Website feedback

intead of saying “The Side Chair may not look like the most comfortable chair but you will change your mind once tested.” i would just say “The side chair is ultra comfortable.”

Maybe better quality pictures, They all look a little bright and slightly blurry

-- Joel -- http://diversitywoodworks.wordpress.com

I really like your website. What I like about it is the simplicity. There’s a couple of things I ‘d work on though:

1. I think you need to personalise it more. Make it like a conversation between you and the viewer. The thing you have to offer is that you are a single craftsman/maker able to work close with the customer – so bring that to the fore. Sometimes you say ‘I’, sometimes ‘us’ and sometimes use the company name – making me wonder exactly who I’m dealing with. Make it all first person. People get bragging rights out of commissioning something from a craftsman.

2. Tell me more about you. I’m guessing you do this because its your passion – correct ? Tell people that and they will want to deal with you. A photo of you would be good too – if I’m going to spend a couple of grand with you I’d like to see your similing face. Let people buy into the whole craftsman/commissioning thing – if they just want a chair I”m sure theres lots of places they can buy them.

3. Have a ‘Contact Me’ page, which makes it easy to fill out a form and click ‘send’. I know you have your email address available on the site, but it should be easier to contact you then that. The thing is to start talking to people – just start the dialog and the rest will follow. I find people will contact me with the dumbest question if its easy for them to do so, but I nuture the contact and after a exchanging a couple of emails you have a customer. You need to open the dialog with people who have only the vaguest notion that they might like a chair, not the people who have already decided to buy.

4. On your ‘Contact Me’ page have a way to gather the information on how people found your site. I have a dropdown listbox with options like ‘Google’, ‘Ebay’, ‘Recommendation from a friend’ etc. Doing websites is a good thing, the hardest thing is to get people to them so any information on how they found you is valuable.

5. do your SEO work.

6. like jap says, the photos are not good enough. You need to process them in something like photoshop elements and look at sharpening, colour balance and overall lightness.

7. Dont put negative comments in, like :
‘sometimes a back log does occur’ – deal with this once the customer is interested. Most people understand it anyway. Putting it up front you risk people thinking – ‘wow, sounds like I could be waiting forever for this guy’ – which is not logical but why risk having someone think that way.
‘keep a few on hand for art shows and demonstrations’ – sounds like you are going to sell beaten up show stock. Just mention that you often have stock items and never mind how or why.

I hope this helps.
cheers
Arron

-- Sydney, Australia, www.bespokeboxes.com.au

and another thing I just noticed. On your cutting boards page, you refer people to your Etsy shop. I wouldnt do that – most people will then start shopping around on Etsy and before they know it, the urge to buy a chopping board is gone as they see the amazing amount of stuff for sale. Or worse, they might buy someone else’s chopping board. Your boards are not expensive, so make it so they can buy one off you website – here and now.

cheers
Arron

-- Sydney, Australia, www.bespokeboxes.com.au

Cool pieces. I don’t see a problem going to Etsy since its your own page they’re going to. Chances are if they find your own website, they already decided that they want your product. You might want to consider putting a link to your Etsy shop in the header at a top-level item instead of buried under the Cutting Boards page.

You might also want to give a little more info about you personally on the main page. Maybe some nice shots of the shop, or projects in progress, just to show off the craftsmanship and what sets your apart.

The navigation is a little rough right now. Like once I go look at some of the chairs, there’s no additional information on what to do if I want to actually order one of them. I need to go back up top and check Available Inventory, and then maybe Ordering. Even then, the Ordering page doesn’t tell the customer what THEY need to do. It only tells them what you do. You might want something a little inviting, like “send me an e-mail or give me a call anytime at xxxxxx”.

Just my 2 cents. Hope it doesn’t sound like I’m ripping the site apart or anything, it’s functional as-is. Take this input as what it is, typical internet critiques :)

Have a good one, and best of luck pulling in more business.

Now that I dont understand. Why would you pass someone who has already decided they want your product on to Etsy to make the sale. You’re paying unnecessary commission to Etsy for the sale. How much profit is there in a chopping board that you can pay comissions to people for doing, well, nothing really?

I would have thought a better marketing strategy is to use Etsy to drive customers to your website. Etsy’s market reach is enourmous, yours is tiny, so you use Etsy (and Ebay and any others) to get people to your site. Turn Etsy (typically small) sales into website (large) sales. Thats what I do, and I find my website traffic is about 60% from Etsy, 40% from Ebay and 20% from Google etc (I”m not counting personal recommendations here, cos I was going to get them anyway).

how I see it
cheers
Arron

-- Sydney, Australia, www.bespokeboxes.com.au

Thank you to everyone for the feedback.

I made some changes that I hope personalized the website more. I added an About Me page, removed “Us”, changed a few paragraphs to make it seem more friendly, and added some more to the Ordering page

I would love to add a contact me page but I need some help adding that feature to the site. I am using iWeb on my MacBook so does anyone know how to add it using this program?

I take all the pictures myself so I am constantly trying to hone my skills.

Keep it coming :)

Sapwood is ONE word not two (written as ‘sap wood’ in your Finish section).

-- Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/GarageWoodworks?feature=guide

I like your pieces. Elegant is an understatement.

http://www.sawblade.com

Zach,
I like your web-site. Beautiful work!
When I got finished reading about you, I felt I had a closer connection with Jack (by the way, he’s cute) then I did with you or your wife. It’s good to have the personal touch of adding your dog, but only if you have a picture of you or you and your wife. Customer’s like that personal connection.

On your “About me” page. I believe it would read easier if you dropped the “name” when you describe the street you grew up on.

-- John @ http://www.thehuffordfurnituregroup.com

Consider that many of the people with the money to
buy your products will be older.

They will struggle to read your site because of
reversed type (white on dark). Legibility of sites
and printed material is enhanced dramatically
with standard type contrast (black on white).

Other than that I don’t think the font you chose
is very good for a sales website. I suggest sticking
with arial and verdana.

Also consider mobile devices since people with the
money and interest to buy handmade furniture
often have an interest in mobile devices and
other tech toys as well.

Well, I guess, your website is fantastic.

-- "someone has to be wounded for others to be saved, someone has to sacrifice for others to feel happiness, someone has to die so others could live"

Zach,

Nice site and beautiful work.. Sorry as I can’t get into the pros and cons of the site design. These guys and girls on lumberjocks helped me immensely, so pay attention. One thing I will offer though – Don’t fall into underselling your pieces on etsy!

Great job,

Terry

-- Terry, Hamlin, NY, http://www.hamlinwoodshop.com

I think it all looked pretty good…

EXCEPT only one thing…

Your Main Menu items at the very top of each page…
The Letters are TOO SMALL… a bad color vs the background…
It is very hard to SEE!
You might try making all of it BOLD… to get more contrast…

I would make the letters LARGER…

Actually, IMHO, this font should be the LARGEST lettering on the page and should be EASILY read…

Yours are almost the SMALLEST letters on the page and are very HARD to READ!
They are so small and look like a shade of gray against a darker gray… BAD CHOICE… NO CONTRAST = Hard to read.

Other than that, it all looks pretty good!

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !

PS: My eyes are 76 years old…

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"