Guest eric47905 Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 Hello, I had been working with cubecart trying to get the functionality and design I liked down. I finally got that and it is now open. Though we are still trying to get products entered. I would like some good honest feedback on what you think, it is an incense store. http://www.xincense.com I know that the front page is wordy, but I need some advice on maybe what I can add or cut out of the words to still keep my points I am making.... Oh well, Hit me with the feedback, I'm ready for it! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyjoe Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Hello, I had been working with cubecart trying to get the functionality and design I liked down. I finally got that and it is now open. Though we are still trying to get products entered. I would like some good honest feedback on what you think, it is an incense store. http://www.xincense.com I know that the front page is wordy, but I need some advice on maybe what I can add or cut out of the words to still keep my points I am making.... Oh well, Hit me with the feedback, I'm ready for it! Thanks Aside from the issue, that you acknowledge, that you could do with fewer words, there are two issues that I think are more important. Both arise from your fundamental conceptual approach - one that I respectfully think needs reconsideration and reflection. Please do not be offended at the bluntness of my comments and questions. I am not trying to insult you. I sincerely respect you and what you are trying to do. I just think that being straight with you serves you better - while recognizing that I don't have time to slide for carefully polite words. Your layout is too much about you (the store, your issues, etc.) and not enough about the products. The first evidence of this is the HUGE graphics that take up a major portion of the top of every page, thus greatly reducing the space available for displaying your goods. At the top of every page, such a graphic shouts insecurity and self-involvement. And what is the purpose of the star-like grahic in the upper right corner? Anything that does not drive sales should be removed. It is a distraction and waste of time. The second evidence is not only the volume and placement of all that text in the middle of the home page, but the content of the text. You are telling people about your problems and worries and efforts. But that is not what they came for. When was the last time you walked into a store and were greeted by the owner telling you about the clerk who didn't show up this morning and the delivery truck that is late? And gosh . . . all that space devoted to PayPal, when a small logo would do. As for "Grand Opening", in todays online world, that self-congratulatory announcement of your lack of online history is a counter-incentive for scam-wary surfers. Too often, new also means, only here for a few months and then gone. I am not suggesting you mis-lead people and claim a non-existent track-record of satisfied customers. But I am suggesting that it is not in your best interest to boast of what many will see as a negative. My suggestion is that you go into your Home Page admin, delete all that text (all of it, every single word). Then install a centered table with three columns across and as many rows as you need so you can put one 175 pixel wide Category photo in its own cell. Then link the photos the category item in the menu. As example of that approach is at www.vikolya.com. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eric47905 Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 No, not offended at all, that is just what I want, some honest good feedback! I am going to look at what you are saying and try to rethink it a little and see where I can go from there. I agree that the Banner could definately be toned down some. But thats what I am trying to get is some varied opinion as to what should be done and what shouldnt be... So Thanks! The only problem I have with deleting all the words, and maybe you have an opinion on this as well, is that every thing I seem to read about getting traffic tells you to not just put pictures as the search spiders see them as nothing more than that, while having text will give more content to be perused and indexed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reb_76 Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 If you're looking for great fragrances in high quality incense and extremely low cost, high quality oils, candles, burners, hemp products, and many more things to come, Then you have come to the right place! Incense, Incense, Incense, we've got a massive selection! Not only is it our goal to have all of our customers be perfectly happy with their purchases, but also to offer the biggest selection we can in one place, with the absolute lowest prices we can possibly give! So check back often, because you'll never know what we'll have next. And once you find something you like, it should always be here, because we are trying to continually add new items, while at the same time offering the great products we do now! Please look around and tell us what you think of this new home for xincense. We are really hoping to be more than just a store to you. We are striving for the community type thing and hope that we are hitting just that. Ok, here's my suggestions: First, shrink the image of the rollons. Do 'align right' or 'align left' - that way, the text will flow around the image and allow them to keep reading. For the text itself... Xincense LLCBest PricesBest QualityOilsCandlesBurnersHemp ProductsMuch More! New products arriving weekly, so check back often! Really, that's all you need on an intro page. And I'd leave off the mention of community unless and until you add a forum or a message board. I know what you're saying, but a community by its very nature is interactive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eric47905 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Thank you for your input, I am reworking the front page with some ideas several people have emailed me and I will be taking all of the suggestions into account by the time its done, I've already reworked it a bit. There is a forum in fact I started up, but its called talk not forum because when I titled it forum in the link I got 200 fake signups almost overnight, since I changed it to talk, I havent had one bogus signup. But ty for the feedback, this is my first real site, so I appreciate everything people have to say! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eric47905 Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Ok, this is now all reworked through most of the advice I received from here and emails. I didnt use every suggestion, and modified some and left some stuff that some people did not like, but I wanted it to be pleasing to look at as well as drive customers to buy. I think I touched some of that. One thing is that there are two photos around the categories that will change on every page load through a php script and link to the category of the item itself, and the simple paragraphs now incorperate links to the items mentioned! So check it out again and let me know what you think now! http://www.xincense.com * I know that there is 23 validation errors right now, and I have a post out asking about that already. Though that is a behind the scenes issue, it displays and functions great! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyjoe Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Well, that's a huge improvement that I think will serve you well. My final advice is to reconsider the color scheme. Colors express and influence emotional response. That phenomenon is so powerful that most people don't even know they are being manipulated by the application of certain colors. There are university doctorates built on the uses of color in commerce, politics, art, etc. For example, the Nazi swastika flag of red, black and white was chosen by Joseph Goebbels after consulting with psychologists to come up with a combination that would evoke fear and brute strength. Offhand, I can't think of any other national flag that uses those colors - and they are avoided for the very reason the Nazis chose them. Your color scheme is almost the exact opposite, devoid of emotion. The colors are unassertive and dull. The interesting thing is you are selling scents that appeal to the most evocative and permanent of all our senses, the sense of smell and its effect known as "involuntary memory." I only need one whiff of a certain perfume and the memory of my first intimate encounter with the opposite sex floods back even though it happened beneath a boardwalk on a summer night almost 60 years ago. The thousands of pages of one of the most famous books in world literature, The Remembrance of Things Past, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Proust) begin with telling how the author's entire youth returns when he smells a Madeleine, a simple lemon-scented cookie. Your scheme could be a lot more inviting and evocative. White space is powerfully positive. The judicious and restrained use of a hot color (red, orange, etc) as accent in a few places pulls attention. Blues and greens create a sense of stability, confidence and competency, which is why CC skins that use blue are so popular and why so many web sites base their scheme on those colors. If you Google "color scheme generator" there are many many web sites that offer tools and charts for creating compatible schemes of varying purposes. Hope that helps . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eric47905 Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Thank you, that does and I appreciate the feedback very much! Though a redesign of the color scheme will be for down the road, for now I need to get all the products finished being added, and a few other minor behind the scenes tweaks and then on to something like colors. We chose a brown/tan emotionless color scheme to reflect earthtones in general, but I can see what you are speaking of. In any event, Thanks for looking and all the advice you have given. I think it is definately a lot better now too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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