Hi Lucy

Great art but it takes too long to get to it. I'd make the View Art page your home page for a few days.. This seems like the most important one on the website but takes 3 clicks to get to.

I'd also create a drop down box that is visible through most of the site with names of the artists so that returning visitors can link to their fave artists quickly no matter where they are on the site.

I'd also put a "buy" link next to each picture that links to your Buy Art page. Your Buy Art page could be stronger with key info such as Payable To info and other required info (Number of Pieces, Name of Piece) given in bold or bullet points. You also need to be clearer on availability (unlimited? 10 pieces?).

Good luck
Rajhev
rajhev@greenfiremarketing.com

Hi There
My first impressions - 1) The first page is impressive but leaves you wondering if its broken, you have to venture and click on the logo to proceed! I wonder why?
2) Its too wordy. You are an Art company, so I wanted to see pictures, lots of them, but I had to scan all the little phrases and page titles to find one with pictures, and when it opened wow!! If only I could have seen that first.
I speak from experience as an antique & fine art dealer. I set up my site copying ideas from some of the more 'up market' dealers sites, I also had loads of visitors & no sales.
I was lucky enough to get business bricks feedback, altered my site and now I'm getting orders.
Sumary - Cut the words & display the pictures - just as you would in a gallery. Also words to be more 'chatty'.
I hope all goes well.
www.antiqueswestmalling.co.uk

Hi, for the most part I agree with the suggestions so far. You definitely need an image on the homepage... you're selling art! If it's a case of not wanting to hightlight one artist over another, then get the picture to generate randomly!

On a curatorial level, you've got quite a variety of styles on the site, and this might be working against you. On one hand you have some very modern looking 'fine art', and on the other you have some very traditional illustration work. Both are fine, but you have a bit of an image problem. Your customers don't think you're very discerning... sorry if this is harsh...

It's an excellent concept and your logo is great. A bit more work on the site could really improve life for your visitors and hopefully increase your sales.

1 I'd lose the frames. They're not really necessary and, in the resolution I use, they give a grey scroll bar that cuts the screen in two and spoils your design.

2 Try thinking hard about the navigation to make it more obvious. At the moment, visitors have to think where to go and some of them won't bother. Can you group the site into main sections - Gallery, info for buyers, info for sellers, about us. Then you can have further navigation within those sections.

3 Do you really need those spots. They don't really add anything and make it harder to read the text.

4 Try to make buying easier. Push taking credit card payments up your list of priorities. (Paypal is the cheapest way, Worldpay is more expensive) A shopping cart system may be outside your budget but a buy button beside each picture that takes people to an order form would be better than nothing.

5 Think hard about post and packing. Like many people, I wouldn't order without knowing how much this would cost. I know this is difficult with such a varied product range but can you at least give a guide price? (unframed prints, framed prints etc)

Good luck - this is well worth developing.

Edited by author 23-04-2005 04:53 PM
What a brilliant concept... 3 friends I can think of who want art sold!

My mom's setting up a website for her boyfriend and this is JUST what he needs.

Artsy people - or people in general - buy from emotion not head... so on the intro page help people to find what they are wanting and connect to their values...

Share a bit about why original art is great...

Rather sharing too much about YOU on the front page talk about "me" the buyer - and the artist... as soon as people feel a conneciton and their needs are have been heard they''ll come back and stick around.

Rather than that "enter" page just saying "dot art" - how about having 6/7 pictures of art streaming across the page - or all of the pieces - like a slide show or something. I so love watching slide shows! Then is actually represents what you're talking about!

You need a capture page for a newsletter - like "focus on art" or something...

Idea for newsletter:

an article on a piece of work - what inspired it, how it came about

on an artist - why they started art, why the do it know

Tips - on getting you work exhibited

on a famous artist - a little tid bit about who they are...

Jokes about art or artists.... there must be some around - and if there's something funny in it, it will keep people coming back!

Well done - I think mostly it's clear and crisp!

Love
Natalie

http://www.natalielamb.co.uk

Edited by author 22-04-2005 09:24 AM
I think generally that the site is great apart from the annoying start and understanding that you have to click again to actually get in to the site. My constructive suggestions would be show some art on the first page, not too much because of the time to load and preferably when viewing the individual pieces show more of the artists work and less of the restaurant setting.

Good luck - Barry

Hi,

thought the site looked great and is nearly there.

did not get on with the pre-page, irritating and not even a flash/skip inro jobby.

Little disappointed the big "what we do" is followed by news etc.

Too may clicks to get to the art pitcures (which are great by the way)

No expert but how about the pre page says exactly what you do followed immediatey by the home page showing some art work?

good luck

I read the summary about your site on BB before viewing to see if the online presentation would suggest its purpose. It did on the first page. The downside is the fact that I had to then click again to get to 'real' content. This frustrates some people. Search engines will also trawl down the site now so it doesn't stop them obtaining more detail, if that was your purpose of the splash page?

You should have the art work on the first entry screen. That's what you're about after all. Do I really care about your mission statement? I'm after art not corporate identity.

A back button when viewing an artists work would be good.
I would also suggest looking into providing online sales. Auction sites provide some artists with plentiful income.

I liked the image of the site. Good clean design. I was surprised though that there was no art on the first page of the site as that is what its supposed to be about. Re not selling through the site - When you click on an artist's gallery and pick an image to view that is fine but it doesn't lead anywhere. How do I tell you easily which art I want to buy? Its not obvious what I am supposed to do. Most people are too lazy to email and tell you what they want. Get a proper e-commerce system in place pronto! And good luck, I am sure you are gonna make it.

Wot no Suerat?

Agree with the consensus view re entry page, frames and needing to warm up the site.

To get some sales, you need to be targeting the right people. Have you done any keyword research? If you can see what key-phrases people are using in your market, you can either optimise content or go for pay-per-click. If you do the latter, sort out your sales conversion process first and work out your average net profit per sale. Multiply that by your conversion rate (if you don't know it, assume 1% to start and set a low budget to see what happens)and that's the notional value of a visitor - not lifetime value.

Does that help?

Cheers,

Paul http://www.incisecomms.co.uk

Hi Lucy,

I really like the visual style of the site - highly appropriate for your type of audience. There's also a lot of friendly copy - it sounds like you're talking to someone when you read through the information - this makes your site welcoming and gives the impression that a real person lives behind the site. There are a couple of typos which need correcting though - hell I've made three just on the other feedback messages I left!

I wouldn't use frames either because they can make your site inaccessible to certain browsers. There's probably no need to use the frames given the content though. The dots stand out a little too much beneath the text and it can make some of the copy hard to follow - but it's a nice background.

As for getting more sales I'd set up a paypal and nochex account immediately - this will make it instantly better. Then when you're secure page is set up that will also inspire total confidence in your site.

Maybe you should set up an e-mail newsletter for registered subscribers so that you can post them new information about artists and other important/related news. This will help build up your potential client base because you'll be taking your website to them via e-mail.

I hope this helps.

Lee

http://www.carnihan.co.uk

Edited by author 21-04-2005 05:35 PM
The colours/logo are crisp and clear. The spots are good, but too bright, and I think the text is a bit too small, but that could be because I have rubbish eyesight. The home page doesn't really communicate anything important - and you could consider a featured artist, with a bit of blurb + picture, which varies, say, monthly.

I would add that I have never really bought art, and if I was to buy it on line, I would need help and guidance. A 'need some help?' icon or a search function on price/size etc. But also, perhaps, some emotive categories, like 'making a statement', 'peaceful', 'invigorating', 'ideal for bedrooms'. As someone who knows nothing about art, I would find galleries a bit intimidating - this is where your site could excel, as it allows shoppers to browser in the comfort of their home.