41 replies to this topic

[Andre]

Please review: www.biz-logo.com

General background: The site is not performing as it should, currently generating 1.2 sales per day out of about 550 unique visitors per day. The logo design industry is fairly competitive and the site is not that old, so we do expect to be able to drastically increase traffic over the next year or two, but getting a lot of traffic is no use if we can't turn it into sales. So we are open to any suggestions, either SEO or general.

General
Is this site completed or under construction?

The site is completed.

If completed:
How long has the site been up?

It is over 2 years old. Our logo design service has been running since '97, but this site only happened once we felt confident enough about the day to day running that we could process larger volumes of business without sacrificing quality.

SEO
Do you have incoming links?

Yip, we have 469 according to Google and 7,310 according to AlltheWeb. Most of those are from a single, site-wide, paid link. One of our link building strategies is to offer free logos to selected sites in exchange for links.

What keywords are you targeting?

Our top keyword at the moment is "logo examples", for which we're #1 on Google. We also target a range of industry logo keywords like "real estate logos", "animal logos", "food logos", "pre-designed logos" etc.

Do you want your code reviewed for errors or improvements?

That's not necessary, but any comments are welcome.

Marketing
Who is your target audience?

Male and female, about 65:35.
75% US, 5% India, 5% UK, 5% rest of Europe, the rest are from all over.
Mostly entrepreneurs, anywhere between 20 and 55.
Almost all are owners of start-ups. We offer a relatively low-cost option, so we tend to attract folks who are on a budget.

Entrepreneurs are always busy, always in a hurry, most know what they want.

Why is your site different from sites selling/offering similar info/goods/services? Why will someone want to do business you?

Our biggest selling point is our unconditional money-back guarantee. If you don't like any of the logos we come up with, we issue a full refund. We also offer about 2x the average number of "concept designs" that you'll get elsewhere, but even so our prices are at the bottom end of the spectrum. In addition to "custom logos" we have 1000+ "pre-designed" logos where you actually pick your logo from the site.

How important is usability?

Very - especially in the pre-designed logos section where we need people to effortlessly browse through 100s of logos and order the one that they pick.

What is the purpose of the site? (inform, sell, online community, support B&M business, contact info only, etc)

Selling.

Design
Do you want design suggestions?

Yes, those are welcome too.

Thanks.

[Cosita]

I have a thought on the keywords you are choosing. Please keep in mind that I'm not an expert so I welcome those who are to chime in.

I believe someone who is searching for logo example isn't as strong as a visitor who may be searching under logo company or logo designer. In my mind, only those (for the most part) who want to hire a logo firm will search under logo company or logo designer. With someone who is searching under logo example, they may or may not want to purchase -- maybe they are looking to copy.

I guess what I'm saying is that perhaps you have 500 unique visitors but those visitors (based on your keywords) aren't necessarily looking to buy. So maybe your keyword is an issue? Maybe it's not drawing paying clients? Again, I'm not an expert but it's food for thought at least.

Now my thoughts on the design. For a design company I expected to see a more chic, stylish site. Maybe adding samples to your homepage will make the site look more designer-like. I checked out some of your logos. Nice work. But I don't think the overall appeal of your site reflects your creativity. Also, consider changing the background color to...well, I don't know but at least consider the change.

[Michael Martinez]

Break up that page. It's looks way too long and way too scammy.

Don't use that huge yellow margin region. You've disconnected your contents from the borders of the window. You need to terminate or connect with at least one border, or else set the margin color to the same color as your main background.

[Andre]

Thanks for the feedback so far Cosito and Michael.

Cosito, I think you're right. Good point. At the moment our target keywords are not attracting shoppers. About the examples on the homepage, I wanted to keep the homepage fairly clean, so I have just the different packages on there and the FAQ and testimonials. Maybe the FAQ and testimonials could be split off to different pages, making space for some examples. That way we also make the homepage shorter as Michael suggested.

Michael, I don't quite follow. Do you mean the section of the yellow background directly to the left of the page? That's supposed to be the same color as the rest of the yellow background. Was it a different yellow? Is that the bit that you'd make smaller or would you make the white page wider so there's less yellow overall?

Thanks again

[torka]

I'm not Michael, but I had some similar thoughts when I looked at the page, so I think what he's saying as that the yellow margins are just too wide and too blank. The content of the page looks "huddled" in the white space in the middle with this big ol' yellow strips down either side with nothing in them -- I believe that's what he means when he says you've disconnected your content from the borders of the window.

I wouldn't say to get rid of the testamonials on the home page entirely. It's not a bad idea to have a testamonials page, and it can be impressive for your visitors to see them all collected in one place (assuming you have a lot of strong testamonials). However, you can also make your testamonials do "double duty" by putting them appropriately on every page of your site.

For instance, why not put some testamonials in one or the other of your yellow margins? Instead of putting the one on the top of the page, where it kinda gets lost (honestly, I didn't even see it up there until the second or third time I looked at the page -- that top space is usually for banner ads and the like and I usually don't even pay attention to anything up there).

You can take some of your major navigation and put it in one or the other margin as well. People tend to look for navigation either across the top or down the left or right hand side of the page. That would be an excellent place to put primary links to your samples, FAQs, packages, "about us", etc.

That would help "break up" those empty expanses of yellow, and help visually connect and anchor the content of your page to the physical window, so it's not just floating out there in the middle.

I also agree with Cosita -- for a site that's supposedly about logo design, I don't see much in the way of artistic design examples on the main page. Your own logo is really nice, but placed where it is, it's also kinda "lost." It isn't as prominent as I'd expect a logo to be.

You might benefit from checking out eye tracking studies that show you where people tend to look first when they visit a web page. You'll want to place your most important links and information in the places where they're most likely to be seen. Here's some information from one eye tracking study. Marketing Sherpa also has analysis of some eye tracking studies for purchase.

--Torka

[MaryKrysia]

You have a lot of information on one page but no graphics graphics -- very bland. Logo design is a graphics business and more than most other businesses, use of graphics is important. Potential customers want to see what you can create.

The page are too long with too much information on one page and too much scrolling. I recommend breaking up the information onto more pages and including prominent navigation to those pages.

The testimonial at the top of the page seems very out of place. Testimonials work better added one or two to a page and off to one side. If you have many testimonials, place them on one page as well as throughout your web site.

I completely agree there is way too much yellow border to the sides and on top and it all looks very flat. Not much visual interest. Also, your most important information is not seen without scrolling down the page. I believe it is important to place your most important information where is can be immediately seen and catch your visitors eye.

My summary: add more graphics for visual appeal, use less yellow border, move questions and most testimonials to other pages, add good navigation to the side near the top of the page, move your key information (such as the advantages of using your logo services) where it can be seen without scrolling.

[TopTenOrBust]

Andre,

I'll give you my two cents as a business owner who has looked for logo designers in the past. I'm not as up to speed yet on the SEO end.

My initial impression when I landed on your home page was that it looked too professional, too many straight lines and square edges. Almost made me think I could be at an attorneys site (like a lawyers letterhead). Not that of a creative company that can design me a creative, eye catching logo that will make my competitors envious!

While I think that your money back guarantee is great, I didn't notice it until I scrolled down to the bottom of the extremely looooong home page (which I never would have done if I was looking at your site as a customer). Move that snazzy MBG logo to the top so I know right away you stand behind your work. You say that's your unique selling point, but I would never have seen it. I personally don't like pages that make me spin the scroll wheel on my mouse more than twice. My finger got tired scrolling to the bottom of your page!

Also, I would reiterate what others have said about putting your best logo sample on your home page, at the top. Once I dug a little into your examples, you really do good work! Show it off right from the start, make me want to see more!

Lastly, I don't believe people read. Especially, when they are searching for the service of a graphic designer. If you were selling copywriting services, then your potential customer may be more inclined to read the text on your page.

I recently started monitoring my site stats very closely. I was amazed to find out that on average a visitor spent 18 seconds on my home page! And, 43% of the visitors exited form my home page after landing on it from a SE. Obviously, I didn't have a hook to make them click again.

Lastly, if I were looking for your services, I would search for "logo designers" or "custom logo designs" or "logo designers" or "online logo designers". I would search for "logo examples" if I was looking to knock off someone elses logo.

Just my thoughts!

[Jill]

Good review, topten! It made me go look, and I completely agree.

Put those samples right on the home page.

I want to see whether I like your work right away if I'm looking for a logo designer.

{added}Just looking through your predesigned logos, and I like 'em a lot. I think you have a great idea here, and I can see where it would be an easy way for people to shop for logos who don't want to pay thousands to have one custom designed.

[Andre]

Thanks all for the feedback. This is extremely valuable.

I have created a new look based on some of the comments and I'd love to hear if you guys think it's an improvement.

Here's the preview.

Here's the current look.

Note that the entire top part with the examples is, at this stage, still a single image. Once the look is finalized it will be chopped into smaller images and linked. Those smaller images will also be slightly less blurry. The images right at the bottom still need to be edited for the new background color.

Thanks.

[Jill]

Much better! I'd show even more logos interspersed throughout the home page.

I sent my sister your way as I knew she was pricing out logos for a new business idea she has...

[Michael Martinez]

Michael, I don't quite follow. Do you mean the section of the yellow background directly to the left of the page? That's supposed to be the same color as the rest of the yellow background. Was it a different yellow? Is that the bit that you'd make smaller or would you make the white page wider so there's less yellow overall?

Thanks again

Looks like you've been answered by others on this point, but let me reply, too.

You have inserted a "white page" inside your yellow background. This creates what is called "trapped copy". Psychologically, it's very disturbing to read. People need to see the page content flows smoothly into the margin space, so your page should typically have a single dominant background color.

Sites which successfully incorporate two or more colors into their background (and let us not argue over whether "white" or "black" are colors -- for the sake of this point, they are) allow one color to dominate the top or left or right margins but the main color dominates at least one of the margins.

So, you can have:

top - black
left - black
right - black
main - white
bottom white

Or, you can have:

top - blue
left - blue
main - white
right - white
bottom - white

Etc.

Your site evenly divides the page content between two colors. Neither is dominant for the entire page, and that "boxes" in your copy -- making it uncomfortable for people to read. Open up at least one of your margins to match the main body background ("white").

But your page is still way too long. You need to break it up into multiple pages. Don't put your call to action all the way at the end (this is typical of marginal, scammy, untrustworthy sites and is a very large red flag).

You are trying to oversell your service. People want information first. Sales pitches should be minimal.

I agree with TopTenorBust: you need to include some examples of your work (even if you are just getting started, make up illustrative samples) on that main page.

[Michael Martinez]

Thanks all for the feedback. This is extremely valuable. 

I have created a new look based on some of the comments and I'd love to hear if you guys think it's an improvement. 

Here's the preview.

Whoops! Sorry. I didn't scroll down far enough to see these links.

Your front page is still too busy. In fact, the chief problem now is your footer. You have way too many links there. Just create a site map and link to it near the top of your page (above the fold) and/or in the footer (near the top is usually best).

Note that the entire top part with the examples is, at this stage, still a single image. Once the look is finalized it will be chopped into smaller images and linked. Those smaller images will also be slightly less blurry. The images right at the bottom still need to be edited for the new background color.

You should NOT use images for your masthead. That is extremely important real estate and it should be displayed with at least a combination of text and images if not only text. You are shooting yourself in the foot by using an image-only approach.

It's almost guaranteed you'll be back here saying, "I've got a PR4 site, lots of backlinks, and my site doesn't rank...."

The page should have a prominent H1 or large font header line which says in clearly indexable text something like "Business Logo Design by Biz-Logo.com". You can break it up over two lines, like;

Business Logo Design
by Biz-Logo.com

Put your examples in the left or right margin. You've still effectively trapped your copy by going with a single color for your header and footer. It's okay to use an off-color for a masthead or footer, but you need to use related colors if you want to go with masthead-body-footer.

For example, you could use a sky blue background for the body (I am not saying you should, but it would match the colors for the header and footer).

[MaryKrysia]

I really like your new color combination. Deep blue is a very calming and reassuring color and is almost always a good choice for a web site. The white area for your text is fine IMHO.

The logos displayed on your new home page are really excellent. Is it possible to make these larger and place them perhaps on the right side or throughout your pages?

I agree with Michael M. that there is too much navigation on the bottom of your home page. It's overwhelming and hard to read.

Consider placing at least your primary navigation ( "the site" pages) on the left hand side of the page, perhaps changing the color of that left navigation bar to a light blue. In this area, you could also include a link to "Information Pages," "Logo Design Packages," and "Predesigned Logos." These internal pages then could have further links to the pages within these categories. It's not necessary or feasible to have all the links to all internal pages on the home page when your web site has so many pages.

The text on your home page would benefit greatly from including headers and subheaders which use your targeted keywords, followed by at least some text which also uses your targeted keywords in a natural conversational way. The headers and sub-headers do not need to be H1/H2 tags, just a noticable larger font size and possibly different color.

IMO, this redesign is a great improvement and you are closer to an effective web page.

Edited by MaryKrysia, 31 October 2005 - 08:26 PM.

[Jill]

You should NOT use images for your masthead. That is extremely important real estate and it should be displayed with at least a combination of text and images if not only text. You are shooting yourself in the foot by using an image-only approach.

I disagree with this. Nothing at all wrong with using images for your masthead. Nothing, whatsoever. Certainly not where rankings are concerned.

And you don't need to put an H1 tag either.

[lyn]

It looks like you have some good design chops in your tool kit but, like Top Ten said, you need to let your creative strength shine through, especially in that "above the fold" zone where you make your first impression. Have you thought of using a slide show script to rotate some hot examples through at a nice fat size?

If you can get the first look at the page to offer (1) great design, and (2) prices I can afford and (3) the money-back guarantee, then you'll have a complete sales proposition at work.

If it were me, I'd feature the 3 package headings (with the price points) right up with the prime portfolio pieces; let the visitor click through (or down) to the package details. If I can see at a glance that I can get something I can afford that looks good, so I'm willing to snoop around a little more.

I like Torka's suggestion of running testimonials all the way through the site, too. Figure that anybody buying their business identity on price is going to be at least a bit gun shy. Reassurance from previous customers will mean a lot. And keep adding samples all the way through, too - never stop selling the good stuff! Help them believe that every price point is the best deal on the web for real value, not just low cost. (Remember, their kids like to draw, too, and the kids will do it for free!)

I understand how you want to come across as a solid reliable business in your page design, but you're offering customers lots of choice and a wealth of ideas -- don't be too afraid to let the graphics fill some empty spaces, even crash into each other a bit, as long as your core messages still come through.

Finally, show me some design thinking when you ask for the order - give yourself an "Order" button that keeps up the excitement and asks to be clicked!

L.