This store has some cute items in it. I think it could do quite well, but agree that it does need a bit of tweaking and adjusting.
I guess I’ll start with the first page of the site. The first thing I noticed was that the red and blue text did not fit in with the color scheme. Having the majority of the text bright like that, is hard on the eyes. The underlined blue text, makes you think it’s a link, which it wasn’t. There’s nowhere for your focus to land. It was also inconvenient having to scroll down the little bit to see the rest of the page. You might try adjusting things so it can all fit in the window without scrolling. Also, whenever you write your email address, you might want to make it an email link.
In looking at the source code of this page, you have a wonderful description of the site in your metatags. Use it on your page under your title! You need some content on the page that uses your keywords. For search engine optimization, keywords are only supposed to be used 1-7 times per 100 words on your page. You also will want to put the most important words first, in your metatag. Each page needs to have it’s own set of keyword and description metatags, specific to the page’s content. Don’t just load them all up on your index page.
Upon entering the store, I was expecting to see the products. Instead, I got another ad for your catalog. (And this one didn’t tell me I could get it free with a $50 order!) This gave me the feeling that the catalog was the most important item in your store. I, of course, was not interested in the catalog, without having seen any of the products yet. I didn’t even notice the guarantee. I was already going for the products link.
A suggestion for the menu at the top of the page. You did good putting the “Products” link first. That should be where you want people to focus first. The links used for ordering, should be grouped together. (“View Basket”, “Shipping”, and “Checkout”) I was expecting the “Directory” link to be a site map, not the catalog again. You want to minimize the amount of clicks it takes to navigate your site. I would suggest putting the “Search” box on the “Products” page, instead of on a page of it’s own. Then it is more accessible if it is needed. You might want to put your “Sales items” on the “Promos” page, instead of leaving it empty. (Remember, every click should count.)
Your guarantee should also be placed on the “Shipping”, “Products” and “Checkout” pages. (Just in case someone like me misses it.)
Now, on to the “Products” page. Again, I was expecting to see some pictures of products. This page was actually more of a site map. May I suggest putting just the category titles on the page, with a thumbnail image of your most popular item, in each category, displayed next to the titles. Add a little sales pitch type of description to each category, and the search engines will love it! (Remember, content is King!) You’ll hold your customer’s interest longer too. Also, be sure to use your keywords in your Alt tags on your images. (More spider food! Yummm!)
When a category is clicked, you could put thumbnail images of all the products, in that category, on the one page. Add-in your little sales pitch description and price, to each. Now we have a happy customer who doesn’t have to click back and forth to see each item. They can browse through them, clicking on the ones that interest them most, to see the larger picture with the “Quantity” box and “Add to Basket” button next to it. You might want to list the price again, just in case they forgot, so they don’t have to click back to refresh their memory. Be sure to tell the customer to “Click” to see the larger image and to order, though. They may not think of it on their own.
On your “Contact Info” page, you might want to just remove the fax number, instead of showing zeros. It might look a little nicer too, if you put a space between the email image and the last line of text, and then center the image and maybe even put an outset border around it, to make it look like a button.
I hope these suggestions help you come up with some ideas to make your store the best it can be. It’s a nice little store!
To your success,
Leslie Carl (leslie@cncnetmarketing.com
Las Vegas Business Directory
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