Hey everyone! I am new here and would like to get some feedback on my site. I have had the site for 2 years, but at first it was a foggy idea that has only recently taken any real shape. Most of my selling has been done travelling to art & craft shows for the past 18 months or so but I want to take the site to the next level and get my traffic up. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Atticdwellers

Oh, I also wanted to add that I realize that what I am selling is not typically being searched on the internet. I am only getting about 700 hits a month and I believe they are from people who have already seen my stuff in person at the shows I do. Out of those I am only getting about 10 orders a month. I am trying to develop my brand name and I am about to do some national ads and perhaps try to get some publicity to generate web traffic. Other than paying for google ad words in some general form like "recycled jewelry" or "eco-friendly jewelry" I really don't know how else to get the traffic up.

I went to your website.
I stayed for 30 seconds and that only because you asked me to review it.

Ugly. Design is way out of date.
Ugly. Copyright 2007 and Contact page has no: physical, postal, phone, fax, email info.

You need to hire:
1. a logo designer.
2. a website designer.
3. a website coder.
4. a SEO/SEM expert

or learn all about this "stuff" and do it yourself.

__________________
Dave Barnes
+1.303.744.9024
http://www.marketingtactics.com

Try changing your background color to white, get rid of the oval buttons and replace something more stylish, even plain text links would look better than that.

__________________
mini choppers | mardi gras beads | spirulina | seo

Choose one color scheme for your entire site and keep it to only one or two different font styles. The logo needs lots of work. I think your intent was to create an unusual looking web site to reflect the unusual jewelry that you create but the site misses the mark.

Cindy

Hiya! Well I actually like the logo - never heed them it's ok, but I think that the logo looks like it might work well with a white background and a square box around it. The freehand style of it might need to be counterpointed with something a bit more restrained - just to tighten the look up. Maybe you could try splitting atticdwellers into attic
dwellers with the house centred above it. Just an idea I'm not a graphic designer though.

The site itself looks scrappy and dishevelled. I think that the others are right about the grey backround (reminds me of their criticism of my black 'un). Have you had a look at other sites. the competition have this sort of thing nailed so I would say that spending effort/ money on a nicer look is the only way to go. If DIY is beyond you and you have the resources you could do worse than spend on an integrated look -after all the site is all about generating sales (maybe I should practice what I preach).
Have you got an ebay shop?
BTW my missis bought a bag from this guy at a garden show last year. He was in a stall with a sewing machine making them himself - it took me a while to explain to her that he didn't make everything by hand -I'm not sure she believed me. Have a look Bill Brown Bags
Regards,
C64

Thanks everyone for your comments. I have already started to make some of the changes and when I am done I will post again to let you know so you can check it out if you feel like it.

I changed the copyright date to 2008, the fonts all do need to be consistent so I am working on that. I agree that all the backgrounds should be the same color, but I'm not sure about white. I think I'm going to do something more earthy (right now the background colors do kind of look like easter eggs!). I guess I"ve known the oval buttons are tacky and outdated so I will change that too.

The logo has been mentioned by a couple of you, but I like my logo. I think it is too big on the screen right now and the layout needs to be changed overall. I can't go back on the logo now. There are a bunch of people out there wearing it on the back of their necklaces right now.

Oh, btw C64, many artists at those shows do not make everything by hand or they have simply gone to another show, looking around for ideas they can copy or for a product they can make using a kit they buy (that is why you will see so much of the same stuff at these shows sometimes). But there are a few, like myself, who genuinely do make everything by hand, and who have created and designed a completely new product. There are definetly patrons there who take notice of this which is why we can do incredible sales at a show that seems mediocre to other vendors.

Anyway, thanks again everyone for taking the time to look at my site and give feedback. I'll let you guys know when my changes are complete.

O.k. I made some changes over the last couple of days. Hiring professional help with this is out of the question right now, but I've done the best I can with the time I have and Yahoo site builder. I think the changes I made make the site appear much more modern and professional. (at least compared to the old site)

Thanks again and if anyone has a chance to look I welcome your comments.