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SouthernOfficeChairs.com
11-09-2008, 08:10 PM
Hello, everyone!

I'd love to get some feedback about our website.

Don't worry....I've got "thick skin." :):):)

Any suggestions for improvement would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

SOC

vangogh
11-10-2008, 12:25 PM
My first impression is a good one. You've done something I really like which is to start with some info about you instead of launching right into the products. Most shopping cart sites end up trying to push too many products on the home page in my opinion.

While my initial impression was good, I still feel like I'm looking at a typical cart and the product listings on the home page seem a little busy to me.

One thing you might do with the featured products is to group them into their categories. Maybe have a listing for leather office chairs and then below that choose 3 chairs to show. Right below that you could list executive chairs again with 3 chairs. Obviously you could choose which categories to use and rotate the chairs within that grouping.

I like the colors (just happen to be colors I like), though I wonder if the usual corporate blue makes more sense given the product. A logo that's a little more than text would be nice to see too.

Also on the individual product pages I'm guessing you're using the manufacturer descriptions. If so, understand that so are most people displaying the same products leaving nothing to differentiate you. If you can write your own original descriptions (even if it's just a rewrite of the manufacturer's description). Also consider adding a way for customers to add their own reviews and ratings. That will give youmore unique content on the page to help pull search traffic and customer reviews can go a long way in convincing your next visitor to buy.

KristineS
11-10-2008, 12:40 PM
I thought this was a Yahoo store. I know that limits, somewhat, the things that you can do.

My first thought when I saw the front page was that you had way too many featured products. It's easy to get overwhelmed and since they all seem to come from different sections of the site, I'm guessing people may be stopping before they get to the bottom of the page. You might be better off picking one item from a few categories and having six or eight items on the front page.

It also feels to me like your menu could use some reorganizing. My first thought was to just use main categories, office, home, children and accessories, with sub categories underneath, but I'm not sure if the store would let you do that. It just feels to me like your menu is too long right now. I'll have to give some thought about what I would suggest you do instead.

I love the fact that you have a blog, but it would be nice if it appeared to be an organic part of the store. Right now the blog looks totally different which doesn't do much for your brand identity.

I also like that you include multiple forms of contact information. Lack of contact information is a pet peeve of mine, so I always say bravo to those who do include it.

SouthernOfficeChairs.com
11-10-2008, 03:07 PM
Thanks to both of you for your insight.
I completely agree about the comment regarding the feature page being too busy and am trying to figure out a better way to do it. Many of our vendors have monthly "specials" and that is why there appears to be so much variety on the front page.
Yep..Yahoo store...not sure how much longer, though. We are beginning to see the limitations of using them and quite frankly, I'm not happy with a lot of things they are doing in regards to their product submit ads, etc.
The blog was (as you can tell) an afterthought. I need to do more with it in regards to content and cosmetics. I originally had the green color scheme going with it as well, but Wordpress had some issues with the template I was using and I switched to the one I'm currently using. I'll re-visit it and try to get it close to the same "look" as my site.
I really appreciate your time and comments! They are very helpful.
SOC

vangogh
11-11-2008, 09:36 AM
One thing with WordPress is you'll have more control over the blog if you host it yourself. The free blogs at wordpress.com are good, but I prefer to download the software and host it myself. You could probably use WordPress to run the entire site. You'd need a shopping cart plugin, but otherwise WordPresss alone should be able to handle both your blog and site.