What's with all the poorly designed air related websites?

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"I'm just trying to help people realize they are missing out on a lot of sales and that there are better options out there."



Everyone likes a nice website - but how do you support the claim of lost sales?

If I'm shopping for something, I'll buy something - somebody gets the sale regardless of website quality.

For airguns, your choice on something new is very limited (typically one vendor) and commodity items are bought based on price/sales -- neither need a spiffy website.



Can it be easier - yes. Will better sites result in more sales, doubtful as the market is only so big.......
Click to expand...

This is a great question! The simple answer is experience.

The longer answer deals with digging through data and spotting patterns. Turns out that while every shopper is different, if you track 1000's of visitors over time, patterns with their usage will emerge. For example there are tools that can create heat maps of where a person clicks on a screen or even simply hovers their mouse. You can use the free data from Google webmaster tools and Google analytics to see how often people bounce, how much time they spend on your site, and many more useful tidbits of information.

So while your mentality is that of someone who will never question the validity of a website, there are different types of shoppers who are much more timid. The best design isn't an opinion, it's the design that gets the best result. When you've seen a lot of these winning designs, it turns out that they are all very similar. Applying a similar design to a website has always created not only more sales, but more favorable analytics that will lead to better rankings and more traffic.

Google wants to give the best user experience to the customer doing the search. You should have Google's data on your site and will be able to clearly see the data like conversion rate and user time on site increase when you have a better design.
 
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Hi ‘guy,



The site you find yourself on now was developed using wp. You may wish to give Michael a few tips. I was a bit surprised at his choice at the time and proceeded to search for other forums built on wp. It was not an exhaustive search, but I could only find one other forum built on wp, again at that time. It was a “pay to play” “lonely hearts club” forum targeting women. I also noted a couple recently released plug-ins that appeared to support forum development. 



I noted where you compared wp to html. A better comparison, I believe, would be between php, being what’s under the hood of wp, and html. Long ago, I also noted in some NASA or DOD publication an admonishment advising against against the use of Java (not to be confused with JavaScript) in mission critical applications. I wouldn’t be surprised to find a similar advisory with regards to php. Mission critical applications involved the potential loss of life or capital equipment. 



For the past 10 years I’ve been telling myself that I should learn php. And the 10 years prior to that, python, and 10 years prior to that Perl. I am not however, an IT professional or web developer. I am familiar with most editors. I could be considered “harmful”. I’m allergic to, and have little tolerance for, BS. 



The problem I see with wp is that it appears to need regular maintenance and upkeep. Unless something has changed recently, wp does not push “patches to “features””. The user must apply the fixes released to address the “‘sploit of the day”. Occasionally, there were more than one “‘sploit of the day” targeting php/wp. There was a time when many, if not most, wannabe red team pentesters, teethed on wp.



I assume that the services you’re offering to the community are being offered “gratis” and out of the goodness of your heart. While I’m loathe (hi LD, good to see you posting) to recommend “GoDaddy”, it too being built on php, they do provide an “all in one” package and apply the fixes to php/wp that the user would otherwise have to apply themselves. Alternatively, most any HS kid these days can cobble together a website.



In closing, I’d like to thank you for your most generous offer to assist the community with developing their web presence (gratis, of course). I did get a big grin out of LMNOP’s (looks like a NOC to me) contributions, and an honorable mention to wimp’. Let’s see your BB gun!



One final, OT note; and that is to give thanks to those unknown individuals that participated in extracting that “log in my shooting”. My initial thoughts were that perhaps they were only a half bauble off full tilt. Upon further consideration, I concluded that they must have been attempting to both sight through and speak from their brown eye at the same time. Thanks again!



:wq!



responding only to the buglers “call to post”










 
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Let's not forget the IA (information architecture) of a site. And let's pick on a scope web site here... :) It drives me NUTS that manufacturers ASSUME that the random, arbitrary names they give their products make sense to the uninitiated consumer like me.

https://sightmark.com/category.php?cat=51

I'm sure everyone except for me immediately knows the difference between these lines, right? If you feel my pain, you'll enjoy the book "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug.

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwj1vemY_qHnAhWIk7MKHT_lAc4YABAAGgJxbg&sig=AOD64_3f97_f7JNrvp9ej9Auh-f073IjIQ&rct=j&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjbuuCY_qHnAhUlWN8KHUa5Cf8Q0Qx6BAgUEAE&adurl=


 
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Let's not forget the IA (information architecture) of a site. And let's pick on a scope web site here... :) It drives me NUTS that manufacturers ASSUME that the random, arbitrary names they give their products make sense to the uninitiated consumer like me.

https://sightmark.com/category.php?cat=51

I'm sure everyone except for me immediately knows the difference between these lines, right? If you feel my pain, you'll enjoy the book "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug.

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwj1vemY_qHnAhWIk7MKHT_lAc4YABAAGgJxbg&sig=AOD64_3f97_f7JNrvp9ej9Auh-f073IjIQ&rct=j&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjbuuCY_qHnAhUlWN8KHUa5Cf8Q0Qx6BAgUEAE&adurl=

Click to expand...

You're spot on lol. Online marketing is what I really do for a living. Building websites isn't my thing, monetizing them is.
 
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I will say that we viewed wp engine from the perspective of a company that spends tens of thousands of dollars a month on hosting in aws, mostly internal business services, but several external, public facing sites as well. We must conform to federal privacy standards. Last year we found out Marketing had published a few sites on WP engine, and one of my jobs was to bring those 'in house'.

WP Engine can be ok for some stuff, as long as, like someone said, it is maintained regularly. It is delicate enough that there are consulting companies out there who will maintain it for you. Timely updates is the real key.

Lastly, one of the least flashy but still servicable sites is mr. hollowpoint. He posts pictures of the slugs, you email to order them. It works for him, and it works for me! I love his product, and will continue to buy them.

also :x! > :wq!
 
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Hi Crosman999, I hope that you did not mistake my comment as somehow “dissing” Michael’s efforts or contributions. This site is the Phoenix that arose from the ashes of the “goose that laid the golden egg”, as predicted by the sages of old. Triple 9’s were a ship code/label I once used and the only things with a higher priority were blood and ammunition. Please tell me more about the merits of wp.



Yes, sales/marketing was my nemesis as well and I have suffered physical pain and mental anguish meted out by their hand. I think the ***** team was a covert group operating at the direction of sales and marketing.



If I was Broken’Guy, I would scatter gun every affinity group I could find in an attempt to ply my warez. I’m sure “Wee Bee Beaus, for all your, er, archery needs”, could use all the help they can get.



Most of my kludges were applied with a bludgeon and old habits die hard. I’m sure that if I keep this up the whole shebang will end up in the can. I trust all are familiar with the BOFH, another of my heroes.



There are times when I wish there was a sub-forum devoted to simple computer issues. A handful or less of sticky’s would address most questions. I’m an advocate of using the search function. While I’ll reluctantly concede that there are no “stupid” questions, there are damn few questions that have not been asked and answered before.



Please don’t follow me, for I will lead you to Purgatory.



~DW~


 
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