I need a 'brutal' assessment of my site...please

11 replies
I wouldn't normally show off anything as I'm very new to this, but there are so many products about this approach I can't imagine anyone stealing this one.

This is just a test, mind you, but would you check out my site @ E-booksalesshop.com and give me your opinion on the sidebar widget and the "review" post?

Colors, centering, anything, How can I make it better?

Thanks,
Steve
#assessment #brutal #siteplease
  • Profile picture of the author Patrician
    IMHO it looks pretty good.

    However I think either the review box needs to be the same size as the testimonial box, or you could add something on the right sidebar to balance it out.

    I imagine it will also be more exciting when you get a few more covers on there...

    Good job so far.

    p.s. I would have e-BooksSalesShop instead of E-BOOKSALESSHOP in the title...
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael D
    Originally Posted by Ouroboros View Post

    I wouldn't normally show off anything as I'm very new to this, but there are so many products about this approach I can't imagine anyone stealing this one.

    This is just a test, mind you, but would you check out my site @ E-booksalesshop.com and give me your opinion on the sidebar widget and the "review" post?

    Colors, centering, anything, How can I make it better?

    Thanks,
    Steve
    Looks pretty good but I would cloak your affiliate links. That is the only issue I noticed.
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  • Profile picture of the author JJOrana
    I think the site is excessively selling the product. It is not a sales page right? From the homepage, it's 3 ecover images.

    Put your users first in mind whenever you design a web site.
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  • Profile picture of the author WebSlicers
    too much photos of your product all in one page. but the rest is okay with me.
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  • Profile picture of the author rapidscc
    Hi Step!

    Congratz! it's always wonderful to put up a site.

    As for the Header. In my opinion it needs a little life. How about some graphics in the header area. This will make it decent yet interesting.

    The left side bar is alright. The color combination and the font for the menu is decent.

    The picture on the sidebar about the ebook is also decent with the corresponding review stars. The sidebar adpole is also nice.

    The contents.

    1. Since you still featured the book again in the content it looked repetitive. It's suffocating.

    why not remove the book picture on the left bar and just retain the book in the content.

    Also, right after the book picture in content, there is again the same book being reviewed just under it. Too much bro.

    And also the text under the content (book review portion) is a bit compressed. It can't breathe...I think it needs additional whitespace.

    Last thing. The product details and specification and buyer comments font is not attractive. Plus the foreground color and background color of the buyer comment box complements each other in a "DARK" way. Maybe a lighter combination will be better.

    my .02 cents and again Congratz for having the dedication and focus to do this man. You're on d way to your thousand bucks...

    And one last thing add an Opt-In box to get subscribers. Do this one by one or better yet, Just ignore me and do your stuff :-). Others really don't know better.

    Keep the focus.

    ~RapidScc



    The
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  • Profile picture of the author Sami
    Hi Steve

    Did you say a "... brutal assessment..."? OK
    • By the time the visitor reaches your site, they know where they are. Your domain name is wasting valuable real estate.
    • Your content layout is not professional looking - too many frames and borders etc. Though your site design looks neat and professional.
    • As others said, too many images that add nothing to your message. Your most valuable real estate, the "first fold", is wasted and there is no compelling information (text) there
    • You need an enticing heading
    • You need a powerful message (deck copy) to get your prospect to read on
    • You need much better 'copy' to sell the book(s) and far more detail to "seduce" your prospect
    • You're directing your prospects to a sales letter. Therefore you must pre-sell them (warm them up) with a copy that is more like a review than an ad.
    • The testimonials need to be separated out into their own boxes. You can check out mine. If you like them PM me and I'll send you the code
    • Try to get photos for the testimonials. Use at least a few full or partial names instead of just initials. Also add locations for each person, where possible.
    • Cloak your links
    • you're missing compelling "call to actions"
    • No sooner do you get (hard earned) traffic to your site than you give hem away to your side ads! If you're getting paid per click, lke adsense then this a bad idea. If your're getting affiliate commissions then great but note (and test) ... "a confused mind never buys". So it is best to focus on selling one thing at a time. Offer choice and none is taken... they'll spend all their time and energy to read all the options and then they won't be able to make a decision. Lots of tests have proven this.
    There's more but I let you consider this lot for now. I hope you find my comments constructive rather than brutal. I only mean to help.

    Good luck
    Sami
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    • Profile picture of the author Greg Cooksley
      Originally Posted by Sami View Post

      Hi Steve

      Did you say a "... brutal assessment..."? OK
      • By the time the visitor reaches your site, they know where
        they are. Your domain name is wasting valuable real estate.
      • Your content layout is not professional looking - too many
        frames and borders etc
        . Though your site design looks
        neat and professional.
      • As others said, too many images that add nothing to
        your message. Your most valuable real estate, the "first
        fold
        ", is wasted and there is no compelling information
        (text) there
      • You need an enticing heading
      • You need a powerful message (deck copy) to get your
        prospect to read on
      • You need much better 'copy' to sell the book(s) and far more
        detail to "seduce" your prospect
      • You're directing your prospects to a sales letter. Therefore
        you must pre-sell them (warm them up) with a copy that
        is more like a review than an ad.
      • The testimonials need to be separated out into their
        own boxes. You can check out mine. If you like them PM me
        and I'll send you the code
      • Try to get photos for the testimonials. Use at least
        a few full or partial names instead of just initials.
        Also add locations for each person, where possible.
      • Cloak your links
      • you're missing compelling "call to actions"
      • No sooner do you get (hard earned) traffic to your site than
        you give hem away to your side ads! If you're getting paid per
        click, lke adsense then this a bad idea. If your're getting affiliate
        commissions then great but note (and test) ... "a confused
        mind never buys"
        . So it is best to focus on selling one thing
        at a time. Offer choice and none is taken... they'll spend
        all their time and energy to read all the options and then they
        won't be able to make a decision. Lots of tests have proven this.
      There's more but I let you consider this lot for now. I hope
      you find my comments constructive rather than brutal. I only
      mean to help.

      Good luck
      Sami
      Hey Ouroboros,

      I agree with Sami.....very good constructive comments...

      Definitely get an optin box in there as well...

      Regards

      Greg
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  • Profile picture of the author TheNightOwl
    Heya Ouroboros

    First reaction: When I clicked through I recoiled at the three product images of the same product leaping out at me.

    See comments to follow about the box on the right. But to break up the page, how about review text of the featured product first and then the image at the end so you don't have the same image side by side?

    Also, your "Product Review" box goes way offscreen to the right. I had a very quick look at your code and it seems that the table you've got that in has a colspan=2 command. Don't know...

    Even if it were aligned properly, though, I'd find it obtrusive. What about a slide-in with a 30second delay or something like that?

    And finally, you testimonials are just initials. Not very convincing. Instead of "R.W.", how about R.Watson, Surrey, England.

    And the testimonial box is a bit drab. How about some colour to liven it up and draw the reader's attention to it?

    Just my initial thoughts.

    Hope it helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author Kinley
    It looks like a parked domain, I would've change it to be a blog like an ebook review blog...
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    • Profile picture of the author Eric Lorence
      There is a great thread about "ebooks" here somewhere, maybe in the war room.

      But basically, they are talking about the word "ebook" and how it has become such a dirty word through misuse and abuse, with the term actually hurting sales more than not.

      Try to get away from that term, along with the words "sales" and "shop".(scratch that domain, sorry)

      Try "infoproductreview" (taken) or something along those lines.

      Cloak your aff links, you only need one at the bottom.

      Target your review keywords to the "buying mind", which is to think, if you were interested in buying something, what information would you be seeking about the product.

      Provide an unbiased analysis, in bullet form, no hype, with realistic testimonials.

      Continue to do this with more products while tracking your results.

      Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author onlinemarketer
    the design is really simple, maybe you could a little on the design part, looks like a spam site ore something, make it kinda clean but professional looking, the look of your site can help in your sales too
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