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Honest Review For My Site Please!

by Jonathan S
11 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
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Hello WARRIORS! I've been an eBay powerseller for years but due to customer demands and inbox queries, my online e-commerce shop was born. I've been making some sales recently both from my eBay buyers and possibly from organic searches as they did not apply discount vouchers which I only issued to my eBay buyers. I have already collected thousands of email addresses from my past eBay buyers but before I will send any marketing emails informing them of my online shop, I would like to make sure my site will maximize conversion.

Can anyone of good hearts make a VERY HONEST review of my site please including recommendations for improvement? My online shop is www.handymancabin.com. I know the domain is nowhere near internet marketing which is now the core of my business but as an engineer turned entrepreneur, I've started my eBay business selling self-help books, engineering and DIY products until I've expanded into internet marketing but I've decided to keep my brand.

I would welcome any comments including things that I don't want to hear - these are treasures for my progress. THANK YOU!!!
#honest #review #site
  • Profile picture of the author jonadexter
    nice template and fast loading
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  • Profile picture of the author kk075
    I think it's a pretty sweet site...good information, good flow to the pages, and lots of ways to get people to opt in. The only thing I didn't care for is that the product pages feel a little too much like a sales pitch (it's too long and the bold, in your face text is not needed). The titles of the products leave a lot to be desired, but those are minor things that can be fixed over time.

    Good job!
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  • Profile picture of the author webmarketer
    Hey Jonathan,

    My 2 bits--

    Importance of a Trust Seal on Your eCommerce Website - Forbes

    The Ultimate Checklist for Every New Ecommerce Site


    BETTER:

    You need help and input from someone who's actually in the business of ecommerce--

    Optimize Like a Boss - eCommerce Optimization

    I realize your ecommerce business is not fulfilled via drop shipping but I'm sure his ebook can give you pointers. It's not free, but, if you're serious, it can help you.

    I would try to contact him, tell him of your situation, and ASK him if his book is a good fit for your needs--even if you don't drop ship--although this is something you may want to maybe pursue in the future.

    Not an affiliate.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jonathan S
      Originally Posted by webmarketer View Post

      Thank you, Webmarketer. All noted.
      Actually, I've already subscribed SSL for my shop eventhough it uses Paypal as a secured payment processor just for the sake of my cart and checkout page's security but due to some Javascripts and graphics, I still need to do some coding works inorder to be compatible for the SSL protection even though they are safe codes... so yes, still a big job underway.
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      • Profile picture of the author webmarketer
        Originally Posted by Jonathan S View Post

        Thank you, Webmarketer. All noted.
        Actually, I've already subscribed SSL for my shop eventhough it uses Paypal as a secured payment processor just for the sake of my cart and checkout page's security but due to some Javascripts and graphics, I still need to do some coding works inorder to be compatible for the SSL protection even though they are safe codes... so yes, still a big job underway.
        You're welcome bro.

        Glad I could help.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stevven1
    Looking good, really like the Recommended Product section (perhaps bit too much, but looks great).


    Perhaps delete the paymethodes right under your Logo (left above)
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    • Profile picture of the author Jonathan S
      Originally Posted by Stevven1 View Post

      Looking good, really like the Recommended Product section (perhaps bit too much, but looks great).


      Perhaps delete the paymethodes right under your Logo (left above)
      Yes I agree... I've done it now Stevven, I've changed the paymethod under the Logo into a search bar. Thank you for your simple but valuable comment.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    Jonathan,

    I spent just a moment at your site and it was pretty overwhelming at first glance.

    I couldn't tell quickly what you were specializing in - what your niche was - what your site was trying to accomplish. But after going through your horizontal nav bar, I came to the conclusion that you don't have a niche. You are not an authority in one thing.

    Yes, everything is there and it became evident after a few minutes what you were offering . . . but I had to dig a little and spend some time to figure it out.

    Other viewers may not be as patient as I was. Many folks say that you have 7 seconds to get your message across then a viewer is gone.

    You've been thorough and all the right things are included except I think some good testimonials from customers using your site would help the trust factor.

    I think your decision to sell packages in so many different markets is going to affect your sales in the long run. Your site reminds me of a large MRR repository where everything is "recommended" and I get the feeling that you're more interested in quantity (having lots to sell) rather than quality.

    That's your choice, of course, but my guess is all your products are resale rights stuff, available to anyone online, and not very high quality. I could be wrong, but usually resale rights products are rehashed and are meant to sell to marketers rather than being great and expert information for the end user.

    Let me ask you . . . how many of the products that you offer have you actually read or listened to or viewed?

    Are any of your products uniquely yours in content? If so, that should be highlighted as I get the impression, albeit maybe wrongly, that you are just being a middle man that has joined a resell rights club and is trying to mark up and retail questionable quality information available to anyone.

    Just my honest review,

    Steve
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    Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
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    • Profile picture of the author Jonathan S
      Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

      Jonathan,

      I spent just a moment at your site and it was pretty overwhelming at first glance.

      I couldn't tell quickly what you were specializing in - what your niche was - what your site was trying to accomplish. But after going through your horizontal nav bar, I came to the conclusion that you don't have a niche. You are not an authority in one thing.

      Yes, everything is there and it became evident after a few minutes what you were offering . . . but I had to dig a little and spend some time to figure it out.

      Other viewers may not be as patient as I was. Many folks say that you have 7 seconds to get your message across then a viewer is gone.

      You've been thorough and all the right things are included except I think some good testimonials from customers using your site would help the trust factor.

      I think your decision to sell packages in so many different markets is going to affect your sales in the long run. Your site reminds me of a large MRR repository where everything is "recommended" and I get the feeling that you're more interested in quantity (having lots to sell) rather than quality.

      That's your choice, of course, but my guess is all your products are resale rights stuff, available to anyone online, and not very high quality. I could be wrong, but usually resale rights products are rehashed and are meant to sell to marketers rather than being great and expert information for the end user.

      Let me ask you . . . how many of the products that you offer have you actually read or listened to or viewed?

      Are any of your products uniquely yours in content? If so, that should be highlighted as I get the impression, albeit maybe wrongly, that you are just being a middle man that has joined a resell rights club and is trying to mark up and retail questionable quality information available to anyone.

      Just my honest review,

      Steve
      Thank you so much Steve for your very honest review. All noted and included in my modification plans.

      You are right, spot on! With the variety of products on my site, this gives me the impression that I indeed don't have a particular niche. I used to have a niche selling my own produce in technology niche where I started (hence the name handyman's cabin) until I've learned how to code, make websites, and ultimately the big world of internet marketing... making me now a bit like a middleman....

      For the issues on MRR/PLR products; I have to agree that MRR/PLR items are not very appealing to many perhaps due to their features of low exclusivity that they can be passed, resell, and edited. As per the quality, you're maybe right and maybe wrong. Some resell rights product are rubbish but many have excellent quality contents. Let me just tell you my experience...

      I've been a member of several top membership sites for MRR/PLR products. I've created and coded my website via purely DIY using these materials. I've learned all these watching, listening and reading resell rights products specially PHP, photoshop and web design. Yes I've been digesting these materials until now. It is these materials that shaped my entrepreneurship venture and this is also the reason why I came to the idea of selling them and forget about my real niche. I don't have any commercial books in my repository, these materials are more than enough. I don't like commercial books as I have no patience reading hundreds of pages that will be easily outdated. I also like videos because it's like real time and you can tell outright if it is rubbish or not. Regarding quality, I've learned my PHP programming using the resell rights tutorial video I have and it works well, so what is the difference if I'll buy the commercially produced PHP tutorial costing hundred of dollars teaching the same thing?

      Unlike commercially produced books, the beauty of these materials are easy to digest and have been produced by internet marketer themselves who did it the hard way not book authors or writers who made their millions selling books containing the hardship of others and never learned the hard way nor practicing the contents of their books.
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  • Profile picture of the author aadi1295
    Banned
    I opened it on my mobile, and i saw its bootstrap based site. But collapse menu is messed up.. Left and right margins are zero so it makes it look bad. Footer is also messed up, again margin issues. I hope it will help you focus more on responsiveness.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jonathan S
      Originally Posted by aadi1295 View Post

      I opened it on my mobile, and i saw its bootstrap based site. But collapse menu is messed up.. Left and right margins are zero so it makes it look bad. Footer is also messed up, again margin issues. I hope it will help you focus more on responsiveness.
      That's also my problem Aadi1295, I've been doing Twitter Bootstrap via self-taught and I found it really hard to sort out my site to be fully responsive. I'll check the margin and others factors.. it really just gone messy but yeah, I'll be there. Thanks a lot for that.
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