Feedback on re-relaunch of jewelry site

kanjigirl · #1 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 01:41 PM

A few weeks ago we launched a redesign of our 8-year-old jewelry site and it flailed around for a few days until we took it down. We got a lot of comments about it (http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic...er=asc&start=0) and took those under advisement to redo the CSS and add/change a number of things.

Please take a look, all suggestions welcome.

http://www.silverfantasy.com

I know there are a few validation errors on the home page; these are all from includes of the catalog I'm using and I'm working on clearing those out.

corporateface · #2 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 06:16 PM

I think that is MUCH better.
Consider, using some lighter regions where there is text like on the left. All black, IMO, is distracting and makes it difficult to read.

Keith

**jawn_tech** · #3 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 06:31 PM

Very impressive changes. The site looks fantastic.

You're right not to sweat over a few w3c validation errors, imo, especially when they're not that crucial.

I really like the "great gift ideas" section.

kanjigirl · #4 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 09:59 PM

Maybe a catchy slogan?

It's harder for me to come up with these things for my own business than it is for my clients' businesses...

Debbie

mymusic1234 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-28-2006, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kanjigirl

Maybe a catchy slogan?

It's harder for me to come up with these things for my own business than it is for my clients' businesses...

Debbie

Here's an idea-
What is it your service is doing that makes it unique and effectively the best choice for your customers?
perhaps you can ask your clients for ideas and run a small competition for the best entry.
To give you an example go to my personal/ music website and see the slogan I used there www.marksmusicaustralia.com
I wanted to effectively capture not only what my product was (Beautiful instrumentals from Australia) but what it did (ie Touch the heart) so I created a slogan from this- which has effectively become my brand and trademark.
You can do the same by having a thinktank ie you design (or better yet you craft or create websites that are functional and asthetically beautful.
Do you care about the client? Yes! so maybe your slogan could incorporate that aspect as well.
Just some thoughts to go on.
Best of luck with your fine tuning of your site.
Kind regards
Mark.

Peter (IMC) · #6 (**permalink**) 09-28-2006, 11:55 PM

Looking better, for sure the products stand out much nicer now. First question that comes up though is: Do you see a change in sales. You should see a direct change in sales if the design was the original problem.

Also, try to get some more trust logos (like the logo of your secure site certificate provider if your check-out process keeps the visitor in the website. Who do you use for shipping? Also nice to put a small logo of your shipping providers. Any trust logo you can use (and that´s for real) can be helpful.

kanjigirl · #7 (**permalink**) 09-29-2006, 02:03 AM

Re: the last post - absolutely we see a change in sales - they're running right at or just above where they were with the old site (which was fine). About 3-4 times what was happening with the white site, so we're quite happy with it. It's only been up for two days.

What other trust logos are considered 'good' by retail buyers? I was thinking about doing that, but I just read an article on PCMag's site (I think) about how most of the trust-based sites don't really inspire a lot of confidence in buyers. Any suggestions or opinions to the contrary?

We ship via USPS, and our shopping cart provider also has some hacker-safe emblems we can include. Unfortunately our checkout process is not kept within the site but I'm working on that; it could be a few months before I can make that change though.

trancehead · #8 (**permalink**) 09-29-2006, 03:35 AM

Hi kanjigirl,

Your site seems to break in IE 7 RC1. If you g oto your FAQ page the background block doesn't stretch to the height of the text. Some other areas have similiar problems.

Probably a quick CSS height adjustment though.

Peter (IMC) · #9 (**permalink**) 09-29-2006, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kanjigirl

Re: the last post - absolutely we see a change in sales - they're running right at or just above where they were with the old site (which was fine). About 3-4 times what was happening with the white site, so we're quite happy with it. It's only been up for two days.

What other trust logos are considered 'good' by retail buyers? I was thinking about doing that, but I just read an article on PCMag's site (I think) about how most of the trust-based sites don't really inspire a lot of confidence in buyers. Any suggestions or opinions to the contrary?

We ship via USPS, and our shopping cart provider also has some hacker-safe emblems we can include. Unfortunately our checkout process is not kept within the site but I'm working on that; it could be a few months before I can make that change though.

Now that is great to hear. Absolute proof of that site design (and even more so, color schemes) make a huge difference in sales.

About the trust logos, you don't have to use big logos, they can be small,. they just need to be recognizable.

The logos aren't there to increase trust. They are there to prevent a decrease in trust. Most people want to feel comfortable and the best way to have them feel comfortable is to show them things they already know and trust.

Gareth Eckley · #10 (**permalink**) 10-08-2006, 05:24 PM

The site is better. I hated the last version. The last color scheme with the black background was not good. Look into the psychology of color and the gut effects that it has on people.

I still question the black background for the main content. The site is quite stark to look at-white or silver on black and after a few minutes of browsing I just wanted to leave the site. The colors are I feel very masculine. The structure, layout and organisation are great it is just the color sheme that i still do not like.

Have you tested the site with many women ? I really feel that if you are wanting women to buy that you need colors that are softer and more feminine and more harmonious. I am not talking about using pinks as that color usually looks very amateurish.

I spent months coming up with and testing color combinations for my site: www.portraitsinstone.com
The feedback from visitors has been great. Both women and men have said that my site colors are visually appealing, restful and encourages them to linger.

Hope my comments may help fire up your designer, Good luck for the future :)

kanjigirl · #11 (**permalink**) 10-08-2006, 06:10 PM

Gareth - I like your colors and site. The problem with ours is that when we started it, we did everything including shooting all the photos. At that time we had no clue what we were doing, and black had the best-looking results as far as showing off the jewelry better than other colors. We didn't have any equipment that would have enabled us to shoot on white with reasonable results.

So we have 1,000 photos of charms on black. That's what we still have and had to work with for the redesign, and finding color combinations that work well with the many black photos is tricky. I understand the psychology of the colors we're using, but at this point, it works, sales are very good and have been for about 7 years for our 85%+ female visitors, and as many people informed me regarding the background color 'if it's not broken, don't fix it.'

Gareth Eckley · #12 (**permalink**) 10-09-2006, 10:40 AM

Glad that your existing design is working OK for you. Thanks for your kind remarks regarding my site.

I can see how the black photos comstrain your design. Hope it continues to work for you.

Cheers.