Hi everyone,> > Thanks for taking the time to help me.> > I have had my online store running now for 6 weeks and have yet to secure my 1st sale.> > Could I possibly draw on all of your professional advice and ask how I can improve the website? I am very open to criticism and happy to make suggested changes.> > The Web domain is> > www.redrossretail.com> > Thanks for taking your time to support me.> > Ross
Congrats on opening your store! I took a quick look and my first impression was that the pictures on your homepage are a bit blurry and close up, and don’t do justice to your products. The pics in the listings themselves look clearer, but are pushed to the left (at least on a PC monitor) with no info until I scroll down to the bottom of the page. Maybe consider a different layout.
Also, do you have any content on your site? A lot of well-written content with internal links to your products will help increase your Google rankings. You could write about the process of furniture making, materials, your personal journey to furniture making, mass produced furniture vs. handmade, etc. And by a lot I mean as many articles of at least 1k words as you or someone else can write in a week. 2 would be a good start, more would be much better.
How else are you getting the word out? Ads are expensive, but if you aren’t doing this already, you could be posting on furniture making and interior design forums, not just to link to your site (if the forum allows links) but to establish yourself as an authority.
Finally, consider hiring a SEO freelancer to assess your site and your efforts so far. Just FYI, I launched my store in June 2021 and just started to make a profit. I’m doing all of the above with help from a content strategist. It takes time and a tremendous amount of work.
Thank you so much for your advice, I really appreciate it. I have tried to maximise the look on a mobile as its where most of my traffic is landing. It could be the theme I’m using or the quality of the images involved. How does an SEO freelancer work? Do they need access to the theme content to improve things or just offer recommendations? I’m currently spending alot at the minute running Facebook ads with no return.
I will definitely look into forums and content. I have actually hidden ‘Our story’ as I wanted more images to stimulate interest.
I also can’t work out how to rearrange my product page so the text is next to the image instead of below.
Thanks again
Ross
You’re very welcome! You can hire a SEO freelancer from a site like Upwork to take a look at your site and listings to see if they are optimized for Google. I imagine they’d need access to your store to see your listings and make suggestions.
The great thing about writing good content is that it stays on your site and on Google and pays dividends over time, while an ad is only effective as long as it’s running. Content, short videos, and social media can help bring people to your site for free and get them comfortable with your products, and also helps to improve your search rankings.
I would look at competitors in your space and see what they’re doing. There are a lot of search tools (Google Trends, Keyword Keg) that can tell you what people are looking for online when it comes to furniture, then you can write articles that address their questions. Google values high quality content that serves their audience. The trick is to give people that content and help boost your sales in the process.
You could also hire a Shopify developer from Upwork or a similar site to make changes to your store so it looks professional and balanced, and clear on all devices.
Hi** @Crilly1986 **,
It’s PageFly - Best Page Builder App here and I’d like to share some of my initial thoughts when first browsing through your online store. I hope that my recommendations based on 6 years of providing solutions for more than 100.000 merchants can be beneficial to you in improving your store performance.
I have some comments and suggestions for your home page below:
1. Header
The header is too big and disorganized. You should delete the logo and add similar collections into one big dropdown.
2. Hero banner
Some existing problems with the banner:
- Background image is blurry. Please increase the resolution.
- The column background color is black. I know you want to make the words readable but at the same time it’s blocking the background content.
You should add overlay color for the image and increase the size of the texts.
Kindly check this banner for reference:
3. Adjust your Featured Collection
The CTA buttons are not centered, which reduces the attractiveness of the website. You should also add some real reviews to the products
4. Collections list
The texts on collection media are confusing. You should only focus on displaying the products because you already have the collections’ names under the media.
It’s also best to reduce the size of the images and increase items per row to 3 or 4 to reduce the length of the page.
5. Show your policies
Information on shipping and payment should be made clear from the first place. You should include this information below the hero banner. When the customers actively know your policies, they will be more likely to make purchases.
Take this one for example:
Source: http://www.pagef.ly/8lxo
6. Show testimonials - customer reviews
- Customer reviews are proof of your product quality. This section will help you build customers’ trust. You can show rating stars for each product or you can add customer reviews as text and photos.
- Reviews are crucial when it comes to shopping online. PageFly allows you to add testimonials and product reviews to the page in easy ways.
Please check this design for reference:
Source: http://www.pagef.ly/dbr5
Moreover, you can check this guide to know why testimonials are so important
Overall, your home page is good, but you can always find room for improvements. You can check this article on how to BUILD AN AMAZING HOMEPAGE. I am sure there is all the information you need.
Your products and your page can be of great potential. All you need is more research to increase conversion rate. To learn more about how to maximize the effectiveness of your page, check out this guide to grasp your opportunity.
PageFly, Free Page Builder helps you build a high-converting store with flexibility and confidence without headaches. You can start with the Free plan to use all features and create different page types for your store with 24/7 support live chat.
PageFly!
Hi Ross,
You mentioned that you are running Facebook ads. Although the cost of Facebook ads audience is low, the audience are typically people who are not necessarily actively looking to buy furniture right at this time. They might need some time to warm up and/or you might need to run remarketing ads to re-engage them. Alternatively, collecting their email addresses means you can send them another email to promote your products.
Not sure if you are getting any add-to-carts at all from your Facebook ads - if not, it’s also a high chance you are not targeting the right group of people.
You can also drive free traffic to your store by getting your products listed on Google Shopping Free Listings and Bing Shopping Free Listings. In this way, you are more likely to attract people who are actively searching for products.
I have a couple of videos that could be helpful:
Facebook or Google Ads for online store? How do they work? Which is better?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9R0S6kuuvk
How to improve your Facebook ads with Shopify audiences: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPKoQ5HDUzo
How to get listed on Google Shopping for free