Web page ordering

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2steps

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 5349
Location: Surrey

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 07 7:42 pm Post subject: Web page ordering
Got my bum in gear and sorting my domain name, shop etc but am wondering if it makes a difference what the first page of the site is and how big a difference? I am planning to have a few webpages - an about me type page, gallery of past work... but Should the page you go to when typing in the address take you straight to the shop or to the website?

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 07 7:52 pm Post subject:

I'm not saying you should do it like mine, I tend to be a bit disorganised withe my site, but have a look at mine and see if any elements work or not for what you want to do. I have galleries, the about me stuff and the shop, so from one perspective not a million miles from what you want to do. Look at lots of sites and see what works or not for what you want to do. Pay as much attention to what you don't like as to what you do like.

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 07 8:12 pm Post subject:
Also - look at the really successful on-line companies sites, Ebay, Tesco, Argos etc. They do have a certain feel, and a certain way they structure themselves. We've found that useful when doing our new site (which will be launched one day if muggins here gets her finger out and does what she's supposed to )

Went

Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 6968

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 07 6:40 am Post subject:

Personally I think the link ought to go your website with a couple of items from your shop advertised somewhere on the front page as a teaser - just make sure you have back buttons / links so that you do not lose them if they want to navigate your site - visitors will often look several times before making a decision to order. Your Ebay shop will attact customers anyway - your site hopefully will bring in more - you can link to ebay or have some sales pages on your site as well. If they trust you then they will trust your shop/products.....Try and remember your own experiences of what irritates you and what is welcoming.....your users will feel the same about your site - my tip would be: make it simple, logical, easy to navigate, quick to load (many people are still on dial-up) and try and keep them as long as possible......good luck.

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 07 8:33 am Post subject:

I understand that to get the best out of google/yahoo etc., you should have the 'keywords' for your site in the text of your first page.

So, for example, if you are selling makeup for elephants, your 'keywords' section (hidden in the headers at the top of the page) will include the words 'makeup, elephants, Blah Blah Blah Company'. And your text on the first page should also say something like "Blah Blah Blah Company sells fabulous makeup for elephants". If you make "makeup for elephants" a title on the page too, so much the better.

I agree with Ian and Luis about a teaser to the shop on the main page. And apparently the average person gets bored waiting for a site to load longer than 7 seconds ... .

2steps

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 5349
Location: Surrey

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 07 9:00 am Post subject:

So something like this would be good? (the banner isn't a definate design yet, still working on that)

I have the keywords all sorted

and am going to edit my ebay auction template to incude a link to the site. Also will put the site address on my business cards and labels that go in/on each parcel from ebay. I was thinking of adding in somewhere that I have been selling on ebay for years and have good feedback to hopefully show people that I'm trust worthy and reliable. Do you think that's worth doing?

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 07 9:09 am Post subject:

Yes, I think that's a brill idea. And if people have left you particularly relevant feedback on ebay you could use a couple of them as quotes perhaps? I like the general layout - very clean looking and easy to read.

Have you got an h1 tag somewhere on the page with something like "Phoenix Moon, handcrafted jewellery" to also tie in with your keywords? And in your title tag?

Our name is in a .jpg on our site - so I've got an h1 tag in white very small letters on a white background in the first column of my table that says "Mulberry Grove Ltd, lighting design and AV services", which hopefully is being found.

2steps

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 5349
Location: Surrey

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 07 10:05 am Post subject:
great idea as mine will also be a jpg. I thought the pics at the bottom could be links to that item for sale or just to the shop homepage

Chell

Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 21

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 07 9:14 pm Post subject:
Its important that all your keywords for SEO are on the home page. www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk is a good place to post for advice about how your site 'should' be from a selling point of view.

OP

Joined: 28 Jul 2006
Posts: 4661
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 07 7:03 am Post subject:

Chez wrote:

Our name is in a .jpg on our site - so I've got an h1 tag in white very small letters on a white background in the first column of my table that says "Mulberry Grove Ltd, lighting design and AV services", which hopefully is being found.

I have heard that search engines may check for white on white text - do you know if this is working or not?

2steps

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 5349
Location: Surrey

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 07 10:39 am Post subject:
thanks chell, have bookmarked that. also going to have a read of your site as I'm thnking of teaching my little guy sign language

Grimnir

Joined: 29 Mar 2007
Posts: 372
Location: Northants/Beds border

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 07 11:02 am Post subject:
One thing to remember is people can be lazy! The more clicks they have to do the less likely a sale. Put your best/newest stuff on the front page and make them clickable so they go straight to the 'buy me' page. I was told it's best not to have a front page but to go straight to the shopfront and put all the other pages up as links on there

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 07 11:37 am Post subject:

orangepippin wrote:

Chez wrote:

I have heard that search engines may check for white on white text - do you know if this is working or not?

Well, when I google 'mulberry grove lighting' we come up near the top; but that might be despite the white-on-white rather than because of it. I also try to use all our keywords in the text on each page too, so it's more belt-and-braces than anything else.

Chell

Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 21

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 07 5:06 pm Post subject:

2steps wrote:

thanks chell, have bookmarked that. also going to have a read of your site as I'm thnking of teaching my little guy sign language

Give me a shout if you need any further info.

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