New user and Muse for comment

[murraystewart]

Hi All,
First post, I have been lurking around for a while and have finally got off my butt and commenced action in Australia. I have Knocked up a site/muse and still finishing it but have posted for comment. I put it together on Microsoft Expression over a couple of days, the things I am still working on before full testing are, complete and include product photos, finalise testimonials, complete final comments and add personal guarantee at bottom of pitch page with my signature, then I want to add a popup with a link to an affiliate program for those exiting at either the pitch page or dummy purchase page, and finally complete the "sorry we are out of stock" page with use of targeted affiliates material for book, magazine and audiobook purchases so as not to have zero potential return from the testing phase. Just waiting for affiliate approval to come through. Oh and I should mention will move server once complete so the stupid add is not inserted at the very bottom of the page. Even with all this I think that it should be very commentable....

Thanks everyone and good luck with your own progress.

Help if i put in the link http://www.i-want-to-buy-a-franchise.com

[murraystewart]

Link now attached http://www.i-want-to-buy-a-franchise.com

[Sven]

Hi Murray,

Congrats on your muse!

It is the kind of thing that people would like to order to work on their ideas.

Please forgive me for giving a few pointers about the website.

1 get rid of the pop-up. its intrusive and I don't want it. And I did not even see it, my browser blocks it and shows a message that a pop-up has been blocked. This is also intrusive.
Maybe the pop up is part of the free website? On the payment page I found an add for "Flirty devils" Is that the kind of product you want to be associated with?
2 Get a payed website! This way all the attention is on YOUR product.

The main text in your site is in bold type face. It will be nicer to read if it is in normal type face and you just use bold for headers and an occasional highlight. This way the text can be scanned for interesting stuff, making it more attractive to browse through the page.

You have small items in the left hand side of the page, this is attractive, giving extra browsabillity. I think it might be worth experimenting with a bit bigger typeface for these smaller items. To me the contrast between the main text and the small items is a bit big, making the transision between the items more difficult. Do keep them a bit smaller than the main text though!

Good luck!
Sven

[murraystewart]

The weird add on's at the bottom of the pages are a host legacy for the moment, till rehosting.
There are no popups, yet, they are going to run under a special sensing script that auto detects exiting intention realy cool and will be to promote other Book and audio book products before the prospect dissapears from the pitch page and another for subscription at the point of exit from the purchase page and finally a last chance offer from the sorry page exit. My thought is 1 to 2% potential conversion from initial traffic flow still leaves 98% wasted visitors, so who cares if they get a bit narky at a popup if even only a handful commit to a popup offer then it's money in the bank and hasta la vista to the rest (we're in it for the dinero, at least I am).
Like your advise on type size and will play around with size and bold etc.
Will be reworking the testimonials shortly and adding on as I go.
At this point the feedback on layout design is much appreciated as I havent played with webdesign for a few years and am rather rusty.. I want a professional feel to help achieve more confidence and hence sales.

[Sven]

If I get irritated by a website, I have left again before the page is finnished loading... Pop-ups are my primairy causes of irritation and I DID get a pop-up on your site... But getting started with a sponsored website is a good way to get going. But get a payed one as soon as the number of visitors increases.

Sven

[murraystewart]

Thanks Again Sven, Checked the site again and the popup did come up, it didn't yesterday when I put it up just their weird add tacked onto the bottom of the page?????. Like I said its not one of mine and I agree getting on a clean host is critical and is waiting till ready for true testing. Ya gets what ya pay's for I suppose...

[webgal]

If you can get to your code, and with microsoft products that's not usually the case, see if you can open up the leading. That is the space between the lines. It's hard to read. I think it would go with this tag. The part you add and where to add it is in red. You might have to experiment with the number 19px. You might need 22px, you might need 18px.


.style19 {
font-size: small;
line-height:19px;
}

You do need subheads that summarize the page. Below is a link to my blog where I've offered before and after examples of turning a headline or subhead into a consumer benefit.

Right now, I don't think you have that subtle sell choreographed in your subheads to inspire the conversions you'll want to get if your goal is 2%.

I do know this is a work in progress, though. What you're going for is to present your product as the answer to a solution. And you need to define what it is your target market is looking for and answer that question. Your entire website needs to focus on the fact that it answers that question. It's a crucial step in the process.

http://webpreppro.com/blog/index.php/2008/01/01/headline-makeovers-do-you-have-one-that-needs-help-send-me-your-crap/