Feedback and Suggestions please

[steve77]

www.ourgadgets.net

 

Hi my Site has been up and running for about 3 months and im using google pay per click to advertise it as well as others. Im getting a few visitors to the site but not many and have not made a single sale I have checked my prices and on the whole i seem competitive. I thought not having an ssl cert may have been putting people off so i use paypal which takes the buyer to the secure paypal website to complete there transaction so i have no access to any of there personal info, Am i right in thinking this. Im a complete novice and im just starting to learn how to make changes so please have a look and tell me where i may be going wrong and please try to keep it simple,

Cheers

[Guest]

If you want people to enter personal details (eg create an account) then ssl is a must.

[Guest]

A few things

 

. why have a currency box if you only accept 1 currency?

. why have language options if the content is always in English?

. why have a Tell Someone box titled Information?

. change Manufactures to Manufacturers. Why have a second box, whatever the spelling in the right hand column?

. inconsistent capitalisation in Categories menu + one entry too long for space

. image sizes & file sizes in Used Bargains way too big

. emphasise what you do rather than what you dont do and make it a positive. Your Shipping entry starts "DELIVERIES TO OTHER COUNTRIES. We only dispatch within the uk we do not dispatch to any other country ( the republic of Ireland is not in the uk)...."

 

You also need to think about your categorisation and range. If I am looking for a calculator, why would I be at your store? Why would I look under Boys Toys to find it?

If I am looking for a new TV, I may like to see it or, a worst be buying a brand I know.

 

regards

[gretchenwf]

I see that you can switch the language to German or Spanish, however, doing so breaks everything. The category box goes blank. All the product titles go away. (I'm assuming that is because you don't have the titles for the other languages filled in.) Also, the buttons revert to the osC standard buttons. The blurb at the bottom of the page about payment and whatnot stays in english no matter what language is selected.

 

If you are going to have the other languages available to click on I would suggest getting all of that taken care of. Meanwhile, stick with just english.

 

Gretchen

[steve77]

A few things

 

. why have a currency box if you only accept 1 currency?

. why have language options if the content is always in English?

. why have a Tell Someone box titled Information?

. change Manufactures to Manufacturers. Why have a second box, whatever the spelling in the right hand column?

. inconsistent capitalisation in Categories menu + one entry too long for space

. image sizes & file sizes in Used Bargains way too big

. emphasise what you do rather than what you dont do and make it a positive. Your Shipping entry starts "DELIVERIES TO OTHER COUNTRIES. We only dispatch within the uk we do not dispatch to any other country ( the republic of Ireland is not in the uk)...."

 

You also need to think about your categorisation and range. If I am looking for a calculator, why would I be at your store? Why would I look under Boys Toys to find it?

If I am looking for a new TV, I may like to see it or, a worst be buying a brand I know.

 

regards

 

Cheers to the people who have replied having read your comments i can see what you mean and i do intend to change a lot of what you have said. I have been trying for a few days to get my head round how you remove the currencies and languages not in use but im just not experienced in these things and im scared of making a mess.

[steve77]

Whohoo get me im a website genius i have removed the currencies and languages

[steve77]

I see that you can switch the language to German or Spanish, however, doing so breaks everything. The category box goes blank. All the product titles go away. (I'm assuming that is because you don't have the titles for the other languages filled in.) Also, the buttons revert to the osC standard buttons. The blurb at the bottom of the page about payment and whatnot stays in english no matter what language is selected.

 

If you are going to have the other languages available to click on I would suggest getting all of that taken care of. Meanwhile, stick with just english.

 

Gretchen

 

Gretchen do you think the blurb at the bottom should be kept i have sorted out the language problem but still want to try and make people feel secure when they visit the site

[gretchenwf]

Gretchen do you think the blurb at the bottom should be kept i have sorted out the language problem but still want to try and make people feel secure when they visit the site

 

While I do think that is important information to share, I don't think that is the place for it. I would put that info on your FAQ page (which just says "TEXT" right now, by the way) Something like:

Q: What forms of payment do you accept?

A: blah blah blah

 

Q: Is it safe to purchase things online?

A: blah blah blah

 

I will also echo the comment above -- if you only have 1 language and 1 currency, you do not need the selector boxes for those things.

 

Gretchen

[steve77]

While I do think that is important information to share, I don't think that is the place for it. I would put that info on your FAQ page (which just says "TEXT" right now, by the way) Something like:

Q: What forms of payment do you accept?

A: blah blah blah

 

Q: Is it safe to purchase things online?

A: blah blah blah

 

I will also echo the comment above -- if you only have 1 language and 1 currency, you do not need the selector boxes for those things.

 

Gretchen

 

Hi Gretchen im taking on board everything you say but dont know how to do most of the stuff i really am a complete novice with absolutely no idea what most of the terms mean so its a case of learn as i go. I have been able to disable the currrency and language options but do not know how to remove the boxes. I know how to fill the faqs box but dont know how to set it out like you did in your reply. I tried to do it in a bullit point style in the terms and conditions box but when i saved, It just went back to how it is now

[gretchenwf]

Hi Gretchen im taking on board everything you say but dont know how to do most of the stuff i really am a complete novice with absolutely no idea what most of the terms mean so its a case of learn as i go. I have been able to disable the currrency and language options but do not know how to remove the boxes. I know how to fill the faqs box but dont know how to set it out like you did in your reply. I tried to do it in a bullit point style in the terms and conditions box but when i saved, It just went back to how it is now

 

It looks like you are using a template, so you would have to ask whoever you bought it from about removing the boxes.

 

As far as changing and formatting your page text, hopefully I can help a bit. You can change the text for most pages by looking for the file in the languages folder. It will be at catalog/includes/languages/english/file.php. Replace file.php with whichever page you are trying to change. For example, your Conditions of Use page is conditions.php. So, if you go to catalog/includes/languages/english/conditions.php and look at the file, you will see where it says "Put here your conditions of use information". Changing that will update the page. It looks like you just typed your info in the catalog/conditions.php file, which is incorrect.

 

To format something in bullets you just use basic html. start with <ul> and end with </ul> then put <li> and </li> around each bullet point. For example:

<ul>

<li>bullet point 1</li>

<li>bullet point 2</li>

</ul>

 

You can get good SIMPLE html info at W3Schools.

 

Hope that helps some!

 

Gretchen

[lindsayanng]

you will LIKELY be able to remove the boxes by going to the following file

 

catalog/includes/column_right.php

 

in there you SHOULD see

 

include(FILENAME_LANGUAGES)

and

include(FILENAME_CURRENCY)

 

just put two / before that code. It will remove it from site, but keep the code there incase you want to add it later. I almost NEVER actually delete code becaus ei know my site will be changing often and i want all the functionality readily available.

 

as far as SLL, you NEED it. Having that little paddlock in the browser makes the customer feel like their personal (not financial) information is safe. Name, address, phone number, email address. If you require an account to purchase, then you NEED to have SSL.. even if you dont, you really SHOULD have SSL

 

As far as loosing sales, are you getting visits but people are leaving? Or are you getting no visits?

 

Did you install an SEO contribution to put you higher up on the search engines. (find them at addons.oscommerce.com)

 

There is a link in my signature for a thread called oscommerce road map for newbies. CHECK IT OUT.. it can help you (although your files COULD be very different - the WORSE thing about buying templates is no one here can REALLY help you)

 

There is also a thread in the same tips and tricks forum called BASICS FOR DESIGN, check that out too.. Use the search function to find "how-tos" for what you are looking to do.