burt Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 Well I was advised from a marketing person that I need to differentiate myself form others.which is excellent advice. The text explains why people should buy from me.Which is where you have gone wrong. Images, graphics, FREE delivery, special offers, etc etc. "$5.00 Off Your First Order" - why wouldn't you have this as a really nice graphic - right in the potential customers face? Since my last post, I see you've moved the products up, which is better. Now you need to look at your overall site design and try to come up with something that looks less "boxy". And you don't need to spend hardly any money to do this. Find a design you like at the likes of http://www.oswd.org and then integrate it using STS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrssocolov Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 You don't need to spend a ton of money to have a site that looks good. Use the contributions in here. A lot of people here have designed some really nice template layouts in the contributions area. Those are free - use them. They really do help! I used the centering contribution. I would think you would want to draw away from a site that looks like it was created and then items just entered. This is not a slam or a dig - I am just trying to help with suggestions. I noticed in your previous post - we seemed to hit a nerve. You asked for our opinions and that is what we gave you. Again - it was not a personal attack or a slam on your part - it was just trying to help. I find that when I have others make suggestions, it is sometimes of things I haven't even thought of. Look, your position is quite complicated with figuring out the design of the site - adding merchandise - purchasing inventory - customer service and such. So, it is not a bad thing when others help out. Some people are different in their tones is all. So, again - yes the spend money helps make money concept is true. But a savy business owner knows when to save money doing the same thing that others spent thousands getting/doing. So - try the contributions - search the net for templates - hire someone to create a jazzy logo(they are too expensive - check scriptlance.com or even ebay). Basically, get a cool image that people will remember and want to visit again and again. That was the reasoning behind my suggestion. Good luck! Marlo Dance as if No One were Watching ~ Sing as if No One were Listening ~ And Live Life everyday as if it were Your Last! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
games4gamers Posted May 20, 2008 Author Share Posted May 20, 2008 STS being Simple Template System I take it? I think I tried looking into that previously but I got confused and put it on the eventually pile...I should take another look at it... Ok well let's say hypothetically speaking that my images do suck, which in all honesty, yes they probably do...how do I fix this? And yes I have credit cards but not very high limits on them, doubtfully enough to cover the expenses of design work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrssocolov Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 STS being Simple Template System I take it? I think I tried looking into that previously but I got confused and put it on the eventually pile...I should take another look at it... Ok well let's say hypothetically speaking that my images do suck, which in all honesty, yes they probably do...how do I fix this? And yes I have credit cards but not very high limits on them, doubtfully enough to cover the expenses of design work... Hello Here is what I do when I am selling items on Ebay. First - does your digital camera come with software? I know for my nikon it came with software that had features - like sharpen - lighten and what not. Sometimes that can help "clean up" an image. Secondly - I did this - a cheap way of using photographer tips. I place white under the object - like a really white sheet or a white piece of paper(just don't have the edges of the paper show up in the final image - crop them off). Steer away from a towel or a rug. You dont' want the customer seeing the fabric. This really brightens up the object! Try to move the camera around to advoid the glare. Move back and forth. Test the flash a few times to see what angle is best for you. Also - move the lighting source so it doesn't put a glare on the image. So, make sure the flash is adding a lot of glare and the light you are using. I suggest trying to take your photos on sunny days or in a room with good natural lighting. I know it sounds silly - but natural lighting(not direct sunlight) can actually be a photographers friend. If you go out - like on a deck - make you have some sort of shade. Otherwise the sun will put a direct glare on the item. I also have created with white cardboard a "background/backdrop". I created somewhat of a box (with three sides and a bottom) where I shine a little light(not too much light because then it can wash out the item) into it - it helps keep down the glare and the images come out like the pros. They sell tents that photographers use - but - like you I have a limited budget. Growing up with a Dad who used Duct Tape for everything - you learned cheap ways of fixing/doing things - lol lol lol I hope this helps some - also software programs are good. I use my program for the nikon camera I have - but I also use Paint Shop Pro. I picked it up from Ebay for like $10. I use it ALL the time. I like to place borders around my photos to give it a touch. But - try the other suggestions I have above. You may not have time to learn a software program - so the suggestions above might be more to your liking. Good luck - I hope I helped some? Marlo Dance as if No One were Watching ~ Sing as if No One were Listening ~ And Live Life everyday as if it were Your Last! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
games4gamers Posted May 20, 2008 Author Share Posted May 20, 2008 Thanks Marlo those are good suggestions, and actually I use PSP all the time at my day job and in my spare time for various things...I'm not really sure if borders add much to a product image personally, but to each their own... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrssocolov Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 Thanks Marlo those are good suggestions, and actually I use PSP all the time at my day job and in my spare time for various things...I'm not really sure if borders add much to a product image personally, but to each their own... Hello Sure no problem. Yea - I add borders because of the type of products I have and the cutesyness aspect. So no biggie - I was posting it - not really as a suggestion - more as an example. lol ;0) Good luck - personally - I don't think your images look that awful. Believe me in the years of being on the net(buying and selling) and on Ebay - I have seen worse!!! At least I can see what you are selling - I think it was the brown table top that was bothering people. So, if you try removing the glare and putting white around them - well I guess it would look more professional. I love PSP - so use all the features it has. You can really make an image look much better through that program. Good luck Marlo Dance as if No One were Watching ~ Sing as if No One were Listening ~ And Live Life everyday as if it were Your Last! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snarf? Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 Oh and for the record, I've had plenty of sales the past 2-3 weeks, so apparently I'm doing something right... Very cool. This game is all about sales. I like the changes you've made so far. Suggestions: 1. Invest some time into creating your own buttons. You can download whole sets for free if you wish. You can increase your conversion rate by double-digit percentage points in one day by increasing the size of your "add to cart" and "buy now" buttons. see: http://www.getelastic.com/cart-button-size/ and others for more. 2. Remove column_left.php and column_right.php infoboxes from every step of the checkout process (except shopping_cart.php) beginning with your create_account page up until checkout_confirmation.php. Once they've reached the create account page they are not shopping anymore they are ordering so minimize the possiblity that they will navigate to other parts of your site by removing those columns. Cross-promotions are fine but only if they don't involve leaving the checkout process. 3. Place your ssl icon inside the main box of every step of the checkout process (including the shopping cart) and in the footer. You have security information in your header and in a column_left infobox. Your customers will immediately scroll down a couple inches each time a page of the checkout process appears in order to read and fill out the forms so that header is not in view. Placing ssl info in the mainpage of your form is cut and paste easy. Placing it in an infobox (column left) is less effective (customers will overlook it) because the center of interest is... in the center. 4. Increase the size of your text. This is crucial and relates to button size. Very few people have the eagle-vision required to read your text. Your conversions will go up if you open your stylesheet and increase your font by a factor of two or three. See checkout_shipping.php for an example of the smallest text ever used on an oscommerce site. 5. Spend some time and create a privacy notice, terms of use, and shipping/returns information pages with links in your footer. Customers read them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
games4gamers Posted May 20, 2008 Author Share Posted May 20, 2008 Very cool. This game is all about sales. I like the changes you've made so far. Suggestions: 1. Invest some time into creating your own buttons. You can download whole sets for free if you wish. You can increase your conversion rate by double-digit percentage points in one day by increasing the size of your "add to cart" and "buy now" buttons. see: http://www.getelastic.com/cart-button-size/ and others for more. Ok will do... 2. Remove column_left.php and column_right.php infoboxes from every step of the checkout process (except shopping_cart.php) beginning with your create_account page up until checkout_confirmation.php. Once they've reached the create account page they are not shopping anymore they are ordering so minimize the possiblity that they will navigate to other parts of your site by removing those columns. Cross-promotions are fine but only if they don't involve leaving the checkout process. How do I remove it from only certain pages? I guess comment it out on those pages? 3. Place your ssl icon inside the main box of every step of the checkout process (including the shopping cart) and in the footer. You have security information in your header and in a column_left infobox. Your customers will immediately scroll down a couple inches each time a page of the checkout process appears in order to read and fill out the forms so that header is not in view. Placing ssl info in the mainpage of your form is cut and paste easy. Placing it in an infobox (column left) is less effective (customers will overlook it) because the center of interest is... in the center. Main box? I think you mean the "content" part of the page? 4. Increase the size of your text. This is crucial and relates to button size. Very few people have the eagle-vision required to read your text. Your conversions will go up if you open your stylesheet and increase your font by a factor of two or three. See checkout_shipping.php for an example of the smallest text ever used on an oscommerce site. Ok, I think it was defaultly set to 10px, should I up it to 12, 14, or? 5. Spend some time and create a privacy notice, terms of use, and shipping/returns information pages with links in your footer. Customers read them. Apparently you didn't read though, because all of this already exists, in the information box. :P Also, I installed STS and tried to use a template from the site mentioned earlier and I can't seem to get it to do anything...maybe I'm not doing it right, I don't know...it doesn't seem very user-friendly which isn't good for someone like me...any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snarf? Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 -All I know about STS is it tends to break sites when you add contributions. That's why you see contribution updates specific for STS. -Shipping info, privacy notice, etc. Your right it is in the information infobox! Yet my point remains valid for two reasons. 1. Your customers are making the same mistake I did. That type of information "belongs" in the footer. Its convention I guess. More people, on average, will look at your footer for the legal-speak. 2. Its one less infobox taking up space that you can use to promote selling points. -On each page of your checkout process (ex: checkout_shipping.php) there will by a <?php include column_left.php bla bla> and <?php include column_right.php bla> at the top and bottom of those pages. Comment them out. -Main box is the content part. I'm not sure what its correct name is. -Font: Try 14px. It really depends on the font. I use goudy old style 17px. -Take a look at this site: http://www.oscommerce-template-easy.com/os...als-center.html especially the main body and infobox customization tutorials. Its all in video format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 I used STS for years and think it has its good and bad sides. After getting away from STS and redesigning my site from scratch I have found that there are alot of nice templates that are fairly easy to edit with dreamweaver and the looks alot more professional. It really doesn't take alot of money to do, just alot of time. I am not a programmer by no means, but I stuck my neck out and read alot about how php and sql works. 6 weeks later and now I have a super site with alittle help from some nice people on the oscommerce forums. If you want to make money on the web you MUST have a professional looking site and make it easy for the customer to navigate. Good luck games4gamers... Socolov-Thats right-GO BUCKEYES! Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
games4gamers Posted May 21, 2008 Author Share Posted May 21, 2008 I implemented several of your all's suggestions...I'm going to look at the STS some more tomorrow see if I can figure it out... I can't seem to get the text headers on infoboxes to be bold though for some reason. I changed it on the stylesheet and still no dice...must be something conflicting with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snarf? Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I implemented several of your all's suggestions...I'm going to look at the STS some more tomorrow see if I can figure it out... I can't seem to get the text headers on infoboxes to be bold though for some reason. I changed it on the stylesheet and still no dice...must be something conflicting with it? http://www.oscommerce.info/kb/osCommerce/C...n_and_Layout/54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
games4gamers Posted May 21, 2008 Author Share Posted May 21, 2008 http://www.oscommerce.info/kb/osCommerce/C...n_and_Layout/54 Thanks...here is what I have in my CSS: TD.infoBoxHeading { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; background: #ff0033; color: #ffffff; } Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snarf? Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 Thanks...here is what I have in my CSS: TD.infoBoxHeading { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; background: #ff0033; color: #ffffff; } It is bold. Increase the text size to 18px and take a look at your infobox. Then comment out (//font-weight:bold;) the bold part and take another look. Its hard to tell now because you are still using micro-print for some reason. Try a few different font-styles to see like gill sans, gill sans ultra bold, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
games4gamers Posted May 21, 2008 Author Share Posted May 21, 2008 It is bold. Increase the text size to 18px and take a look at your infobox. Then comment out (//font-weight:bold;) the bold part and take another look. Its hard to tell now because you are still using micro-print for some reason. Try a few different font-styles to see like gill sans, gill sans ultra bold, etc. Ok thanks, will do...I changed the font size for the content but not for the infoboxes...guess I should for them as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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