Please take a look - need to improve!

[gillamb]

Hi,

 

My site has been running now since June this year, with some degree of success.

 

After i posted my first design here I got some really helpful advice, most of which i have implemented.

 

I am now approaching what will hopefully be my busy time, in the run up to Xmas and winter, and would like to ensure the site is as good as i can get it, in order to transfer traffic to sales.

 

Any suggestions at all would be great.

 

Link to site is below:-

 

www.monsterslippers.co.uk

 

Thanks in advance.

[Guest]

Hi,

 

My site has been running now since June this year, with some degree of success.

 

After i posted my first design here I got some really helpful advice, most of which i have implemented.

 

I am now approaching what will hopefully be my busy time, in the run up to Xmas and winter, and would like to ensure the site is as good as i can get it, in order to transfer traffic to sales.

 

Any suggestions at all would be great.

 

Link to site is below:-

 

www.monsterslippers.co.uk

 

Thanks in advance.

 

A lot of this is going to be preference, I can't claim to be any sort of expert. However I'd make the following changes:

 

1) Rethink your header image, your site is actually pretty clean, but your header image just screams - and I don't really mean that in a positive way. The colors aren't bad, but there's no need to have the name that big - and the monster thing is a good idea, i mean it makes sense, but the way it's laid out right now makes it look like clip art. I'd put the monster graphic on the left, reduce the size of your name by a bunch and maybe overlap it a bit. Personally I'd also use just your name MonsterSlippers instead of your full web address --- maybe your full web address even smaller just beneath your actual name. In my opinion it makes it feel like you're buying more from a company and less from a random web site.

 

2) Move your categories box on top of your shopping cart box, that's where you want your customers to go. If you can do anything to attract more attention to it, do it. Do you have subcategories? Include them. The biggest thing that I had to overcome was really analyzing the steps that I wanted my customers to take on the way to checkout. In your case, you're not giving the customers an easy choice to make --- they have 10,000 places that they could go --- you need to funnel them into where YOU want them to go.

 

3) If you look at your site from the top down, there's really nothing that jumps out at you from the top half of the page that really says slippers. I mean yes, literally it says slippers in your website address twice, but actually when I'm scanning the page, I don't catch that because it runs in with monster and .co.uk -- have you ever seen that sample paragraph where the first and last letter of every word are correct, but all of the rest of the letters are jumbled and you can still read it? That's because when you scan a page, mentally you take the first letter, and last letter, and if it makes sense it jumps out at you. The top half doesn't tell me that I'm where I need to be if I want slippers.

 

4) I'd get rid of the sponsored links, trust me, they won't bring in nearly as much money as they'll cost you in lost sales - I've been there. Customers can come up with plenty of reasons to leave your site without you inviting your competition into your shop to try to steal your customers.

 

I'm not trying to nitpick, just trying to help. :)

[gillamb]

Thanks, a lot of good advice, much appreciated.

 

It's always helpful to get another perspective on things. Sometimes cant see the wood for the trees!

 

Anyone else got any comments?

[abra123cadabra]

I think I remember your previous version. The logo was much more catching.

 

Now the whole site is pretty bland. There is nothing of interest above the fold on the homepage - only text.

 

Only checked a couple of slippers. The description seems to be the same everywhere. Maybe put some more pictures? You mention quality soles etc. Let me see this on additional images. In a real shop I would take the slippers, turn them around, bend the soles. I can't do that online so this is where you have to show me.

 

Did you analyse what effect your recent changes had on visitor behaviour?

 

abra