Wanted: Website Review My new site

[Jamie101]

I used to make sites depending on search engines for traffic, but lately I've realised that this isn't the way to go.

Because of this I decided to come up with a unique site which I've coded for a college project Months of hard work later, I've got Fractionn.

The basic idea of the site is that you set a target price for a product and we'll check it all the time and let you know via twitter or email when it reaches that price - perfect for the January sales

Anyway, would appreciate comments on it. It's still a work in progress but just couldn't wait to launch it. By the way, if you're on twitter please follow the twitter account.

 

[accelerator]

Very quick initial thoughts are that this has required a big investment in coding, but you will only see a return if you can do really phenomenal marketing. Even then, it might be difficult to see a return.

Good marketing means people can instantly understand what the site does, people can remember the site. I think perhaps your name for the site could be more descriptive.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[Murray]

I would make a form for the homepage, then when people click enter it asks them to sign up or login.

I'm not a fan of the design, I don't think it's "friendly" enough, looks too formal and uptight.

It's a good idea though, is anyone else doing this?

 

[Edwin]

It's a good idea though, is anyone else doing this?

Here are a few similar sites that I found on a very quick Google

UK Based
http://www.stuffster.com/
http://uk.camelcamelcamel.com/ (very popular but mainly for Amazon)
http://www.steamprices.com/uk/ (Steam only)
http://uk.jungleninja.com/ (Amazon only)

US Based
http://pricepinx.com/
http://www.nukeprice.com/ (Amazon only)
http://zingsale.com/ (Amazon only)

Slightly different idea
http://www.megashopbot.com/

 

[Jamie101]

Very quick initial thoughts are that this has required a big investment in coding, but you will only see a return if you can do really phenomenal marketing. Even then, it might be difficult to see a return.

Good marketing means people can instantly understand what the site does, people can remember the site. I think perhaps your name for the site could be more descriptive.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

True, a good bit of coding has gone in to the site. It's for a college project though so I don't really mind too much if it doesn't make a fortune - it would be nice though

Thanks for your input.

I would make a form for the homepage, then when people click enter it asks them to sign up or login.

I'm not a fan of the design, I don't think it's "friendly" enough, looks too formal and uptight.

It's a good idea though, is anyone else doing this?

Another good idea. At the moment the sign-up rate could be better I'd say so you're probably on to something there. I thought the design was decent, although maybe it's too white if that makes sense.

As Edwin pointed out, there are a few sites but Stuffster is probably the only real competitor.

Edit - If Stuffster is only UK based then that makes Fractionn the only worldwide site of its type.

 

[accelerator]

I've followed on Twitter. It would be great if you could follow:

https://twitter.com/lowpricesuk

In return.

I am a great fan of a tagline, as it instantly explains what the site is for. I would suggest adding the tagline "Pay a Fraction of the Price!" onto your home page.

 

[Retired_Member38]

I would make a form for the homepage, then when people click enter it asks them to sign up or login.

I'm not a fan of the design, I don't think it's "friendly" enough, looks too formal and uptight.

It's a good idea though, is anyone else doing this?

I really don't like the design either. Imo for something like this to work as a project you're going to need to sort the design aspects of it.

You say its for college, are you being judged solely on the coding?

From a conversion point of view, its not particularly clear what you actually want me to do when I'm on the homepage. Then when I do make my way to the signup page, the signup form seems badly laid out - the boxes I'm meant to be entering data in are so far away and so light that I bet some people can't even see where they're meant to be typing.

Realistically it needs a design from start to finish but those two things above would be my starting point if you're bodging your way through the design bits yourself for the time being.

Login page isn't particularly clear either - its just throwing another couple of very light boxes in above the current sliding image. If they click login I'd give them two big boxes right in the centre of the page so there is no confusion. Or add a username/password/login button on every single page

 

[Jamie101]

On my mobile right now but:

Agree about the slogan, think I mentioned that slogan on twitter but not on the site itself yet.

Monkey - This project is 99% about the coding really. I'm more of a programmer than a designer as you can probably tell. The text boxes are something that I wanted to get around to making easier to see but ended up spending all my time getting the site to work.

Tough crowd in here but appreciate agree with pretty much everything that has been said. Have another few months to finish the project so I'll be working on things like these as well as adding new features.

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[accelerator]

Did you have a choice of language to code it in, or did you have to use .jsp?

 

[Jamie101]

Had to use lots of java in it so had to be Jsp's really.

Lots of other languages involved in it too though Learned a lot while making it.

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[accelerator]

Haven't got time to test it all, but if it all works properly, then fair play to you. Regardless of whether you can make a success of the site or not, if it's functional then it's an impressive showcase of coding skills.

Rgds

 

[Retired_Member38]

The good thing is if you can code it all / get it working as you want it / start getting at least some traffic to it, then you're only ever £2500-5000 away from putting a brilliant design over the top. And that can be done whenever funds/traffic/investment allows... no need to do it from day 1 if you don't want to.

 

[Jamie101]

Took some advice from the comments I got from this thread:

Made the input boxes have an orange border to make it easier to see.

Made the input boxes closer to the text on the register page.

Next on my list is the pop up login box I think

Thanks everyone.

 

[ian]

Very much the same as camelcamel then, but with a sleeker design. You need to push for it to include many more major retailers to watch their prices specifically (as you've done with Amazon and Game), but it will take a hell of a lot of advertising/marketing. Good luck.

 

[Jamie101]

Very much the same as camelcamel then, but with a sleeker design. You need to push for it to include many more major retailers to watch their prices specifically (as you've done with Amazon and Game), but it will take a hell of a lot of advertising/marketing. Good luck.

Plus the fact that they only deal with Amazon

The site actually works with 100s of sites at the moment but have only listed some of the main ones in the supported sites page.

Do agree about the marketing though, it's something that won't be easy.

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[Jamie101]

Site is starting to pick up a bit of traction now. Have made a few small changes over the past few days to improve it.

Monetising isn't going to be easy but used adsense on one or two pages to try break even at least.

In the long term though it could make money when products start getting cheaper.

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[Admin]

reopened

 

[Jamie101]

Cheers admin.

Is anyone interested in buying this site or setting up a joint venture? May be interested if you are - PM me.

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