New website not really taking off

utyh2ikcq9z76b

Having launched http://bargaindeals.ie a few months ago, have only been able to work on it part time, hasnt really been taking off and only 27 facebook likes so far :O( ...Sites like an Irish version of hotukdeals...Was thinking of doing some offline gorilla marketing as budget is about €10 per week :O(...what you guys think?

fl4pj4ck

alright where do I start...

first, get a proper designer to design both logo and the rest of the site. if you can't afford $500 for 99design then think about other sites that utilize crowdsourcing. the design for your website is not appaling, people are mode demanding these days

secondly, who the hell would be interested in this deal:
http://bargaindeals.ie/mutoh-valuejet-vj1604-printer/

This is the Chinese Version of Mutoh ValueJet VJ1604 at a much lower price-€3670.In fact we have the same characteristics as the original VJ1604,and it is guaranteed.

seems to me you didn't do any market research nor define your target audience. concentrate on popular items, gadgets, etc. that are valued upto let's say e400, as people these days don't have too much money to spend

thirdly - ask around, enterprise boards everywhere are doing marketing courses on the cheap, like five 3 hours sessions foe e20 (at least in Limerick)

this is pretty competitive area, and unless you stand out of the crowd you will not succeed I'm afraid

just my 2c

utyh2ikcq9z76b

The site allows users to post their own deals, thats just a spammy post from china...Just happy someone used it :O) will have to get moderating more..must check out the enterprise board

Feckfox

Emmalynn Putrid Absinthe wrote: »

Having launched http://bargaindeals.ie a few months ago, have only been able to work on it part time, hasnt really been taking off and only 27 facebook likes so far :O( ...Sites like an Irish version of hotukdeals...Was thinking of doing some offline gorilla marketing as budget is about €10 per week :O(...what you guys think?

Here are my opinions.

Not all deals appeal to everyone so I think you would be better off fitting in as many deals onto the screen as possible so that the user can scan over them quickly and see if any are good.

PICTURE | Title | Original Price -> Discounted price | Number of likes?

I think you really need to show the original price vs the new price so the user sees how much they are saving.

Only show the description when a user clicks through. You're showing 12 offers on the front screen at the moment. You could increase this to a lot more. I am on a netbook and when your page loads I only see the top of the first deal. Your logo is far too big and the header section is too big too.

Your rating system is out of ten. I think a binary system is better. Like / Dislike. It's just simpler and people are used to it from Facebook, Youtube, etc. Actually, it might be better to add actual Facebook likes to the deals. This is the same and it is built in sharing which is what the site needs.

Make it so that deals automatically disappear or archive after they expire. Not sure if you are doing this.

Why do I have to register to post a deal? At least let me log in with Facebook, Google or some 3rd party service.

Complete the fields below to become a member. Your password will be emailed to you so make sure to use a valid email address.

I didn't get that email. Don't send users their passwords. How are you storing users' passwords?

Since your site is just a place for all deals to be posted, how come I don't see Boardsdeals, Citydeal and Livingsocial on it? You should be scraping those sites everyday and posting automatically.

Your popular link is empty. Not a good sign! If it is because of lack of activity you should definitely fill it with some deals so it doesn't look empty.

One of the main thing is.. you. You need to keep posting new deals over and over and over and over for any chance of this to work. If there is a deal on anywhere in Ireland, you need to be posting it to the site. Otherwise there won't be enough (up to date) deals and nobody will come back after a first visit.

If it becomes popular, you will have to get your own deals on to it if you want to make big money. Maybe that's what it will take for you to become popular in the first place!

utyh2ikcq9z76b

Yeah im hoping to try and get rid of the signing up and let users with facebook post, just had problems when I first started the site and had loadza spam on it...Great idea with the scraping of the deals sites, will have to get that implemented this weekend...Thanks for the great ideas

tricky D

SEO is very poor.

Why should some one post deals with you? Give reasons before signing up.

How it works info might also help.

Design needs working on.

KingKenny77

A lot of people think that by just having a website, you'll get millions of visitors! I know one of the people involved in www.Whinge.ie and he said the amount of work you need to do behind the scenes is more than one would think. They've started merchandising with t-shirts, coffee mugs and so on and suddenly they're getting more hits. So maybe you need to come up with some ideas to attract members? Good luck with it though, its a good idea.

Chet Zar

KingKenny77 wrote: »

A lot of people think that by just having a website, you'll get millions of visitors! I know one of the people involved in www.Whinge.ie and he said the amount of work you need to do behind the scenes is more than one would think. They've started merchandising with t-shirts, coffee mugs and so on and suddenly they're getting more hits. So maybe you need to come up with some ideas to attract members? Good luck with it though, its a good idea.

Great point and I think that because the barrier is so low to entry (hire a web developer, get a site built for a fairly reasonable sum of money), and because people see successful sites all over the place, they think that they just need to build it and they will come flooding in! But it's really not like that at all and that's why you see so many sites around that have clearly been abandoned or half-executed..it takes a colossal amount of work to just get a site built and functioning how you want it - never mind promoting it and generating sales, revenue, buzz, PR etc! I set up a tiny site last year just as a hobby and it still took up vast amounts of my time!

So something to bear in mind.

OP - I have no idea what your site does or what it's supposed to do. I should be able to 'get it' instantly when I land on the home page.

Tell us all in no more than one sentence what your site is for? Then take it from there.

cullen5998

Emmalynn Putrid Absinthe wrote: »

Having launched http://bargaindeals.ie a few months ago, have only been able to work on it part time, hasnt really been taking off and only 27 facebook likes so far :O( ...Sites like an Irish version of hotukdeals...Was thinking of doing some offline gorilla marketing as budget is about €10 per week :O(...what you guys think?

I have just completed my dissertation on online marketing methods and am almost finished my business/IT degree. I know a good deal about marketing online and could be willing to help you.
I had my own idea for a similar website to yours and think it has potential.
Let me know if your interested. I would help without a fee, like a partnership for a piece of your idea.

EIREHotspur

gazz

Make the top banner lower.
Lose the Item detail at the bottom of each listing to fit more listings into a page.
Why is there a dollar value and then the same number euro?

I think the idea is good but the design is just horrible.

Is that a blog template or what?

Feckfox

KingKenny77 wrote: »

A lot of people think that by just having a website, you'll get millions of visitors! I know one of the people involved in www.Whinge.ie and he said the amount of work you need to do behind the scenes is more than one would think. They've started merchandising with t-shirts, coffee mugs and so on and suddenly they're getting more hits. So maybe you need to come up with some ideas to attract members? Good luck with it though, its a good idea.

There seems to be no reason for anyone to go to Whinge and post a "whinge". They could just post it on Facebook (friends), Twitter (followers) or on Boards which has largest audience. Not to mention that it is just aimed at Ireland.

utyh2ikcq9z76b

Chnaged the front page list from 12 deals to 20...Gonna try and get smaller top banner/new logo this weekend....Thanks for the Ideas guys, hopefully get facebook integration this weekend as well

utyh2ikcq9z76b

Have facebook commenting up now, seems ok

Hopefully i will be able to just have facebook login, trying to figure that out

zAbbo

HotUKDeals is entirely affiliate and referral focused for revenue.

You need to understand that business model a little more.

RachaelVO

I'm gonna give my opinion as a consumer, especially one who is on these sites regularly. I'm also a bit of a consumer nut, so I know a bit about what goes on in the head of consumers (not an expert now, but according to my husband I could win and olympic medal for online shopping)

Your site is easy to navigate, although your banner is slightly too large. It needs to be reduced by a fraction. (that was mentioned in an earlier post)

You picked colours that are consumer oriented. green, orange and black and blue which dominate. Green is a colour that is good for encouraging people to spend money, and Orange is a colour that makes people take some form of action, and black is a colour that is makes people want to buy. Blue is a trustworthy colour.

However, lumping colours that are psychologically prone to consumerism is not necessarily the right way to go about it. They are not the right shades of the colours, they are nowhere near vibrant enough, and I really don't think they are in the right consistencies. If you are going to follow that train of thought (which is probably a good way to go), you need to do a bit of research into it.
I personally think that a light shade of green or orange as a background with back and stronger green or orange text (choose the other one to the background you choose). I would only keep the blue for registration and login, and possible end of action/purchase. It is after the trustworthy colour!

I can't quiet firgure out why I don't like your logo, but I think it's because it screams Home Made(and I really don't mean to offend you, honest I don't).

I would be happy to go into more detail for ya if you'd like, and send you a PM with some more detailed thoughts, again I'm not an expert, but I am your end user, and I do know the types of sites I will surf and stay on, as opposed to ones I just close the tabs on

Feckfox

Emmalynn Putrid Absinthe wrote: »

Have facebook commenting up now, seems ok

Hopefully i will be able to just have facebook login, trying to figure that out

It seems to be in a different language. "lewer kommentaar"

I really think you should look into the Facebook Like button. At a pure guess I would say that more people interact by liking than commenting on third party sites.

bigneacy

A lot of really great advice on this thread so far. gazz, I hope you're taking it on board, and not just half interested/half plugging your site... :rolleyes:

I would echo what everyone else has already said;

1. Get someone to redo the site to a more 2011 style. Its just not there, the logo/graphics moreso than the layout. People like their sites to be web 2.0 or similar.

2. Get on top of your SEO, keep a clean house and be vigilant with spam. Companies will post their own deals with you if the site is good enough.

3. Seriously take advantage of facebook. A site like yours - a like button at every turn could make or break it. People love to talk about a bargain, but I personally don't like signing up to too many things, so instead of forcing people to comment you would be simply utilising what they already have to reach a bigger audience through one easy, hassle free click "Like".

On that same vein, could you implement something like this which would allow your users to register for your site, post a deal or comment on a deal by using their facebook/boards/google/twitter account? If you can, do.

Also, I know you've changed a few things but keep going - condense those deals, they don't need to be that big... instead of 20 deals, one per line one after another have two per line on 10 lines. Replace the star system with a thumbs up/down or like/dislike button. Also have the RRP in smaller text, maybe with a line through it so people can see how much they've saved by using your site.

The site is good and you seem to have a fair idea of what you're trying to do.