Critique my site...(oh god)

11 replies
I'm putting on my thickest skin and I want you to critique my site. I haven't marketed the actual site yet...

The Niche Whisperer

Please be gentle. Or not. I can take it.
#critique #god #siteoh
  • Profile picture of the author Scott Ames
    Originally Posted by TinkerAndPo View Post

    I'm putting on my thickest skin and I want you to critique my site. I haven't marketed the actual site yet...

    The Niche Whisperer

    Please be gentle. Or not. I can take it.
    I like the color. It looks good. I don't like the calendar and the "order now" button on the right. My eye went right there and I think people will click out without reading when they see the Order Button.

    I would personally prefer the sales letter centered.

    Instead of a Buy Now tab... I would prefer " Packages" or "Pick Your Package" or "Our Services"

    I think the Privacy Policy should simply be a small link in the footer instead of dedicating a tab to it.

    Resources tab. A nice way to exchange links perhaps. I worry it bleds off sales or traffic because its a big red tab.

    I think you should offer something free, a niche, a video, an ebook, something that you capture interest and a list.
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    Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. -Winston Churchill

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  • Profile picture of the author Killer Joe
    I'll be gentle...

    "Since learning what a "niche phrase" is, I've also learned that I have a natural talent for using words creatively. I can create niche phrases that have excellent numbers in search volume, competition and useability, and search out keywords that your customers will actually look for !"

    That's a lot of "I"s for a sales page. It takes away from your *benefits* message and draws attention away from your prospect and on to you. Not desirable from a sales standpoint.

    "My services are constantly evolving to meet the needs of my customers, so if you don't the service you're looking for, just ask! If I can't provide the service for you, I can make personal recommendations for professionals whose services I've used and been impressed by."

    You might want to read that last one out loud.

    Again, too much focus on 'I' and 'My'.

    "I use the following guidelines when researching your niche phrase, unless you specify otherwise:" - Not a good way to build confidence. You're the expert...I'm paying you so I don't have to deal with it.

    "At this time, I do not offer blog set up, blog writing, or article submission services." I'm guessing you don't do windows, either.

    I'll stop here, but you need to rethink your salesletter line by line. Focus on the *benefits* you can provide, and not so much on the features as you are doing presently.

    You'll get there, and this is not a bad start by any stretch.

    KJ
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    Here is my constructive critique...

    First of all nice job with the colors but I would definitely go with a white background instead of bright red. On the header the red looks good.

    - Get rid of the order button on the right... as soon as someone sees that they are gone.

    - The top tabs... there are too many. I would eliminate the Privacy Policy tab and just have a link to the privacy policy at the bottom footer of the page.

    - I would eliminate the Buy Now tab

    - Instead of the About tab I would change that to FAQ's and then on that page answer some of the most common questions your market has about what is holding them back from getting this product. Set their mind at ease and answer all the questions that would give people a reason to back out and not buy.

    - I would keep the Contact tab but name it just that "Contact"

    - Get rid of the Resources tab (If you have meaningful resources you'd like to share give them the URL of that page after they sign up to your list)

    - Work on the headline... Something Like "Confused About Niche Research? ...Let Us Do It For You!"

    - Right under the headline I would put a video explaining how your service would help your customer. Either do a video of you sitting in front of the camera or do a Power Point presentation if you are camera shy

    - The video is what's going to do most of the work for you...

    - Right under the video I would put a subscriber form to get a list of resources for free and a discount code...

    - Next is a few testimonials.

    Great start BTW... Keep going

    Mike Hill
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  • Profile picture of the author new2ebiz
    Initial quick look review -

    Dump the calendar or move it down making the right column a single one. The calender is not important for your site.

    With the calendar lower or gone, you can add something under the order button that reminds them what they are ordering.
    This widens the left (content column) and for my eyes I prefer to read wider lines than longer pages.

    If possible have the buy now tab after the home tab and the resources tab after that. The about tab can be last.
    This is my take anyhow.

    If this is your first site you've done a good job with colors, font choice and paragraph divisions!
    Can't tell you the number of sites I've seen where those choices made the copy unreadable!

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Iannotti
    Originally Posted by TinkerAndPo View Post

    I'm putting on my thickest skin and I want you to critique my site. I haven't marketed the actual site yet...

    The Niche Whisperer

    Please be gentle. Or not. I can take it.

    Looks good....Puts mine to shame....I'm almost embarrassed at what I made by myself....
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    Here is a quick mock-up of what I was talking about in my post above... See how much cleaner it looks?
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    • Profile picture of the author Scott Ames
      Originally Posted by Mike Hill View Post

      Here is a quick mock-up of what I was talking about in my post above... See how much cleaner it looks?
      That was super nice of you.

      Off topic but.. How many times have you done something like that an not been thanked? It seems to happen a lot. I've done reports or gone out of my way for people periodically and have been disappointed not to even get a thank you, let alone have them follow the advise.
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      Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. -Winston Churchill

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      • Profile picture of the author Palo Coyote
        TinkerandPO,
        You just got about $10,000 worth of very valuable advice from Mike Hill (One of the sharpest knives on WF, BTW). I was going to give you some feedback and then read Mike's incredible and VALUABLE feedback and agreed with everything he said. KILLERJOE also gave you VALUABLE feedback, always, "YOU orient your information." YOU GET blah blah blah. YOU are the most important person in the world. (I'm just here to make sure YOU GET all the wonderful benfits YOU need.)

        ONE headline, NOT 4. And MIKE gave you a "mock up." My god, what a generous and wonderful guy he is. Thank you Mike, I got some great ideas from your post, excellent advice.

        Your challenge is to BEGIN almost every sentence with the word, YOU. (This sentece could have been written, "I write almost every sentence with the word YOU as the first word. Did you see how I made it YOU, "Your challenge is to...) PO, orient your message to your potential client/customer. Tell them, "Here's what's in it for you," "Here's what YOU get," that's how you write "benefit oriented copy."

        (PO, I write benefit oriented copy by telling people, 'I write' is about me. The sentence above is, "PO, orient..." IT'S ABOUT YOU! "Here's what's in it for you..." See the difference. In the copy above, PO is the first word, it's oriented to YOU!) Just another example.

        YOUR potential client/customer is the MOST IMPORTANT person in the equation, not you, them, they will give you money.

        Hope this helps. Mikey Hill, you're a genius pal, also a VERY GIVING person, blessing be upon you Mike.

        PO, Change is good, change your page, give your customers good stuff (your offer looks fantastic) and then........MAKE LOTS OF MONEY!

        All my best,
        Palo
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
          Originally Posted by Palo Coyote View Post

          TinkerandPO,
          You just got about $10,000 worth of very valuable advice from Mike Hill (One of the sharpest knives on WF, BTW). I was going to give you some feedback and then read Mike's incredible and VALUABLE feedback and agreed with everything he said. KILLERJOE also gave you VALUABLE feedback, always, "YOU orient your information." YOU GET blah blah blah. YOU are the most important person in the world. (I'm just here to make sure YOU GET all the wonderful benfits YOU need.)

          ONE headline, NOT 4. And MIKE gave you a "mock up." My god, what a generous and wonderful guy he is. Thank you Mike, I got some great ideas from your post, excellent advice.

          Your challenge is to BEGIN almost every sentence with the word, YOU. (This sentece could have been written, "I write almost every sentence with the word YOU as the first word. Did you see how I made it YOU, "Your challenge is to...) PO, orient your message to your potential client/customer. Tell them, "Here's what's in it for you," "Here's what YOU get," that's how you write "benefit oriented copy."

          (PO, I write benefit oriented copy by telling people, 'I write' is about me. The sentence above is, "PO, orient..." IT'S ABOUT YOU! "Here's what's in it for you..." See the difference. In the copy above, PO is the first word, it's oriented to YOU!) Just another example.

          YOUR potential client/customer is the MOST IMPORTANT person in the equation, not you, them, they will give you money.

          Hope this helps. Mikey Hill, you're a genius pal, also a VERY GIVING person, blessing be upon you Mike.

          PO, Change is good, change your page, give your customers good stuff (your offer looks fantastic) and then........MAKE LOTS OF MONEY!

          All my best,
          Palo

          Hey thanks Palo for the kind words! Much appreciated and if you need any help just send me a PM and I'll see what I can do for ya.

          I'm a little swamped and have squeeze page critiques to deliver but I always need a break from my daily marketing activities.

          Mike Hill
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  • Profile picture of the author artwebster
    I felt very uncomfortable with this site because there simply did not seem to be any purpose to it. It had a buy now button with absolutely no indication of WHAT to buy now.

    The calendar was wrong - showing the 2nd instead of the 4th.

    And the following sentence screamed out at me that research was not your strong point:- Domain name research - your exact niche phrase will be available as a .com, .net or .org without hyphens, when available - check the underlined words if you haven't spotted the problem.
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    You might not like what I say - but I believe it.
    Build it, make money, then build some more
    Some old school smarts would help - and here's to Rob Toth for his help. Bloody good stuff, even the freebies!

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  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    I think you have done a great start... My advice is as follows:

    I will start at the top with your headline and sub-headline (your blog name)

    Headline: Niche Whisperer Research Services
    Sub-Headline: Your Keyword and Niche Phrases Specialist

    Buttons:

    Home | About | Niche Whisperer Support | Faq's / Help | Terms | Resources

    I would repeat these links in the footer along with the privacy policy link. The "Niche Whisperer Support" I would use because these words are added to the title attribute of the link and if you are wanting to target Niche Whisperer as one of your keyphrases then it will help with your ranking. Faq's - I would add very detailed faqs here, at least 20 or so. Terms - List the terms of your services.

    Right Side:

    At the very top there is a ad box for the flexibility theme (you can see it is empty right now) Add in there a digital report image, description and a opt-in form.

    Right under that I would create several keyword categories (categories created from keywords) and under each category I would post related articles to the services you are going to provide. This will help with your rankings because your site will contain content and not just a sales letter.

    I would delete the calendar unless you have specific events planned for a certain date.

    Center of Page:

    I would spice up my headline, just as an example:

    Amazing Niche Phrase and Keyword Research Services That Will Increase Your Productivity. We Do All The Leg Work For You From Organization To Proofreading.

    Following that I would add more details to the sales copy such as what your services can do to help me.. Explain to me in detail the solution you are offering me to solve my problems.

    That's my 2 cents worth anyways ...

    James
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