[sdiy] why does google suck SO bad for finding my parts? Yahoo is on it!

[Johannes Öberg]

Gah, I hate gmail's automagic smartass quoting...

> When I help people on things I'm good at....they usually come away with this
> 'gee..there's someone lending me help in an area I'm weak in.  They took
> what I DID have right...

Well, sorry to break it to you like this, but when it comes to web
page layout, you're not doing a whole lot of things right. That's why
I say you should redesign the entire thing. And read up on web
usability / design.

* If you want people to notice your keys store, put a link in the top
of your start page saying "Replacement Key Shop - buy replacement keys
for your synthesizers/keyboards" or similar.
* Cut out most of the text, only keep whats really necessary.
* Make a table of the keys and the keyboards they fit with.
* Make a list of brands and then sublists of models under each brand.
* Make the brand names bigger so it's easier to find your keyboard
when scrolling quickly down the page. Set the page width to about
30lm.
* Make thumbnails (real thumbnails, not resized referrences to the big
originals) for the pictures so people won't have to load every picture
to see whats in it.
* Make separate pages for A) Your key information, B) The keys you
sell, C) ordering instructions, etc, and put a meny bar at the top.
* Perhaps you need to partition the lists into alphabet sections (A-F,
G-O, P-Z) on different pages. I personally find it annoying when a
page is so long you need more than 4-5 mousewheel passes to traverse
it.
* Make a contact form on the page for reporting bugs etc. Most people
don't want to go into the trouble of starting their email client just
to work for you for free.
* Run a script that checks for bad links every now and then.

Have a look at some other web shops that sells stuff. Alot of the
usability on the web comes from good designs being copied and people
getting used to the de facto standard designs.

I've been getting payed to do web design and web system development
for about a year now, so while I'm by no means and expert, my advice
isn't coming from nowhere. Unfortunately it seem you prefer taking
criticism of the page personally.

You're a grown man with keys to sell, what would be the use in us
patting your cheek trying to comfort you?

/J

> FOR EXAMPLE:
>
> Define 'unusable content'.  AND SUGGEST A PLAN AS TO HOW YOU WOULD REMEDY
> the problem.  Otherwise...I'm not seeing anything but people who did nothing
> about the glaring problem that INSPIRED the construction of this page in the
> first place... and they just sit back and throw things at the person who
> tried but maybe wasn't the best qualified to do the page itself.
>
> WOULD IT NOT BE BETTER TO...just offer me constructive help on how to fix
> problems LIKE THE PAGE HAS BEEN BECKONING PEOPLE TO DO ALL ALONG??
> DIsorganized.  Crud...sorry Johannes in SOME ways it's *very* organized.
>  Rather than a sprawl of information like one of the aforementioned pages,
> you get hit right up front wiht a list of manufacterers.  So some..normal
> person who is looking for a particular synthesizer usually can click on the
> right one there.  Then there's all the synths they made that are out of
> recent production pretty much... problem there?  No just click on the one
> you want....
>
> THen you get a page that is the same as all the other pages so that if you
> are remotely USED to using it your eye immediately goes to the info you want
> and you click and you're there.
>
> Unless it's a dead link or something that I count on people to let me know
> about.  What do you expect me to sit here clicking links every day to make
> sure they all work?  Sorry I usually figure that someone will be kind enough
> to just email me and most of the pages HAVE a contact link at the bottom.
>
> So in some ways it's very organized.  However there are many things on there
> and the question 'what do you want to focus on' comes into play.  You can't
> have everything right there in front of people.  But as I say suggestions
> are always good.  Just...saying people are giving me the hard truth....
> makes me wonder what is wrong here though. -Bob