Need a critique of our site, people are not converting

by 58 replies
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We have launched a new service that allows companies and individuals to create a 'shortcut to you'.

The idea is that you register a 'tag', link all your website together, facebook, twitter etc. Then instead of giving out long web addresses etc, you just give out your 'TAG'.
We have a mobile site, iphone app, android app, facebook app and browser plugins are in development.

The site is up and running, and we get upto 1000 unique visitors per day. These come from twitter and adwords mainly.
The problem is that very few actually signup and register a tag, even though they are free.

I think this is because we are not communicating the product efficiently once the customer hits the site.

We have a video giving a summary - does this work?

I'd appreciate your comments on how we can get that message across and get more signups.

our domain is ihop.to - ihop(dot)to, since im new i cannot post link

Thanks in advance.
Terry
#main internet marketing discussion forum #converting #critique #people #site
  • My first impressions are:
    1. What does this site do?
    2. What are these tags actually for?
    If it hadn't been for the explanation in your post, I would have had no idea.

    Maybe you should have some kind of detailed step-by-step explanation of how to use these tags and the benefit of them on your home page.

    Just my thoughts
  • Sorry, I didn't see the 3 links at the bottom with the instructions, until I re-read your OP and saw your mention of them.

    But, if I didn't see those, maybe others aren't seeing them either.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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    • There are links on the homepage, I've just moved them above the page break, these were added this morning.
      Does this help?

      Terry
  • its hard for me to decipher what it does when i get to the site. so might be a problem with people, on a common person's point of view that is

    as an IM we all know what it can do.
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  • I believe you need to inform your visitors more right from the start, I understand your idea now that you have said, but if I went to the websites uninformed, after searching for a TAG I would have been confused as to where this is going. Just a simple one or two liner to assist the person you have talking.

    But on the homepage etc, I think it needs to say all the services your 'TAG' address will be used for etc?

    Also, why is location relevant? Does that create a TAG for a ihop.to subdomain of that location, I'm confused about that? :p

    *Update*
    You could consider having a 'welcome' page, where it says a one liner and the woman speaks and they can click info and then from any point click 'begin' to move onto the tag search page?
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    • Do you think that this should be on the homepage rather than via a link?

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  • The positioning is better but I still think you need some more information to go with it.

    Could you put a bit of teaser text under each of those links, with a 'read more' so at least peeps get an idea from the start?
    • [2] replies
    • I like that, thats a good idea.

    • I would like a big image at the top with some very basic instructions on how your site works. Check out the first page on Remember Everything | Evernote Corporation or Automated Submission to Social Media Sites | OnlyWire

      Clean and informative. You could then put your sign-up form below.

      You really need to tell people what your service is all about, especially since it such a new service. As you say, you´re "resetting the internet". What does that mean? How do I get involved? What´s in it for me?

      You need to think about your site from the visitors view. Ask a friend or family member that has no clue about your service and hear what they think. Do they get it without you explaining everything? Do they need instructions on something, if so, make that part easier to understand with videos or images.

      The woman that tells me about the service is ok, but I need some initial information in order to stay and listen to her. As of now, I just click away since I don´t know what I will gain from listening.

      Keep it up!
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  • I didn't see any link. It is best to criticize if there is something to see.
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    • Im a new member so Im not allowed to post links.

      The site is ihop.to ie ihop(dot)to

      Looking forward to your comments.....

  • OK,
    I've updated the homepage to try and get the message across of what Ihop.to actually is and does. I'm trying to find some nice graphics to display with the text. Any suggestions?

    What are your thoughts on the wording etc?

    Thanks as always
    Terry
    • [1] reply
    • Banned
      An archer aims his crossbow at the target, fires and misses his target audience by a mile. He doesn't even come close to hitting the target nevermind the bullseye.

      Honest opinion? It looks bland with no clear definable benefit.

      It doesn't scream out at me... this is your frustration, your pain and here is your ideal solution. And the lass who interrupted my reading of your homepage...

      Is she pregnant? What's she (metaphorically) holding her belly for? Both her hands are locked together, fingers intertwined whilst she just kind of imitates the art of gesturing for emphasis.

      The signal / body language tells me she's just a stand in and doesn't really fully understand what it is she's talking about. She's simply reading from a script, there is no passion or sense of involvement coming from her.

      So in other words, rather than connecting to your ideal target audience you're simply disconnecting any emotional involvement with them.

      It just looks bland. It's not exciting. It's not grabbing me by the wotsits.

      You need to agitate the problem more and then and only then... hand the ideal solution to your target audience on a plate.

      Best of luck,


      Pete Walker
  • Thanks Peter,
    Building the site and product was the easy bit.
    Customers are a far harder challenge.

    There is benefit in this product, I'm just got to get the message across.

    Terry
  • Isn't ihop trademarked?

    edit:
    I just Googled. These people are the suing kind.
    IHOP Sues IHOP Over IHOP Trademark - The Consumerist
    Against a church no less.
    • [3] replies
    • We are i-hop-to. We did think about this.
      We are UK based and had never heard of the International House of Pancakes or how big they were until our freinds across the pond pointed it out.
      The international house of prayer guys dont seems to have changed anything despite the court case.
      Our businesses are very different and we feel there is no chance of confusing the brands.

      Anyone think different? We've not had anyone order a pancake yet.
      • [1] reply
    • Its interesting how this stuff working in the US.

      The US case in California has been dropped, however now a new case has been raised in Kansas City. It will be interesting to see what happens there.
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    • Hi Peter,
      Sent you an email to your Gmail - I cant PM yet since I've not posted enough yet.

      Terry
  • Hi Terry,

    You have a LOT of work to do.

    First, this is a new product although the concept may not
    be that new and therefore you have a lot more EXPLANATION
    to do. You are not piggy-backing from some other product so
    that your market awareness is low right now.

    If you had a higher market awareness then you could use a
    competitor company as a point of refernce for your product.

    And looking at your page I agree with most of the assessment
    that has been made by the previous posters. And the BIG
    question is why are you not using your own product? I
    see a "follow me on twitter" tag but I don't see your tag so you
    can DEMONSTRATE how your product works.

    You also need to AGITATE the pain a little more to show the
    problem that your product solves. If it doesn't solve a problem
    or gives unusual levels of pleasure then it's not needed.

    Asking for critique here may be a start but it's not enough.
    You'll get too many opinions to decipher from. But the
    common point you'll get is that most people don't 'get it'.

    1. You need to explain the problem your product solves.
    2. You need to explain how the product works by demonstrating its use.
    3. You need to sell the reader on the benefits of using your product
    as opposed to what they are presently using.
    4. You need social PROOF that people are already getting benefits from it.
    5. It's best to have your explanation in THREE steps. This says "easy".

    Hope this helps.

    -Ray Edwards
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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    • This times 10. Your site has no clear purpose.
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  • Thanks Ray,

    Its interesting how you point out that we are not showing the TAG in use by ourselves.
    This is true, clearly, I'll look at adding some examples of the Tag's working.

    Terry
    • [1] reply
    • Banned
      Great minds think alike.


      Thank you Terry for your email, I'll reply to you now.

      Best,


      Pete Walker
  • Here's some design advice.

    Starting from the top:
    • You don't need the "Home" link at all. The "Contact Us" link can be moved to the bottom.
    • That cloud stock image is really distracting, either completely remove it or give it a better treatment. Have your designer provide you some options.
    • Make the three boxes of info you have below the search box more defined, either place them in boxes with a plain background so they are readable.
    • Don't have too much empty space below that invites people to scroll down. It's distracting and removes focus.
    Hope that helps.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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    • Thanks Weborithm.
      The design is getting a little shabby. Its all controlled via a content management system.
      Hence a simple remove the button, isnt that simple.
      The three text areas are easy to update. I'll look at how we can make that better.
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  • Hello, Mitch Hell here from The Hell Brothers Enterprises, LLC!

    At first glance I thought it looked great. Very clean.

    I guess the best way to improve the site and conversion is to show people exactly why it's important to sign up. I listened to the audio and I understand the site. Personally I see this site being a success in the future based on what it does. Right now I am not sure. It can be if you somehow put it a different way as far as the message.

    It took me a while to understand what the site does though. I didn't see a reason to sign up. If you make it easier and more compelling I would have because it has everything else. Clean, very professional, clean colors, lay out and everything.

    Hope this helps,

    Mitch Hell
    The Hell Brothers
    Online-money-today.com

    I do believe you are on the right
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  • I think what you need is a big-ass, clear statement of what problem you're solving.

    Whether it's a question - "Do you want one quick, easy to remember link you can offer people to provide access to all your personal sites?" - or a statement, the very first thing they need to see is a clear and instantaneous picture of what you're offering them. Once that's done, then you can elaborate on the details.

    I'd also add a graphic with all the sites your service can link jumbled together. Just seeing facebook and twitter and the rest might cause people who use those sites to actually stop and read instead of thinking, "This is some business site I want nothing to do with."

    I'm also not crazy about the video - neither the fact that she's doing that navel peekaboo thing nor the autorun are good things IMO. Of course, those are just my personal feelings - others might want to sign up just because of the video.
    • [1] reply
  • I think in terms of the idea it is quite good. The key is getting people to use it. What I would do as others have suggested is clean up the page and then check out a few celebrities on Twitter.

    If you can get them using it, others will catch on and you may be on to something...

    Chris
    • [1] reply
    • We have tried the celeb twitter thing and have been told that when it becomes popular they would be interested. Chicken and egg!!

      We need some unique marketing technique that gets us noticed....

  • You should put a link to the home page on your logo graphic.
    I think the "location" feature needs work. What if I don't know the location? Internet is world wide, right? Someone could register a hop in germany and give their hop to someone in australia and they wouldn't find it (easily)
    • [1] reply
    • You are right this might be a problem and one we have discussed. We do have a worldwide function for celebs etc where the tag works whatever country you type it in.
      Hopefully going forward users will understand how the system works and mention the country.

  • I also do not like the autoplay video of the girl speaking - immediately switched it off

    at first impression I have no idea what problem this is solving. many may not even they have the problem or that there is a solution - or what benefit they will get

    I would like a welcome page that says:

    You face THIS problem? Or this?

    Then HERE'S how to solve it and the BENEFITS of doing so

    I agree you have a lot to do to make this work
  • Yep, a video right on the page below your tag box would do the trick I think. What testing software are you using to track conversion numbers as you test these different ideas?
    • [1] reply
    • We are just using google analytics so we see the stats after each change.
      Traffic is driven mainly via google natural listings, stumbleupon and google adwords.

  • When I land in the page, I immediately search for information like what is it for, your page should answer that question right away.
  • do people have to go to ihop.to and THEN enter the hop word? Then you still have to tell them "go to ihop.to and then enter mybadassword and select my country..."
    It would be easier to say go to ihop.to/mybadassword (this feature is not available?)
    how do you tell someone your hoplink online? You give them your (long) search link?
  • I have been around on the internet, since pretty much the beginning of the internet, and consider myself a pretty nerdy guy. I briefly skipped through your forum post and went onto your website.

    I spent the last little bit being pretty confused at what ihop.to is supposed to do for me as a consumer or a business owner.

    Taking a step back from the website for a moment ...
    Your business makes the assumption that people are currently unhappy with the way that they gather and consume information, which in my opinion isn't the case.
    People are using the leading search engine more and more (google), and for more purposes (dictionary, thesaurus, mapping, information, etc..). Current trending suggest that this will continue into the future, how long ? Maybe not forever. The question I ask myself is, do I feel that your service is helpful enough to make people want to use it, for me I say no .. maybe others have a different opinion.

    As for the website, I'm not sure how many changes you've made in the last week since the original posting but your website takes far too long to convey it's message of 'what , why , how'. I shouldn't have to visit 3 different pages to gather this information with a fair amount of reading or watch a series of explanation videos.

    I think maybe you should look to come up with a jquery or flash based animation explaining things with fun / informational graphics and very direct, shortened text.

    Anyhow, good luck with it!
    • [1] reply
    • This is exactly why I need to get the message across.

      Here is an example of how I see ihopto being used:
      Can you remember the URL displayed on any advert on TV recently. Unlikely....
      If the ad talked about something you were interested in, what you do remember is the product and you have decided subconsciously the search term that would be required in Google to find that product.

      What this means is that you go to the web page, that you the viewer finds, rather than the one that the advertiser specifically wants you to go to.

      Now fast forward to a time when everyone knows the ihopto logo.
      And on every tv ad there is a easy to remember word or couple of words next to that logo.
      Now we are in a position where the viewer knows that if they put that word in ihopto, they will go directly to the intended webpage. there aren't millions of distracting adwords or other listings, just one link.
      This also works for printed adverts and posters/billboards.

      This is good for the advertiser since they can accurately track the advert and for the consumer since they get the info they want quickly.

      Am I so far from something useful?




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    • One new addition that is going on the homepage in the next few days is a series of images that show the tags in use. on billboards, on tv etc.

      Hopefully this will help

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    • Its free to claims the keywords/tags.

      We have a slightly different charging model. You only have to pay for the tags if someone else is willing to pay for them.

      So you can claim a tag now, use it free, then in the future you may lose it if you arent prepared to pay for it. You do however get first refusal.

      The idea is that we want people using it, but clearly we dont want a single individual claiming all the best words for free and then not using them.

      Also is means that the more obscure words will always be free because its unlikely anyone would pay for them.
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  • Hi
    Some observations.
    Branding: name is odd - domain suffix is unusual - however that never stopped Nike.
    Put an explanation video / animation on home page
    Explain the benefits.
    Offer A QR code that can be printed on business cards etc.

    I tried your search facility and it broke
    to recreate input seo in uk and paulbagbey.co.uk is not found.

    Good luck
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  • This is nice idea, but hard to understand . I just know how it work when I try to claim some tags.
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  • We have discussed the QR Code and obviously we can encode our links in QR too.
    Interestingly we could put the QR code 'IN' our logo whicc would be cool.

    Dont you love it when you come up with a good idea when talking/writing on the forums!
    • [1] reply
    • So there I was on 'The Google', looking for a QR Code generator .. and there you were

      Good stuff..
  • this starts to make sense

    keep going because the concept could really work.
  • Thanks to the Warrior Forum, we are now getting plenty of traffic and new signups ranging from 20 - over 160 signups per day. Most are signing up for the free service but plenty are paying too.

    A little perseverance and we are off and running. Over 11,000 tags have now been registered.



    As a thank you and to give something back, the first 10 PMs can have a single word tag for free for 2 years. We are charging and receiving £1000/$1500 for that right now.


    Terry
  • The 10 Free Tag have now all gone.
    For Warrior Members only, I will continue to the offer for 3+ word tags free of charge.
    PM me and I will update your account to paid.

    Terry

    Ihop.to - everyday words not URLs. Twitter: @ihopto Youtube: ihoptocom Facebook: ihopto.
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