Halo Natural Beauty Website Review

[halonp]

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Hi All,
I’d really appreciate your input and opinions on my website.

1. What needs reviewing? (i.e. logo, website, idea etc…)
The website layout, graphics, ease of use.

2. What does your business do?
Produces Natural Aussie made and owned beauty, body and bath products.

3. Who is your target market?
Primarily women (but men also!) aged between 18 – 80

4. What specific concerns do you have?
It is visually appealing?
Easy to navigate?
Too much? Not enough?
Do the graphics match the theme?

Thanks so much
Kiah

[Chris Bates]

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Your signature is missing the ‘s’ in ‘shop’.

The website layout, graphics, ease of use.

It looks amateurish. The background is extremely distracting. Your logo is pixelated. Your copy has no formatting. Layout look unfinished.

Your navigation is alright, standard eCommerce style.

Produces Natural Aussie made and owned beauty, body and bath products.

If this is your own brand, think about what you portray with your design. Your website makes me feel as though I can expect cheap quality products. Are your products cheap, or are they quality?

It is visually appealing?
Easy to navigate?
Too much? Not enough?
Do the graphics match the theme?

No.
Somewhat.
Too much happening in the wrong places, not enough happening in the right places.
Subject wise, yes. Design wise, no.

You also need to get your website back onto your root domain. We should be able to access it at http://www.halobeauty.com.au

I apologise if any of the above came across harshly.

[halonp]

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No not at all – thank you very much.
I appreciate your honesty.

[donnafrithdesign]

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Hi again Kiah!

I seem to be following Chris around the forum today but had to drop a line in here too. Rather than echo Chris’ pretty straightforward (and unfortunately spot on) comments I’ll just add my support to your need for a site design that matches the obvious quality of your products. I can see from the photos that you’ve got some great stuff, but your website does scream amateur. Obviously that’s the last thing you want to be portraying when you’re running a business and hoping for sales. There’s also no sense of brand identity on the site, you should aim for better integration. Invest in your site to match the standard of your products .

Also a comment on your photos – they need a little prep work, not sure if you or whoever took them has done any alterations, but the contrast, sharpness and white balance all need a bit of work in most of them. It will crisp them up and make them pop. The facial product page also has no pics – not sure if that’s an error or you haven’t taken them yet.

I also stumbled across the wonderful initiative you have taken in donating 10% of your sales to Church of Christ – this info is hidden in About Us but something like this should be proudly ‘announced’. Include it on the home page, or at least at the point of sale. Do you mind if I ask if you have intentionally picked a religious affiliated charity? That’s fine if you have, if not I wonder if this would perhaps alienate people of other faith? Maybe not… what do others think?

On another point, I love the hair care bars! I’ve never seen anything like that before. I don’t understand what SLS free is though (would other users?) Does that mean no chemicals? Perhaps you could have an product information or philosophy page on your site that explains what you do and don’t use and why… etc!

Looking forward to seeing how your site evolves
Donna

[halonp]

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Thanks Donna,
You have both given me a great deal to think about and re-consider.
I shall be very busy I think
You’re right, there are a few things, re: SLS free, which should be clarified and explained so that the wider community can understand.
The Church of Christ could also put off customers of other religions, which is also something which needs to be taken into consideration. The projects run by this church are general financial and material aid to other countries, so I guess I should clarify that on the website too.

Thanks again to everyone
Kiah

[Samot]

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I think before you go ahead and fix the errors posted above you seriously thinking about investing in a quality logo.

A logo/branding generally depicts what a good looking website looks like.

At the moment I don’t believe the site could make any sales as it looks to amateur.

good luck!

[lutrov]

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I’m going to say some honest things too, which you may not like.

1. The logo is absolutely terrible. I can’t work out what it means. It looks cheap.

2. The site layout needs to be fixed. The amount of whitespace to the right of the logo is wasted.

3. The background is distracting, even though the colours are subtle.

4. People will be confused when they click an image on your home page. Are you really selling the “prestashop ecommerce” software as well as the beauty products? Because when I click on the image, that’s what it looks like.

5. Not enough whitespace in your text, which makes it hard to read.

6. Most of your text is too small, including the form buttons.

7. The position of the shopping cart looks strange.

Overall, the design looks amateurish and “home brewed” but it’s not beyond repair. There are a number of things which can be done, and which aren’t difficult. They’ll just take time.

Good luck!

[halonp]

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Thanks for the comments and advice.

It’s good to hear professional comments on the website. Most family and friends all say the same “Looks great!”, “very pretty!” etc. etc.

Constructive criticism is often needed in order to suceed, so although it can be hard to hear, it’s necessary.

In all honesty, I am an amateur and it is ‘home brewed’, but I want it to look professional, especially in such a competitive market.

I really appreciate everyones help and suggestions.

I will re-post when I’ve altered my website and again your valuable feedback on the new look/layout/logo etc.

Thanks again
Kiah

[lutrov]

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Kiah,

If you’ve got more time than cash, you should read this terrific “howto” on current web design:

http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-design/real-web-20-design.php

Actually, you should read it a couple of times. Just to make sure you understand what’s really important.

Cheers.

[halonp]

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Looks like a great article, thanks for the link.
My cousin works for the v project http://www.thevproject.com.au and he also tells me simplicity is the way to go.

[Chris Bates]

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Simplicity is a design attribute.

It should be 2nd to your goals and usability.

[Author]

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