Is the value of our site clear enough?

SeanFrank

Hi folks,

I'm hoping for a little feedback on whether our business model and value add is clear enough on our new site, since I'm getting varying suggestions on what I should improve.

We are trying to build a Q&A site that allows people to gather some suggestions, tips and advice from other, neutral shoppers before buying a product.

We are struggling a little with describing the benefits to both those who receive suggestions, and those who provide suggestions.

Looking at the site, do you think there is anything we could do to improve our messaging? Is it clear what users stand to gain?
www.thankfrank.com

We are obviously in beta so there are lots of niggles on the site, but I'd really appreciate any feedback you have; I'm trying to decide what's the highest priority next improvement to work on and I'd love a little help choosing myself! :pac:

Thanks in advance for your time folks!

Sean.

Atomico

SeanFrank wrote: »

Hi folks,

I'm hoping for a little feedback on whether our business model and value add is clear enough on our new site, since I'm getting varying suggestions on what I should improve.

We are trying to build a Q&A site that allows people to gather some suggestions, tips and advice from other, neutral shoppers before buying a product.

We are struggling a little with describing the benefits to both those who receive suggestions, and those who provide suggestions.

Looking at the site, do you think there is anything we could do to improve our messaging? Is it clear what users stand to gain?
www.thankfrank.com

We are obviously in beta so there are lots of niggles on the site, but I'd really appreciate any feedback you have; I'm trying to decide what's the highest priority next improvement to work on and I'd love a little help choosing myself! :pac:

Thanks in advance for your time folks!

Sean.

I think it's a cool concept that could have real legs, and I even signed up myself. However you are right to post since your homepage definitely needs a re-think. I am a huge fan of minimalist design and love lots of white space and a Google / Twitter-esque approach that communicates the value of a website / concept at a glance.

The key part there is 'at a glance'. Your key value proposition is that people can get rewarded with points that turn into (Amazon?) vouchers, simply for giving shopping advice and tips. However you have inexplicably decided to place the messaging around this crucial piece of information at the very bottom of your homepage?!

You have a lot of white space above the fold to play with, and a simple headline in bold font somewhere along the lines of 'Earn discounts and rewards for sharing shopping tips' would communicate the key USP along with weaving in the key call-to-action.

Your sign-up link also needs to be much more prominent, and ideally should be a button I think. Green or blue I would say.

Atomico

Something else I was wondering about is that I assume earning points is dependent on someone hitting the thumbs up icon after reading a helpful post. What if people just don't bother thumbing up or forget to do it? People could be turned off if they don't feel they are getting any credit for their responses.

SeanFrank

Hi Atomico,

Thanks for the feedback and thanks for signing up! I'll keep an eye out for you on the site!

Yes, the minimalist design is definitely what we are going for - we want the front page to be easy to engage with for those who want to ask questions. But you are right, there is probably something really simple we could do to explain the value of answering above the line - let's see what we can do there! I'll get back to you on this!

And to answer your second question, there is no guarantee that someone will say thanks, so there is a little bit of hit and miss alright. Looking at the number of questions that are "answered" (with a best answer chosen) and those that are left alone, they are about 50:50. I'll be honest, we could do a whole lot more to improve that, but I wonder should that be the next thing we do?

I'd like to get to a point where about 60%-70% have points awarded, but I don't think we'll every be able to make it 100%. Some great answers will get points and some just won't, but we expect that people who contribute will see a fair share of points over each month's challenge. You get a share of the total at the end of the day, so it should all even out!

Thanks!

Sean.

Peterdalkey

Like it, agree with atomico about sign up... signed up!!

SeanFrank

Thanks Peterdalkey, I forgot to mention the signup button on my last post!

My guy doing the UX, James, has been telling me that we have to make the signup button (which is on the top right of the page) stand out more and I didn't listen!

He'll be delighted to see that he was right and I was wrong!

Another change that we'll make asap, thanks!

Why is this different to Yelp Sean?, that was my first impression

SeanFrank

Hi El Rifle,

The main difference is that we get suggestions and advice specifically for you from helpful people who are talking to you in real time.

I want it to work kind of like a "social" search engine, one that talks back. You get real people giving tips on where to go to find the best deals and buys, and if you like any suggestions, you can reward people with money off their next buy at no cost to you.

The name is such because we provide a nice way to thank people who you find helpful and frank!

Make sense?

Sean.

Ah talking back in real time, I get it. Clever idea, the next level of reviews I guess. Nobody else doing something like this concept at the moment? If not this could spread fast with the right viral marketing I reckon. I want 10%!

SeanFrank

That's what we are hoping for! Actually, our next feature will allow people to thank someone anywhere online, wherever the help was given, even on boards! We are hoping that helps it go viral ... It will be interesting to see!

No one else is doing it because giving money away on the scale that we are offering is a bit of a break from the norm! We have an innovative way of monetising it, but we'll probably be losing money for some time until it reaches a critical mass.

So 10% at this stage would mean losing quite a bit of money!

loubella

I 100% agree with the poster saying move your benefits to above the fold. I didn't even know that was where it was hidden until he mentioned that as I didn't scroll (and many people don't). Also agree with the button being larger and I would try a good converting colour like orange. Instead of using the words next in the call to action button, try something with the word "Get". Get is a hack copywriters use as it's one of the best converting words. Something as simple as "get advise now" Have a look here at more examples of some great advise on call to actions http://contentverve.com/10-call-to-action-case-studies-examples-from-button-tests/ and http://www.copyblogger.com/call-to-action-buttons/

SeanFrank

loubella wrote: »

Instead of using the words next in the call to action button, try something with the word "Get". Get is a hack copywriters use as it's one of the best converting words. Something as simple as "get advise now" Have a look here at more examples of some great advise on call to actions http://contentverve.com/10-call-to-action-case-studies-examples-from-button-tests/ and http://www.copyblogger.com/call-to-action-buttons/

That's a brilliant idea, thanks!

SeanFrank

Ok, we have made a few changes based on the feedback here so please have a look and tell me what you think ...
www.thankfrank.com

We also noticed that our simplified signup was not working properly last time I posted. If you tried to ask a question at any point and it took you to a horrible looking page, that shouldn't have happened! It should be far easier now to ask for advice and get engaged.

Anyway, the changes specifically were:
- Signup button turned ThankFrank teal and it looks much better - thanks Atomico and peterdalkey!
- Added "Real Advice | Real Rewards" above the fold - Atomico, I don't know if that's enough but we made "Real Rewards" a link. What do you think?
- Changed the CTA Button to "Advise me!" which I think looks great - thanks again Loubella!

Thanks for all the help folks and looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Sean.

SeanFrank

Hi folks,

I mentioned above that we were building a feature which would allow you to score thanks from helping people on any platform, including boards. This feature is now ready and it’s the final part of the MVP that we need to run our basic business model and get ThankFrank going!

I'd love to get your feedback before we turn it fully on!


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Our “Recommend” feature allows members to append a “thanks!” button to any webpage. Think a portable “Like” button with a “IRL” effect – your own shopping is cheaper.

The output looks like this:
thankfrank.com/referralpages/view/4ldqpe9 (:( can someone repost this link so it works?)
(you’ll need to sign up to the site to build one yourself)

If anyone viewing the above page clicks thanks, I get a small credit, but I don’t know how much until the end of the month.

___________________________


I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts and/or feedback on this feature, not so much the design (which is our best attempt with no web designer!), but the concept itself. Can you see people using it? What should we do differently? Is our site message clearer?

Thanks in advance for all the help!

Thanks!

Sean.


NB: the feature is not fully active and thanks won’t be counted yet – that’s coming soon! Also, if you think you might use this feature when it is fully operational, sign up now, it may (probably) be unavailable to new accounts in the very near future.