Website Project

gerarda

Hi all,
I am in the process of developing a website for a retail outlet that sells electric and acoustic guitars and amps and with your help I can do well at this. So, I have put together a number of questions and would be very grateful if you took the time to answer.
Thanks for all replies!

1)What is the first thing you want to see when you open the homepage?
2)What makes a guitar website visually appealing?
3)What would make you use a certain website over another?
4)What information do you want to see about the guitar(s)?
5)What annoys you about guitar websites? (what do you not want to see etc?)
6)What is the one feature that makes a guitar website stand out from all others?

Thanks for all replies!

Squidgy Black

1)What is the first thing you want to see when you open the homepage?
Pictures of the guitars in stock and full rigs.

2)What makes a guitar website visually appealing?
You really can't have too many pictures of the gear.

3)What would make you use a certain website over another?
Cheap prices, cheap shipping, decent layout.

4)What information do you want to see about the guitar(s)?
Every single little titbit, every tiny little feature. Particularly with used gear.

5)What annoys you about guitar websites? (what do you not want to see etc?)
Terrible layouts that are impossible to maneuver through.

6)What is the one feature that makes a guitar website stand out from all others?
Cheap prices and a decent layout.

martinedwards

1)What is the first thing you want to see when you open the homepage?
a menu to find what I'm looking for, a search function and todays special offers
2)What makes a guitar website visually appealing?
simple uncluttered layout
3)What would make you use a certain website over another?
ease of navigation and prices. and the products I actually want
4)What information do you want to see about the guitar(s)?
everything. every little last detail, right down to the landowner from where the wood was harvested. EVERYTHING!!!!
5)What annoys you about guitar websites? (what do you not want to see etc?)
photos of "cool" artists making silly faces and making goat shapes with thier hands. If I can afford to buy you're instruments, I'm not 12, and therefore am not impressed with this.
6)What is the one feature that makes a guitar website stand out from all others?
clarity

Ravelleman

The most important thing is getting the search function right. On websites like Thomann and MusicStore a simple search for something could throw up hundreds of results, almost all of which are things that you´re not looking to buy.

Just to check, I tried searching for ´Gibson SG´on Thomann - I got 1751 results. That includes everything from Epiphones to LTDs to Hofners. That´s good for a customer who doesn´t know what they want and certainly good for Thomann if it earns them a sale. But for the advanced user it´s just annoying to flooded with irrelevant information.

darrenw5094

Funny that Thomann and Musicstore were just mentioned. I always buy from Thomann before Musicstore because the Thomann website is more user friendly than the Musicstore site. Prices are always the same or pretty close.

hulkey

thomann & musicstore are great websites, start there, couple it with a strong intuitive search capability, dress it up a little differently, boom!

hulkey

but to answer your questions...

1)What is the first thing you want to see when you open the homepage?
Search capability not hidden away, clearly visible. I usually know what I'm looking for though. If I didn't I suppose some current deals in the centre of the page, maybe some starter packs, that sort of thing
2)What makes a guitar website visually appealing?
Nice to read, not harsh on the eyes. I think the blue black and white of xmusic's site is a bit harsh. thomanns looks quite good, to me anyway
3)What would make you use a certain website over another?
prices/availabilty of products.
4)What information do you want to see about the guitar(s)?
Loads of images. The problem with buying something online is that its completely intangible until 5 working days later, having loads of pictures, close ups of neck joints, hardware, etc gives you some sort of familiarity with the instrument before you buy it. The details like scale length, weight, pick-ups, wood used etc should also be present of course, but I reckon images are really important. Also, if it can be managed, sample sound clips are a nice touch
5)What annoys you about guitar websites? (what do you not want to see etc?)
It wrecks my head to do a search for something, find what I'm looking for then see that it's not in stock when I go to the checkout. That info should be a searchable parameter or at least be shown as part of the search results
Also relevancy, one of the guys here mentioned about putting in a search for a Gibson SG and getting the phonebook, that's difficult to avoid i think unless you get really specific in your search criteria, but if you allow the option to filter search results by category after the search that would help; e.g. search for gibson sg, get phone book, display all categories where the results are thrown up, click 'guitars', just display guitars...
6)What is the one feature that makes a guitar website stand out from all others?
Again, it has to be price and availability for me, if i saw a guitar on a really slick looking site and saw the same one cheaper on one that 'works best on 56K' I'd go with the cheaper option