Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

It's true, any photo software can handle some of the features the website offers. The question posed by Frank Hurrtte above is key - What does make your service better than the hundreds of do it yourself options available on the market?

Perhaps the answer isn't that it is better, but that it is faster and easier. I would sell the fact that the customer may not have time to learn all the advanced features of photo editing software, and that one can just gather up all the photographs he wants edited and send them in to your service at one time, saving the customer a TON of time over making the edits himself.

Have you done the analysis on how people are using the site and where they are leaving the site. If not, try installing Google Analytics (or similar service) for free and run for a few days to get some empirical data. Then you can see generally how they are navigating through the site and where most people are leaving. Its a easy and inexpensive way to narrow your analysis.

Afterwards - create different page versions and test conversion rates. Repeat process until "maximum" conversions are achieved.

Bob

I don't hear any support that it is a quality issue, a time issue a price issue, or a skill issue. It sounds like you don't know at this point.

Anybody who knows anything about photo retouching either does or doesn't. If they don't - they could /would welcome your service. If they do know, then they can immediately see the value you offer. Those folks are doing the "well I can do it" or I can do it in 30 minutes so is the price worth my time".

A Do-It-Yourself option would probably convert more net users, however you're adding a NEW service thus altering the situation. Saying that adding a service "improved" your conversions is like saying that Costco started selling swimming pool filters so now they are selling 100 filters per month. That doesn't mean you now are selling any more boxes of facial tissues. You will just muddy your analysis of what the real problem is - if there is any problem.

Find out why visitors are not converting before adding another variable to the situation.

Bob

You have all the basic things in place on your site (including a first foto free offer). At this point, I'd simplify the home page, and segment the website visitor based on what they need, expanding upon your basic/advanced/foto-art offerings, removing (from the home page) professional accounts and combining the "what we fix" with the 3 services.

I'd also take a single photo, and show how each of the options you offer work (as they click on each fix). Not everyone understands what color correction is, etc.

The services (and the credit structure) are confusing. Why not just have levels of service? In other words, for $4 you get red-eye correction, for $6 you get color correction (and explain what that is, and show side-by-side before and after examples). Don't break out the examples by subject matter, it's the improvement and the time saving that's important.

Focus on one market -- amateurs or businesses will have different needs than pros. Actually, it's not clear to me why a pro would want to use your services. Can you explain the benefits for pros better?

Oh, and fix the typos! It's "photo" for actual pictures, and monochrome (with an "h"). "Into", not in to, etc.