Requesting Critique

[shinryuu]

Hello all,
I would like to request a critique of my website. The problem I am running into, is getting a decent amount of unique visitors (like 20-30 per day), but no conversions. So I was wondering if something is wrong (structure, load time, prices??).

the url is: http://www.starwizardfashions.com

I'll start by saying that THIS particular site is not hosted with powweb because I cannot get dedicated IP & private SSL. However, I do have two other domains hosted here, and have been a customer since 2001.

One additional note, I have placed an order for a toll free number, so that will be coming soon, hopefully that will help add to the "legitimacy" of the site.

Thanks.

[Kitchensink108]

One of my first thoughts was "well, the site has no banner." Turned off my adblocker, refreshed the page, and there it was. I suggest renaming the image to something that doesn't have "banner" in it, as it gets caught by Adblock, an extremely common extension amongst Firefox users.

Anyway, I like the banner. The layout itself is rather simple but I like it (actually my main problem is having so many product images on the frontpage. It just seems kind of messy at first glance, but I don't think it's too bad).

If I were you I'd mess with the placement of the nav links. Well, actually I'd get rid of the graphical headers ("quick search", "categories", "shopping cart"). I kind of like the graphic as used in the topnav and add to cart buttons, but not as headers on the leftnav. Your navigation links are redundant, like how you have three "about us" links. Keep the top and bottom ones but ditch the left ones. I think the "information" and "categories" sections should be next to each other (one right above the other) and condensed a bit so they're quicker to scan.

Also, I don't know if that's an overscore or a top-border when you hover over links, but get rid of that.

I'm a coder, so I'd critique your code right now but it doesn't really matter, plus it's 5am and I really need to get to sleep, so I won't.

As for the prices, I'm an 18 year old guy, I know next to nothing about jewelry prices, so I can't help you there.

Hopefully Yvette will come in and give something more helpful, as I can't see any immediate reason you're not making sales.

[IanS]

My first impressions were a good clean site - then I had to scroll for a long time. I'd suggest splitting your front page up so that it isn't so long. Maybe keep only the introduction and then link into the site. If you want, showcase a special product or two but keep the page within one screenful.

Also, indicate if you can accept international orders and indicate shipping costs.

[YvetteKuhns]

Hopefully Yvette will come in and give something more helpful,

You rang?

My first impression was: Why is that star with a wizard hat and wand the logo for THIS website? There were so many wizard logos years ago for software or other things. I even made one at the request of a client. I made a cartoon of her wearing the hat. It was really cute.

In this case, the logo star and the font for the website name just didn't seem to fit with this type of website. I would want something more elegant, fancy or pretty when shopping for jewelry. Remember that your website is your online store. When I shop, I want the jewelry to be sparkling and the display to be attractive.

The horizontal navigation buttons are different colors and look like candy or something. The reflective shadow below doesn't add to the look and actually takes up space. I don't like any of the buttons for THIS website. Choose one color for your buttons that fit with the color scheme.

Speaking of color scheme, I am not crazy about purple. That is fine for 7 year old girls, but most of them cannot purchase items online. Choose a few nice colors that do not compete with the product images. And keep the page design simple. Too many unnecessary graphics will compete with the product images which should be the focus of your website. See http://www.jewelry.com for a comparison. This website looks like I designed it, except that the copyright info is not at the bottom and the page doesn't fit 800x600 screen resolution. ;)

Alignment suggestion - align your product images to the top. Align your descriptions and buttons to the bottom. It would look nicer. The mouseover enlarged image is annoying when I am trying to read. But that is just my opinion. I usually click for an enlarged image.

After clicking to see an individual product listing, I noticed that the Shipping and other links must be found after much scrolling. I didn't notice on the home page, because I clicked an image in the first screen view. This is VERY important. All important information and links should fit in the FIRST screen view.

You must define your target audience in your home page. That means you should explain what your selling and to whom your selling. I see that you sell jewelry, but you don't say if you sell/ship outside the United States. You did show forms of accepted payments, but they did not appear in the first screen view. Did you ever try shopping for items only to discover that the business did not accept your form of payment or does not ship to your address? We are in the United States, but many others who find your site may not be.

As for prices, compare to eBay and see that you may have problems selling items. I purchased jewelry on eBay for Christmas gifts. The auction prices were better to advertise the businesses. The other items at the stores were priced much higher. While you may save on shipping to buy multiple items in one location, the product prices may be higher. I always look at the product price plus shipping and that is the actual cost to me as a customer.

Find a way to explain to your website visitors why they should buy items from YOU. Professionalism, customer service, credibility and good quality products must be conveyed to your audience. Often, affordable jewelry is thought to be cheap and junky. Try to convince people to Buy our COSTUME jewelry to enhance your fabulous look. Use words that make your customers believe they WANT and/or NEED your jewelry.

I could continue to type, but I have other things to do. Maybe I will get my crossdresser husband to look at the website. He LOVES to shop for jewelry! Please don't think your site is bad. It just needs to compete with other websites, so you want it to be the best you can make it.

[AJain]

Wonderful site, Content is excellent and the rollover image popups are neat.

I would recommned spicing up the product descriptions, I would not read it, try to condense it use bulleted points if you have too, that way the potential cutsomer will actually read through it quickly.

I would say change the buttons thats for sure, not sure who your audience is but the buttons could be done better. For the front page try to keep it minimal with a simple introduction and try to have a couple of banner images displayed highlighting your product catergoies.

i.e. http://www.designerlingeriecenter.com/

There is a sample there as to what I'm speaking about.

Other than the points I have pointed out as well as others here I think its a good functioning website. Easy to use and not many clicks to purchase an item. :)

[resssem]

I like this - the design is what you'd expect for this type of site - it's not too stylish (if you don;t mind me saying) but it does the job and that's right for this type of site - I like it.
What backend technology did you use to develop this? There's a load of data on this. This is a well developed site, it appears as if you have designed it from developers at www.webdesigningcompany.net (www.webdesigningcompany.net)Anyway, I think you could make your logo a bit bigger though and maybe space things out a bit more - put more spacing between offers..
Good work on the whole...