SCORE volunteer says site needs work

Hello,

I'm new to this forum. I am currently working with a SCORE volunteer who says that my site needs work.

What would you suggest. I am getting some traffic and a few sales. I am considering moving to a new ecommerce host, I have difficulties sometimes working in the Admin section of the current one.

http://www.allergynaturalproducts.com

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :)

Thanks
Ann

what kind of work. any specifics? this site is clean looking there are small graphical changes i would make but nothing that would make or break you.

can you let us know what they say?

i use stand alone carts, that arent tied to a host,

First suggestion - if you are h aving problems working the backend of the store, go to volsuions's forum. Everyone there is more than happy to help with whatever problems you may have.

That said, I can see some design issues, not major, but still.......... the National Asthma and Allergy Awarness Month should go over your opening text. Bring it to your customers attention right away. Next - take the highlighting off the opening text, it is rather unprofessional looking.

The next one is rather petty, but your featured products have pictures that are BIG and pictures that are small.....try to get your pictures all the same size. If that is not possible then try to match your feature products photo sizes so the front page does not look so unbalanced. You are also missing images...there are several places I am only seeing the red "x" where the image should be.

If you do not have anything to put into a category, get rid of it or put something like "Coming Soon". If customers see an empty category they may leave and never look at it again. You also need keyword rich text on the category pages.

The "education/links" links at the top of the page look lost. Move them into the left nav menu.

Finally, work on your SEO, I noticed that you do not have the Alt Tags on your photos.

If you want, I would be more than happy to work with you on this. I have done 3 sites on volusion.

I also think that your site is fine as it is... except the SEO thing JEccles mentioned.

One little layout thing: Your site is a bit too white for my taste... how about to partially use light grey or light green background ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by marc77

One little layout thing: Your site is a bit too white for my taste... how about to partially use light grey or light green background ?

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It appears to be the "Zen" template, and there is almost nothing you can do to get color in there. I know - that is what I was originally using on my personal site.

Ah, okay... and there is no way to customize such templates ? (sorry, maybe a stupid question but I don't worked with Volusion so far)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by marc77

Ah, okay... and there is no way to customize such templates ? (sorry, maybe a stupid question but I don't worked with Volusion so far)

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Customization is rather complicated in V5. You really have to be savy (which I'M NOT :p ), though again the forum is a great source of information.

Nothing really jumps out at me as being in immediate need of fixing.

Thank you for all your replys. I have implemented some of them.

I am working on the images. I am not sure about the "X" images. I will look.

I am also considering moving to another cart solution. CoreCommerce. The admin section of CoreCommerce is easier to navigate for a novice.

Thank you all.

nas05:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JEccles

First suggestion - if you are h aving problems working the backend of the store, go to volsuions's forum. Everyone there is more than happy to help with whatever problems you may have.

That said, I can see some design issues, not major, but still.......... the National Asthma and Allergy Awarness Month should go over your opening text. Bring it to your customers attention right away. Next - take the highlighting off the opening text, it is rather unprofessional looking.

The next one is rather petty, but your featured products have pictures that are BIG and pictures that are small.....try to get your pictures all the same size. If that is not possible then try to match your feature products photo sizes so the front page does not look so unbalanced. You are also missing images...there are several places I am only seeing the red "x" where the image should be.

If you do not have anything to put into a category, get rid of it or put something like "Coming Soon". If customers see an empty category they may leave and never look at it again. You also need keyword rich text on the category pages.

The "education/links" links at the top of the page look lost. Move them into the left nav menu.

Finally, work on your SEO, I noticed that you do not have the Alt Tags on your photos.

If you want, I would be more than happy to work with you on this. I have done 3 sites on volusion.

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JEccles

Hi, thank you for your kind offer. At this time, I am working on some issues and will not be able to avail myself of your services. Can I do a rain check?

I am working on SEO, but it will take time.

Thanks so much
nas05

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nas05

JEccles

Hi, thank you for your kind offer. At this time, I am working on some issues and will not be able to avail myself of your services. Can I do a rain check?

I am working on SEO, but it will take time.

Thanks so much
nas05

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Any Time.

I don't see any major issues, just a few tiny aesthetics you might wanna tweak:

Maybe make the "My Account/Order Status" two separate links, or if not, change the link to "My Account | Order Status"

Put the "Education| Links" in the menu on the left, as JEccles suggested, and put a small gap in the link, so it reads "Education | Links"

Make the text at the bottom of the page, "Don't forget to sign-up for our free Newsletter to keep you updated!" an active link to your mailing list page

Thanks for the input!

I have implemented some of the suggestions already.

I really do appreciate all the suggestions.

Take Care
Nas05:)