Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

The home page is most important - you have seconds to capture their attention and entice further exploration. It is "nice" - not built for marketing.

No sales offer

No key details bulleted on home page (how far you ship, why you're better than competition, pricing, guarantee, extras other tree farms doesn't offer like stands or flocking kits, tie cords, etc.) How about a premium service of online choose-and-cut of select grand trees.

No testimonials from past lot owners - "I've been buying my trees from Reeves for 19 years - I've tried others but Reeves trees always make me the most money because of the tree quality."

No directed thought to guide buyer to what questions they need answered fast. We have to dig for information.

Site represents a family owned business. Nice family site for a choose and cut Sunday family outing but not strong on the wholesale part of the business.

Call if you wish to discuss further.

Bob

The problem, as I see it, is that you're trying to address two different target audiences, each with different needs (wholesale and retail) -- and you're trying to do it with one website/homepage.

You need to develop a landing page (or pages) specifically for each target audience. And each landing page needs to be simple, clear and really obvious about what the call to action is.

Your current home page has too many words, too many options/links, and no really compelling offer or call to action.

Now all of this assumes you want to sell some Christmas trees using your website. If you have some other objective, these suggestions might not apply.

So here are the next steps:

1. Be very clear about your objective.
2. Make sure the landing page is specific to each target audience and the key benefit you provide for that audience.
3. Simple, clear landing pages with an obvious and compelling offer/call-to-action.

Separate comment about the picture at the top of the page: The trees are nice, but not as nice as the faces of happy customers enjoying what you provide. It's hard for most people to identify with a tree. Much easier to identify with another human.

It would be good if you can get some outside professional help to make the site really sing for you. It's not as easy as it looks, but you have a great product for capturing end-end-benefits and emotional connection.

In addition to the on-target advice you've already been given, some additional thoughts:

The menus aren't grouped in a way that makes it easy to find information on your site.

What's the benefit to buying from you? Freshest? Best selection? Pricing? Tree health? Organic? Wholesale efficiency/terms? Make it obvious why people buy from you.

To increase the ease for people finding you, consider using a (free) service like Google Places: https://www.google.com/placesforbusiness