First PS shop, tell me what you think!

[paciocco]

I've had this up for a little while now, but I'm really only rolling it out now. I'd greatly appreciate any advice, criticism, praise, whatever! Thanks.

 

cigarloversunite.com

[NYTaxHelp]

Great looking site.. but I spotted a couple areas for improvement.

 

1. On the main navigation bar, instead of the link titled 'cigars' consider changing it to "buy cigars" "shop for cigars" or something more engaging. Also leads to point #2

2. Get a better call to action. On the main graphic banner area of your homepage, consider adding a big button saying "browse our Cigars" or something like that. Make the color of the button stand out from the background.

3. Change your favicon to something that matches your site. A good favicon is known to be an indicator of trustworthiness that your customers will tend to look for. Leads to point #4

4. Consider adding some website trust seals or business verification seals to the footer of your site. I have personal experience with BBB and VeraSafe (both good) but there may be other good choices too.

5. Add a privacy policy and create a footer link titled 'privacy' or something like that.

 

Again, it's a nice site. Good luck!

[paciocco]

Thanks a lot for the response, and all of your recommendations are solid. The favicon in particular is something I've been meaning to get around to, it's just been put off. Thanks again.

[NYTaxHelp]

You're so welcome. Glad I could help!!

[SuperCharlie]

I think you have domain name gold. The concept and biz model should work great for you. I think there are a few design and content issues which keep you from being a top tier looking website. I humbly offer my suggestions as a 15+ year website vet to take or leave

 

The logo in the upper left needs to be a little clearer.. the Unite text is a little dark.

 

The long header graphic with just the text and exclamation point feels like it needs some graphic element or ornamentation of some sort. If feels flat and dry. The exclamation point in reverse..Im on the fence. I see where you are going but might try it integrated into the name as well.. 50/50 on that.

 

The text across the site is too big in general. The menu text especially. It looks clunky. I would have a few more top levels and smaller text size.. around 4-5 or so maybe up to 7 top level items spanning the menu area.

 

The main page graphic is pretty nice but the text needs some light dropshadow or glow to set it off a bit. I would make it a little less tall so it didnt take up so much of the first page fold. Another thing.. if possible.. I think products people use, especially consume, should have people in them. If you could come up with people pics it would draw people in I think.. but thats just me.

 

The modules on the left feel disconnected from the site. They are not in the same color scheme and also have rounded edges while everything else on the site is squared off. I would at least get them into the same brownish color scheme..that goes for all the greyish elements which are rounded.

 

The main front page content area needs more pics to draw it down farther and smaller text. Make some headlines in big text, keep the content text smaller, and add images to use up the space towards the bottom. I always like the content to be more than the utility columns (like the lefthand stuff) if at all possible.

 

The footer is hanging out on the right. Either center it or make it span the whole content area..

 

The eternal problem of a colored background is that every image you use needs to have that color background in general. The category images with the vast expanse of white on the sides need updated with the background color so they blend into the page.

 

I would also recommend trying to make them a uniform size so it feels cohesive across the categories.

 

The product blocks need a little space on the side so they are not flush against the edge and there needs to be some flavor of the color scheme in all elements including the product blocks.

 

Those are some of my recommendations to take it to the next level.

 

I know it sounds like a lot.. but just getting to where you are is a great accomplishment and to be commended. I really think you have a great biz model here and it should do well.

 

Good Luck!!

SC

[paciocco]

Sorry took so long to respond, just got back from vacation. First, a quick thank you to both of you Belenos and SuperCharlie for your help. I really appreciate all this feedback.

 

I like your cigars website. You chose a suitable template. But sometimes, there few missing category's picture. I don't really understand the why there is a exclamation mark in your tag line. Only few people know about the guest checkout including you, it is very good. You could also activate the CCC options.

 

-I fixed the category pictures problem, for now at least. I swear sometimes some of the images I've uploaded just disappear!

-Both you and SuperCharlie had issues with the logo. It's something I'll be revisiting with my graphic designer when she gets back from vacation next month.

-I had some technical issues with CCC, but thanks for reminding me, I'm trying to get those taken care of now.

 

I think you have domain name gold. The concept and biz model should work great for you. I think there are a few design and content issues which keep you from being a top tier looking website. I humbly offer my suggestions as a 15+ year website vet to take or leave ...

 

 

I know it sounds like a lot.. but just getting to where you are is a great accomplishment and to be commended. I really think you have a great biz model here and it should do well.

 

Good Luck!!

SC

 

SuperCharlie, your compliments probably made my week. I've put a lot into this project, so anyone feeding my delusions that this site can become something good is really gratifying. As for your suggestions, I'll probably be taking most/all of them.

-As mentioned above, I'll revisit the logo/banner. These exchanges have already got me thinking on some possible tweaks.

-As for the text sizes, you say it's a site-wide issue, so I presume you'd even do the product descriptions smaller? Not sure I could do that without going through each product 1-by-1 and changing font size. But for the menu/homepage fonts, that is easy enough to change, and your suggestion felt intuitively right the second I read it.

-+1 for pointing out my "hanging" footer, I hadn't noticed that.

-Good thoughts on all the comments about the color scheme as well, I'll have to work on those.

 

Again, I've taught myself all this stuff, so just having a laundry list of "to do" items to make the site better actually feels like quite a relief at this moment. Thanks a lot guys. And lord knows the complements and encouragement are really helpful at a time where I've just got things started, your comments make it easier to keep on keepin' on.

[Tenberry]

I would add Facebook and Twitter buttons. The navigation could be improved and if I was browsing the internet for cigars, I would want to see a selection on your homepage. Make it easy for your visitors to get to the pages they want to see. If possible, I would try and continue the header image/logo colour scheme throughout the middle/lower page (navigation,footer).