blog:

Choosing Your eCommerce Solution
What is your Business Image Worth
Let a Professional Design your Business Logo

I think you really need to consider going away from the sitebuilder and into a more professional website.

Hope this helps.