Time for feedback...

[philbydevil]

Firstly, a big thanks to everyone involved with OSC project - before I found this great cart, I thought that I was going to have to spend big $$$ to get my online store happening.

 

And a special thanks to all of the forum contibutors (even the people who asked the same question over and over - some answers were better than others). But I will say here to all of the newbies, use the search function - I answered all of my questions that way and have limited code-ing experience.

 

So my store has been up and running for a few weeks now, made a few sales and everything seems to be going alright. Thought that it was about time to get some constructive feeback from the community.

 

Visit my store here: www.hahana.com.au/catlog

 

I have used a few contibutions - Header Tags Controller, Aust Post, Simple Search Box, Paypal IPN, OSC_buttons, lots of code from the forums, and probably some other contibs too.

 

Haven't used any SEO contributions (to change the url's, etc) as I have used Google's Sitemap Generator (through running Google's Pyton script, etc) and this seems to have indexed the majority of my pages. Not sure if Ultimate SEO plus the Google Sitemap (though Google or a contibution) would work better?

 

Anyway, let me know what you think.

 

BTW - it's a fairly standard looking layout but it serves its purpose for now.

[Obewanz]

Colors are good but you should probably put your payment information in a link from the information box and take it off of the index page - too much text pushes your other stuff down and detracts from getting into the products.

 

Since it looks and feels like a simple stock osc store, it doesn't really have anything bad going on, but then it doesn't have anything interesting either. You should maybe look at purchasing a template or having a developer/designer do one for you to get the most bang for your buck.

[philbydevil]

Cheers for the feedback Obewanz. I decided to do a bit of a temporary index page as we introduced the store to our regular/old customers, just to let them know that the site was secure, etc, and also trying to "sell" the online shop (quicker, more convienient and easier) as opposed to emailing/calling us for orders (which is also quick and easy but takes up my time). I think that it's a good idea to move it to an infobox in the coming weeks.

 

I've also been looking into the template idea and may go down that track eventually - I'm kind of keen to get in there and figure it out myself as I enjoy the whole web design process. The store is doing the trick for now as not many of our competitors (in Oz anyway) have online stores, and those that do leave a lot to be desired.

 

Before I launched the store I was doing all of the mods live but have set up a local server with xampp so will be able to re-design the site without disrupting business.

[Andrew Yuen]

Site Review for: Hahana Stone Massage

 

I suggest that you install the Search engine friendly URL module. Search engine friendly URL's convert your store URL's from:

http://www.yoursite.com/product_info.php?c...p;products_id=1

to:

http://www.yoursite.com/Hardware/Graphics-...atrox-G200-MMS/

This allows search engine spiders to craw your website easily converting convoluted PHP extensions to URL's that are rich in keywords. For more information please visit the link below:

http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/2823

 

A site map makes it easier for indexing spiders to find all of the content on your site. Search engine spiders or bots have a hard time following links that use JavaScript, like mouseovers. A site map with a collection of plain text links to all pages can make it easier for more pages of a site to be included in a search engine index. Consider installing the following module:

http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/2208

 

I suggest removing the product count from your categories infobox. The product count slows down your website's loading time and are generally unnecessary. In addition, if your categories infobox contain (->) arrows, I suggest that these also be removed.

 

A Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) is a type of challenge-response test used in computing to determine whether the user is human. The main purpose of CAPTCHA is to prevent spam. I suggest installing this module. In addition, if your contact us page contains email addresses, consider removing them. For more information please visit the link below:

http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/4960

 

I suggest switching to an Amazon style login example here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/sign-in.html This form of login in my opinion is very familiar to many online shoppers. For more information please visit the link below:

http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/2073

 

 

Comments:

 

I don't recommend giving out your email on your contact us page. Other then that your store is a simple, easy to navigate osCommerce store. I noticed that you offer training and weekend workshops. It would be interesting to implement an appointment management system that allows your customers to purchase/book appointments online.

 

 

Andrew's Overall Score:

80/100 = 80%

[philbydevil]

Thanks for the feedback Andrew. Will look into the Amazon style log-in.

 

Regarding SEO optimisation, I have already generated a sitemap through Google (via their Pyton script) and have Header Tags Controller installed. I have searched through the forums but haven't really found a definative answer as to whether it's better to have a sitemap installed by itself (with HTC) or combined with a SEO URL contibution. Sounds like the combination may be better though? Any thoughts from anyone?

 

Also, I have just changed most of the layout of the site - after feedback from Obewanz and talking with a designer friend. I would be interested to see what people think of the new layout: www.hahana.com.au/catalog

 

I've tried to get away from the standard OSC layout while still having a clean and easy-to-navigate site.

 

Here's a picture of the old layout for comparison (pretty stock standard):