My Pet Store - Can someone tell me why I'm not converting?

[jiggsaw]

My conversions suck and I could use some help finding out why. I've had friends and family look... but they say it's great. They're no help. I'm #1 in google for "cheap pet supplies" and #8 for "discount pet supplies". I'm getting some good traffic from those keywords but still not converting. Maybe those are browser type keywords? I don't know. Anyway, I would appreciate any feedback. Please be harsh lol.

 

www.thebarksmeow.com

[medfordite]

Some of the pages don't look right - If I click on the Dogs head category, it returns No Images - just your keyword descriptions. The customer then sees No Image - might be throwing them off.

 

Also - had this weird thing after clicking Dog houses or anything in that category:

 

(Items are Crossed out)

 

That could also scare people off.

 

Also - not sure what target market you are trying for, but the prices do seem to be high for some items. I can't really speculate though as I am not someone who purchases quality pet items.

[justdogwalking.com]

I find the site is quite slow. As above the images do not always appear.

I think you are too anonymous - say a bit about you get personal.

I do however, like the visuals of your site.

 

I am not so sure about going cheap, might it be worth considering "good value" for money

I have found there is some middle ground where there are discerning customers who will pay more for something that is perceived to be quality and good value.

 

My thoughts are from a new merchant in a similar field so I do not have that much experience yet.

 

The very best of Luck.

[SpottedSparrow]

You need to add category images. Like medordite said, when you click on home or any category on your top menu, the entire page is full of 'no image available'. As a first-time visitor, I would think something is wrong and go elsewhere. Go to catalog, click on edit and upload an image. Make sure you do that for all the sub-categories as well.

 

The left column seems in a weird place on all the main category pages. The left column appears under the list of sub-categories, making a huge white space. The left column looks good on the sub-category pages, so I'd make it look the same on the main category pages.

 

Are the products that are crossed out unavailable? If so, I'd consider not publishing products that aren't available. Again, I would immediately think something was wrong and go elsewhere if half the page was crossed out.

 

It sounds like you're optimising for the wrong keywords. If I were searching for 'cheap pet supplies' I'd be looking for things a lot cheaper than yours. That doesn't mean you need to reduce your prices, but I'd try to find different keywords that better fit your market. I would focus more on quality, service and other things that set you apart from competition. Your prices aren't going to beat the big box stores, and they aren't low enough for most people to consider 'cheap', so find other points of difference to make you stand out. Optimising for local customers might also be a good idea, especially if you can deliver faster than ABC Warehouse Corp that's on the other side of the country, or offer other services specific to your area.

[Paulito]

Hello, I have to agree with some of the things that have been said.

 

But the main thing for me is the lack of pictures for your products. ecommerce is all about seeing before you buy, that is after all what you do in the supermarket or department store.

 

I should not worry too much about the prices, people ill always pay for quality as long as they can see it.

 

Best regards

 

Paul