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Post by GO30 on Dec 22, 2023 16:18:42 GMT 12
We have used a Interweb mob to wrangle domain names etc for many years, Free Parking. They were regarded as bloody good in our books. Our website went live in 2005 and was having distinct 'senior moments' more and more so it was time fora new one. The above mob started saying 'we do websites' so I chatted and engaged them to make us a new one. Big promises made and the new site was going to be feature rich with all sorts of build your own things.
Basically the web building skills of that mob are even worst than Jacindas management skills, absolutely shocking, none existent and very very poor. After some Grrr.... they put up our new site, a total shambles in every regard. We can't even get into it and as much as I tell them they .... fuck if I know what they did but from my seat it was nothing at all. Unusable, placeholders everywhere, contact forms don't work, 12 odd products (we have 3000 odd) and much more bad. Then they started lieing and they even do that badly.
In the 3 weeks it was up while we tried to get them to listen it caused all manner of chaos so I pulled it
and have replaced with with a 3 pager 'Under construction'. We were gobsmacked at how many calls, emails etc we got that said the site was fucked, didn't work and all that. A few bitching we didn't respond to contact emails, we never got as they built it wrong.
We now have a new mob on the case. They are fully aware of why they are there and how easy it is for my foot to get to their arses, unlike the Free Parking mob who aren't NZ based, we're picking central America possibly. To date the new mob have been awesome and are moving at pace for us which is excellent. They have also suggested some super cool additions so yes please.
So don't go near Free Parking, they do not care nor know how to build a website.
Our brief was/is - It is not a shopping site but there is a shop. The landing page is an intersection, go one way for info, the other to shop. Obviously there will be interlinking of info to products etc. Products to have have real useable information on them, not the 1 short line many do which tells you nothing. That includes Spec sheets, videos etc
Simple, we are boaties not rocket scientists
No wank just for wanks sake.
They have also been told -
Get outside the box Don't be shy in calling a spade a spade Use comments like 'energise your symbologies solutions going forward' will get them a free colonoscopy using a ball of barbed wire.
Now a question or 2 if you have a moment -
What do you like seeing in websites and what don't you?
What would you like to see in a website but usually don't? Any comments about a new site, good, bad, whatever?
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Post by fish on Dec 22, 2023 19:24:09 GMT 12
1) I like seeing the price with the item, on the initial search results page (might sound obvious, but some places make you click on each item to see what it costs, not practical when scanning a large number of options.
2) Once you've done a search, being able to order the results by price, and not get a shit tonne of irrelevant items come up first. This happens when you need 'most relevant' to order your search results. You might need AI to get this bit to work, as you need to understand what I'm looking for.
Things I liked about your old site. You have actual specifications and technical info against each item, don't have to hunt for it. Doesn't say twaddlebollocks like "this is a high quality anchor".
Calls a spade a spade. I think much of that is your influence. If something is cheap, you say it is cheap but will do for x and y, but not z. The classic is your disclaimers that are straight disclaimers, no lawyer speak. Which would make lawyers have a fit the way you worded the odd thing
The info, blog stuff, technical discussions are super handy.
I recall on your old site, when browsing, if you didn't know exactly what you were looking for, it could be a bit complicated / confusing reading down the categories of options. I'm trying to remember what that was about, but basically I didn't understand the correct name for an item so could miss it in a list. i.e. anchor rope or anchor rode. Same thing in reality. I guess the issue is all the different types of ropes a place called Chains, Ropes & Anchors could sell.
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Post by dutyfree on Dec 22, 2023 20:24:23 GMT 12
Price, specification and availability.
Quality info.
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Post by DuckMaster on Dec 22, 2023 20:32:42 GMT 12
I like technical articles that link back to the product.
Videos of the best anchor and why and a link to the anchor.
The description of the best halyard ropes and why and then links to them.
To often I spend hours researching a solution and then days trying to find the right product and where I can buy it.
Take Penrite for example, they are really just oil, but there website gives you all this amazing information about which kind of oil how it's specially formulated what to use it for why it works etc... Now I can't buy it from penrite site cause of their distro model, but I can now find the product easily...
Also a comments and feedback section. I often find something at supercheap that looks great. I read the comments and conclude it's crap... This is very valuable.
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Post by ComfortZone on Dec 23, 2023 7:57:05 GMT 12
No 1 is an easy to follow menu, none of the snakes and ladders stuff so many websites have  |
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Post by GO30 on Dec 23, 2023 14:04:54 GMT 12
good stuff thanks team. I think all your desires should be in the new one as they mirror my desires also. The web people do have a fascination around 'search' which seems good, it is a function I use a lot on sites which lots of info. Information is a big part of it. We get asked the same questions, see the same traps catching people and know what is marketing rather then genuine info so passing that on we feel is important. Doing that in dude off the street terms rather then Uni Professor boffin speak does get us huge numbers of thank you like comments. Shop with prices is a must, I also hate the hunting for them. The biggest thing for me personally when I go to a site is product info. The amount you go to and the headline is 'RocketShip' only to find the tech spec and info say 'Large Rocketship' and nothing else guarantees I'll be there for 1 to 2 more seconds at very best. I also research widely before purchasing and most of that research is for info not pricing. Sure it is it a tennis ball then there is not much info needed to support that but I 100% agree with Mr D when looking for something with a shed load of options or more technical, say like a halyard, then I want more info. So the new one will be like the old one and have lots. Second biggest area for me is ease of use and not busy as screens full of crap like Twatbook. The old site was a genuine dinosaur in internet speak and years. The new web people are amazed it's done so well for so long. They put that down to the original build being high quality and us loading it with all the info. So fingers crossed the next new one elevates it all even more. 2 more questions - 1 - Loyalty stuff. I do not shop at some places as they have Loyalty cards/whatever and if you don't have one you pay a premium or worse is you need the Loyalty card to get the price down to where everyone elses is. Sure you can sign up at the time for many but that can be a pain in the .... not to mention the flood of marketing that cam come with. I brought a gizmo for the Wa from Noel lemming, they said what's your mobile and we'll text you when it arrives. Before I'd even left the shop I had 2 marketing txts. Gizmo arrived yesterday, 2 minutes later 'unsubscribe' due to the crazy amount they throw out. How much do Loyalty programs feature in your shopping decisions? Personally I'd prefer a lower price than points 98% of the time. I say 98% as I rack up points at 2 places when shopping for work, it pays I take the points  2 - Reviews. I see comment above about liking them. Being in a position to see what id behind many reviews I do struggle a bit to regard them as much worth unless there are many 100's if not more as that volume overrides the Aholes, malcontents and blackmailers. Have only 3 or 15 type thing means any malcontent or blackmailers can have a huge impact. By malcontents and blackmailers I mean those who are just pricks and use social as a weapon. We have reviews that are the results of 'If you don't XYZ I'll place a bad review on you' type actions hence if there are not a few 100 I don't bother with them. As I'm apparently not allowed to respond to poor comments with 'You are the retard who did not listen' or 'Piss off blackmailer' type stuff and I seriously doubt we'll get even 50 on any product, I am hesitant about them. I know the 20 something live and die on google reviews, something that did bite us twice in CA when D1 was Camp Mother, she has a iPhone near surgically installed in her hand, but we don't see many 20 somethings. What do you reckon around reviews? |
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Post by fish on Dec 23, 2023 15:26:11 GMT 12
Reviews work when you are selling high volumes of cheap crap.
I read the reviews on products sold by Super Cheap Auto and Bunnings. You aren't in that market sector. In your case, you use your technical and specs info, so reviews are superfer, superfieril, er, pointless.
I always thought the point of loyalty programmes was so you can target consumers for further sales. i.e. Burnsco send me emails, and if I ever search something on their website, next day I'm getting emails 'suggesting' the things I was searching for. That is a lot of AI, and very stalky weirdo. Or when you have your Boxing Day sale you spam your database with emails about said Boxing Day Sale. Works if you are Marine Deals, i.e. high volume consumerism. But you are a specialty store trading on technical knowledge, not volume or price, or click-baiting FOMO consumerism.
Having written this post, I'd say just focus on what your niche is, sound technical information to sell top shelf product. I'm sure MBA types have a term for using info to communicate the value of something so you can charge a premium. Not saying you are charging a premium, but you aren't in the game of shifting high volumes of the cheapest dodgy chain you can get in.
The question for you, is a lot of your value comes from talking to the customer and properly understanding what their needs are, as opposed to what they are asking for. The question is, how do you do that facelessly on the interweb? The only idea I have is via your blogs / techo explanations / how to's. Almost like a private Youtube channel on chains, ropes and anchoring like tasks. And have the valuable techo info up the same page as the product and price, not buried somewhere else.
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Post by GO30 on Dec 23, 2023 19:15:44 GMT 12
Interesting stuff Mr F, nice.
Yes we do spend a lot of time sussing who wants what and why. I'd say easy 30% of the time, probably more, punters leave with a better set up, and often also cheaper, than what they walked in thinking they wanted. A common one is talking people down on their chain desires, gawd knows what some of their mates smoked while telling them what they needed. Doing that over the interweb is the tricky bit hence I like info so the punters at least have a fighting chance of knowing what they are paying for. All this by the way is exactly what I hope and expect when I'm the punter.
Agree. After the last couple of years sussing rural stuff, the product Specs do have to be with the product or a very clean link directly to them. In our case 1 set of Specs can cover an entire range so why make 20 copies when I can aim all at 1 as long as it is very clear which is what product in the Specs.
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