Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

Dear Stacy,

Hmm. Not sure who Pete is, or why anything ought to be for his sake, but had I not asked the question, someone else would.

Could I have clicked on your name?

Yes.

But that didn't occur to me, which, in and of itself, underscores a vital point: what might appear obvious to you will not always appear obvious to your site visitors, which means abandoned pages and lost relationships.

And with those lost visits and relationships, off into the sunset toddles potential revenue.

Gone forever. Ta-tah!

So, with that point out of the way, let us sally forth.

Friends of ours have just had a baby boy. The little bundle of chubby cuteness is now a month old and Lordy!, the cuteness is
off the cut-o-meter.

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yes. Website critique.

M'lords, ladies, hand gennlemen, Drum roll, puurrrleeze!

The parade is about to begin!

Why? Because you dear heart, are a gosh darn genius!

What you've got in the guise of your website is grand in terms of its overall design, its copy, and its appeal. This puts you at least 1,000 percent ahead of most other website owners, including me.

What you might want to consider are a few teeny-weeny, baby-toe sized amendments, all of which are intended to help ramp up your appeal.

So, off to the races we jolly well go!

Newsletter sign up on your home page could do with NAME as well as E-MIAL fields, the sign up option needs more instruction. Make it blindingly obvious what people are to DO and your lsit will grow. Make it difficult or make it look like work, and your list will not grow.

With me?

Plus, a wee PDF or thumbnail of the newsletter front cover might not go amiss here either (to show off the goods!).

Perhaps even a version of past newsletters people could look at and download too? Wouldn't hurt and its low cost will bring
much in terms of appeal to the lives of the people you'll touch,
and it will help you.

OR ... even better to increase your opt in rate, take the free e-book you're offering on your Helpful Links page, and turn it into an "ethical bribe" to get people to sign up: you give them a book on nutrition (a point you currently don't make, which is a pity because it's the e-book's primary selling point), and in return, you get to build your list (and a list you will mail to one a week with useful baby care tips, facts, and pieces of vital information).

But you will NOT use these e-mails to sell anything.

Are we clear on this?

No selling.

At least, not until you've established a decent relationship with someone, say, a month into their receipt of your messages.

And even then, you'll mention the resources in a "Oh by the way, there's this really charming thingy that junior will love/that will make travel easier/that will help you all sleep" (whatever), kind of way and only ever as an embedded link, not as a banner, thence you'll include an affiliate or text link.

So, no up front, overt selling, got that?

Splendid.

Get people to like you and trust you and THEN offer them something that's going to be OF USE.

The things you offer must SOLVE A PROBLEM or at the least
appeal to a FELT NEED or PAIN POINT.

Got that?

This way, people do not feel they're being "sold" to. Why? Because when people buy on their terms they are apt to spend more.

Your Helpful Links? The ones that go straight to wherever they go? They appear to be direct links. If they are, you're potentially losing out on income from affilaite commissions.

Google the term "baby care affiliate programs" and "baby affiliate programs" and you, Cinderella SHALL go to the ball because you'll be swamped with revenue generating opportunities.

If you (or anyone else reading this to to think of it) are not sure what an affiliate program is, it works like this:

You place a link on your site to a desirable site, your copy drives people (traffic) to click on those links because you'll have mentioned in your copy somewhere about the great toy, gadget, or gizmo that's either useful or a must have. Your reader clicks on the link, goes off to the site and those clicks are recorded at the other end. Then, via cookies anything that anyone buys as a result of clicking from your site, you get paid a percentage of the gross.

Simple but brilliant.

Affiliate commissions vary, so check individual affiliate programs if you're going to do this, and jump through every hoop offered to comply. But it's worth investigating, and as a tip alone, this last point could be worth many thousands of dollars to you each year.

Ignore it if you choose, but at least look into it because if you do not, other people will, and that, sadly, will be your loss.

www.babiesrus.com alone receives 3,500,000 (yes, million) visits PER MONTH. And people that visit Babies 'R' Us also visit the following sites:

www.babydepot.com

www.diaperbags.com

www.chiccousa.com

www.buybuybaby.com

www.toysrus.com

www.albeebaby.com

www.gracobaby.com

www.cribs.com

www.babysupermall.com

www.babybeddingtown.com

www.babycribstation.com

www.britaxusa.com

www.imageg.net

www.simplybabyfurniture

www.motherhood.com

... many of which accept advertising on their sites, and many of whom have affiliate programs. I don't know about you dearie, but one word springs to mind here for me and that's:

"Ker-ching!"

What else?

Consider changing CONNECT to "Contact us". Also include a street address and the names of your maine people. Moms like to talk to other moms, so, tell people who's who and even consider having wee pictures of the same. This helps you build credibility.

Your point: "Sign up by July 6th, 2009 and be entered into a drawing for a $500 American Express gift card!" IS A MAJOR SELLING POINT.

Don't bury it on the contact page.

It must be on every page and it must NOT be difficult to find.
Testimonials are great for building trust too. Put them tastefully
on every page so that they fit your layout (and speaking of your layout, it is beautifully charming. Everything a great layout ought to be: subtle, refined, light, airy, elegant, and tasteful.

I'll gloss neatly over your previous experience with a website company (and yes, I DO know who they are), and instead, I'll say this.

I've been a graphic designer for almost 25 years. In that time I've seen my share of both good and not so good design. Believe you me dear heart, whoever Melanie and Spencer are, they have done an OUTSTANDING job on your site and the layout is a cool breath of fresh spring air.

And yes, you may quote me on that.

What also might be of use to your site users is a forum. Not a blog. A forum. Shouldn't be that difficult to set up.

And what of your products? E-books are easy. All you need is a PayPal button and a couple of spare pages to view and download from, and possible a shopping cart. But nothing more elaborate than that for now.

If you send me and e-mail I'll be happy to chat about e-books and sources for the same.

Meanwhile, it's supper time and I hope the suggestions above are of use. I'm famished!

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

A few more thoughts:
* It's not obvious on first glance what the purpose of your website is. It's not until i read the 3rd paragraph "Take a moment..." do I get an inkling. As a minimum - add a tagline to your logo in your banner.
* I'm not sure what "New Mom's Circle" or "Keepaboo" buttons do at first glance.
* The new mom's circle requires too much required information for people to comfortably opt-in.
* Change "Cause" to "Philosophy" or "About Us" in menu.
* The font's size is a bit small for my eyes.