Hello I'm thinking about redesigning my site, its been going for a few years and i think we need to tidy it up a bit, would you have any ideas how to redesign are baby shop? I'm also thinking about paying someone to make us a custom made site, is this a good idea and does it cost much? Baby Gifts Thanks for any advice...
What are you looking to achieve by a redesign? Generally it is a case of if it aint broke, dont fix it. Cost... anything from a few dollars for an "indian" designer to a couple of thousand (or more) for a UK developer. By the way, a company legally must have its contact address and its registration number clearly shown on a website now (UK) and I couldnt spot either on yours easily.
IMHO, it's fine as it is.. It's not cluttered. if you want to achieve the current web 2.0 look, glossy.. colorful.. fresh look.. that's why you're going for a redesign then go for it!
Thanks guys, it was the "current web 2.0 look, glossy.. colorful.. fresh look" i was thinking about but if it didn't draw more sales then it would be a waste of time. I do have my details on the contact page and shipping & returns page, all can be found on the front page, as for the registration number, i take it that you mean the company reg number? if so this is the first ive heard of it, ive have just joined up with "Internet shopping is safe" and they have done checks on my site but did not mention what you have said, but i will look in to it.. Thanks again the both of you.. http://www.jellybabys.co.uk/contact_us.php http://www.jellybabys.co.uk/shipping.php
Jellybabys, It may not be necessary to do a complete re-design, but instead just a "re-alignment" as demonstrated over the years by the Simple Bits website, which has been through several re-alignments using the same general layout. With a "Re-alignment", you basically keep the same layout as your current site, maybe changing some element positioning in the header or re-organizing the nav a bit, and just give it a fresh, updated skin or theme. That way your site remains intuitive to your current visitors, yet achieves that attractive appeal your hope to bless your site with. Based on their Portfolio and Services, AstarothSolutions looks like they would be your best solution at the moment. Considering their location, their experience in developing shopping carts and CMSs, SEO and full website design. If he/she would be interested in providing you their services you should PM them about it. Good luck! -CSSDevMonkey
Thanks for the slightly random recommendation CSSDevMonkey High level details on the legal requirements re uk companies selling on the web can be found http://www.out-law.com/page-7594 - for registration number I was referring mainly to the companies house registration number as I noted that you said you were a LTD but VAT registration number is also required if you are VAT registered
Hi there, Personally I wouldn't recommend redesigning the entire site. However, I think it would benefit greatly from a tidy. Firstly as AstarothSolutions suggested I would put all your company information including full address in the footer (of every page). In my opinion there are too many links. I think you should re-categorize the products into a hierarchy so that there are less top-level categories. Your home page should then focus on these top-level, general categories to help guide potential customers to their desired products. The long list of footer links needs to be trimmed down to only those a user will expect to see there i.e home |contact | shipping & returns | privacy notice | sitemap etc... Structure your page content with subheadings. Reduce the number of advertisements, it adds clutter to the design and it is essentially content that you have little control over. I would move away from a three column layout. Place the search in the top-right corner of the site where people expect it to be. Make the horizontal top navigation larger and easier to read. Remove many of the unnecessary links such as 'size chart.' The top nav should be there to quickly the new or existing customers to where they need to be. For example, a new or returning customer will not be going straight to the 'size chart' from your homepage, this should be found on the product page where it is important. White space is good. You have an order hotline. The number should be in large text towards the top of the page. I could go on and I am sure you would be able to do the same for my sites. I hope that at least some of this is helpful. In summary, I wouldn't go for a complete redesign as such, just tidy up, freshen and remove the clutter. Daniel
The first thing I would do is find a new host. From the US this site crawls. As I write this it is still loading. Maybe yours is a local establishment but there are many UK hosts that can give you a better global reach. I'm surprised among those giving you advice no one asked what you wish to achieve for your site and whether its been successful to you. Provided it makes you half decent income I would definitely recommend a redesign. From my experience this looks like an Oscommerce site ( can't even bring up the source view now - still trying to load) and the layout doesn't really appeal. If you aren't making any money from this site or not enough to speak of then tidying up is in order but if you do have a future for it then a better face to the world will certainly help. If it is Oscommerce then you might want to think about moving away from that as well. Oscommerce is stagant, restrictive in its design and doesn't make your site look like an establishment of note unless you spend hours (used to be one of my jobs) forcing it out of the box. Better alternatives are out there. Some are even free and open source.
i feel total redesign is not quiet required but you tweak it bit buttons , title image,font style/colours
Sorry I missed that Astaroth but I was more thinking along of what she wanted to accomplish with the site business wise rather than the purpose of the redesign. Could be synonymous though.