How to build your own surfboard - Review please

[GavinSurfer]

Hi
http://how-to-build-your-own-surfboard.comhow-to-build-your-own-surfboard.com
I've started getting some good traffic numbers but so far have not converted one into a sale. I'm open to suggestions.
1 Is the URL a problem? Firstly, should I have the - in between each word? Secondly, should I change the word 'build' to 'make' as 'build' tend to open up the searches to all sorts of other unrelated 'building/construction/diy' topics.

2 Am I asking too much for the product?

3 Are there too many pages? I didn't think so because most of the site visits are spending the time to go through it.

4 I have no product reviews yet. How big a problem is this and would it be ethical to make something up until I get some genuine reviews?

Any other help you can provide would be great. Thanks in advance.
Gavin

[GavinSurfer]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

Is anyone there? 43 visits and no replies. I may get a complex about this...

[flyer13]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

Don't be so temperamental mate. If you build it they would come, as Kevin Costner implied in Field of Dreams. Your site is already up and running whereas I haven't yet have mine published. You're not out in the open sea waiting for yet one great tidal wave as Patrick Swayze does in Point Break so you have all the time in the world. Well surfing in time gets fatal in cases where you get impatient. I'm just a web surfer so I learned some. Patience, patience.... otherwise the world is in crisis and not everybody gets the enthusiasm for riding a surfboard free. Cheers mate.

[flyer13]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

Hey, if you want to market your expert advise, why is there no restriction on viewing the PDF guide? There must be a restriction like read only, cannot be saved. Just an opinion, by the way you have a nice site except for a few spellings missed like the word "aquire" in the pdf w/c must be "acquire". Great site.

[Collectors-info]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

The site style looks fine. Couple of things that might help.
A standard menu would be easier to follow.
Centring the page might look better, so it will be the same in all browsers.. This might help.
Would be good to have a safety page on working with the different materials & what protection & masks should be used with different products.

[Scythian]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

Hi Gavin !

Your home page looks just great.
It's both simple and aesthetical.

Concerning the colors pattern,
I'd put something much more "Californian", much more sunny,
because presently, it's kind of crepuscular...

And as flyer13 noticed rightly : take care of your pdf work, mate !!!

Remove that file until you know how to make a correct/proper checkout process.
It's the same system as for any other ebook.

It shall go like this :
the customer goes into your website,
wants to buy the product,
places his order,
goes throughout the Paypal checkout process,
pays,
and, ONLY THEN, gets access to the pdf file.

Search about it in our VH forum.

It's not that much of a work, but you've got to do it.
We're all here to help you, with our respective knowledge
(I'm the lesser skilled here)...

As for the customers, they will definitely come. Be confident.

Cheers.

[ukidinme]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

I am a newby to BlueVoda. But I come from a surfing family.

I agree with all the above and want to add:

1. I would have a white background. And use seaglass colors elsewhere. You need to give a beachy feeling.

2. Do not give so much away.....hense someone copying your work.

3. Use the word make instead of build.

4. While the sunset pic is nice....I would show you standing next to some of "your" made surfboards and another in the room where you make them.

5. You need to use your keywords in the home page and do more on your description in the tags.

6. I would also put your pkg. on EBay in the surfing section.
And on Craigslist on the sports section.

7. I would also put links to Surf Riders Org, Friends of the Sealions...etc. To open in a new window of course!

8. You could also put a few surfing videos on the site. Do you have any of you surfing on youtube? Or you shaping a board? You should. That is free advertising for you. Refer them back to your website.

Please do not take offense to anything I said! Only trying to help!

[GavinSurfer]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

Hey, if you want to market your expert advise, why is there no restriction on viewing the PDF guide? There must be a restriction like read only, cannot be saved. Just an opinion, by the way you have a nice site except for a few spellings missed like the word "aquire" in the pdf w/c must be "acquire". Great site.

Hi
Thanks for the comment. The PDF file is only the first 8 pages of a 40 page booklet. The idea was to give the punter an idea of what they are getting without giving them the anything they can practically use. It's a teaser. Good idea \ bad idea? I'd like your opinion.
Gavin

[GavinSurfer]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

The site style looks fine. Couple of things that might help.
A standard menu would be easier to follow.
Centring the page might look better, so it will be the same in all browsers.. This might help.
Would be good to have a safety page on working with the different materials & what protection & masks should be used with different products.

Hi
What do you mean by "standard menu"?

[GavinSurfer]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

I am a newby to BlueVoda. But I come from a surfing family.

I agree with all the above and want to add:

1. I would have a white background. And use seaglass colors elsewhere. You need to give a beachy feeling.

2. Do not give so much away.....hense someone copying your work.

3. Use the word make instead of build.

4. While the sunset pic is nice....I would show you standing next to some of "your" made surfboards and another in the room where you make them.

5. You need to use your keywords in the home page and do more on your description in the tags.

6. I would also put your pkg. on EBay in the surfing section.
And on Craigslist on the sports section.

7. I would also put links to Surf Riders Org, Friends of the Sealions...etc. To open in a new window of course!

8. You could also put a few surfing videos on the site. Do you have any of you surfing on youtube? Or you shaping a board? You should. That is free advertising for you. Refer them back to your website.

Please do not take offense to anything I said! Only trying to help!

Hi
Thanks to both you and Sythian. Great suggestions and I really appreciate it. I'll do some work and get back to you. The pdf file is unprotected because it is the first 8 of 45 pages in the booklet. The info provided for free gives away virtually nothing. I couldn't figure out how to protect the full pdf from copying and figured it easier to sell a hard copy booklet that would be mailed out with a DVD. If you purchased this, would you prefer a download, or a well made booklet mailed out? I suppose I could provide both options.
Also, how do I add keywords to my home page and yet keep it simple? I think all the key words are there, but are you saying they need to be repeated?

Thanks again for the help.
Gavin

[flyer13]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

Ok Gavin, that's quite an idea alright. Wish all those surfboarding buffs get to find your site in time. Best regards.


Demet

[GavinSurfer]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

Ok Gavin, that's quite an idea alright. Wish all those surfboarding buffs get to find your site in time. Best regards.


Demet

Hi
You've lost me. Was that a compliment or a criticism? I'm open to criticism but I'm not sure what you're getting at.

[Collectors-info]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

Hi
What do you mean by "standard menu"?

Should have said consistent menu. When you go to some pages there are phrases between the menus. When you go to another there are buttons in different places. Only a personal thing, but was never a lover of menu buttons disappearing from the actual page that they refer to. But! It’s all personal choice.

[Scythian]

Re: How to build your own surfboard - Review please

Hi Gavin !

Don't worry, everything's fine,
especially when you tell us you know what you're doing,
displaying -like a teaser- only eight pages, out of fourty.

Now we all understand better.
We were all afraid you were displaying the totality of your work.

As for the selling of a hard-copy, here, you seem like you're discouraged about selling it
as a virtual document/ebook/digital good...

The ebook-selling-like system is not that difficult to install.
Furthermore, having it working on your site would be much less
-if at all- expensive, than selling hard-copies/hard-ware.

Don't get discouraged, and for your sake, do some search about installing a pdf download page.
That's all you need to sell your pdf file/pdf document/ebook.

Once you've done that, you'll feel releashed.
And as "they" say throughout the internet, you'd "make money even while sleeping".

Which means :
once you've got a digital product on a download page,
people buy it, get access to it, actually get it, without you doing anything.

This is something you can achieve with BlueVoda.

Sorry for being so long...