Question

Topic: Website Critique

Feedback On Our Email Marketing Website

Posted by Anonymous on 1/22/2008 at 12:15 AM ET 500 Points
We're evaluating changes to our website and would appreciate any feedback. We [inactive link removed] are an email marketing service that's a bit different than most.

1st, we cater specifically to truly small local businesses - salons, dog groomers, florists, etc., not mid-size businesses.

2nd, we automate many "trickle out emails" (appointment reminders, new customer welcomes, customer birthdays, birthday reminders, etc.), in addition to campaign type emails.

In addition to general feedback and improvement suggestions, I'd also like feedback on the message itself - are we getting across what we do well? We tend to get a lot of calls from prospective clients asking what we do, so I'm not sure if the web site is not clear or if that's just our target market response.

Our primary goal for our site is that it is a sales tool.





[Moderator: Inactive link removed from post. 2/14/2011]
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 1/22/2008 at 2:29 AM Accepted
    My first impression is your site is busy - which also means your central message is not clear

    "Tazlow - Email Marketing for Small Business"
    this is from your source code. It is your message.

    Advise that you provide a ROI calculator as the clear graphic focus on your homepage. Visitors can quickly calculate the number gains of you service. Add testimonial's to support your claims.

    Best of luck
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 1/22/2008 at 2:35 AM Member
    I forgot.

    Your logo has the tagline of "Tazlow - Easy Email Marketing"

    It should be:

    Tazlow - "Tazlow - Email Marketing for Small Business"
  • Posted by rthomas on 1/22/2008 at 7:19 AM Accepted
    Way too much text. Website readers do not read, especially when they are looking for a email marketing tool. If you feel that the text is really important, consider breaking it up and move sections to an FAQ area.

    Draw your website visitors in by providing a visual demo of your site using screenshots. Users are looking for a tools that is user-friendly and fulfills their needs, including "bells and whistles".

    Highlight real case studies. How are your clients using your product and how has it increase ROI for their small business... less missed appointments, more personal communication with customers, etc.

    Good luck!

    P.S. Take a look at these sites for inspiration:

    https://www.campaignmonitor.com/
    (clean design, fun, highlights client works)

    https://www.streamsend.com/online_tour.htm
    (simple online tour)

    https://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/
    (different navigation)

    https://www.mailchimp.com/
    (bit more text, but still clean)


  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 1/22/2008 at 8:39 AM Accepted
    Your home page should immediately answer the question, "Is this page talking to me?". Given your question:

    1) Change your main header from "Increase your Profits..." to something like: "We Help Small Businesses Get More Customers".

    2) Get rid of all your description of your services (your 3 x 2 grid of Email campaigns .. Customer Email groups). Move this to your menu of services page.

    3) Your main copy is mentioning your company too much, and not targeting the main benefit that someone would care about - more customers. Remember, your prospects don't want an email marketing system (or any system) - they want more customers. Tell them why your email marketing will do that.

    4) Put your contact information in the home page footer.
  • Posted by Inbox_Interactive on 1/22/2008 at 9:48 AM Member
    I'll second that there's probably too much copy to close this kind of sale, even a trial.

    I don't see a demo...something where a visitor can see the GUI and how easy it is to put together an email campaign, step by step.
  • Posted on 1/22/2008 at 11:14 AM Accepted
    The site has great information. It just needs a little more art. I love the layout on the front page. Well done! The only thing you could do there is pear down the copy, and like Steve Bryne said, bring out the "tagline" message.

    The pages: benefits, pricing, and about us, really need to be broken up with pictures and art, specifically because they are pages your viewers want to read. Naturally, our eyes are drawn to pictures and images, which often convey more than the same area filled with words.

    Try the 2/3 rule- 1/3 copy, and 2/3 art (including negative space). I would also suggest you have a 3rd party graphic designer give his/her input.
  • Posted on 1/22/2008 at 12:22 PM Author
    Thanks for all the comments so far, much appreciated. We'll definitely take a hard look at all the suggestions. Just to quickly comment on a few - less text and more benefit focus is one area we know we need to work on. As for the demo, we just recently took down our old one because we weren't happy with it's approach and we're working on a new one.
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 1/24/2008 at 7:15 PM Accepted
    Yes, way too busy, and I think the focus you need to think through is to match what you're presenting to the typical small business buyer's mental process, so you present information in the right order to get them to buy. Have you constructed a funnel process description for the buyer's journey?

    Have you also thought through the key differentiators between your offering and others like Elite, Constant Contact, EMMA, etc?

    I like the name. Reminded me of Maslow's Herarchy of Needs. I guess I'm probably in the minority though!

    You have a font inconsistency in your CSS. Bulleted point paragraphs switch font from the body text - see [inactive link removed] - and the result is ugly.

    Thank you for making the site simple fast loading html.

    Hope that helps.


    [Moderator: Inactive link removed from post. 2/22/2011]
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Website Critique)