I don't know? I get an average of 4000 hits a day, and it's been open for a few months. On my new site about 300 a day, and it's been open a day.
In short... <h1> for titles... the main subject.. <h2> and <h3> for Paragraph Titles, Sections. By the way.. did you see what a difference your changes of font are for index2.html.. It already looks better. That's what I meant.. little changes to your CSS can make big differences.. Also if you rename your images from display.jpg to something normal.. if possible you could get a lot of traffic from images search. There are so many things you can do to optimize it further..
A top notch redesign of the site (just its layout, colors, fonts) might only cost about $300 to $500. 300 to 400 hits per day should be doing much better for you. Something about the site is hurting your conversions. Sounds like your getting some targeted traffic based on your sources, thus it should sell better than it does. I tested your checkout and I had a few question marks come up while I was using it. After I first entered a zip code, the next step appears below, but i did not notice that, the zip boxes stayed where they were and at first i thought I had to enter it again because there was a problem. Thats in invitation to hit the back button. Also on the page where a buyer enters credit card info, that page needs to be cleaned up better. And when you tell the user (in the same sized font and right next to the word Credit Card) "BELOW ARE MORE PAYMENT OPTIONS", makes me scratch my head to??? well right below is where i enter my credit card info.i dont see any other options??? I know you have the paypal and Google checkout below after I looked a bit more, but it left me a little confused (because of how you worded, and where you placed that statement) Should there not be a selector for Visa, Mastercard, and other's where the user is supposed to enter their credit card info, if they don't use the Paypal or Goog Checkout. If i see these then the average web user is seeing them too, but they aren't trying to dig deeper to figure it out like I am. They are probably abandoning the shopping cart. When it comes to your site design, don't get too married to your original and don't rely on friends, co-workers and family for opinions. They all have a vested interest in lying to you if they don't actually like it.
hmm...You guys have any example sites that have flawless shopping cart procedures? I didn't know it was that difficult to checkout, maybe thats the problem? Thanks
It's not truly difficult, just a few things that made me scratch my head for a second. If you had the only product available and people wanted it they would be willing to jump through any kind of hoop imaginable. But when it comes to online commerce, absolute simplicity is key. Did you know that the back button is the most commonly used item in a web browser? At any point that a user becomes uncertain, or has questions about a page, they are bound to just hit the back button to find something even easier. Read "Don't Make me Think" by Steve Krug. As the developer it just seems obvious to you, You know it inside and out because you built it. But a user that has never seen your site before, or been through your cart, is just muddling through and scanning for the next button they need to press. Make it so everything is dead obvious and a 4 year old using the internet for the very first time could find their way through the shopping cart. I'm exaggerating a bit, but you should get the picture. If a user has to think, then the first thought is often the back button. Don't make'em have to think.
I will definitely check out that book. I made a few changes where the shipping zip code will stay in the box when entered and the confirm page shows your payment options first before the credit card option. Do you think you could have another look and tell me what you think? Thanks for your time
You could also think about spending a few bucks and integrate shop cart system which is pro if its too hard for you. Here in Holland bigger Companies like www.wehkamp.nl integrate www.mijnwinkel.nl. If something goes wrong you dont have to bother about that. I dont know if these services are available in the US. But here it costs you 5 to 40 euro each month. If you sell enough.. that should be no problem. Ofcourse you can code everything yourself. It's not that hard.. But I think your main goal is selling stuff and not coding..? Just an idea.. Anyhow.. success..
There are 2 ways to do it. 1) Increase traffic 2) Increase the percentage of visitors who buy from your site Both work well. The first requires lots of search engine marketing, the second means you need to test loads of layouts, designs and processes to maximise the conversions. The key is to test, if a keyword you pay 20 cents for is only earning 5 cents on average then you need to lower your bids. Track everything.
Ok, I was looking at your redesign, you are close to making a huge improvement. My suggestion is to get rid of all that stuff in the middle, the 4 pictures. The logos are fine as they give people an instant association with a product label they are looking for. Instead of the images I would put 3 or 4 of your best selling products on the homepage. Lead people into the sale. People dont like too many choices and you are making it a little scary. I just dont know what to click on! So hold their hand along the way and lead them into the products, suggest products. Give your site a few more pixels on the top and bottom for space so that customer doesnt feel so confined. The top picture is a great intro into the site. Also drop the left navigation about 20px down from the logos and define the area with a really light shade change. Also your ebay ad, will lead people away from your site, if I can get 10% and have a secure company like ebay handle my payments then why would I buy on your site that I dont Know very well? Hope that all helps.
The reason for the ebay ad is to show buyers that we have an ebay store as well and are a trusted source. If the buyer knows any better, they will know that ebay is using Paypal just the same as the site is, without the buyer protection. The 10% is to keep the buyer on the site, because they will be able to get the discount only on the site. The entire has been redesigned if you want to take a look: iCandyClothing.com And the best seller idea is really good, we have to use that. Thanks for the advice
Home page looks MUCH better! I tested the checkout again and its seems smoother. On thing, the form field data entry boxes a a bit too small. Make them a bit bigger, and the font size inside them bigger. I get errors when i click the check/money order link. Also this link does not look like a link. Nothing happens when I mouse over it. Also make those payment option links more noticeable and the focus of the page. Move your verification links down a bit. Be sure to let us know if conversions go up over the coming weeks.
Yea the money order sectoin needs to be fixed, but I will definitely keep you guys posted. Thanks for everything
Ok guys, I just want to let everyone know that the changes to the site and sharper marketing strategies that were put into the site from the help of all of you have paid off. The site has been very profitable this past month and we are growing the inventory as well! I want to thank everyone for their input on the site!
ya thats another thing, some other items could very well be fake but i know any "bape" on your site is a complete knock off...A credible and repuabtle business cannot sell fakes... be careful too with trademark laws because of the fakes...the time you could do for several offenses isn't worth it
I myself think the site doesn't look bad...maybe add an autoresponder to capture email addresses and do email marketing, do some article marketing, press releases..and make sure in your Google adwords ads are very specific and targeted...Target the long tail keywords that convert in your niche..
The design is not bad, but the two necks that vanish into the big image look kind of wierd. Maybe add some space there? You don't have much text for a search engine to read. At least one or two paragraphs would provide some content text that a search engine could latch onto. Tags alone are not sufficient. Maybe make the two big images a little bit smaller to make room for text. Or, put them as background images with white text overlayed.