Scuba website help

[Scuba Jerm]

Ok, I'm not looking to do any type of spam here, just need some honest non-baised, non-sugar coated opinions from those with plenty of gear shopping experiance.

Most of our visitors enter and exit on 2 of our pages... www.onestopscuba.com and www.onestopscuba.com/divebags. I've learned on average they only stay for about 1.5 minutes. You know how much that sucks? So I'm obviously missing something on these pages that every diver wants to see, but i don't know what that is. So here's my question.

What would you change about these two pages? Your experianced thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated. Don't be afraid to hold anything back, if it sucks, great... tell me, and tell me why you think so.

Thank you,

 

[Web Monkey]

Bad descriptions, bad pictures.

088902 WHEELED DUFFEL BAG by Bare

Nobody cares about the stock number and people's eyes glaze over when they see numbers.

Also the pictures need to be in color and larger and better lit and organized better (wheeled, nonwheeled, weight bags, etc).

Right now, the page is information overload, and people just won't bother with it.

Terry

Ok, I'm not looking to do any type of spam here, just need some honest non-baised, non-sugar coated opinions from those with plenty of gear shopping experiance.

Most of our visitors enter and exit on 2 of our pages... www.onestopscuba.com and www.onestopscuba.com/divebags. I've learned on average they only stay for about 1.5 minutes. You know how much that sucks? So I'm obviously missing something on these pages that every diver wants to see, but i don't know what that is. So here's my question.

What would you change about these two pages? Your experianced thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated. Don't be afraid to hold anything back, if it sucks, great... tell me, and tell me why you think so.

Thank you,

 

[cbborromeo]

How about a drop down menu for product categories on the left side, instead of that long list. Also agree with Terry that better organization is key. Get rid of the words Dive and Scuba in the description of the items. Ditto on the dive bags page. The information overload and no detail on the photos is what turns customers away. I don't want to necessarily click on every bag to see what it looks like. Good luck!

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Remember, you asked. The following is simply my personal impression and not intended to be inflammatory:

"Scuba" and "Dive" definitely have to go.
Drysuits/hoods/wetsuits/gloves/booties are all exposure protection. Use broader categories in your list then drop downs to break the list into categories

Knives/Clips & Retractors are accessories (actually the speargun can be too).

Group related items in your main list and use drop downs for specific categories. Regulators/gauges/computers--that's a group.
Fins/mask/snorkel tend to be considered a group by new divers.

What exactly is the difference between a "scuba accessory" and a "dive accessory" if you mean scuba and snorkeling accessories then say so. Otherwise pick one or the other or just go with "Accessories".

"Dive Bags come in many shapes, sizes, and designs nowadays. Because our dive gear or snorkel gear can be so heavy when wet, you now see many roller duffle, and even roller backpack style dive bags. But what a great way to travel with your scuba gear."
???? Am I five? Read that paragraph out loud in your best "teaching a five year old" voice, try prefacing it with "Now Johnny" and see how it sounds.

What's the difference between a scuba diving bag and a gear bag? Pick a better "Title"

"We offer many travel style dive bags, simple mesh duffle style bags, backpacks, and even some carry on bags so you can carry your important dive gear with you during your flight, and not worry it may be damaged or stolen in your travels. If you scuba dive or snorkel we'll have the bag to fit your needs. We carry brands like Oceanic, Sherwood Scuba, and XS Scuba"

Rewrite this or ditch it. The first sentence is running on and on; it's also treating me like a five year old again, believe it or not I know what a carry on is for.

Good luck in your quest to improve your site. Check out other successful sites as well as horrible ones and see what you like and what you don't like then fix your own.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Scuba Jerm]

Awesome so far, thank you Ber Rabbit, Bengie and Terry. I've started working on it. Ber Rabbit, thank you for your observation. I didn't write that myself, and having read it now it does sound pretty childish. Great feedback so far, thank you, thank you.

Keep it coming.

 

[jeraldjcook]

In addition to what everyone else has said, the pages on your site are just too big. Your homepage is 2 screens tall so you need to do some scrolling to take the page in. I check some of the other websites I frequent and they almost all fit on my screen. Without scrolling I can take in the whole site so I find it easier to find what I want and navigate. Your logo, free shipping box, homepage tabs, etc take up almost half of the page. These should be smaller or perhaps a few could be moved to the bottom of the page.

Also, you could loose all the logos of the brands you sell. If I'm looking for a regulator and I am leaning towards ScubaPro, once I see your homepage and my brand isn't there, I'm leaving. Without the logos, I have to at least go to the regulator page to see the great deals on the brands you do have and possibly change my mind.

Loose the "scuba" in front of fins, computers, BCD's, etc.

My 2 cents.

 

[Maule]

"Dive Bags come in many shapes, sizes, and designs nowadays. Because our dive gear or snorkel gear can be so heavy when wet, you now see many roller duffle, and even roller backpack style dive bags. But what a great way to travel with your scuba gear."
???? Am I five? Read that paragraph out loud in your best "teaching a five year old" voice, try prefacing it with "Now Johnny" and see how it sounds.

I'm typically a very cynical individual but I don't see the problem with this. The other things Ber talks about I agree with.

Just to be clear this is not a flame on Ber Rabbit just an observation that 2 people can read the same exact thing and see it clearly differently.

 

[yukoneer]

I feel that the descriptions need to be better for every item. They just look like copy/pastes with no structure.

I'd put a short descriptive comment, and put a list of bulleted information of specifications.

Consistency is one of the most important rules of a webpage.

 

[shark.byte.usa]

Bad descriptions, bad pictures.

088902 WHEELED DUFFEL BAG by Bare

Nobody cares about the stock number and people's eyes glaze over when they see numbers.

Also the pictures need to be in color and larger and better lit and organized better (wheeled, nonwheeled, weight bags, etc).

Right now, the page is information overload, and people just won't bother with it.

Terry

Agree with Web Monkey

..."Scuba" and "Dive" definitely have to go.

Well keyword rich text is key for good SEO, but you have a bit of overkill going on. Especially in your Intro paragraph

Made by XS Scuba. BG150 - Wheeled Mesh Duffel A Boat Duffel With Wheels No need to carry a bag you can wheel Same heavy-duty wheels as our other bags Okay okay we get it it has wheels...It says so right in the product title, no need to beat a dead horse.

Your product pages have a title of "Add to Cart", should change to a short but sweet product description.

And just a pet peeve of mine...horizontal scrollbars (in 1024x768 resolution or above). This can be corrected for the majority of your site by reducing your header image (http://www.onestopscuba.com/files/18053/uploaded/Scubanewheader.jpg) a bit.

-Garrett

 

[ReefHound]

I had a lot of the concerns already mentioned with regards to page dimensions and verbose descriptions. I'll add a few not mentioned.

No specials or Closeouts categories. That's often the first place I go when visiting an online site. I've made a lot of spontaneous purchases because I came across a great deal.

Poor category arrangement. Too many first level categories and no second level categories. Let the user drill down to what they need. When I click on regulators I get a continuous list of all your regulators and octopuses. How about providing a Regulators and Octopus links at top? Or break it into "under $200", "under $400", etc.? Or break it into manufacturers?

The prices just aren't that good, as far as I can tell. I have a handful of bellweather items I typically look for when checking out a new site. These aren't items I need. These are often items I already have, items that I have a pretty good idea of what they go for on other sites. I use them to tell where you stand in relation. Based on what I saw, I probably wouldn't bother to include your site in my search next time I need to buy something.