17 replies to this topic

[don1]

The site is under re-construction and the page still is not complete (all of those words under interests will link out and the text down at the bottom will also) but we are ranking on google so I'm just got discombobulated.

The site has been up since 1999. This page has been up for three weeks. When I focus on it I have been able to get top 10 rankings, but now it is getting tougher and I need to focus on other parts of business.

There are links coming in from various places to the main page and forums (but we are not talking about them yet) but none to this page unless you count google (rank 31 - it needs to be better)

Keywords we have targeted are "insect collecting" and "science fair project". The first we have done all along, the second came by way of wordtracker. I don't think it is working. It will be difficult to compete againts .edu's.

You can poke around the code if you would like. I'm no expert, and I don't really want to be but note that the scripted windows are done on purpose (I know a spider cannot get in to them but I like being able to have the smaller windows so a customer can view two side by side - you know, like holding two boxes of tea bags next to each other and reading the ingredients)

The target audiences are parents/families, homeschoolers, teachers (aren't we all?) and beginning insect collectors. We are and hope those who go to our site are very interested in nature and want to learn more about it and in the long run stop trying to destroy it.

Why us, huh? Because we're nice people (go ahead and ask anyone we know). This is the one question I dislike the most. I have never been able to describe myself or my wifes/my business. Generally I tell prospective employees I am a jerk, mean, a task master, but above all understanding. No really, because we are fast? friendly? we care? I have no idea...

Usability is a huge must. I want everyone (to be able to enjoy the site but more importantly, nature. Each and every graphic, text, whatever is made by us. You know what kind of pain that is?

Purpose of the site? Oh gosh, it's in my head but it would take me forever to explain but the purpose of this page is to sell items.

If you've got design suggestions I'll listen. This is the third incantation of the store in four years. Change is good.

Note some changes that will come:

1. a small pop-up window may be included so that when you "add to cart" it opens and tells you that the item has been entered instead of going right to the cart.
2. I have played with putting a quantity field on the page but we determined it really clustered things up to much. It really depends on the day if we like it or not.
3. I think I will move "insect collecting" back to the top of the keyword list, I am having doubts about "science fair project"
4. The "Interests" links will either go to a page of links to external sites just a page with a listing of products and books that we sell in each catagory. Kind of a poor mans search page.
5. I need to find people who will link to us. If you've got suggestions...
6. I may include on each page a package tracking feature but right now it is scheduled to go on its own page. The same with a mailing list opt-in/opt-out button (I never thought I would do one but we get enough requests to do it).

OK, shoot (I'm nervous). I take everything personally but have thick skin. The site is not about us (well, that is the goal) it is for you, them, whomever... Nature! Bugs are good

http://www.gardensar...cting_kits.html

Edited by don1, 22 November 2003 - 11:12 AM.

[Thanol]

The 'Gardens Are' 'Landscape' 'Forum' and 'Store' graphics seem out of place. They look different than the rest of the page for some reason. Maybe if you took out/shrunk and moved the Visa advert then the page would look nicer, but right now the top area stands out, in a not so good way.

[don1]

The 'Gardens Are' 'Landscape' 'Forum' and 'Store' graphics seem out of place.

Hmm, our card processor is running the promotion and we thought it might be fun but not if it makes the page look bad. Maybe I can use their smaller banner at the bottom right side of the page. Usually the area where the banner is, is empty, similar to the Gift Services Page which is just developing. Do you think that would be better or redesigning those links?

Edited by don1, 22 November 2003 - 11:11 AM.

[samt]

I don't know about anyone else, but I still have a 15" monitor, and all I can read about that logo is "Gardens Are..." I can see it says they are something, but it's too small to read what.

[Craig B]

I have a few comments. I understand how 'personal' a site can get but these are meant in the most positive way! I have no idea what is going on in the SEO world lately so I will limit my comments to usability and design.

Usability is a huge must.

1. You mentioned that you may implement a pop-up window to indicate 'item entered'. Be careful how you implement this as pop-up blockers are becoming more commonplace. A pop-up as an user action (ie. clicking on a link) is ok, but a javascript pop-up onload() for example are being nabbed more often.

2. Your links do not look like links. For usability, I would underline your text links or use css to have different states when you roll over them. For example, I tried to click on the text list in your interests section. Also, your image links at the top could have a image swap on rollover.

3. Site works in IE, Mozilla, and Netscape 4.7. Good job!

4. The target audiences are parents/families, homeschoolers, teachers. CSS is used so that the user can't change the font size in their browsers. This goes against usability.

On Design
1. There is a smooth transition between the top sections 'forums' and 'store' but I am not sure where I am when I go to the 'landscape' section as you are using a different look. Am I in the same site? same company?

2. The layout seems unbalanced to me. The header is set full-width but the content area is centered. The design works in 800x600 but doesn't look right in 1024x768 (how I am viewing it). I would pick centered or left and stick with it.

Again, these are just things I would look at. Good luck with the site!

-Craig

[don1]

I have a few comments.

Good stuff.

On 1. it would be an user action after they click add to cart (I just need to figure it out) 2. The only reason I got rid of the underlines is because we sell books and when they are on the top sellers list or other list it got confusing ie. it looked as if everything was a book title. I'll work on the roll overs and try to figure something else for the text. 3. Cool 4. Bummer! I've got to figure this one out. 5. That is the old site. When it is all done I'll ask for a review of the whole thing. It was popular but died off in the last 6 months. But anyway, we are not doing that one yet... 6. I would have it stay centered (I'll try to play with the top header) I like the white space and control of the elements below, otherwise it weirds out on me, especially if it is sitting on the left and nothing on the right (hard to explain).

[Scottie]

Cool avatar Craig! Good to "see" you.

[don1]

I don't know about anyone else, but I still have a 15" monitor, and all I can read about that logo is "Gardens Are..." I can see it says they are something, but it's too small to read what.

Hi samt,

The logo has a tag line "...where garden design becomes art." Without getting into the entire meaning of the company name I can tell you the tag was originally intended for the landscape side of the business we felt that until we can come up with another tag that was good enough for the retail part of business we would just keep using it. It is part of our company name along with the swash. Keeping the logo the same on all of our "stuff" was the original intent. The logo design is important. The swash represents a seedling or plant coming out of the ground and the positioning of the text "in the ground" signifies air and life (the things needed in a good soil) the further down the more mineral and less organic life.

The basic message I'm getting is rework the top. I removed the banner. Does that make it better? How about SEO, copywrite?

Edited by don1, 22 November 2003 - 01:03 PM.

[samt]

Just speaking to the logo... It's a fine logo, and the line on it is fine, just too small to really read on the tiny monitor. I'd just make it a little larger, so dingbats like me don't sit there squinting at it. Not a key point, I'm too inexperienced to speak to key points, just a little thing I noticed.

[don1]

your image links at the top could have a image swap on rollover.

Questions on the rollovers. Would that hinder usability? I didn't think all browsers handled them correctly. Then, if I put a marker on the rollover (an arrow or circle) would you rather see them on the left of the three words or the right? I can say putting them on the right would be easier but who said I wanted that? And finally, would you find it more useful to have them appear when rolled over individually, or have one on the store button at all times (because you are in the store) or both? Then I would have to make it so when you roll over forums the store one would disappear - I can do that.

BTW we are debating (no, pleasant conversation is more like it) making the size of the banner larger and fixed.

[qwerty]

Don, I know you're only asking about this page, but I've got a question about how it relates to the rest of the site. Look and feel of the page is very different. Are you planning on coming up with a design you like here and then changing the rest of the site to match it?

[don1]

Are you planning on coming up with a design you like here and then changing the rest of the site to match it?

Yes.

The entire store will look like this and the secondary pages (gift services, policies, site map) will look like those already set up. The forums are coming close to what they will look like (I may try to bring the same header as the store over - maybe not). The landscape side was all planned but after reading the Flash ____s thread I am redoing it again. It needs to be more artistic than what is in the store. So, like an opera each section (character) will have its own lite-motif yet fit together (style) to tell the story.

[Craig B]

Questions on the rollovers. Would that hinder usability?

In general, I think it improves usability. You can make them cross-browser if you code them correctly (or at least degrade gracefully).

Image Rollovers
Here is an example of an image rollover I did where you can get an idea of how to do them --> here (ignore the flash pop-up)

Link Rollovers using CSS
Examples I did for myself here and I just quickly coded a page with the css in the page here.

Hope that answers your questions. If you have any problems, let me know!

-Craig

[don1]

OK Craig,

I put in a couple updates:

1. text links should show a line under them when rolled over
2. the buttons on top now have rollovers
3. those same buttons actually have an "on click" image also but I have not been able to get it to work
4. I've started adding pages that are in this new format. Now I have five catagory pages (the copywrite still needs to be done on some but google has picked up a couple already in the last week) and two help pages looking like this.
5. I've added an html page in front of the forums. Right now I've only linked it through the index page and the site map. It is more of a test to see if google will pick it up. Their spiders seem to be the only ones not going there.

I will keep putting new pages up, work on the other ideas and

[Scottie]

Hi Don1-

Some thoughts:

Do you make more profits from the Mastercard banner than from selling products? You've given that banner prime real estate on your page and made it the focal point of the page. If users see nothing else, they'll see that banner.

Your top navigation doesn't look like links at all. Change them to a color and add a rollover color or underline so that users will notice them. The tiny arrow that pops up on mouseover is not enough to draw the eye, IMO.

Consider stretching those links out in a line instead of stacking them- again you are wasting valuable real estate and pushing your products lower on the page.

On your logo, all I can read is Gardens Are. The second line is unreadable.

Consider bolding the text in your gold colored headings and centering them so that they will stand out.

The "view contents" links next to your images need to be centered under the image- right now there is a line break between view and contents.

Hope that helps!