What have I done wrong?

[roban]

My vitamin site has been online for several months but I cannot seem to sell anything. Is this site so untrustworthy? Am I in a bad market? Does the site just plain suck? I use Cube Cart but have done an html main page that links to products using the CC database. I need some straight forward feedback before trashing the concept altogether.

Many thanks.

[wrmineo]

Roban:

I few points/questions:

The site has only been online a few months? April 05?

Your title seems too eager.
Vitaminlink Vitamin,Supplements,multi vitamins,health supplements

Your description reads more like a spammy keyword meta:
Vitaminlink, Vitamin Supplement,multi vitamins,vitamin b 12,red rice yeast,herbs,Active Mans Formula,Active Womens Multi

Your keywords seem excessive, spammy and not fully relevant to the page:
vitamin supplement,vitamin b,vitamin e, vitamin c,vitamin,zantrex 3,barley green powder,green tea extract,red yeast rice,high cholesterol,vitamin b 12,dietary supplement,prostate support,dietary fiber supplement,free shipping,best multi vitamin,man multi vitamin,Lycopene

Your outline in W3C looks like this:
ANOTHER BOGUS VITAMIN C REPORT — LIKE THE OTHERS, DISREGARD THE ADVICE
Let’s make sure that all vitamin and herbal supplements are truthful in labeling
Why Restricting Calories Never Works for Weight Loss

>> They are all H2 ... the allcaps is not cool in my opinion.

You have a lot of <style> in your code - could you find or create a CSS to accomplish this and shorten your html?

Do you have the ability to change all "&" in your links to "&amp;"? This would cutout about 60 over your code errors.

You're in a very tough market and one that many discredit or regard with an err of caution and skepticism. I think you need to clean up the page schematics which will pull in more visitors and give you a better fighting chance.

ctabuk has a wonder thread started over at Marketing Strategies - if you truly want to succeed you'll take him up on the offer of getting some great, free and comprehensive analysis of your site and those in competition for traffic in your marktet / site genre.

Don't Get Discouraged - Get Determined!

Good Luck and Happy Ranking!
Rob
w®m

[ADAM Web Design]

First and foremost, your layout isn't consistent. That makes it very hard to navigate and find stuff, as well as confusing to the user in the sense that fonts/background colours/menus aren't the same. Pick a layout and stick with it as much as you can, even if it's a simple one.

Second, choose a default font for your opening page. You don't have one, which means that the user gets whatever is their default. In my case, I've intentionally set mine to something obscure so that I can figure this out quickly, and the results are usually pretty ugly (as they are in this case).

Your home page and your index.php page are two different things. Why is that? Would index.php not be the default?

You've got a PHP session ID embedded into your URLs as I travel through the site. This will be death to the search engines. Lose this if you can.

The blog, like a growing number of them, doesn't suit your site and shouldn't be there. A blog is an online journal, not a place to stick articles. Make an articles section for that.

Your images link to the products in some cases, but not in others. This should be consistent.

There's a Javascript error when I try to "Email Order Form". I can't get past "Building order and transferring to checkout..." I think it's trying to submit a form that doesn't exist.

Maybe you should have a submit button there as a backup just in case.

I put through a fake order of 3 Barleygreen somethings, but I don't want it. I made that clear in the comments field, just so you know.

That should get you started.

[roban]

Many thanks for the feedback and the encouragement. I will take your advice and keep working.

[wlodi]

Warning: opendir(/public_html/cart/admin/includes/reports/): failed to open dir: No such file or directory in /home/vitaminl/public_html/cart/admin/includes/includes.php on line 51


that's what I get at the very top when I enter your site. When I see things like these I usually run away. Most people probably do the same.

Your left-side menu is all white in my IE.
next to: About us, Contact us, Terms & Conditions I cannot see pictures, which are supposed to be there.

In the very centre I see a guy with a tennis rocket. Below, there used to be a picture - I cannot see it.

These are the tiny details that people look at. Your website does not have to be Miss Internet. It can be regular, but you need to keep an eye on details.

cheers,
michal

[wrmineo]

The errors are just a result of him doing some maintenance - you get get such a message if accessing now. I'm guessing he's about to wow us here shortly; stay tuned!

That's Determination vs Discouragement!

[roban]

Originally Posted by wrmineo

The errors are just a result of him doing some maintenance - you get get such a message if accessing now. I'm guessing he's about to wow us here shortly; stay tuned!

That's Determination vs Discouragement!

Thank you for the good words. You're right I am in the process of a major overhaul thanks to the feedback from this great forum. Upgraded to the newest version of CC and filling products. It is ready for viewing albeit metas are not as I'd like them, I am still maintaining a PR 4.

[wrmineo]

Robban - looking nice!

A few quick points:

Can you change, in the code, the "&" to "&amp;" - it will not affect the links. I ask because the code comes up with 260+ errors, ALL stemming from this one issue.

Also, I'm honestly not crazy about your title.

Your left/right scroll could be dropped if you shorten your top nav menu - the rest of the page falls within the screen but the nav bar is creating the need for horizontal scroll.

Don't Forget:

ctabuk has a wonder thread started over at Marketing Strategies - if you truly want to succeed you'll take him up on the offer of getting some great, free and comprehensive analysis of your site and those in competition for traffic in your marktet / site genre. Ask him for an IBP report.

[roban]

wrmineo,

Thank you for the feedback. I hate to drop more tabs because of the category issue but I can try to incorporate some into others by renaming.

The "&" to "&amp;" issue makes me nervous but I guess you are referring to links only.

Do you refer to the header graphic or the meta title? I am aware that the title, description and keywords are not optimized and I intend to work on those today.

[wrmineo]

Yes, I was referring to the title meta. Personally, I would drop the site name and simply go for something simple like Vitamins and Supplements Information, Resources & Online Store ... or something like that. Again, ctabuk and the Marketing Strategies folks have a better insight and resources on this. Also, catalyst and the Affiliate Marketing gurus would be a great resource.

Yes, the "&" issue was about the links only - if you change in the code it will not affect the links on the page, merely clear the issue for code validation.

The navbar looks much better! The page can now be viewed without left/right scroll - well done.

Why does the "search" hover over your page title? Seems out of place and it's cutting off your header ...

Looking great though - keep up the determination!

[etechsupport]

roban,

I think some thing is lacking behind of proper targeted market orientation of your market segments however there is good scope with such products.You should focus on a defined target market especially with proper product positioning & add some good testimonials from reputed physician Dieticians about quality of your products.
Describe what it feels like to enjoy a healthy life style without worry.

[roban]

The search function is there by default in Cube Cart. In the earlier version I had moved it and here I would like to move it to the left column where there is plenty of room. The CC forum is very helpful with these things but it takes some time to get issues resolved. I really appreciate your taking the time to post your insights.

[brian.mark]

I'll probably hit this all a little too direct, but I'm not too good at sugar coating things.

I'll start out by saying that if most of your traffic comes to the homepage (I'm guessing so since the page titles are all the same, making it tough for engines to figure out the other pages), then you don't really come out and say "Buy vitamins online" or "Get your vitamins here". You are just telling the visitor who you partnered with to start out, and I don't think most of your customers are going to care in the slightest. I sure wouldn't.


http://www.vitaminlink.net/cart/inde...d&productId=34

Your targeted term seems to be "Blood sugar formula" for this one. I feel that "control blood sugar" or "control blood glucose" would be more natural to search for. It may be a blood sugar formula, but people are going to search for the problem they're trying to fix rather than the marketing term that you come up with unless you have a huge advertising budget (think viagra). Even "diabetic vitamins" or "diabetes control pills" would be much more natural for people to search for.

Once you have people to that page, assure them that it works right away. Testimonials can work wonders. I don't really care that much about the picture if I'm looking for those... move it off to the side to get your text higher on the page. This is all the text above the fold right now at 1024x768:

Originally Posted by Vitaminlink.net

Location: /Diet

Blood Sugar Formula
Blood Sugar Formula

Product Information

Vitabase Blood Sugar Formula is a scientifically formulated combination of vitamins and herbs designed to keep blood sugar levels in the normal range. Each ingredient in our

Blood sugar control isn't about dieting, it's about diabetes management. Tell me how this is going to help me beat the disease above the fold. Hey, if you're convincing enough I'll probably personally be buying some of these.

I'd also really recommend not just saying that the ingredients are chosen to control blood sugar, tell us how it does that. Does it help produce insulin? Does it assist the insulin receptors? Does it block the body's use of carbohydrates and starches? Diabetics are for the most part some of the most educated people about their condition. There are lots of products making claims, but without something reasonable as a "Why it works", it's going to be a tough sale.

I thought maybe you just missed the boat on the one product, so I clicked on another one.

http://www.vitaminlink.net/cart/inde...d&productId=26

I had to read all the way to the "Caution" before I even knew it was for detoxification. I shouldn't have to dig to figure out exactly what that pill is for - most users won't and search engines can't. You'll never rank for a term used way down the page just once without a ton of links coming in that use your exact term, and I didn't see any of those.

The site works reasonably well once I find a product, but it's a real confusing mess trying to select the right product for my need. Remember that half of your visitors are below average, so you need to talk to the bottom half of the below average visitors to make sure they don't get frustrated and leave.

My final comment for tonight is that the search box sort of hides. Can you add a background color there to make it stand out a bit more? I shouldn't need to search to find the search.

Brian.

[roban]

Great post Brian. There's alot to work with in your comments and I thank you for the thoughtfullness involved. My ISP's server is down today but I'll hop on your suggestions as soon as possible.

[brian.mark]

Originally Posted by roban

Great post Brian. There's alot to work with in your comments and I thank you for the thoughtfullness involved. My ISP's server is down today but I'll hop on your suggestions as soon as possible.

I'm glad you took it as helpful and not as bashing. That's always a concern when I start picking apart the details.

I do like the site, though. The real test if if you sell me on those "Blood Sugar Formula" pills on my next visit. :-)

Brian.

[roban]

Don't worry about bashing M8, I appreciate honesty. I have been adding some interesting descriptions especially to the 2 products you highlighted. I also queries ctabuk and he sent a report. He uses IBP Pro interestingly. Exactly the program I used to optimize the site and it passes on all scores. I will keep on "keeping on" with the good advice from you and others. Many thanks.

[etechsupport]

I think brian.mark has really given most valuable suggestion to you. On marketing point of view I would suggest to identify well the market trends and target customers of mainstreams and study the competitiveness and implement few changes.

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest patients in the maintenance of the human frame, in diet and in the prevention of disease."
Thomas Edison

I think this quote is most appropriate and perhaps you’ll kike it.

[etechsupport]

I think brian.mark has really given most valuable suggestion to you. On marketing point of view I would suggest you to identify well the market trends and target customers of mainstreams and study the competitiveness and implement few changes.

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest patients in the maintenance of the human frame, in diet and in the prevention of disease."
Thomas Edison

I think this quote is most appropriate and perhaps you’ll like it.

[roban]

Originally Posted by etechsupport

I think brian.mark has really given most valuable suggestion to you. On marketing point of view I would suggest you to identify well the market trends and target customers of mainstreams and study the competitiveness and implement few changes.

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest patients in the maintenance of the human frame, in diet and in the prevention of disease."
Thomas Edison

I think this quote is most appropriate and perhaps you’ll like it.

I do like it and understand its implications with regards to my venture. Noted and appreciated.