On 4/2/2013 8:59 AM, Craig R. wrote:
If they can generate additional traffic through their “store” and
increase sales by requiring exclusivity on used glider for sale ads,
I’m all for it.

"IF" is the operative word here. How often do glider pilots buy or sell
a used glider? The last time I did that was 18 years ago, and I didn't
advertise anywhere but our regional newsletter, finally selling it to an
out-of-state friend by word-of-mouth. A lot more people, like me, buy
instruments, soaring computers, tape, tires, and other stuff every year,
and Tim's used glider ads aren't getting us to his site.

Personally, I like Tim, and I've bought things from him for many years,
but his site is the last place I go when I'm looking for stuff. It's
worse than unattractive because of the slapped together, multi-colored
"style", and hard to read with everything center-justified. A few
times, when I really wanted to peruse a page, I've put the page into an
html editor so I could re-format it before it made me nuts.

I think Tim is focusing on a tree (exclusive glider ads) and not the
forest (his overall business). I hope he finds somebody with the ability
to design a website that's attractive and easy to use, then takes their
advice!

Next step: make it more informative. "Informative" is why I always start
at Cumulus Soaring, but Wings & Wheels doesn't have to match that, just
do better than now.

Finally, talk to that web person about website statistics, so he can see
how many people are coming to his site, what they are looking at, when
they bail out and when they complete a purchase instead. If it's
possible, he could start with statistics for his current site. It might
be a real eye-opener, and would also let him measure the changes in
traffic and the number buying.

My guess is lots of people click in but leave soon after. But why guess
when statistics are easy to get?

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)