Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

A couple of things...

First, are you looking at "hits" or unique visitors?

A "hit" is technically anytime the server is requested to load something, including an image. If you have 25 images on a page, you're going to get at least 25 "hits" each time that page is loaded.

So, I'm a little concerned that your 250,000 hits might actually be a much smaller number of actual visits.

Second, how is this traffic coming to you? Are these people who are actually in the market for these products? Or is most of your traffic just young boys who are looking to see scantily clad women for free?

I'm thinking the reason you have almost no sales is because you're traffic is not of either the quantity or quality that you think it is.

I agree with inbox regarding the hits vs visitors issue. Even if it were hits however, that is a lot of volume in six weeks.

The traffic quality issue argument may be valid though I suspect that a conversion rate of 0.000008% might be tad low even with horrendously unqualified traffic. Typical retail should be 2-5%.

My initial thoughts based upon a quick look at the site:

The entry page should be eliminated (https://www.sunsetlingerie.co.uk/)

This page should be the first page your visitors see:
https://www.sunsetlingerie.co.uk/index.php

I say this for two reasons:
1. The current entry page leaves the visitor without a clue as to what you do.
2. The current page leaves me with the impression that you're trying to sell something other than lingerie.

The index.php page leaves no doubt as to what you do.

If I were in your shoes I would immediately examine your home page bounce rate ( and the percentage of visitors entering on that page). If the majority (most visitors enter a site at the home page 50%+/- depending upon the site) of visitors are entering on the current main page and are leaving (bouncing) without viewing any other pages then my assumption is likely correct.

Please take a look at your analytics and let us know what is happening. If my observation is correct, please get rid of that page immediately.

I could further examine the site but this one is so obvious that I'm going to hold off until you respond.

I hope the above helps.

Best,

Greg Hill
Trinity Search Engine Marketing

The same image of the woman wearing the lace bra and the necklace appears on every page. If I click on a chemise, there she is. If I want to see the chemise, I have to click again to get a larger image, and it's still hard to see detail. It's too much work.

Also, the size range seems to be extremely limited.

Plus, there's no benefits! "Catch his eye in this black lace number with pink trim"....

I agree with others that the intro page has to go. It really has nothing to do with lingerie. I am not a fan of intro pages anyways. You wnat people to know what this site is without making another click.

The home page does need to start with something different than a big order page. You may want to start with something similar to the about us page, but the content would definitely need to be beefed up. Why should weorder from? Make sure this obvious.

You do not have a return policy. It is very important to have a clear, publicized return policy. Clothing, expecially lingerie, is a tricky thing to size. I imagine people need to know that they can return or exchange things if they do not fit.

You do not have a phone number. I am very leary of ordering things that do not allow me to talk to someone if I need to. Do I call? Usually not, but I need that option or you may not get my order.

Here are some nit-picky things that should be changed. These are not necessarily causing the conversion problems.

Each items description needs to be more detailed. What is the fabirc, etc. Perhaps you need a copy wrtier to look at this.

I would expect the picture to be larger than the thumbnail when I click on an item. It should be the larger picture without having to click it again.

Allowing the user to choose a currency is great. The problem is that the choice needs to be made for each new page (at least in IE7 if I choose US $). This choice should only need to be made once.

The site search does not really work well. I tried searchking the color red and got many things that had nothing to do with red. I think people will want to search by things like color, size, etc.

Your pictures are very provocative which is appropriate for a lingerie site. This however, may bring some visitors just for the images and not to order (think teenage boys). You need to be sure your are marketing the lingerie and not just the sexy part as that could change your viewership.

Hope this helps,
Mike

jkaplan - I agree. The image of the woman in the header is unnecessary and pushes the products down too far. Eliminate that image and move the product up where they belong. In 800x600 and even 1024x768 resolution the products are too far down on the page to be useful.

Also, the banner ad for the North American site could be eliminated on sub pages or placed elsewhere. UK visitors aren't interested in the US site and being reminded of it on every single page would be annoying. Especially when you can't see what you came for.

-Greg