What do you think?

[Laura Lou]

I'd appreciate some feedback on my website, please.

http://www.laurasbeadedcharms.webs.com/

I used to sell on DaWanda (well, I still have it running but it's not very active), but I got sick of the Euro currency and having to change the prices all the time plus I wanted more flexability with the actual listings and site design overall.

I used freewebs as I've not really got much experience with web design and it seemed to be easy enough to use. Plus it's free. Anyway, it's been up for a few weeks now and I've managed to sell a few things (through friends of friends etc) but as it's my first website attempt I'd appreciate any feedback you may have or how you think it could be improved.

I'm not sure if my homepage is a bit bare - I didn't want to clutter it and overwelm people but at the same time do you think it's got enough content and does it make you want to browse the rest of the site?

I was also thinking of adding a gallery page where I could show photos of my charms actually attached to phones and make them a bit more 'scenic'. At the moment all my photos have white backgrounds as I wanted the charms to stand out but do you think the gallery page is a good idea too?

Lastly, (well I might think of smoething else later, lol), I'm going to create a charity 'Cystic Fibrosis' charm and donate some of the money to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. What do you think would be a reasonable percentage to donate? Any ideas? (I'm thinking that the charm will cost around £6).

Thanks for your views and taking the time to read this. Any feedback gratefully received. xxx

Edit: Just to add - I've still got a few more things to add over the next few weeks so the pages are a bit empty at the moment.

[cardelle]

Hi,
I love the website and the charms. Do you do any with a little bell on it. I only ask because my mother was given one by the police to put on her purse so that shw would hear if her purse was being stolen from her bag when out shopping.
I think it was a simple but effective idea.

[Laura Lou]

Wow, I've never heard of doing that before. It's a good idea though. I guess I'd have to hunt down some bells - they might be a bit heavy for the actual charm though... Hmm... I'd have to look into it a find some smallish ones.

Thanks for your reply.

[cardelle]

It's just a tiny little bell she has looped through her purse not heave at all.

[autumn rose]

Ive had a good look now Laura, I love your work.

I think the home page is fine, your categories are clear, your pics are good, I think what you said about the gallery is a great idea, showing them off with phones, bags etc.

I love it! Well done you

[onlyme]

I like your website too, and I think it's very clever how you've got around adding and paying for a store! I use 'webs' too so I'll have to try this myself, lol.

[elzi]

Hi Laura,

I think the site is all very nice. Simple, clear to use, nice pictures of nice charms.

I'm afraid as a buyer though I would be completely put off by the really unpleasant adverts. They are not even particularly targeted ads but some are even of the really unpleasant '**** you out of your money' variety. I would not buy from a site that had ads like that all over it. Sorry if that sounds harsh but it doesn't look very professional.

Get rid of the ads and the site's lovely.

[Laura Lou]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm a bit late in replying, I know but I've been in hospital for the last 4 weeks with a chest infection - Much better now though.

I've got rid of some of the ads - the top ad is there for good, although it seems to be related to beading most of the time... lol, so not too bad.

I've also just added a sidebar and included a little gif animation that I made - it shows all the bead colours I have available so that buyers are able to customise the charms more easily. Do you think this is handy?

Thanks.

Laura xxx

[hdflred]

Hi Laura

Love your charms! Don't know if it just me but your photo's took FOREVER to load, it would put me off as a buyer. Maybe just me though as noone else has mentioned it!

[rainbowcentral]

I think that the website looks really nice - very clean and easy to navigate

[Laura Lou]

Thanks to you both.

I'll have a look at the pics - they are quite large files (high MB) so maybe that's why... I wanted to make them as clear as possible but with their current size they might not look much different if they were compressed slightly. I will look into it!

Laura xxx

[Wedgie]

Hi Laura,

Just taken a look at your website and I think its fab. I really love your work, the little owl is lovely. The pictures were a little slow, but nothing that would put me off buying.

Hope you're very successful.