Site review needed for design brief

[TheShortStack]

I've been running a site selling ebookreaders for the last 18 months or so. Recently though, conversion has been terrible so I'm looking to get a new design made to help improve sales.

I've got my own thougts on why conversion is so poor, but I'd really appreciate a few of you looking at the site and letting me know what you think is wrong with it so that I can compile a decent brief for the designer.

The URL is www.ebookreaders.net. All thoughts and comments welcome.

Cheers in advance.

[TheDonk]

Personally, I think it looks like a business site, not a site where you buy products. In fact, it took me a bit to realize what the sites purpose was.

If it were me, I think I'd go after a design similar to the apple site. It has a clear purpose...to showcase their products. Plus, the product you're marketing is very Life 2.0, so I would go with a high tech look to match the product.

On the hp I would have a pic of the best ebook on top, with a 200 word review excerpt, with a buy now button and a link to the complete review. Then I would put 2 more below it to give visitors some options.

On your reviews, I don't like the 'Go' buttons. They should say 'Buy' or 'Buy Now' imo. They could be a bit larger as well. I also don't like the double sidebars on the right. The one with the Best Selling Ebook takes focus off the ebooks themselves and takes away space for more content above the fold. Then, the fact that it shows up three times looks unprofessional to me, taking away from the sites respectability.

I would also do a $150 logo contest and grab yourself a sharp looking logo for added credibility.

Hope this gives you an idea or two. Good luck with the site!!

[MPC]

Personally, I think it looks like a business site, not a site where you buy products. In fact, it took me a bit to realize what the sites purpose was.

I think that is dead on.

When the site loads up, I need to see something to catches my eyes. I see what you're trying to do: educate visitors about ebook, and then sell something.

Is this the right approach? Who are your visitors? How to they get to your site? Do they already know whan an ebook reader is? Maybe they do, and if that's the case you can probably catch their eye with big text like: "TOP 5 EBOOK READERS". Mayebe you can skip the education part.

If you feel you need to educate them, then try a statement that grabs attention, like "THE DAYS OF THE PAPER BOOK ARE OVER!" and then talk about the world of ebook readers with a call to action.

Add links over yoru images (purchasing ebooks, compare ebook readers).

I don't like your top navigation for a few reasons. First, think long term. If the site grows, your space is limited which means you can only feature so many products. Second, it's a little too salesy for a main navigation. I think it would be best to have a "featured ebook readers" (or top 10 ebook readers or whatever) section on the main page with a listing, a ranking, a buy now button. Basically, do what we do with poker rooms, but apply it to ebook products. Then you can create product review pages for each.

Your main navigation should probably be focused on what you have on the main page (purchasing ebooks, compare ebook readers, etc).

[DealerDan]

Personally, I think it looks like a business site, not a site where you buy products. In fact, it took me a bit to realize what the sites purpose was.

This x100. It's a beautiful theme, but doesn't work well for what your site is.

[PTC]

the call to action in the upper right just looks like a decorative image for half of the rotation, I was looking for places to click specifcally and I still missed this.

[Unknown Webmaster]

TheDonk's post is spot on.


Stuff I would do

Put a picture of each ebook reader on the price comparison page.

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Put pictures of the ebook readers at the top of every single page that even resembles a review or product information page, and put a link that says "see more pictures at www.your-affiliate-link.com" somewhere close to the pictures.

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Remove the picture of the reading man on the front page, and replace it with something that the people, who are looking to buy an ebook reader are interested in...

I'm fairly sure that a list of ebook readers, prices and a a short description of their strong points would be really useful to those people (and send your conversion rate through the sky) :-)

[Spry]

The first picture there is of what looks to be a series of 1980 fine encyclopedias... Not what i'm looking for. Nor is the old typewriter or the guy reading..... where do i go....... hmmmm, "X out" back to google

Show me a thumbnail (clickable to a review of) the best ebook readers on the market.
Show me a clear list of features and an estimated price and if you have others opinions and reviews then i'm going to keep looking through your site and eventually find the one I want to buy.

Entice me with the benefits and features and must have accessories to make me want to buy one, and get that process started now by clicking through your links. I literally couldn't find where to click on the review of the ebook readers until after i clicked through to the compare page and then I happened to notice them in the header. I went back to the home page to see if they disappeared there because I honestly didn't see them the first time.

A chart or something on the front page that has a picture of the reader, quick list of benefits, a call to action (either to buy it now or read more about it in your review)... big call to action buttons 'click here for our review' or 'see why this is our top pick')