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Business By crumbscakeartistry Updated 12 May 2007 , 7:15pm by MichelleM77

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crumbscakeartistry Posted 4 May 2007 , 12:36am
post #1 of 17

I have been working on my website and would love some honest feedback/ suggestions...

www.crumbscakeartistry.com

Thanks CC

16 replies
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mypastrychef Posted 4 May 2007 , 12:54am
post #2 of 17

It is slow and the words are not lined up... I also have that problem on my website. It doesn't look like a website for a bakery, for some reason. Maybe it is too big. I dunno.

Cakes are really nice!
mpc

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indydebi Posted 4 May 2007 , 1:00am
post #3 of 17

It's just the one page so far, right? I didn't see how to go further.

But for what you have so far .....

- I like your font overall .... it's different and gives a friendly feel, like a personal handwritten note instead of a typed one. However.... your phone number and email are difficult to read. This is definitely info you want to be crystal clear. You might consider making these 2 pcs of info a more "regular" font.

- You do not want them to "contact crumbs cake artistry asap *IF* you have a date to reserve". You want them to "contact crumbs cake artistry right away to reserve your event date!" Don't plant an "if" thought .... always think positive and reflect positive back to them! I would also avoid abbreviations such as "asap". thumbs_up.gif

- Delivery and set-up included within a 30-mile radius ...... of where? I mean, I know New Jersey is a small state but unless it's only 60 miles wide and you're right in the middle, you need to give them a reference point. icon_wink.gif

- "I see my clients by appointment" .... this statement has two references to you ("I" and "my"). It needs to be rephrased to put more emphasis on the customer. Something like ..... "Personal consultations available by appointment" or "Give us a call to reserve your personal consultation appointment".

- "....although orders can be taken by phone...." unless you mean this to discourage phone orders, then it should have more "UP" tones to it. Written this way sounds like an afterthought, as if you're saying "well, if you WANT to place your order by phone, then I guess I CAN take it that way (big sigh!). Maybe just a simple "phone orders happily accepted" or "phone orders also welcome".

- I would move your bottom statement of the "top tier being a gift" to be right under the "Give us a call to reserve your personal consultation appointment". It is like an incentive to the bride .... first you invite her to set an appointment, then entice her to do so by offering her a free top tier. thumbs_up.gif

I know this looks like a long list, but it's all just little things. I used to write on the side - advertising flyers, political campaign brochures and flyers, company newsletters, and I had my own newspaper column, so I notice the little things.

Overall, I like the look of the page. It's simple, yet "wedding" looking. I can't wait to see it when you add your photos!!

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crumbscakeartistry Posted 4 May 2007 , 1:19am
post #4 of 17

Wow. Thank you so mcuh for all the help/ suggestions. I really needed a fresh pair of eyes to take a look. I made a bunch of changes based on the suggestions.

There is more of the website. On the top you can see links for prices, flavors, sample pics. I am still trying to make that bigger but it is just a free website so I cannot do all the things I would like with it.

Any other suggestions??

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Florimbio Posted 4 May 2007 , 1:31am
post #5 of 17

It is SLOW
Is there anyway to speed it up....Your cakes are amazing!!! I just want your customers to stay around to see your wonderful cakes thumbs_up.gif

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indydebi Posted 4 May 2007 , 1:34am
post #6 of 17

Oh I see them now! Now that I know where they are, I feel pretty stupid for not seeing them! dunce.gif

Wow! Your flavors page is great! If they can't find a flavor they like out of that list, you should run because that person is impossible to please!

YOu picked good photos. I luv the chocolate easter basket one!

I couldn't get to the Photos2 or the Prices page. I got an error message of: "Account over bandwidth ..... Maximum bandwidth has been exceeded and this page has been temporarily disabled. Please go to your service manager to purchase more and reactivate. "

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indydebi Posted 4 May 2007 , 1:38am
post #7 of 17

Oh....forgot to add ..... if this free website isn't able to handle all of your photos, either in quantity or in speed, you might think about doing what my 14 year old convinced me to do. She set me up on Flickr.com (see my link below). I can put a TON of photos on there and I just put a link from my business website that takes brides straight to the Flickr website. Now, I paid the $25 a year that gave me 2GB's of uploading per month (that's a LOT!) and unlimited photo albums. The free option is only 3 albums and 20MB of upload space per month.

HEre's my website page with the link to Flickr, just to show you how we set it up. http://cateritsimple.com/_wsn/page4.html

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Florimbio Posted 4 May 2007 , 1:39am
post #8 of 17

You hand molded figures are some of the best I have seen and you flowers are just perfect icon_biggrin.gif

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crumbscakeartistry Posted 4 May 2007 , 1:42am
post #9 of 17

Ok think I fixed the problems. I know it is slow but I am not sure what to do about that one. Great suggestions. Keep them coming...

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indydebi Posted 4 May 2007 , 1:56am
post #10 of 17

I got into the other 2 pages .... good photos! LUV the Operation Game one! My son-in-law is from Clayton NJ .... on their next trip, I may send an order with him! icon_lol.gificon_lol.gif

Your pricing page is very concise. Good info for brides who are browsing in the "information gathering phase".

The only suggestion that you need to be ready for (not a website change ... just be ready for the question): If you add up cake for 100 (round cakes) and the pricing for that, it doesn't come to $250. For example, your 16" and 12" is 103 servings for $125. Be prepared to point out the extras you provide for a wedding, such as arranging the fresh flowers, setting up the cake table, etc. Or point out a wedding cake is cut different from a party cake, so there are actually more servings in the 16" for a wedding.

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maryjsgirl Posted 4 May 2007 , 3:37am
post #11 of 17

I think it may seem a little more friendly if you add your name along with your email and phone. If you are worried about weirdos just use your first name. Everything else looks good. Hopefully you can figure out a way to get your photos to load a little quicker.

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JasonL Posted 4 May 2007 , 6:33pm
post #12 of 17

Like others have said, it is very slow and I have somewhat of a high speed, But you may need to down res your pictures. You maybe uploaded a 1 mb pic and as for web sites are concerned it doesn't have to be that big. Big pictures can really really slow down the loading, also if your pics have already been downsized you may look at you webhost. If it is free you may think about moving to a paid site.

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beccakelly Posted 4 May 2007 , 7:18pm
post #13 of 17

my comment is about your flavors page. are those all cakes, or are some fillings/frosting? you may want to have separate tabs for cake flavors, fillings, and frostings. instead of a separate line for choc cherry, mint, espresso, etc. i would have 1 line that says chocolate and a sub line for the flavor combo. i think reorganizing it will make it a little less intimidating. kinda like when you go into a restaurant and they have so many options you have no idea what to pick. you might also want to think about a category for "standard flavors" and "specialty flavors". break it down so its a little more pleasing to the eye, and not quite so intimidating thumbs_up.gif

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MichelleM77 Posted 4 May 2007 , 8:27pm
post #14 of 17

Can you change the background color of the site (at least on the info side of the main page), maybe a pale pink? The white seems a little sterile to me. I think it looks great!

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emmascakes Posted 5 May 2007 , 7:03pm
post #15 of 17

You need to get some software to reduce the 'size' of your images - it doesn't actually change the size in terms of centimetres, but it reduces the amount of memory space it takes up so that it downloads a lot quicker - I do mine on Microsoft Picture Manager, which comes with Office, but I would think any photo editing software would have something similar. That way people don't have to wait for the images. I read that if they take longer than 2 seconds people move on.

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crumbscakeartistry Posted 12 May 2007 , 6:34pm
post #16 of 17

I am giving myself a bump since I have made a TON of changes.

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MichelleM77 Posted 12 May 2007 , 7:15pm
post #17 of 17

photos loaded very quick. Looks good!

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