Bia-Bid ... what do you think

vanGogh · 12-05-2009 6:58pm #1

Just launched my first website venture this weekend ... would really appreciate any feedback on the site and the concept behind it. Its like eBay for restaurants.

www.bia-bid.ie
...beware the colours are not easy on the eye!

Also, any suggestions on how I can promote the site would be much appreciated. Had hoped to hand out flyers at main train stations but have heard that the council will issuer fines for this.

Thanks a mill, vanGogh.

Bandara · 12-05-2009 8:23pm

vanGogh wrote: »

Just launched my first website venture this weekend ... would really appreciate any feedback on the site and the concept behind it. Its like eBay for restaurants.

www.bia-bid.ie
...beware the colours are not easy on the eye!

Also, any suggestions on how I can promote the site would be much appreciated. Had hoped to hand out flyers at main train stations but have heard that the council will issuer fines for this.

Thanks a mill, vanGogh.

ok tough love time...

I would not let my restaurant be mentioned anywhere on a site that looks as bad and as hamfisted as that.

Sorry but it really is shocking, its like a throwback to the websites of the 90's

DubTony · 12-05-2009 8:44pm

Sorry vanGogh, I'm with Hammertime on this one. Pretty shocking. My first reaction was "ugh" and I immediately reached for the CLOSE button on my browser. Sorry mate. Needs a sh*tload of work.

Sonnenblumen · 12-05-2009 9:04pm

Honestly poor name, tedious concept, very poorly presented but I wish you good luck with it.

Praetorian Saighdiuir · 12-05-2009 9:57pm

Sorry to say this........but it looks like a 1999 transistion year school project!!!

For starters, the colours need to be totally changed! There have been studies on this, apparently, the most successful colours to use in relation to advertising is a black backround with yellow words. Unfortunately, its not working well with your site.

On the plus side -

Its easy to understand and follow.
Its a unique concept (as far as I know).
In this climate, it could work.

On the down side -

The aesthetics need a major revamp.
you need more restaraunts to sign up - try and get some higher end establishments, including hotels, people are more inclined to bid for a meal in an "upmarket" "swanky" place, Guilbauds, etc.
Get restaraunts to advertise on your site (for free) at first.
You limit the offers to Dublin, Try to incorporate the bordering counties i.e Wicklow, Kildare & Meath.
Try and get restaraunts to incorporate deals for special occasions (not as mad as it sounds) i.e Christenings, Confirmations, Valentines, Birthdays, New Years, Bank Holidays, Christmas, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, etc etc etc.

Most importantly..........If you dont make your site look professional you wont get as many restaraunts to sign up!!!!!!!.......obviously not good!

Good luck, I hope it works out for you!

RoadKillTs · 13-05-2009 5:51am

1. The site is very poor
2. Even with a good website I doubt you would get enough business to make it worth while.

conolan · 13-05-2009 10:16am

Concept unlikely to work, even if the design and implementation was good.

businessboy · 13-05-2009 12:24pm

hey vangough

site needs quite a lot of work in my opinion, and isnt very appealing.

from the look of the site i wouldnt trust it and would think that it was just some kid trying to make a fast buck.

give me a pm sometime, i have a few sites that are somewhat similar to yours and would be happy to give ya a few pointers.

calahans · 13-05-2009 12:31pm

Its hideous looking but on the other hand people do make money offering bidding on services.

Checkout this for a cool version of bidding for hotels. If you are serious you will need to invest

lecheile · 13-05-2009 12:38pm

sorry vangough - agree with most of what is said - to match a quality proposition, you need a quality look. That scrolling bar in the title is particularly irritating on the eyes (and typos!)

gypsy777 · 13-05-2009 12:39pm

I like the concept but the branding is weak.

The site is a serious nineties reject. Overhaul the site and it could take off with some hard work.

13-05-2009 1:29pm

took me a while to figure out what exactly you were offering. I took this from it,
example: Restaraunt offers dinner for two usually at 90 euro, on Bia Bid, you can get it for lets say, 70euro , well, cant people just say to the restaurant, id like to book a table, but at the 70 euro price you offered on Bia bid...
So, I cant see the point for customers to use you.
I think in these times if you called a restaurant and said you had x amount of people and wanted a certain price per head they would deal with you.

Sposs · 13-05-2009 2:15pm

As everyone else has mentioned , you really need to get a good designer to give the site a professional overhaul.

In terms of the actual business , it's more of a nice side project ,than a viable business in which you can make a full time living.

All the best , prove us all wrong

vanGogh · 14-05-2009 1:14pm

Hi,

Thanks for all you feedback … I’m not completely disillusioned!

I was hoping that the functionality/service that the site offers would compensate for the amateur look of the site in the way that Ryanair’s first website didn’t put people off using it. Also none of the 30 or so restaurants I spoke to mentioned that the site looked poor even though it was one of the questions I asked them. But this is the first time the public have seen the site and it looks like a complete revamp is needed to get it to a state where people will not find it offensive!

As for the business model … from the feedback that I’ve received from restaurants (both premium and mid-range) I think the business is viable. Most were very interested but a little hesitant! I’ll try have more restaurants signed up for the ‘New look’ site so that there is more choice for people and therefore more reason to use the service. Maybe the recession will be to my advantage!

Thanks again,
VanGogh

fiscalstudent · 15-05-2009 1:28am

hey vanGogh,

I have to disagree with a lot of the other posters, I actually think this is a really cool idea, which with the right strategy could definitely work.

BUT

as has been mentioned the site needs major work.

Also and i cannot believe no one has mentioned this, your site has a terrible name! One of the golden rules of domain names is to avoid dashes! it just confuses people and can fock up your google rank, its also completely unnecessary.In adittion a lot of people who live in ireland don't speak Irish and have no clue what bia is! in particular if your trying to get any ethnic restaurant signed up, they will have no idea what website their on!

as I said though, I like the idea and would like the opportunity to help you make this work. Send me a PM if you want additional input.

Lplated · 15-05-2009 8:36am

I agree with the comments on how the website looks - if i were you i'd put up some kind of humourous heading about the quality of the site, and have a new one redesigned at the same time.

As to the concept - i think it has excellent potential, and if you can get enough people into the habit of it now, while in a recession, it is a habit that may continue when we come out of recession also.

The strong suit of the site is the money saving angle, one that should be quite easy to publicise (i would have thought), through traitional media dealing with both food and personal finance topics.

In line with some of the more sucessful web projects, i wouldn't worry to much at this stage about how much you can make from it, if you can build the traffic and functionality, you'll figure ways to improve its income at some later stage.

Best of luck, but do get with some new webdesigners as a matter of urgency!

bladespin · 15-05-2009 8:44am

I like the idea but you need to explain it a bit better on the home page

As so many have already said, complete revamp needed on the site though.

15-05-2009 9:42am

Get a professional job done - you only get one shot launching the business to make a name and it looks like a clown job but you know that already.

Best of luck anyway

gypsy777 · 15-05-2009 10:09am

fiscalstudent wrote: »

One of the golden rules of domain names is to avoid dashes! ....and can fock up your google rank, its also completely unnecessary.

Total rubbish...a dash won't make a difference how well the site ranks!

RoadKillTs · 15-05-2009 10:15am

Total rubbish...a dash won't make a difference how well the site ranks!

True. But I think you should still avoid dashes in domain names.
I mean which do you remember better

biabid or bia-bid

Domains with dashes get misspelt all the time which results in lost traffic.

gypsy777 · 15-05-2009 10:20am

Depends on the source of the traffic. Will they be finding the site via search engines or banner placements or will they be typing the name into the address bar from memory? I think if you brand the site well enough people will remember the dash.

Of course he can always just buy biabid.ie and stick a 301 redirect on it and hes sorted though.

RoadKillTs · 15-05-2009 10:25am

Of course if the traffic is coming from a SE then its a different story but I think a lot of people would forget the dash if they were putting it in the address bar.

Of course he can always just buy biabid.ie and stick a 301 redirect on it and hes sorted though.

Problem solved

Pixelcraft · 15-05-2009 11:03am

gypsy777 wrote: »

Total rubbish...a dash won't make a difference how well the site ranks!

No, but it's not all about rankings. Some people get all caught up in SEO and ranking and forget about the humans who use the site. Google might not care about a dash, but you're not designing your site for google. People aren't used to putting in dashes, dashes are hard to say for any adverts, the list to why you shouldn't use them goes on and on.

gypsy777 · 15-05-2009 11:16am

80% of web traffic comes from the major commercial search engines...so in my opinion its all about ranking.

A dash in the domain is a minor issue...in my opinion.

Lets not get riled up over the 'hyphenated domain' debate....thats not what this thread is about.

Pixelcraft · 15-05-2009 11:20am

80% of traffic isn't going to be his customer base though, as its appeal is local. I just noticed they claimed it will effect rank which is incorrect, so you were right to talk about rank. Just making the point that too many decisions are made to please google and not the end user (just look at the amount of sites with a broadsheet newspapers worth of text on the homepage)

gypsy777 · 15-05-2009 11:32am

If his site ranks for 'restaurant offers dublin' or 'affordable restaurants dublin' that may tap into his consumer market. But you're probably right...local advertising will likely be his best route to market.

I do understand your point...there is a balance that has to be maintained between being people-friendly and search engine friendly.

antoinolachtnai · 15-05-2009 2:55pm

The basic idea of marketing restaurants is a good one. But I think the thing with the auction is too complicated to be honest.

This business is a marketing business, not an auction or transactional business. It is your job to get bums on seats. If you succeed in that, you will get plenty more business.

Auctions are generally not something sellers like to get involved with when supply vastly exceeds demand.

You certainly do need glamour and style in the presentation. You do not have these.

You really have to be well embedded into the restaurant community, in my opinion.

You also have to find restaurants that have a future. You have to be finding new restaurants, not just marketing ones that have been going for years and years. It has to do with the dynamic of the industry.

a.

fiscalstudent · 15-05-2009 4:28pm

Originally Posted by fiscalstudent
One of the golden rules of domain names is to avoid dashes! ....and can fock up your google rank, its also completely unnecessary.

Total rubbish...a dash won't make a difference how well the site ranks!

ok i may be wrong on that point but anything I have ever read on naming your website says to avoid using dashes, which I think was the key point

Bia-Bid ... what do you think

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