first impressions of my site

Hi

I am just after some first impressions of the way the website is heading? any pointers/advice would be great.

www.ukcarshop.co.uk

 

Can you explain what kind of advice are you looking for?

1. Design
2. Development Ideas
3. Business Pointers
4. Revenue Generation
5. Other

 

sorry, yeah ofcourse

I am looking for design feedback/ideas (bear in mind I am not a designer, I am more developer) so given it a go. If its deemed "rubbish" then I'll get someone else to designe mabye

- revenue generation would also be handy!

 

I would not call it rubbish, that will be very harsh. However, there is considerable room for improvement.

Design
Lets start from the top.

1. Header: It is very plain with just a Logo. I would suggest you to utilise this space for links to facebook & twitter pages of your website.
   
2. Logo: I am sure you can get this redesigned for $10 to $50 by hosting a contest on this forum.
   
3. Menu: Very Simple, how about using some new colours try looking at this url http://tinyurl.com/64s7rma. it uses modern colours and keeps it simple.
   
4. Main Image: I would suggest using a simple slider like in the link I have provided.
   
5. Search: Might need some alignment. And more drop downs like auto trader.
   
6. Browse Cars: Just some alignment and text styling.

I know you might think this calls for a complete change. However, that is not what I am suggesting. What is called for is a new approach. All the suggestions I have made are simple to implement. I would have liked to make the home page look more stylish and sticky(low bounce rate).

It will be great to see what you think. I would be watching this thread to see how it progresses.

Revenue Generation
This can be achieved by having a few revenue models generated.
1) Lead Generation: Sell car leads to partners who would be interested in buying cars.
2) List Management: Build a list & use it for email marketing for car related offers. There are number of affiliate programs which offer £15 per valid registration/lead for test drives with KIA, Volvo etc.
3) Again originating from number 1 & 2:

• Conduct surveys from users
• Ask about their personal details & Car Insurance details

You can use this info to trigger email drops with insurance offers nearing their expiry dates.

Also you can share this info with insurance providers or lead generation companies. You will need to include 3rd party consent for this in your privacy policy.

4)Affiliate Product Data feeds: like in the bikes site. Include a section for car products Eg. Halfords.

5)Adsense: Please make sure you don't over do it, a simple inclusion once on every page is enough.

There is a lot of ways to monetise such websites. However, websites fail due to lack of traffic, always invest time on SEO, Building Email/User List, Promoting your websites etc.

I have been in the industry for more then 10 years and I am always happy to offer advise.

 

Hi,

wow thanks for all of that adivce, it is very much appreciated and very useful, I will be taking on board all your suggestions above so watch this space!

once again! much appreciated!

 

You are most welcome! Feel free to ask any questions!

Also, a good motoring site is http://tinyurl.com/4cdtopt

 

hi, first change made, I have a jquery image slider on homepage.

 

Hi,

1. you need to place exact positions for the banner.
2. and come's to footer change the font style and the color

the banner images are looking good

 

your site looks pretty good,
you should be fixed many negative things by this time .
only thing is don't forget the update the sitemap regularly

 

Please use gradient background and Do use gradient within table like "search for a car" and "browse Car" Section. and menu color "BLUE" doesn't suit the concept. try some different color.



If you make these three changes - your site would look great and have a whole unique look.

 

It looks ok, but i would suggest to add some more colour to spice things up a little bit

 

Muzd good suggestion ...really appreciated it ,it would be very helpful for new comers..!!

 

The first Impression of a website really is very important in making and converting visitors viewing your website in to customers......... One must give special importance to the design and layout of ones home page in getting and attracting users to view and use ones services.......

 

thanks for all your feedback folks. The image changer is just the first change, I will be making changes over the next few days e.g. background, navigation etc.

 

Hi all, I have made quite a few changes, could you provide me with feedback of this design so far

 

Header is too simple to be attractive, try to use some colors and sort out the categories in nice format. try to put all the brand names in drop down menu if not drop down then subcategories also try if you can put selections according to price range

 

yeah the header/nav is still a work in progress.....

 

here you got good advice.. this guy is great..

 

I think you have not completed the template.Logo is missing.The 2 boxes on the contents needs proper padding.You have cool domain though.

 

have a look at a few templates thats out there on templatemonster.com, your site needs a fair bit of work.