In addition to what I said yesterday, here are few more suggestions: 1) You might want to seriously consider offering full refund if a customer is not completely satisfied with the product. And here is the reason why: for people who do not know the artist and never heard of her name before such an investment of $200 - $300 would be very risky. If she offers full refund it will open a door for many many orders by putting that "security" feeling in your potential customers' minds. They cannot be there in person to actually "see and touch" her paintings. But if they know that they will be able to get their money back if they don't like the product, they will be much more willing to go ahead and hire her to do a painting. You might think that she will be getting lots of return if you offer this. But it's just not so. If she does a really good quality job, which I am sure she does (her paintings look absolutelly awesome, by the way!), this won't happen. Sure, some odd returns might happen, but think of how many orders she will get just because of that VERY important "security policy"! I know few sites that are making a killing because they offer complete refund for their online buyers. One of them is a denture store that sells dentures worldwide and another a web site that sells glasses. 2) Include the taxes in the price and do not even mention that word on the site. 3) Consider free shipping as a bonus (for at least your USA customers). Highlight all this as your BONUSES right on top of your home page sales copy and watch the results. 4) Reorganize your testimonial page. Put the ones that you have at the bottom of the page (longer ones) up to the very top. Put the actual pictures of the painted house / name beside a testimonial. 5) Add Keywords to your sites "head" section!! Cheers, astra
You should considering enlarging images for the paintings. A smaller image effects the feel of the painting a lot.. these pictures are looking like thumbnails which can't be enlarged. Use the smaller versions as thumbnails which redirects to a larger image.
I am so happy with all of the great responses. I think it sounds like my mom would greatly benefit from hiring someone to make all of these wonderful changes. You have all been so great and helpful. Please PM me if you would be interested in taking on a project to make some of these changes, and please include some idea of how much you propose to charge.
The pictures should blow up bigger. The font should be a more common font, one that is easy to read like Verdana. The site is nice to look at, over all you did a good job. Advertise on oter art sites. Post on art forums. Best wishes to you Mom.
MtCowboy4Life. I think you should make the changes yourself. It will be a learning experience and help you in future projects.
I honestly do not think you need any web design help at all. If you were the one who created the site, all you need to do is few easy changes. Your skills are good for this. The only area where STRONG professional skills are required is in writing a compelling copy for your home page. Here I would recommend help from a professional. I recommend Bob Bly. He is terrific in this area. Best regrads, astra
From the first glace I could not even understand that something is being sold. Add under each item a button saying “buy now†or “add to cartâ€, even on the main page.
Your mother is very tallented, but people try to find paintings to match their home themes. If I would need a painting, I would need one with just a few colors but matching a color theme. Also, futuristic images suggesting "modern" and "sophisticate" with no real meaning is trendy these days
Ok everyone I made some of the suggested changes, I changed the text on the main pages that suggested anything towards click here or purchase painting to be a link directly to the purchase a painting page which has the prices on it. I also very reluctantly changed the font, I chose verdana, but I felt like the old font (still seen on the gallery page I havent figured out how to change that myself) gave the page more of an artistic feel. I also moved the bulkier testimonials up to the top of the testimonial page, is that just good for people who are reading the page, or is it better for search engine purposes? I have gotten a few watercolor and art related websites to link to my moms page, and I taught her how to post ads on craigslist and backpage, I am also holding ebay auctions which have a link to her page. I got her to write an article about it, but I didnt really know where to have her post her article to do any good. I would really appreciate any suggestions for getting her ranking higher. I am still going to make many of the other suggested changes that you all recomended, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! plus of course there is a long list of changes my mom is requesting too. Thanks and have a great day!! Adam
I like Your mama site very much,and idea is great, but I think that You need to try to link it with similar sites like (art galery sites,etc) because than You can (maybe) get more "qouality' traffic and people who are more interested to give $200 for paint...Or try with AdWords
What about including actual video of your mom on the front page of the site talking about her services? The people who are going to hire your mom are going to want to get to know her - a video might be a great way to do that. You could probably do something with Fliqz, for example, to host the video. -Sypad
I made a basic site for my Dads art at www.davidcleverley.com. I'd be happy to exchange links with you! My site has made no sales as yet, its still being worked on and has not really been promoted yet. Drop me a PM if you want to link up. DD
I asked my mum to visit that site, she's a typical 55 year old pc user, she said I clicked on purchase and was told I had already purchased, confused by this I had a look, could't make it do that, untill that is I uninstalled flash player .... this could be the reason for the emails.
Get that photo of your mom on the front page! She has a great smile and it might help humanize the page a bit. Great artwork.
$200 is very expensive forbuying this kind of painting especially from the internet. I suggest you to reduce the prices or give a discountof 50-60%.
Possible reasons of why no sales: • None of the paintings have her autograph on it. Art collectors usually like to connect their prized paintings to a specific painter. • Hefty price for buying paintings over the internet. You are basically asking a total stranger to pay over $200 for a painting that they've never seen in person. I would never take this chance, especially if I've never heard of the painter before. • The checkout page is uninviting. There's too much red text going on there. I would change it to a basic black or dark gray color. Also, I would line up the text neatly in a table. That centered text makes the page a little cluttered. • Lack of any site certifications. You may want to invest in a privacy seal or a SSL certification program for the site. It may build some trust with potential buyers. Things to keep in mind: You only have one chance to make a good impression with your visitors. Try to conform to what most visitors are used to seeing on websites, such as black text, white backgrounds, images/colors that are easy to the eyes.