Fly fishing store that sells fishing gear, fly tying materials, flies, does guided trips, destination trips, classes, instruction, etc.
Overall feedback on look and feel, ease of navigation, content, etc.. If possible, be specific with examples of things that need improvement. Important: Not looking to hire consultants or buy apps.
Using multiple banner images and featured collection is not enough to build the store.
My honest feedback is to improve the overall look of your shopify store by adding well looking sections, upsell cross sells etc. This is how you can improve the look of your store.
Add clear calls to action and organize products by category. Use high-quality images and concise text. Simplify navigation with a clean menu. Highlight your unique services, like guided trips, upfront. Consider adding customer reviews to build trust. Keep it easy to scan and shop.
Thanks. Can you please give me a few specific examples where this is not happening? Thanks for your time.
Hey @fabiomalaspina
This text is what’s making the website look bad and why is the announcement bar so huge?
Overall the color scheme needs to be improved as well. The About Us page content is pretty good, maybe find a way to showcase it properly. A few minor changes needs to be done on your website. Why not just find some references similar to your niche and look what they have done. Best of luck with your store.
Best,
Moeed
Hey @fabiomalaspina
Took a look at your store - nice niche, and the products/services you offer are genuinely compelling. Here are a few specific things worth addressing:
Your pages are missing proper meta titles and descriptions. This directly affects how Google indexes your store and what people see in search results. Each page - homepage, collections, product pages - should have a unique, descriptive meta title and a concise meta description that tells both Google and the visitor what the page is about.
None of your images seem to have proper alt text. This hurts SEO and accessibility. For a product like a fly rod or a specific fly pattern, the alt text should describe exactly what’s in the image - not generic labels like “image1” or left blank entirely.
This is probably the biggest thing. When someone lands on your homepage for the first time, they don’t immediately get a strong reason to buy from you specifically. You’re a full-service fly fishing shop with guide services, instruction, and local expertise in the Great Lakes region - that’s a real differentiator. That story needs to be front and center. Think of it as your WHY section: why Chagrin River Outfitters, why trust you, what makes your experience different from ordering off Amazon. Right now that’s not coming through clearly enough.
The content is sitting on top of your main image in a way that makes it hard to read and looks unpolished. Either the image needs more contrast/overlay, or the layout needs to separate the text and image more cleanly. First impressions matter - this is the first thing visitors see.
The sidebar menu isn’t the right fit for a store like yours. A clean, horizontal top navigation works much better here - it’s what your customers expect, it’s easier to scan, and it gives your store a more professional feel. A proper header with your logo, navigation links, cart, and possibly a search bar will make a noticeable difference.
Totally respect that - no need to load up on apps. If you ever want a suggestion on one well-rounded app that covers multiple needs without bloat, happy to point you in the right direction. Just say the word.
Thanks for the feedback. I made some changes related to the CTAs and will work on simplifying the menu. I will look on how to add customer reviews.
Thanks for the feedback. I made some changes related to the text alignment/spacing and announcement bar.
Thanks for the feedback. I made some changes and will work on meta titles and alt-text. I added a better story on the front page. I will look at your menu suggestion and will try something simpler.
Thanks for the feedback. I made some changes related to the CTAs and all images have CTAs now and will work on simplifying the menu.
Thanks for the feedback. I made some changes related to the images by adding CTAs and added complementary products to most produtcts.
I took a look at your store and you should consider doing the following:
1. Make the hero area clarify the main action. The fly fishing school/event content is useful, but first-time visitors also need a clear path into “shop gear,” “book guided trips,” “classes/events,” or “fly tying materials.”
2. Separate those main buying paths more clearly in the navigation and homepage sections. They are different customer intents, and right now a shopper looking for gear and someone looking for instruction can blur together.
3. Bring more local expertise into collection and product pages. Your advantage is not just inventory, it is the shop’s Great Lakes fishing knowledge. Short “best for” notes, seasonal guidance, and staff picks could help online buyers feel the same confidence they would get in-store.
Since you said you are not looking for consultants or apps, I’d start with navigation labels, homepage CTAs, and page content before anything technical.
Hello to you too.
Thanks a lot for your constructive and helpful feedback. I work at this fly-fishing shop, and I am self-learner and get paid minimum wage. Sorry my work is not up to your standards.
Have a good day.
I would caution against treating a Shopify store as a learning exercise for an inexperienced person. The site is the business in commercial terms, and a poor build creates problems across design, performance, search visibility, conversion, and security. It affects how customers find you, how the store performs, whether they trust it, and ultimately whether they buy. Fixing those failures on a live store is costly and disruptive, far more so than building it properly from the start.
It sounds like you’ve already made several positive improvements based on the feedback shared here.
One thing I’d continue focusing on is highlighting what makes your store different from larger retailers. The local expertise, guided trips, classes, and knowledge of Great Lakes fishing are strong differentiators that many competitors can’t easily replicate.
When visitors immediately understand why they should buy from you instead of a larger outdoor retailer, it can have a significant impact on engagement and conversions.
Overall, it sounds like you’re moving in the right direction.
Whenever you start working on your alt text, and if you don’t want to do it manually, try the app I built, AltMaster. It makes alt text work easily, you can add alt text in bulk, so you don’t have to do it one by one manually.
I fish, flyfish.. Great lakes
First image of the guy on the dock looks ai ish.
There is alot going on it is kind of hard to figure out where to look, maybe work with the same font throughout… like an intruder sometimes less is more
Lodge looks fun may look you up on that one in the fall!
Will do. Thanks for the suggestion
