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I have a website: Sprinkler donuts, lawn sprinkler guards | sprinklerbuddy.com

It's over 5yrs old now. I have tried and use/used many different methods to bring in more quality traffic. I only sell one product and my keywords are very limited.

Any suggestions? Is their a problem of how my website is set up?
#traffic #website
  • Profile picture of the author kjamesnv
    I spent about 60 seconds looking at your site and honestly I don't know what the product does or why anyone would need it. I have a sort of a vague idea but this is a MAJOR problem. You have to be able to grab customer's attention immediately (under 30 seconds) or else they will leave.

    I am guessing that your bounce rate in >90%. It doesn't help that the design looks very outdated.

    My suggestion is to hire an experienced designer/consultant and redesign the site.
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    • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
      Originally Posted by kjamesnv View Post

      I spent about 60 seconds looking at your site and honestly I don't know why anyone would need it .
      It doesn't help that the design looks very outdated.
      .
      I highlighted the two things that stuck out that the prior poster mention. I thought the site looked very dated. Is it mobile compatible ?

      Also felt your site should do a better job of showing a problem (Dead Grass) Broken sprinklers and replacement bills .. Than there should be a solution nice green lawns, smiling proud owner some how with $'s in savings thanks to the sprinkler doughnuts.

      Also the site took a while to load, not sure on who's end has the problem. but I would check load speed. Is their away to get testimonials on your site or can you work with local lawn care company's to endorse your product ? You have a nice product but you need to create urgency to buy on your site
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      • Profile picture of the author Sprinkler Buddy
        "I highlighted the two things that stuck out that the prior poster mention. I thought the site looked very dated. Is it mobile compatible ?"

        I have been quoted $550.00 to have my website updated and mobile friendly. Does that sound about the going rate? I do trust the company that would be doing this for me as far as their work. Curious to know if they are higher, lower, or average in their fees.

        Thanks!
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        • Profile picture of the author Solid Commerce
          Originally Posted by Sprinkler Buddy View Post

          "I highlighted the two things that stuck out that the prior poster mention. I thought the site looked very dated. Is it mobile compatible ?"

          I have been quoted $550.00 to have my website updated and mobile friendly. Does that sound about the going rate? I do trust the company that would be doing this for me as far as their work. Curious to know if they are higher, lower, or average in their fees.

          Thanks!
          That actually sounds like a very decent rate, provided that the company has shown that they can do some good work.

          You've got a great product, and I think you can have a really successful site on your hands...but you've GOT to get that website design updated, and pronto. You're going to want a MUCH cleaner, more modern-looking approach.

          Actually, a good place to look for inspiration is the company that's providing your shopping cart hosting. Check out EarthSkater's website:

          Online Store Software, Online Store Hosting, Affiliate Tracking Software

          You can see that everything is kind of build around the idea of scrolling downward -- the design is very "flat," so to speak (not a lot of "3D" graphics or anything like that). The typefaces and fonts are, for the most part, pretty sleek, minimal, and modern.

          Even their execution leaves a little to be desired -- there are parts of the site that still get a bit busy for my taste (people today really, really value an online experience that tells them what they want to know without seeming too busy or frenetic while doing so) -- but for the most part, it's got the right idea.

          I'd shoot for this more minimalist approach. Go for attractive, high-resolution photos, and great copy/content that gets straight to the point and really sells your product.

          Best of luck!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Sprinkler Buddy
    Thanks, good feedback!
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    When I go to your website, I don't know what to read or what to buy. Your site is all over the place.

    I would look into hiring someone to re-design your website so that it looks cleaner.

    Find some websites that are similar to yours and see how their site looks like.
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  • Profile picture of the author lionelfrench
    Indeed I agree buddy you have a good deal with re-designing your Website!

    It’s essential you get your site captivating to its audience.

    Good Luck to you, on your road to Success!
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Gylseth
    I looked at your template options. Some of them are more noisy than others. I would stick to what has been mentioned before with a site that has a clean design and not a lot of things going on at once. Look for a couple you like, and then ask a good number of people you know which one they like best. Their response will be a strong indicator for what to choose, but if in doubt, ask more people.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Gylseth
    I looked at your template options. Some of them are more noisy than others. I would stick to what has been mentioned before with a site that has a clean design and not a lot of things going on at once. Look for a couple you like, and then ask a good number of people you know which one they like best. Their response will be a strong indicator for what to choose, but if in doubt, ask more people.

    In addition to a redesign, do some research on how to write a converting sales copy - or hire someone. Some suggestions for content were mentioned above, and I would start working with that.
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  • Profile picture of the author kjamesnv
    I am going to disagree with just about everyone else on this thread. Although you definitely need a new template that is not the most important factor.

    These are the 2 most important things you need.

    #1 You need a REALLY good, experienced copywriter to write your text. Don't underestimate how valuable this is - especially for the type of product you sell.

    #2 You need a PROVEN designer who specializes in landing pages and conversion rates.

    Those 2 experts are not cheap but they are worth every cent. If you hire people who are not experienced in the 2 areas above- you might get a small boost but nothing serious.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sprinkler Buddy
    Thanks for all the feed back everyone!
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  • Profile picture of the author nelsa
    Build a new template for landing page,find good quality images or video,pond5 offer 10$ for signup as promotion, www.pond5.com .You will find there profesional vectors,logo,video,images...every thing you need and you can use this 10$ when buy anything just use PROMO cupon,so you can get for free some profesional photos or logo for products.If you dont have good quality image of real produxt dont use low quality images try to find good one,you wiilll look as second hand shop with junk images.And finaly write keyword rich content carefuly ,put very important keyword in h1, h2,h3 ... tags as title ,every image and video shoud have alt tag because it is only way to index media content.After you build nice website than go for some traffic,bidvertizer offer 20$ just for sign up,they are good advertising company,when you make campain you can chose keywords,choose visitors country,dayli limit...etc.You need just delete or stop ads before spend 20$ and they wont charge you any thing,I used this 20$ already,it is free but like I said just stop/delete ads when reach 19.90$.You need CC or pay pal to get 20$.

    Here is link BidVertiser - Pay per click advertising on sites of your choice.
    I dont know why but there is nothing about about this 20$ on their whole web site but there is working link
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  • Profile picture of the author Sprinkler Buddy
    I don't have the funds to do a complete overhaul at this time. I just invested in another product run and a packaging machine to package myself this go around. Those that seen my site before the changes, I just made today. Do you feel the new changes better informs potential customers of what I have now?
    I choose not to add photos because it looked too busy. I'm thinking most will be able to visualize through their own experiences with their own sprinkler system. If they can't, they probably wouldn't be interested anyways.
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    • Profile picture of the author kjamesnv
      Originally Posted by Sprinkler Buddy View Post

      Do you feel the new changes better informs potential customers of what I have now?
      .
      What do your stats show? Have conversions, bounce rate, page views etc. improved?
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      • Profile picture of the author Sprinkler Buddy
        Originally Posted by kjamesnv View Post

        What do your stats show? Have conversions, bounce rate, page views etc. improved?
        Too early to tell yet. I was curious to know, the few that said they couldn't tell what I was selling. If my changes, make it clear now.
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  • Profile picture of the author kjamesnv
    Its a bit better but still has a lot of room for improvement. I actually think this could be a successful niche site with proper site design.

    Let me point out a couple quick suggestions.

    You have 2 different slogans at the top of your site. Having 2 different slogans is very unusual and confusing. This is definitely not the standard practice.

    The slogan is an important element because research has shown that new visitors will look at this area to determine what the site is about. Yours do not help at all and they probably hurt.

    "Every Sprinkler Needs a Buddy"
    This doesn't explain anything about your product or why I need it.

    "Keeps Sprinklers Visible, Rotors and Spray Heads"
    This is grammatically incorrect and confusing.

    Something like this might be more effective:

    "Protects Your Sprinklers From Damage"
    This would immediately tell a visitor what the product does. People are busy don't want to read 7 paragraphs to see if they are on the right site and most will simply leave.

    The other big issue with your site is that its EXTREMELY cluttered. Its hard to read and you have about 20 different fonts on 1 page which is about 17 too many. A lot of the stuff on your front page is unnecessary and distracts from your message.

    The idea is to draw the customers attention to the important things that you want them to see - especially information about the product.

    For example: The SSL vendor badge should not be at the top of the page. People only care about that stuff once they have made up their mind to purchase.

    I would move all the logos and badges on the left side to the footer at the bottom of the page or to another page. If you left that area blank it would probably would help.

    Anyway, keep up the good work and stay at it. There is potential here.
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  • Profile picture of the author AngelaHayes
    Why not also make a mobile app for IOS/Android?
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    • Profile picture of the author Elena21
      Getting links with other sites in your niche is also good for SEO, especially if you manage to get links without the famous nofollow attribute. But even if the links are nofollow (i.e. they are useless for SEO), they still help to get traffic to your site. If you manage to put your link in a visible place on a site with high volumes of traffic, you can get thousands of hits from this link alone.Else try buying backlinks, traffic from sites like SEOClerks, etc.
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      • Profile picture of the author M Bissonnette
        Great advice from everyone!
        You will need to change the site - update/renew it.
        There is quite a bit of clutter and I couldn't fully understand the product immediately and its benefits within the first 20-30 sec.
        Mobile site could help considering the large percentage of people that just use mobile to access the internet now.
        The price will vary depending on how elaborate and how many pages the mobile site would be.
        There are also sites like dudamobile that you can check out.

        Stay Strong, Focused and Good Luck with any future endeavors!
        Signature

        An investment in knowledge pays the best interest

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  • Profile picture of the author jenniferrini
    Hi,
    It is better to do some research about your meta tags by writing quality title ( either with your primary keyword or keyword with phrase ) , keywords ( selecting searchable keywords ) and description with your primary and secondary keywords. Start promoting your website with the help of your secondary keywords first. Then later do it for your primary keyword. Make sure the secondary keyword should contain any one word of your primary keyword.

    Do your promotional activities little more wider by posting in profile creation website of relevant category. Choose the profile site which contains good PR , quality which helps for your website to get backlinks from high authority websites.

    Follow the same methods for other promotions as well like directories, posting videos, Guest post , article submissions, press release, news letter, email marketing, etc.....

    After submitting share these information social media which is a major source to bring traffic for your website. Some of them are facebook, twitter, slideshare, storify, scoopit, stumbleupon, pinterest, etc....
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  • Profile picture of the author asssets
    I feel your pain. I have same problem with my website. No traffic.
    I paid around $800 for setup, top 3 bids on freelancer were in this price range and guy specialized in my shopping cart.
    But problem is developer were asking me what I want it to look like. But I do not know !!!! Maybe I should pay another $800 for designer and then another $800 for copywriter, and then $800 a month for marketing to get first sale and make $20 profit.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Matthew
    There are many marketing techniques which helps you to achieve more traffic in your website.

    Search Engine Optimization
    Social Media Site Integration
    Loyalty Programs
    Quality Content, Articles, and Blogs.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jen Jelly
      A couple of your blog posts are on the right track using "Lawn Sprinkler Head Repairs" and "Fixing Broken Sprinklers" in the titles. Think about what your potential customers are searching for and try to incorporate it into more of your blog posts/pages.

      And like others have suggested make sure your title and tagline are clear. It took me a little bit to figure out what the product was used for.
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  • Profile picture of the author theone121
    get a new theme for your site. Also, be sure to make the customer stay on your site by having fresh contents.
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  • Profile picture of the author garry6767
    Here are a few great resources that I have used recently to get more traffic to my site.

    1. ecommerce marketing guide

    Complete Guide to Maketing an E-Commerce Site.

    2.

    The Advanced Guide to Link Building

    It walks you through link building so you can increase with SEO

    3.

    The Advanced Guide To SEO

    Helps you with some of the more advanced features of SEO.
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  • Profile picture of the author WildaProbst
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