Inuit Art - will this site sell well?

philippeb · #1 (**permalink**) 11-29-2005, 09:46 PM

Hello all,

This is an absolutely great message community. It seems the level of intelligence and expertise here is second to none. With this in mind, I would like some of your opinions on my new e-com website. The URL is www.InuitArtPod.com

If you wish me to review your site as well, please let me know in the message, I will be happy to return the favor.

Cheers,
Phil

CJacobson · #2 (**permalink**) 11-30-2005, 01:55 AM

I like this site a lot, and I really hope it does well for you! I particularly like some of the copy writing. It's pretty interesting and informative. Visitors will be likely to bookmark it and revisit.

I think you should improve your product photography. It just doesn't look glamorous enough. (The photos in the banner are much superior.) Lose the wrinkled white sheet and invest in halfway decent lights (for less glare, better color differentiation, and warmer tones overall). You've obviously included the igloo label in provide a sense of scale... well that doesn't work for me because I don't know how big the label should be. The labels look carelessly positioned. I'd rather you provide a more obvious size reference (and leave the scrap of paper out of the photo), or else put each sculpture's dimensions in a more convenient place.

IMHO, on the home page there isn't enough information to go along with the monthly special's photo and its price.

The biographical information on individual artists could use more work. It's uneven. (Info is missing for at least one artist.) I'd like to be able to search by artist and to collect a specific artist's work. (I'm assuming your selection will grow.)

What does your favicon have to do with anything? It's cool that you have one, but the association to your company and products should be obvious, if possible.

I comprehend that you're creating the pages with PHP... but I'm not sure why. It looks like a site that would be easy to maintain without PHP. At any rate, you could still benefit from some simple tweaks to improve search engine results. For example, you should have a different title tag for every page...

philippeb · #3 (**permalink**) 11-30-2005, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJacobson

I like this site a lot, and I really hope it does well for you! I particularly like some of the copy writing. It's pretty interesting and informative. Visitors will be likely to bookmark it and revisit.

I think you should improve your product photography. It just doesn't look glamorous enough. (The photos in the banner are much superior.) Lose the wrinkled white sheet and invest in halfway decent lights (for less glare, better color differentiation, and warmer tones overall). You've obviously included the igloo label in provide a sense of scale... well that doesn't work for me because I don't know how big the label should be. The labels look carelessly positioned. I'd rather you provide a more obvious size reference (and leave the scrap of paper out of the photo), or else put each sculpture's dimensions in a more convenient place.

IMHO, on the home page there isn't enough information to go along with the monthly special's photo and its price.

The biographical information on individual artists could use more work. It's uneven. (Info is missing for at least one artist.) I'd like to be able to search by artist and to collect a specific artist's work. (I'm assuming your selection will grow.)

What does your favicon have to do with anything? It's cool that you have one, but the association to your company and products should be obvious, if possible.

I comprehend that you're creating the pages with PHP... but I'm not sure why. It looks like a site that would be easy to maintain without PHP. At any rate, you could still benefit from some simple tweaks to improve search engine results. For example, you should have a different title tag for every page...

Thank you very much. Your comments are obviously well thought out and much appreciated.

We're going to be reworking the photography shortly. It was a little rushed in the interest of launching before Christmas. I agree that there is a too much glare some of the pieces.

I also agree that clients should be able to search by artist. Once we add more pieces, it could be a good enhancement.

One question: what do you mean by favicon? Do you mean our logo or???

Also, in terms of changing titles on each page, I heard that many sites now have it done dynamically with xml. Is this what you would recommend?

CJacobson · #4 (**permalink**) 11-30-2005, 02:36 PM

By "favicon" I mean the little 8 pixel by 8 pixel logo that appears next to your URL when it's displayed in the browser menu bar, or in someone's bookmark/favorites menus. Your's looks like a lowercase "h" with a halo around it.

I don't think you need XML to change page titles... but IMHO, there is a significant SEO advantage to having a different title on EVERY page. Currently, every page is titled the same: "Inuit Art soapstone carvings & prints from renowned Canadian Inuit artists shipped worldwide."

I'd target different keyword phrases on each page. For example, I think the word "investment" should probably appear in the PAGE TITLE of your "investment.php" page. The page is already pointed to on other pages with link text that reads "Inuit Art as an Investment". It's also wearing a heading that reads "Inuit Art and an Investment". That's great, but why stop there!?!? I'd put the word investment into an "alt" tag, into the meta description tag, into boldface text within the copy, etc... and, I want to emphasize this, having a keyword in the meta TITLE tags really seams to help a LOT in terms of search engine index rankings.

(I'd also try to use the verb "invest" and the gerund "investing" in the body copy.)

philippeb · #5 (**permalink**) 11-30-2005, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJacobson

By "favicon" I mean the little 8 pixel by 8 pixel logo that appears next to your URL when it's displayed in the browser menu bar, or in someone's bookmark/favorites menus. Your's looks like a lowercase "h" with a halo around it.

I don't think you need XML to change page titles... but IMHO, there is a significant SEO advantage to having a different title on EVERY page. Currently, every page is titled the same: "Inuit Art soapstone carvings & prints from renowned Canadian Inuit artists shipped worldwide."

I'd target different keyword phrases on each page. For example, I think the word "investment" should probably appear in the PAGE TITLE of your "investment.php" page. The page is already pointed to on other pages with link text that reads "Inuit Art as an Investment". It's also wearing a heading that reads "Inuit Art and an Investment". That's great, but why stop there!?!? I'd put the word investment into an "alt" tag, into the meta description tag, into boldface text within the copy, etc... and, I want to emphasize this, having a keyword in the meta TITLE tags really seams to help a LOT in terms of search engine index rankings.

(I'd also try to use the verb "invest" and the gerund "investing" in the body copy.)

Very helpful. Thanks again.

Jdude217 · #6 (**permalink**) 11-30-2005, 06:04 PM

man phil..,
I wish i wouldve found this post earlier. My mom wants a hamock for her birthday! the only problem is that her b-day is on the 1st of the month - tomoro!

O well maybe next year...lol

ADAM Web Design · #7 (**permalink**) 11-30-2005, 08:21 PM

One thing I noticed when I first loaded your site (but not after the second page) that will KILL it in terms of SERP ranking: you have a PHP session ID embedded in your links. You need to get rid of that anywhere that it appears in your code. That's just a death sentence.

Second...I like the site overall. I've always been a fan of Native/Inuit art since it's about the only stuff left that still makes any sense and this is no different.

Lots of info in general, and decent text writing as CJacobson pointed out.

My own personal nitpicks:

1) I thought the pics at the top of the page linked to their sculptures for a second. I don't know what threw me (maybe the location, maybe the border, maybe both) but for some reason, they look clickable.

2) http://www.inuitartpod.com/products.php?id=15

"GUARANTEE" is misspelled.

3) I like your logo. It looks cool.

4) The problem with the photography that I could see is that it was obvious that you were doing it on a drop sheet. Smooth the wrinkles out on the sheet and then retake the shots. Otherwise, it just looks like you're shooting the pics on someone's bed.

Maybe put them on a table with a white wall background.

As far as changing the title on every page, I don't know if it's doable in PHP but it should be. When I do a site like this (in ASP), I retrieve the content, then create the HTML output. That way, if I want to change a title on the fly, I can do that. The same should apply here.

On your checkout (which I tested and clearly indicated as such), City, Province/State, and Country should be in the opposite order than they are now.

You'll see other obvious fake data put in there. I was intentionally trying to throw your system so that you could see where to fix it. (Specifically the bad email address). I wasn't trying to be a jerk myself: I was just trying to imitate the behaviour of jerks I've seen try to (and sometimes actually) screw up my carts. So don't take my order as a joke, please (although I don't want it). I just wanted to find the flaws.

You should have Canada Post shipping if possible, not just UPS. Mind you, the way CP is around here, I wouldn't be surprised if they can't physically ship your products because they're too big.

This is what shows up on the payment page:

Special Instructions: I don\\\'t actually want the item. This order will be abandoned. It\\\'s a test of the ordering process.

The slashes, although I suspect they're there for the forming of the SQL query, should be removed. I never put them in.

TOTAL: 1,205.22 USD
(1,405.67 CAD)

I like the conversion, but why not convert it the whole way through, or leave it as one currency? Personally, I'd leave it as Canadian if that's what people are going to be billed in.

http://www.inuitartpod.com/gift.php?cur=2

The currency is too small to read on this page at 1024x768.

Most of what I'm doing or picking at is pretty minor stuff though. I really do like the site overall. I just try to review them like a jackass, since it's the jackasses that will give you the most problems and you can head them off at the pass this way.

Tim · #8 (**permalink**) 12-05-2005, 07:35 AM

Just one minor point to add to the other comments about the photographs. All of the photos with the exception of ones in the header have been re-sized, the actual dimensions are about twice the visible. This has the effect of pixelating them because there's just too much detail to display them properly. You should resize the images to the display dimensions.

I hope that helps while your ironing out the wrinkles!