Many updates to www.jwswholesale.com

jwswholesale · #1 (**permalink**) 05-18-2005, 03:22 AM

please see this again and let me know how and what you think about every aspect that you find appealing in a website as far as Ecommerce goes of course.

Any and ALL information would be great!

www.jwswholesale.com

webhost1 · #2 (**permalink**) 05-19-2005, 01:47 AM

Main page.
Site does not adjust to a smaller screen.

Try our contest you might want to add some space at the top and bottom for separation.

Deals on digit does not look right in the left column.

Why not use a text link for powered by effortless

JohnF · #3 (**permalink**) 06-03-2005, 07:53 PM

I have a 20" monitor and couln't find the right side of your home page.

You have nothing on the home page but a set of headphones. The rest is links which I'm not tempted to follow. You need content big time. Fill the blank space with chatter laced with links if you have to but don't give a visitor a boring time.

JF

webhost1 · #4 (**permalink**) 06-05-2005, 11:29 AM

Join your mailing list? HOW? Link does not work on some of the pages. In fact the link is not there on some of the pages. Might check this out.

jwswholesale · #5 (**permalink**) 07-02-2005, 02:55 PM

I have made some updates and now I am waiting to see results before I make more.

Keywords, description ok?

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks again to all that help!

roban · #6 (**permalink**) 07-02-2005, 05:29 PM

I browse at 1024x768 and I still have to scroll side to side.

webhost1 · #7 (**permalink**) 07-02-2005, 06:14 PM

I don't have to scroll his site. The main page looks like it is set to re-size itself. That is what I get. I can make it bigger or small and I still get all of his info on the screen without any scroll bar.

**brian.mark** · #8 (**permalink**) 07-02-2005, 08:49 PM

The homepage was fair. The image of the XM Radio image was a little grainy and "Graphical" instead of a photo. A photo would look more credible to me.

I clicked on the "2-Way Radios, Compass, GPS Units" link first, and that page wasn't too hot. No images for the categories? Keep in mind that people are visual, so a picture of each (or icon) next to the link will help people click where they need to go.

If you're really an e-commerce site, why are you using Google ads on your pages? Aren't you selling anything to make money? That's the impression when I see a site that sells stuff and has Google ads on it.

When I got to the 2-way radios, I though I must have clicked on the wrong thing. I saw scanners there. Scanners are 1-way, so that's the wrong category. I had to scroll to see anything 2-way.

I really don't understand why you made 1 link that covers 2-Way Radios, Compasses, and GPS Units. Why not make those 3 links from the homepage instead of having it all under 1 link? It just made for one more unneccessary click in between the homepage and the products.

When I clicked on "Headphones", again I don't get anything visual, just some black links. Why not at least show a couple featured pairs of headphones here? Give me a chance to see that I'm at the page I clicked on. Or, show me the top 10 sellers there and have some links at the top for each of the other categories.

You could probably get a lot of ideas from my site that you could apply to yours.

If you want some specific examples of what I'd suggest you do to your site, let me know. A mock-up shouldn't take too long.

Brian.

jwswholesale · #9 (**permalink**) 07-03-2005, 08:46 AM

Thank you for all of that information. It really makes me think of what I am missing while I am caught up in the whole website experience from an owners angle.

I am really new to programming and like to think that I am catching on faster than not. If you have places I can go to read about how to do things like you suggested, etc, that would be great. I google all day long, but am never really ever sure I find what I am looking for OR how to implement it.

Are the GOOGLE ads that bad? I am selling more this year than any other, google is just another stream of income (at least that's how I see it), but do they look that bad to a customer? I see even Buy.com uses them in the search results, etc.

I have heard one way and the other about them. I guess I am wondering if there is any official evidence or documentation that it's not a good thing on a eCommerce site.

Thanks again, keep the suggestions coming.

webhost1 · #10 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 01:25 AM

You might start by looking at the forums right here at WPW. I have found a fountain of knowledge here. For just about anything to do with a site you can find the answer here and even a place to look to see what they are talking about.

**brian.mark** · #11 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 01:42 AM

Do you know your conversion rate? If you track that over time, that is the best way to figure out if your site is really working or not. If you have 3x the traffic and 10% more sales, that's not good. If you're getting 50% more traffic and double the sales, that's good.

The small images for the categories can be seen here on our site. It gives people a chance to scan and "see" the right category rather than "read" the categories. This in itself can really make a huge impact in getting people to the next level in your site. I just have it choose a random image a couple times a day from within the category.

You've got a decent base for your site. Just add those finishing touches and it'll be great.

Brian.

jwswholesale · #12 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 01:34 PM

Well my conversion rate is not so good. Lots of visitors, very few orders. But that is picking up recently, I think due to SEO.

If I could convert every visitor, or every 10th for that matter, I would be more satisfied.

Thanks for the suggestions.

**brian.mark** · #13 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 02:57 PM

Average conversion rates online are pretty dismal. Some industries convert as little as .25% of their visitors. Others can convert as many as 1 in 10, although those are pretty rare. Average has been stated by Bryan Eisenburg (http://www.grokdotcom.com) as being in the 2 - 3% range (oh, and if you don't already subscribe to his newsletter, I highly recommend it.)

He's a huge fan of micro-conversions and macro-conversions. The micro-conversion is getting people to click to the next link for the category of product they want. The next micro-conversion would be getting them to click on a product. The final micro-conversion is getting them to add it to their shopping cart.

Keep in mind there are a lot of steps to the macro-conversion of buying a product and make it clear all the way through what you want people to do next so they can follow your process and your conversion rates can climb significantly.

Brian.