Review site please!

Colm_purchase

Hi All,
We are currently getting development work done on our website www.purchase.ie with a target date of the end of April for implementing.
A number of key issues have been identifed which require attention but in a bid to be as thorough as possible and ensure we ain't missing anything crucial I would be very greatful for feedback.
Cheers,
Colm

Dilbert75

First impression? Too much scrolling to see anything. Too spread out. Sorry if that's too honest.

Colm_purchase

Dilbert75 wrote: »

First impression? Too much scrolling to see anything. Too spread out. Sorry if that's too honest.

No you are definitely spot on with that comment. Thanks for your feedback. This will certainly be addressed.

Chet Zar

Hey Colm,

Site needs a lot of work. Don't intend to be harsh at all but first impressions are: washed out and amateurish. Needs a complete rethink in terms of design and layout, i.e. colour scheme needs to be reviewed and the whole site needs to be structured better:

-Too many links in header (you actually have two headers)

-Blue, green and pink are clashing

-Need to have images of products in prime real estate near page header. A drop-down somewhere, listing categories of products would be nice perhaps. Would also make navigating through product range easier.

There's lots lots more which I can come back to later but they're my first impressions.

Cianos

I'd echo Chet Zar and say that the whole site needs a rethink.

The site is riddled with design faults and looks thrown together very quickly. I wouldn't trust purchasing something off a site that looks like that, as it shows no investment in design or brand which screams cowboy operation. I'm not saying for one second that that is what you are, but a potential customer is going to vote with their wallet. If it's a choice between a site that's badly designed and a site that looks really nice, clean and modern, why would they choose the former?

Sorry if the above sounds very harsh but if you're paying for this to be built it's in your interests to know that so far it doesn't look like you're getting something that's worth representing a new venture in to which you're presumably putting a lot of your own time energy and money.

Colm_purchase

Chet Zar wrote: »

Hey Colm,

Site needs a lot of work. Don't intend to be harsh at all but first impressions are: washed out and amateurish. Needs a complete rethink in terms of design and layout, i.e. colour scheme needs to be reviewed and the whole site needs to be structured better:

-Too many links in header (you actually have two headers)

-Blue, green and pink are clashing

-Need to have images of products in prime real estate near page header. A drop-down somewhere, listing categories of products would be nice perhaps. Would also make navigating through product range easier.

There's lots lots more which I can come back to later but they're my first impressions.

Thanks thats good feedback. Probably going to recreate the whole site in wordpress. Can anyone actually give me any disadvantages of going this road?
The image issue near the page header issue has and is a huge fault in the site at present and one which can not be rectified through the CMS.

Havn't made a decision on exactly how to deal with the header issues yet. I approached the initial template for the site with a view of trying to make it as easy as possible to buy or find information on the site even if your not a regular online shopper. I guess ideally I want customers to be able to check out in 3 clicks if they want and get back to the previous page they were on as easily as possible.

Sales conversion percentage is quite high so don't want to lose that with the redesign either.

The pink text was only added yesterday to highlight Mothers Day Specials. An experiment really to see if it has an impact.
Other than that I think the colour scheme is quite strong and representative of the sector the business is in. Glad to get more feedback though!

StupidLikeAFox

You are probably better off going with a shopping cart software like ZenCart or Magento or something. It would provide an easier to manage shop structure and could handle things like sales and discounts out of the box. It would also be easier to scale up or integrate things like new payment methods etc down the line.

For the colour schem issue use a site like this to pick colours that work well together http://colorschemedesigner.com/ . Although you could probably get a nice enough template and tweak it


EDIT: The wordpress route you mentioned above would probably work too.

Colm_purchase

Cianos wrote: »

I'd echo Chet Zar and say that the whole site needs a rethink.

The site is riddled with design faults and looks thrown together very quickly. I wouldn't trust purchasing something off a site that looks like that, as it shows no investment in design or brand which screams cowboy operation. I'm not saying for one second that that is what you are, but a potential customer is going to vote with their wallet. If it's a choice between a site that's badly designed and a site that looks really nice, clean and modern, why would they choose the former?

Sorry if the above sounds very harsh but if you're paying for this to be built it's in your interests to know that so far it doesn't look like you're getting something that's worth representing a new venture in to which you're presumably putting a lot of your own time energy and money.

Thanks Cianos,
With regards to the current website 'its simply a case of if I knew then what I know now' Thats why we are going to be very thorough on this ocassion and for the next 6 weeks are concentrating on getting take 2 spot on.
I doubt I have had too many web designers or developers buy from the site however most people wouldn't spot all the flaws that someone in the sector does.
Can anyone suggest ecommerce sites that they think are really doing it right?

Cianos

Colm_purchase wrote: »

I doubt I have had too many web designers or developers buy from the site however most people wouldn't spot all the flaws that someone in the sector does.

You're right, most people wouldn't be able to put their finger on specific faults and point out things that are wrong, but they're still going to get an overall impression. It's the same reason retail stores put a lot of time and effort in to their shop windows. Most people wouldn't know the details of correct lighting, mannequin posture, clothes selection etc, but that won't stop them from walking straight past the shop to the next one that has been better decorated.

alejandro1977

Unfocused - Dish squeegee and Solar Panels?

Fonts and colours are amateurish. -they [fonts] should be consistent.

This Months deals - if you're advertising a discount be more brief/punchy. If it's in the 'deals' section you don't need to say "Normally XXX"

Is the House Number thing a genuine photo? It doesn't look it. The Quick time video crashed on my browser (said "out of date"- maybe youtube embedded better?) try using different browsers

Clicking on the corner logo from any sub page should bring the user to the home page -


Maybe the theme should be - save money/save the planet - purchase.ie is a bit generic.

There are plenty of free templates out there, you should invest in a Web Site tool IMHO. Don't launch until it's decent - first impressions count.


No harm to show yourself - brief bio. Shows people you're a real person and not going to make off with their money. Look at getting a feedback section from real satisfied/dissatisfied customers (the testimonials section is not independent). Obviously address the dissatisfied purchasers issues.



sorry if it's harsh - I'd want brutal honesty.

Good luck.

Colm_purchase

Cianos wrote: »

You're right, most people wouldn't be able to put their finger on specific faults and point out things that are wrong, but they're still going to get an overall impression. It's the same reason retail stores put a lot of time and effort in to their shop windows. Most people wouldn't know the details of correct lighting, mannequin posture, clothes selection etc, but that won't stop them from walking straight past the shop to the next one that has been better decorated.

Your right without doubt and thats why the matter is being addressed. Its a case of balance though as well. As ugly as the site might be the general feedback I get is people find it easy to navigation through.

Colm_purchase

alejandro1977 wrote: »

Unfocused - Dish squeegee and Solar Panels?

Fonts and colours are amateurish. -they [fonts] should be consistent.

This Months deals - if you're advertising a discount be more brief/punchy. If it's in the 'deals' section you don't need to say "Normally XXX"

Is the House Number thing a genuine photo? It doesn't look it. The Quick time video crashed on my browser - maybe youtube embedded better?
Clicking on the logo from any sub page should bring the user to the home page -


Maybe the theme should be - save money/save the planet - purchase.ie is a bit generic.

There are plenty of free templates out there, you should invest in a Web Site tool IMHO. Don't launch until it's decent - first impressions count.




sorry if it's harsh - I'd want brutal honesty.

Good luck.

Again thanks for your honest feedback.
The house number photo is real! Why do you think it doesn't look so?
Video section will be trash canned. Has been a complete disaster and 90% of site visitors that visit that page exit the site straight from it.
All in all excellent feedback!

alejandro1977

Colm_purchase wrote: »

Again thanks for your honest feedback.
The house number photo is real! Why do you think it doesn't look so?
Video section will be trash canned. Has been a complete disaster and 90% of site visitors that visit that page exit the site straight from it.
All in all excellent feedback!

the house photo looks too bright and clear relative to the rest of the picture TBH!

p.s. when I click "View large image" - it brings up a smaller photo

it's a good idea - I recall doctors complaining about it when making house calls in flu season

Chet Zar

Colm_purchase wrote: »

Sales conversion percentage is quite high so don't want to lose that with the redesign either.

This^^^ could easily get lost in the ongoing mix of feedback but is the most important few words in the thread so far. A mediocre or poor quality site and high conversion rates are not mutually exclusive! I call it the 'Craigslist effect'!

So you are right to tread carefully - you could and should look at split testing site designs before making any major changes.

en.r4cart

Too simple navigation menus & categories

Colm_purchase

alejandro1977 wrote: »

the house photo looks too bright and clear relative to the rest of the picture TBH!

p.s. when I click "View large image" - it brings up a smaller photo

it's a good idea - I recall doctors complaining about it when making house calls in flu season

No image is completely genuine and not in anyway altered. Cheap cameras can do great things I guess;)
Product was invented by a Donegal man living in Australia. He did a lot of house calls in a previous career and found it difficult after dark to find locations in estates. It has been supported in Oz by all the main emergency service groups.
Shopping cart has huge flaws but all will be rectified with the new wordpress system.

tricky D

emmasmith wrote: »

mate this site require too much web designing
its neither user freindly nor eye catching at all

Spam, spam, spam. You'll be banned real soon now. Bye!

Colm_purchase

emmasmith wrote: »

mate this site require too much web designing
its neither user freindly nor eye catching at all

No such thing as requiring 'too much' and spamming us with this link to an unfound page doesn't endear confidence in the services you offer to me and I doubt anyone else.

Still work in progress but getting there with http://purchase.zendesign.ie/

Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Colm

tricky D

Not a fan of the logo. The world thing is a bit 90's and hackneyed. Your main business seems to be selling environmentally friendly products. That's what I'd use as the tagline and orient your content around that. That means you can get rid of the first nav bar and get straight to the products. Those links are fine at the bottom and the checkout link is out of place as users haven't had the chance to buy anything yet.

Change the product nav buttons, they look old-school. They're done as sprites and not well. If you're going to use sprites for this, the button is the background and the text is written over for reasons of scalability and SEO.

Newsletter - why? Where's the previous editions and privacy policy?

Phone and email copntact info, why so grey and email not linked?

You only show a rotation of 4 products with one at a time. This is your main business so show much more than that and include the damned prices. Add to Cart button should be orange not that grey which means it is camouflaged.

Actually, I'm going to stop here as I'm starting to reckon that most elements of this site need reworking and rethinking. The design looks very dated too, I wouldn't recommmend zendesign at all based on their 90's looking site. As for worrying about your conversion, I reckon you could improve that a lot and with other fixes you could be multiplying your revenues many-fold.

Colm_purchase

tricky D wrote: »

Not a fan of the logo. The world thing is a bit 90's and hackneyed. Your main business seems to be selling environmentally friendly products. That's what I'd use as the tagline and orient your content around that. That means you can get rid of the first nav bar and get straight to the products. Those links are fine at the bottom and the checkout link is out of place as users haven't had the chance to buy anything yet.

Change the product nav buttons, they look old-school. They're done as sprites and not well. If you're going to use sprites for this, the button is the background and the text is written over for reasons of scalability and SEO.

Newsletter - why? Where's the previous editions and privacy policy?

Phone and email copntact info, why so grey and email not linked?

You only show a rotation of 4 products with one at a time. This is your main business so show much more than that and include the damned prices. Add to Cart button should be orange not that grey which means it is camouflaged.

Actually, I'm going to stop here as I'm starting to reckon that most elements of this site need reworking and rethinking. The design looks very dated too, I wouldn't recommmend zendesign at all based on their 90's looking site. As for worrying about your conversion, I reckon you could improve that a lot and with other fixes you could be multiplying your revenues many-fold.

Excellent feedback. Really appreciate it. Just a few questions

Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean about getting rid of the first nav bar? Is it where it says home, shop etc? Should this all be moved to the bottom instead do you think?

Should checkout only be on the products pages do you thinK?

Thanks for the tip on the Nav buttons.

Previous newsletters still need to be added as does the privacy policy. Privacy policy on old site is in the terms and conditions but strictly speaking it does need a link of its own.

Probably will be deleting the Eco plates section from the home page and changing the background colour of the bottom section from grey to blue with white text. Any thoughts?

tricky D

Colm_purchase wrote: »

Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean about getting rid of the first nav bar? Is it where it says home, shop etc? Should this all be moved to the bottom instead do you think?

Something like that. At the moment it occupies the middle of the homepage, but your business is selling, so that important space should be used for selling products. Home link should be omitted and homepage linked from logo.

Colm_purchase wrote: »

Should checkout only be on the products pages do you thinK?

Not necessarily. Point is that's it's not part of regular navigation so should be treated differently.

Colm_purchase wrote: »

Probably will be deleting the Eco plates section from the home page and changing the background colour of the bottom section from grey to blue with white text. Any thoughts?

Not a fan of white text for some minor reasons.

Abelloid

tricky D wrote: »

Spam, spam, spam. You'll be banned real soon now. Bye!

Quoting the spammer doesn't help...

bigdong

IT's tooooooo bright to me.

Colm_purchase

Well folks we finally have the new site live. Thank you all for the input.
We still need to dot 'i's' and cross 't's' but most of the hard work is done at this stage
Click here to view.
Thanks Again,
Colm

cormee

Very garish colours and clunky design - definitely not to my taste, an improvement on your old site though.

I'd say you'll see a massive fall in sales if you don't make http://purchase.ie/shop/ your home page.

Colm_purchase

cormee wrote: »

Very garish colours and clunky design - definitely not to my taste, an improvement on your old site though.

I'd say you'll see a massive fall in sales if you don't make http://purchase.ie/shop/ your home page.

Thanks Cormee,
Interesting point on the home page.
Conversion rate is a little down since the new site went live alright but that could be due to a number of factors.
Still google analytics will be gone through with a fine comb next week and certainly your suggestion will be considered.
Cheers,
Colm