Let's Have A Little Experiment Here...

[JamesFrancisIM]

Ok guys, it's time for some usability testing.

For those unfamiliar with this term, read on...

When your website is being created (and sometimes after), you need to make sure that everything is as it should be and everything is as easy to navigate as possible, etc.

This can be done either at a friend's house, asking for feedback over skype, or even here on your most favorite Internet Marketing forum.

Woo! So now on to the main point of this thread...

I've been changing a lot of the design and layout of my sales page lately, and I just need a few people to give me some feedback.

Step 1
Go here:
=> Internet Marketing Success - Internet Marketing Profit Machine

Step 2
Read the page without referring to step 3.

Step 3
Post below with:
- General impressions
- What you found difficult about the site
- What you liked about the site
- Where you stopped reading
- What could be improved


This is your chance to be harsh! Don't worry about being nit-picky, that's the best way to be critical about something!

Thanks in advance!

- James.

[Michael Oksa]

Hi James,

It seemed to load slow.

I stopped reading as soon as the pop up blocked the view of the headline, which was right away. It may be personal preference, but if someone wants me to at least read their headline and then they immediately block it with a pop-up, then I ove on to the next page.

I was trying to view it like it was another page, and that's what I would have done.

To be fair, your site may be really good, with convincing copy, but I never got that far.

If there is a way to time it so the pop-up appears after a few seconds (give people time to at least read the headline), or on exit, then that may help.

All the best,
Michael

[Frank Donovan]

Hi James

I agree with Michael about the pop-up.

Also, do we need another header with the flying dollars?

Otherwise, the design looked OK, but:

Your proof, IMO, was weak. You show screen shots of payments and state that the day's total was $1199.64. Fair enough.

But that would only equate to $437,868 per year if that was every day's total. How do your readers know that particular day wasn't a one-off?

And what was the product you sold?

There was a problem with the music backing in the video. For me, it drowned out some of the things you were saying. I'd either tone it right down or lose it.

Finally, I was confused with the offer. Is it a membership site (there are references to a members' area) or is it a single payment?


Sorry to be negative, but you asked to have your nits picked.



Frank

[ThePokerEconomist]

Hey James, Alright... I checked it out for ya. I'll just try to give you objective feedback. k?

General impressions
Same as all other Squeeze Pages. Feel like I've been there before. Design wasn't custom enough for my taste. Didn't seem original.

What you found difficult about the site
The video played and I didn't know how to stop the music/noise... kept looking for a place to turn off the sound. I suggest you move the video up to the top (definitely move it). Also, maybe have the pop up come up LATER, like after the readers been there for say.... 3 mins. Or remove the pop up... It's kind of annoying...

What you liked about the site
Well I mean it's an alright site. Nothing too special. To me it doesn't really stick out and make a great impression.

Where you stopped reading
I went ahead and read most of it, but in all honesty I would have normally stopped reading at "$1,199.64 In Just ONE Day!
That's Over $437,868.60 Per Year!"

Cuz to me that's like... ok this isn't proven... he can't do this everyday anyways. (rolled my eyes and would definitely not purchase because of that).

What could be improve
Move your introductory video up higher. So people know where the sound is coming from.
Turn down the background music - it was a bit hard to understand you.
Sales Copy: $1.2k in 1 day doesnt mean 437k/year. - turned me off...
I'd refrain from using quotations for example, "Then it all changed." - to me it's like... ok so who's saying that...? Quotations to me are supposed to be what someone else said about your product/service.

Also all your headers should flow, as in a reader should be able to just read the headers and get an idea of what the essence of your sales pitch is.

Well these are just my suggestions. Please don't take offense at all. I'm sure you're working hard. I think if you make some of these changes, you'll be on the right track.

Also, personally... Although you might be a 19 year old college drop out, I personally am turned off by that... as in... I rather be 'mentored' by a seasoned professional... not someone that found a 'glitch' in the system and made a lot of $ quickly... I want sustainability and a proven track record.

I hope I helped, and once again, please don't take my suggestions to be harsh at all. Keep up the good work and continue to tweak, you'll make it eventually.

Stay in touch, in about 1 month I'll be launching my site as well. I'd also really appreciate some feedback.

[MonsterZero]

I'm with the other guys. I didn't like the pop up. I stuck through it, but found the headline and pitch to be less than credible.

Not sure why you've put all your headlines in quotes ...

[steve m]

I think the site looks OK
The pop up was up before the page which was not very good.
Maybe set the timing to come in after say 15 seconds.
I liked the graphics thou wher did you get the site made?

Also I found that the affiliate page could of been a little bit easier to use.
maybe a couple of text boxes where I can just grab the code would of been nice.
Also the as soon as you said 438,??? I lost intrest TBH.

Getting there though, is it a member ship site as there are repeat subscription payments for affiliates?

[GoogleSearchToday.com]

I would have the pop up show up after about 30 seconds, not right away..just gets in the way of the headline of your site. Also, the video started by it self and I didn't know where it was coming from until I read on and saw that you were acually explaining something in a video...I would move the video up to the top of your site or make someone click on it to start the video.

[Michael Mayo]

Hi James,
You lost me after the pop up! Way to quick.

I would delay it for at least 30 seconds. If the prospect is still there
then they may see it as additional info being provided to them.(Non IM People that is)

Oh and kill or lower the volume of the music in the background as has
been stated, it drowns out the voice.

Other than that I looked great before the pop up!

Have a Great Day!
Michael

[Michael D]

James,

The site loads fine for me. Actually it loaded very quickly. Just a few quick things:

The header doesn't line up correctly (Firefox 3, tested on Mac and PC with different screen sizes). I attached a photo. I am not sure if this was intentional or not. Besides that I do like the design, it looks good.

The pop-up is going to go over your headline and may turn people off or not give them enough time to read it. I would only make that pop-up if they go to leave the page.

With your earnings screenshots you may want to crop the second one to just show the 20th. The reason is you are showing one sale on the 18th and 6 on the 19th. This doesn't fit in with your math for the full year like previously mentioned.

Like others have said I am confused about exactly what the product is. Is it a membership site or a one-off payment. I know you list the products towards the end, but it says get access now. I am also not a fan of pages that don't show a price. I know people think it is tricky because you get the customer to click through and closer to buying, but I don't like it. I did see the price but really had to look for it. I am one who generally scrolls through these sales pages really fast. Once again though, is it monthly for $47?

This is a small one, but I think it is really tacky when internet marketers call themselves CEO's of (insert product name here). Sure, you could be a CEO of your main company technically, but it just sounds bad to me.

[JamesFrancisIM]

Ok thanks for the feedback guys!

Already made quite a few sales but this should boost it right up!

Here lies the benefits of usability testing

The product is a membership website which has all products available for instant digital download, with a one-off fee of $47.

Then there's an option of personal IM coaching for an extra add-on fee of $37 a month.

Not sure why the header is mis-aligned though, i haven't seen it like that anywhere else. What screen resolution are you using?

It was made by Minisite Frog :: Minisite Design, Graphics, eCovers and Templates

Will change this later and get back to you. Thanks again

Edit: Fixed background mis-alignment, removed popup altogether (have a squeeze page somewhere else anyway), altered headline, made the price very clear. The video shouldn't have been on auto-play, but have found the problem and is now click-to-play. Will edit the audio later.

- James.
P.S. I've got the headline in quotes because it's shown to perform better than those without quotes.

[artwebster]

I really need to keep up with the way that internet marketing vocabulary keeps changing.
I would have said that this is a sales page - not a web site.
Fortunately for me, I saw no pop up and I have a master volume control on my keyboard so the over loud noise got turned off immediately. Turning it down didn't even enter my mind because the noise was intrusive and didn't seem to relate to anything on the screen.
Load time was very slow.
There seemed to be nothing that I haven't seen and read before and there were some graphics (green ticks, I believe) that weren't wholly on the page.
Obviously, since you have had sales, you have used a formula that still works so, congratulations on that.

[JamesFrancisIM]

Updated all of the above criticisms, including the affiliate page.

The problem is, that I consider myself good at creating products packed with information and driving traffic. It's just that sometimes I find it hard to spread the true picture to other people.

Hey, we all have improvement points

Any more criticisms?

- James.

[mikemcmillan]

I thought the page was very well designed. I never got a pop-up, so maybe you took it out??? I'm on a Mac with Firefox. The only criticism I had was the fact that it was being sold as an Internet marketing program, but that's such a huge and wide open category. I watched one video and kind of got a glimpse of some of what it contained, but I still think it's kind of a broad population to target.

But hey, overall I thought it looked quite nice.

[goldclubmember]

Is this your little trick to funnel all the warriors to your sales page ?

[JamesFrancisIM]

Originally Posted by goldclubmember

Is this your little trick to funnel all the warriors to your sales page ?

No, it's my little trick to:

1. Educate people about the essential uses of usability testing
2. Get feedback from people so I can improve
3. Allow users to look over this thread so they don't make the same mistakes on their own sales pages.

If i wanted to funnel warriors to my sales page then I would create a new blog every day with a link to my sales page in it.

Originally Posted by mikemcmillan

I thought the page was very well designed. I never got a pop-up, so maybe you took it out??? I'm on a Mac with Firefox. The only criticism I had was the fact that it was being sold as an Internet marketing program, but that's such a huge and wide open category. I watched one video and kind of got a glimpse of some of what it contained, but I still think it's kind of a broad population to target.

But hey, overall I thought it looked quite nice.

Yeah, I took out the popup completely. Gonna have it on the page of my upcoming blog section instead

Thanks again!

- James.

[Bev Clement]

Way too slow to load, over 30 seconds.

Headline isn't powerful enough, so what you banked that in one day, what about it recurring, would be the thought of many people.

I only ask you to read this page if you're truly serious
about making an immense amount of money online.

If you're not, keep fluttering from product to product and getting no results.

If you are truly serious and want to get results FAST...

The last line is outside the book on Firefox you might want to give yourself an extra space there.

The screen shot isn't clear enough, or certainly not for me.

Earnt should be earned

Your testimonials go outside the boxes

Get Instant Access To The Secret Members Area
For The One Time Low Fee Of Just $47!

Is sitting on top of your name and SEO details

Get Instant Access Now


Now is sitting on top of the line above it

Change the colour of the links at the bottom, I really hate the light colour which makes it difficult to read, it is like you have something to hide.

[JamesFrancisIM]

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

Way too slow to load, over 30 seconds.

Headline isn't powerful enough, so what you banked that in one day, what about it recurring, would be the thought of many people.

I only ask you to read this page if you're truly serious
about making an immense amount of money online.

If you're not, keep fluttering from product to product and getting no results.

If you are truly serious and want to get results FAST...

The last line is outside the book on Firefox you might want to give yourself an extra space there.

The screen shot isn't clear enough, or certainly not for me.

Earnt should be earned

Your testimonials go outside the boxes

Get Instant Access To The Secret Members Area
For The One Time Low Fee Of Just $47!

Is sitting on top of your name and SEO details

Get Instant Access Now


Now is sitting on top of the line above it

Change the colour of the links at the bottom, I really hate the light colour which makes it difficult to read, it is like you have something to hide.

Thanks, but i'm using firefox and I dont get this issue... Are you a Mac user? What version of FF are you using?

Also, could you provide quick screenshots to explain clearer please?

Thanks again!

- James.

[Bev Clement]

Not a Mac user, some of it seems to be corrected now. FF version 3.0.5

[JamesFrancisIM]

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

Not a Mac user, some of it seems to be corrected now. FF version 3.0.5

Sorry, but that pic only shows about a few inches of the page and then cuts off

How strange... I'm on 3.0.7 and it appears fine on my page... Silly FireFox.

- James.

[JazzOscar]

Hi James,

Just a short comment from me.

I see that many things that I would not have liked have already been fixed, like pop-ups immediately making it difficult to read the page and problems finding the price when you're in a hurry and just have time for a quick scan. The missing price thing immediately gives me the feeling that there's something to be hidden about it.

Here by me the page is not loading as fast as it ought to. The header isn't there at the same time as the rest of the page.

What haven't been fixed, and what's to me a really turn off when I arrive at a web page, is to much money flying around in the header. It really reduces the probability of me reading the rest of the page at all.

If I, in addition to being exposed to a money header, leave the page and, on my way out, meet a virtual assistant, it really makes it clear to me that my initial descission to not bother reading the page at all was the right one. (I know that you don't use a virtual assistant. I just had to mention it.)

[JamesFrancisIM]

Originally Posted by JazzOscar

Hi James,

Just a short comment from me.

I see that many things that I would not have liked have already been fixed, like pop-ups immediately making it difficult to read the page and problems finding the price when you're in a hurry and just have time for a quick scan. The missing price thing immediately gives me the feeling that there's something to be hidden about it.

Here by me the page is not loading as fast as it ought to. The header isn't there at the same time as the rest of the page.

What haven't been fixed, and what's to me a really turn off when I arrive at a web page, is to much money flying around in the header. It really reduces the probability of me reading the rest of the page at all.

If I, in addition to being exposed to a money header, leave the page and, on my way out, meet a virtual assistant, it really makes it clear to me that my initial descission to not bother reading the page at all was the right one. (I know that you don't use a virtual assistant. I just had to mention it.)

Thanks for the feedback.

Not sure what's causing the slow loading of the header, as the image is only 150kb in file size... However I do understand that would be a lot for some slower connections.

I'll ask MidPhase about it and also slice the header into various slices.

Thanks again everyone!

- James.

[JazzOscar]

Originally Posted by JamesFrancisIM

-----
However I do understand that would be a lot for some slower connections.

Don't think this problem is with slow connections on the user side.

I have a downstream speed of between 7.5 and 10 Mbit/s.

[Adaptive]

James, my immediate first impression of the banner image is "We burn up your cash!" Do I really want my cash set on fire?

"taking dog biscuits off my manager" - I don't understand this line.

"and then it all changed" headline isn't follow up by how it changed, but more about how the problem sucked. The headline here should be "It really sucked."

Too sudden a jump from "my job sucked" to "you're being conned." You need a transition from: fed up with the grocery job, wanted a way to find money, thought it might be online, bought promising stuff and got scammed. Also it's a sudden switch from "my story" to "what YOU experience" before evidence that the reader is going through the same problem. If I wasn't doing this review, you'd have lost me at that point.

"Imagine a fully-featured private membership website...."
If I knew how to imagine that, I'd have already gone and bought one, wouldn't I? The command to the reader to imagine something they don't know about creates confusion, and another reason to give up reading the letter.

You don't explain what you offer and how much money it's worth before throwing out the price.

I was trying to imagine a fully-featured website, but then I see a pile of disks. Huh?

This feels to me like you're halfway to a great letter.

Regards,
Allen

[JamesFrancisIM]

Originally Posted by Adaptive

James, my immediate first impression of the banner image is "We burn up your cash!" Do I really want my cash set on fire?

"taking dog biscuits off my manager" - I don't understand this line.

"and then it all changed" headline isn't follow up by how it changed, but more about how the problem sucked. The headline here should be "It really sucked."

Too sudden a jump from "my job sucked" to "you're being conned." You need a transition from: fed up with the grocery job, wanted a way to find money, thought it might be online, bought promising stuff and got scammed. Also it's a sudden switch from "my story" to "what YOU experience" before evidence that the reader is going through the same problem. If I wasn't doing this review, you'd have lost me at that point.

"Imagine a fully-featured private membership website...."
If I knew how to imagine that, I'd have already gone and bought one, wouldn't I? The command to the reader to imagine something they don't know about creates confusion, and another reason to give up reading the letter.

You don't explain what you offer and how much money it's worth before throwing out the price.

I was trying to imagine a fully-featured website, but then I see a pile of disks. Huh?

This feels to me like you're halfway to a great letter.

Regards,
Allen

Thanks, will implement that later!

I've decided to change my homepage to that of the reverse opt-in method, i.e. providing content first -> opt-in -> more content -> sales page. It worked well for my launch so i'll see how it goes

- James.

[JamesFrancisIM]

How about now? Completely re-designed the model.

Does it load any faster?

Internet Marketing Success - Internet Marketing Profit Machine

I've emailed the hosting company and they say that in some countries (Spain, India, China, and more), some of the ISPs filter the server paths a bit which would result in a long loading time.

Although trying to fix this with the support team now

- James.

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

If you want to see how your website looks in multiple browsers, you may want to check out the free service at Check Browser Compatibility, Cross Platform Browser Test - Browsershots

[Adaptive]

How about now? Completely re-designed the model.

Love it! You say who it's for, what you offer, give away free content to prove the value, then make the pitch with a concise letter depending which feature the visitor is most interested in. I think this is a killer example of Michel Fortin's "Death of the Salesletter" approach (http://www.michelfortin.com/the-deat...e-salesletter/) in which he says, rather than throw everything including the kitchen sink into an overstuffed long letter, give people links to choose what appeals to them. Had you read his article or did you come up with the approach yourself? Either way I think it's really inviting now.

It's also really impressive how you took the feedback from all the reviewers and used it to improve your pitch.

Regards,
Allen

[JamesFrancisIM]

Originally Posted by Adaptive

Love it! You say who it's for, what you offer, give away free content to prove the value, then make the pitch with a concise letter depending which feature the visitor is most interested in. I think this is a killer example of Michel Fortin's "Death of the Salesletter" approach (http://www.michelfortin.com/the-deat...e-salesletter/) in which he says, rather than throw everything including the kitchen sink into an overstuffed long letter, give people links to choose what appeals to them. Had you read his article or did you come up with the approach yourself? Either way I think it's really inviting now.

It's also really impressive how you took the feedback from all the reviewers and used it to improve your pitch.

Regards,
Allen

Yeah, I consider Michel Fortin as my mentor (along with a few others), so after reading that I had so many new ideas!

Opt-in rates are up, and sales are up too because of this change.

For people wanting to make the same method work for them, this is my sales process:

1. Give content on homepage
2. Redirect to opt-in form
3. Sign-up confirmation page asking them to check e-mail for the link to a bonus part of the video
4. Page for the bonus video
5. Redirect to sales page

Thanks for the feedback, you guys rock!

- James.

[JazzOscar]

Much, much better now! This was something quite different!

Still no big fan of money headers, but for the rest of it;

• This time I found it interesting to take a look at your page. Before the changes I just felt it was too long and tedious, like so many other sales pages.
• This time I took a look at your video. It gave an impression of you as a well organized person that could be able to teach someone something.
• I really like those short pages. In a jungle of too long sales copy short pages stand out an capture peoples attention.

Originally Posted by JamesFrancisIM

-----
I've emailed the hosting company and they say that in some countries (Spain, India, China, and more), some of the ISPs filter the server paths a bit which would result in a long loading time.
-----

I'm relatively sure Norway don't belong to such a list. We also have good infrastructure. After all, Norway has been involved with the internet from before it was called the internet.

[JamesFrancisIM]

Originally Posted by JazzOscar

Much, much better now! This was something quite different!

Still no big fan of money headers, but for the rest of it;

• This time I found it interesting to take a look at your page. Before the changes I just felt it was too long and tedious, like so many other sales pages.
• This time I took a look at your video. It gave an impression of you as a well organized person that could be able to teach someone something.
• I really like those short pages. In a jungle of too long sales copy short pages stand out an capture peoples attention.

I'm relatively sure Norway don't belong to such a list. We also have good infrastructure. After all, Norway has been involved with the internet from before it was called the internet.

Thanks for the positive feedback! My face is now like this ->

Does the header and page still load slow with the reduced amount of content on it?

I'm also considering switching hosting company to see if the speed improves, as I definately don't want to neglect half the world, lol

- James.

[JazzOscar]

Originally Posted by JamesFrancisIM

-----
Does the header and page still load slow with the reduced amount of content on it?-----

Cleared my temporary internet files and tried it out.

The body of the page was there in 2-2.5 seconds. The header took an extra 2 seconds or so. That's quick enough for me.

[JamesFrancisIM]

Originally Posted by JazzOscar

Cleared my temporary internet files and tried it out.

The body of the page was there in 2-2.5 seconds. The header took an extra 2 seconds or so. That's quick enough for me.

Once again, thanks for the amazing feedback!

Although, those that know me personally know how I strive to better myself over and over.

Naturally, i've done it again.

Take a look:
=> Internet Marketing Success - Internet Marketing Profit Machine

Does the navigation bar look ok to you?

Thanks in advance

- James.

[archer29]

Check out the discussion about crap on Clickbank. One of the posters gave the advice to stay away from any sales page with falling money.

Yeah, you're giving away a free video but......

[JazzOscar]

Originally Posted by JamesFrancisIM

-----
Does the navigation bar look ok to you?-----

It looks ok.

I somehow would like the focus (the blue colour in the naviagation bar) to stay with the choice you've made. That makes it easier to see where you are at the moment. I also would prefer just one navigation bar.

However, I can see that with all the components involved right now this might be a problem. You have a blog with it's own menu bar, and then you have the demo page which also has one. So, I suppose it would be too much work changing this.

Originally Posted by archer29

Check out the discussion about crap on Clickbank. One of the posters gave the advice to stay away from any sales page with falling money.

Yeah, you're giving away a free video but......

I saw that one. I also commented on it and gave that poster some support. However, James lacks all those extra crap indicators, like a mansion with a pool, a 15 year old red Ferrari, and a handsome guy in a business suit smiling.

He also gives the impression in his video of being an ok guy, so that might make up for the header.

I still think a header without all the money would look more professional though.

[FranMurray]

First impression - tight and to the point.

The flow of the site is easy and not many choices to do ... look at video, register or leave.

what copy there is on the site is well written.

Product upsell is great with the OTO page.

Overall the site is well put together. I would change on thing though .. the product graphic, something about does not fit the page.

Just my thoughts
Fran

[JamesFrancisIM]

Thanks again people!

It looks like i'm on to a winner here

- James.
P.S. The blue "current page" focus in the navigation bar is fixed. Should have been relative to the page you were on lol. It is now

[markcarraway]

I didn't see any real problems with the load, and my real objection is rather philosophical, but I would give anything to see a truly unique sells page. I suppose people tend to think "If it ain't broke..." but truly they are all starting to look alike.

Im going to innovate something in that area if it is the last thing I do!

[KEY]

much has already been covered...
the gold testimonials just do not seem to mesh with the color scheme.

not really a big fan of the "I was you...cheated, conned, etc" not an issue of truth, just that it is overused lately. but it still seems to work?!?!

otherwise the site looks pretty good.

the only thing that I would ask: you make the statement
"*KICKSTART* your Internet Marketing career into a 5-figure monthly income..."

are you making 5 figures a month? consistently?

KEY

[JamesFrancisIM]

Ok, time for a REAL experiment.

No sales page. Free access.

Let's see how this turns out...

=> Internet Marketing Success - Internet Marketing Profit Machine

Does that look ok?

Does it get across the right information and the fact that it's 100% free?

You guys are all awesome

- James.

[PHP_Adam]

Interesting Read, I do useualy close down webpages that look like a useual sales page (which yours does).

When I click Demo, it seems to go to a different template. This is very bad for putting off visitors. When I go to demo and templates their are 6 templates listed this put me off, as my own website offers 100's of quality free templates for free.

[Martin Luxton]

Agree with blogbrowser about the legal docs. Plus you would need a very good disclaimer in there because if someone uses them thinking they're good to go it could be a big problem. Generic legal forms are dangerous.

Loaded fast enough for me, header about a second later.

I have never liked the CEO bit. I don't don't how it goes down in the States but you might find a few Brits wondering who the other officers of your PLC are.

Martin

[JamesFrancisIM]

Any better?

Link in sig

- James.