It's been almost 5 years since we made any big changes to http://www.toolpartsdirect.com/, so it's probably time to think about it. I don't want to make it "Cookie-cutter" at all, but it needs something fresh.

I am also a little scared of affecting our conversion rate. It's currently very high, so huge changes are a scare to me.

What suggestion(s) does anyone have for a facelift?

Brian.

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ToolBarn.com, an Internet Retailer Top 500 and Inc. 500 Company | Tool Parts | Pet Supplies

I commend your desire for freshness, but I'd venture to say that the site look having been static for this period of time has become somewhat of a branding for your company. If it's converting well, prospects into customers, assisting in retention of customers, etc., why tinker?

That's not to say that a fresh look wouldn't attrack news prospects, but changes can often scare consumers.

IF you go with a redesign, do you plan to put on a test server and do some market focus research with current customers and industry and web peers?

Also, you state it's been static for a period of time. Have you updated the code in that time? I ask because I wonder if a more forgiving HTML doctype might eliminate some of your code errors.

A few concerns looking at this (code):

Your footer looks like the same color as your background - might get you slapped for an "attempt" at hidden text, even though it's not the case.

</HTML>

<font color="A0A0A0">ToolPartsDirect.com V7.00</font> (appears after closing)

I know a lot of this is outside the scope of your question, thanks for your tolerance in advance. I only bring this up because a revamp of your code might bring better SERP, prospects and hence customers while you're in the process of contemplating the redesign.

A final thought - have you asked, or considered, your current site visitors and customers about what they would like to see different, if anything?

Good luck; looking forward to seeing more on this issue and how it works out for you.

w®m

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W. R. Mineo

If the site is doing well why make any big changes. As long as it is doing well I would leave it as is.

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YourWeb The Friendliest Shopping Mall On The Net |
Buying First Time

I guess I'm thinking it looks rather dated. I should probably be able to change the doctype easy enough, and the ending text is unneccessary. I'd have to say, though, that we rank #1 for tool parts (and have for 4+ years on all the majors) so SEO isn't the concern.

Does it not strike you as dated? Maybe it's just because I've been staring at it for 5 years that I want something different.

We've made some changes to the background color, made some code changes, but the overall look hasn't really changed. http://web.archive.org/web/200104011...rtsdirect.com/ shows the 2001 version.

Maybe it's still fine, but I always prefer to keep it fresh.

Brian.

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ToolBarn.com, an Internet Retailer Top 500 and Inc. 500 Company | Tool Parts | Pet Supplies

CSS might be just what you're looking for then. Experiment with some variants to see how you can easily modify background, text, link and other colors and functions to pacify or freshness needs when the mood hits without really revamping.

A thought to serve your desire to change without changing what's structurally working for you?

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W. R. Mineo

If only I knew CSS. I'm a Perl programmer and I haven't moved to CSS yet. What's a good resource to get started?

Brian.

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ToolBarn.com, an Internet Retailer Top 500 and Inc. 500 Company | Tool Parts | Pet Supplies

You ever see those UPS commercials a few years ago where the consultants sit there and tell this guy how to streamline his logistics, shipping, and costs ... when the guy says, "Yeah, sounds great - make it happen!" Then they look at each other and basically say, "Whoa - we're just the idea guy..." :)

That's me! I don't know CSS from CSI quite honestly. Actually, I do know CSI, I watch all their shows ...

I use the CSS in DreamWeaver and some that a friend has passed along that I've since tweaked to meet my own means - you're welcome to them if you want. You can link them with your page and see what does what and then tweak from there.

W3C has some tutorials I've seen, and there's a ton more resources and people out there; "css templates" brings up 3.5M results in the Big G!

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W. R. Mineo

brian.mark,

There are some great online CSS tutorials out there. A couple that I have found to be helpful:

http://www.htmldog.com/
http://www.w3schools.com/css/

Based on previous posts from you, I know you'll catch on quickly!

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Cindy D
Harbor Springs Web Design | AlphaGeek Web Design | UpNorth.com

I don't think it looks dated. You have the same uniform throughout the site. Once you get on yor site you know where you are. No surprises. Makeing the little changes does help. But making the kind of changes you seem to be talking about I don't think would be that good. At least it sounds like your doing very well. I have been told that 'If it is not broken, why fix it' Which it seems is your case. Your doing good. Might ask your customers what they want changed if anything?

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YourWeb The Friendliest Shopping Mall On The Net |
Buying First Time