Need You to check Out my Website for me!

[jimwill48]

Hi everyone,

I know some of you have already visited my website. But since I've been unemployed I have really been working / adding to it. Taking photo's and adding. This is not a sales pitch as the shopping cart is not even active yet.. But I would like some feedback on what you like or don't like, ect. I still have a lot/long way to go (photography) when it comes to larger turnings (mainly bowls). So if you don't mind to drop in and tell me what you think. :dontknow:

www.williamswoodworks.net

Thanks

james

 

[DaveO]

I like it all, it functions well and is well laid out. Your pictures are good and load well. I really like the Care of Pens and Plating information. I know that has been copied from somewhere, but it still has a personal feel to it (good editing). Overall excellent, I wish you great success!!

Dave

 

[TracyP]

Nice looking site!!

 

[SteveCogs]

Nice site. I know a lot of work has gone into that. One thing you may want to do is include the site name in the page title. <title></title>

 

[boxxmaker]

Great looking site Jim.I hope to get one going one day :dontknow: I hope.The only thing I see that I would change is the price of those bowls,small yes,but I would double the price on bowls that size an you still would be selling at a low price,Oh I should say future bowls of the type an size.When I first started turning,I went thru dozens of sites just to get an idea as to a fair selling price.Just a suggestion.

 

[PChristy]

Nice site James:icon_thum

 

[Bas]

I like it, a very clean look. The pictures are gorgeous, don't change a thing there. I know you haven't put the sales part together yet, but I figured I'd give you my opinion on that anyway.

Some suggestions:
- Put the "Contact" and "Site map" link at the bottom of the navigation bar. This puts the most important elements at the top: your products and you as the craftsman
- Speaking of craftsman, perhaps replace the portrait with a picture of you working at the lathe, showing off the craft. Many people have never seen a lathe, or have even a remote idea on how a pen is turned.
- Each type of pen appears to have its own font for the descriptions. It appears to match really well, e.g. thin elegant font for elegant pens, bolder font for cigar pens etc. Very creative! But, I did find it a little busy clicking through the pages. Perhaps you can find a happy medium between conveying the feeling and consistency.
- Make it easy for less informed buyers to purchase a pen. Whether you do this via a separate category or on the actual product pages, but it might help to associate personalities with different pens, e.g. "powerful executives", "ladies with good taste", "the well-traveled man" etc. Or, match pens to use, e.g. the perfect pen for "Writing that poem for that special loved one", "Signing the contract to your dream house", "Entrusting your thoughts to your diary".
- Your prices are very reasonable. Perhaps even too reasonable. Do you plan to charge for shipping separately? Considering these items are fairly small, you may want to including shipping in the price. Most people hate being nickled and dimed.
- Put the "pens and platings" link in the nabar at the bottom. A subtle divider line might help to separate your product pages from the informational pages.

I think you have some great products here. Let me know when that cart is active!

 

[NCTurner]

Very nice just as the others have said. A word of caution about using photos clipped from other sites, be careful with that it may open a can of worms you don't want to get into, unless of course you recieved permission.

 

[jimwill48]

Thanks Everyone,

So far Thanks to suggestions I have made some changes:

Steve: Have changed Title page to site to reflect site name.

Ken: Your right on the bowl prices, they have been changed.

Bas: You have made many very good suggestions, I have already made the Nav bar changes and your correct about pricing. I will need to rework them so I can offer free shipping and in near future replace my photo with one of me at the lathe. And I really like the thought of the marketing to target groups...

Gary: Yup, I had one photo (Pill Holder) that was being used by permission of the vendor. But it has now been replaced with my own. Other than that all the photo's are my own. It took me quite a bit of playing to get the photo's to where they are now, I found that to be one of the hardest things about doing this.

Keep the reviews coming, :gar-Bi

James

 

[NCTurner]

Yup that was the one I saw.

 

[crokett]

On your bowls page, what is a splated hackberry bowl? :gar-Bi

On the main page, the text to the right of the 2nd pen pic wraps around the bottom of the pic to the left. It is also not centered. The text above it is. I would format them both the same and keep the text from wrapping around the pic. I would either center the 2nd pen pick to align vertically with the paragraph or would add another pen pic. On that note, you might want to feature 2 different pens rather than the same one twice. I would also move your contact info to the bottom just above the footer or maybe even put it in the footer. That way it shows up on every page and makes it that much easier to order something.

 

[MrAudio815]

Hey James,

Very nice website. I was just looking around and saw your slimlines without the metal band, would you mind sharing how you do that? I am guessing you just make the one side longer. Anyway I really like them and would like to learn that trick. I went crazy one day after making my first two ever and when penn state had a $10 off coupon, I bought 20 kits. I was going to make them for fathers day and friends, but then the wife got sick and they have just been sitting. Anyway those pictures have struct an interest in me to go out and give it a try again.

Thanks!

 

[Makinsawdust]

Jim,
I like the general look to your site. Bas has some good suggestions. I ran it through Hubspot's www.websitegrader.com and it shows some problems that will cause you to have very little search engine traffic. You might want to check it out and study up on how to improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Rob