northwoodcandlecompany Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Hi. Just recently got a web site put up for our candle business - NorthWood Candle Company and would like some feedback on the site. We can understand the layout, but we designed it - so looking for some input from an outsiders view before we decide to do much in terms of promotion. any feedback you have would be appreciated. www.NorthWoodCandleCompany.com is the site address.Thank You!-Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nursenancy Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 There are a few things that jump out at me, but the one thing I would definitely change is to have a drop down menu with the scent choices. Pretty simple to do even with paypal buttons. People would much rather click than type and you have to scroll back up to the scent choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernadette Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Good start, but one thing you really need is more info about you. As a potential customer, all I would know is your city. Even your contact us requests my email, phone number, etc., but no phone number to call you, no email. Many people will not buy from someone they know anything about. :tiptoe: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwoodcandlecompany Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 thanks for the feedback. we had originally tried using a drop down menu with paypal, but it had limited it to 10 choices. we've started looking at other shopping cart options, but for now, i wasn't sure of any other way to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwoodcandlecompany Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 i guess the contact information and about us page was something that was really just overlooked. looking at it from a customer standpoint, you're right. i wouldn't just want to send my money to some web site from somewhere either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAgirl89 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I used the drop down menus from PayPal. I had to add more choices to my menu by editing the HTML code of the form field of the drop down menu. I had over 40 scents listed on my drop down menu, but I had to manual edit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernadette Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Brian, glad to see you added contact info. You may be surprised also, now that you've added it. I've had a website for over 10 years. In the past six months, I've had more phone in orders than I can tell you. They are all new customers. One was from a very "ritzy" social club that told me it would be a yearly order, and it was large. Don't know the reason why, but I think you will be glad you added a phone number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwoodcandlecompany Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 pagirl89 - thank you for the information, I've used paypal for quite a while, but am fairly new with the 'cart' feature. I'll have to see if I can figure out how to add the html, which shouldn't be too hard.bernadette, thanks for the follow-upI wasn't quite sure what to expect when signing up for this forum, as it is my first experience with one, but i'm glad people actually taken to provide constructive feedback. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerina Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Far as the nit-picky stuff... it's actually pretty tight. I didn't go through it letter by letter like I would if you were paying me, lol... but I skimmed it pretty well and only found a few minor errors. The text on the Candlescapes page: You've made what appears to the reader as two paragraphs out of 3 sentences. I could be extra tired right now, but it seems like a whole lot of run on sentence that you could break down a bit more. On the Ordering Info page: The text about PayPal states, 'Orders are processed through PayPal to insure you information is kept secure.' Just need to add the 'r'.And lastly... and probably not that big of deal and super nit-picky.... The text at the bottom of the Container Candles page: It's not the title of anything so I don't understand the capitalization of every main word. I would either cap them all (including the minor words 'and' & 'to') or only the first letter in the sentence. But that is more of a stylistic thing I suppose; so if you like it, keep it. I love the colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwoodcandlecompany Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Blazerina - Always nice to have another set of eyes. Planning on working on the small details this week and getting everything fine tuned. Thanks for taking the time to look it over. Glad you liked the colors - it was the one thing we were really unsure about and hadn't heard much about. Now, on to the marketing side of things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SliverOfWax Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Well, someone has to do it...Why the paraffin bashing and why the false claims about soy?Soy candles offer countless benefits to promote a healthy lifestyle. Fact: Paraffin wax is made from left over crude oil, straight from the 'bottom of the barrel'. When a paraffin candle is being burned, it's constantly producing carcinogens and other toxins known to cause cancer.Soy wax is not only non-toxic and 100% natural, it's grown in the USA! Soy wax is a renewable resource, supporting the American farm industry. Soy wax retains it's strong scent, and will burn twice as long as a standard paraffin candle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I have to agree with Sliver on that. I went to the soy page and was appalled by what I read.This is the same garbage that keeps getting rehashed over and over ever since soy came on the scene and is pure nonsense. A lot of it was started by soy industry reps to promote and make soy appear 'healthy' and 'natural' and to bash parrafin making it appear toxic and cancer causing ad nauseum. Now that palm wax has come on the scene I am seeing it start to go thru similar bashing.If you intend to stay in the candle biz you need to do a lot more investigating and learn more about the pros and cons of the waxes you are claiming to know about.Sorry but I will not get on the bandwagon of anyone promoting lies, half truth, and nonsense. This is exactly the sort of thing that brings down all candlemakers and makes customers mistrust us and handcrafted candles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 WOW!Gotta agree with Sliver and Candybee. This statement right here turns me off. And I pour soy and soyblend candles. I would never tell customers this...because how do I know it is REALLY true. I think the word "constantly" definitely need to be removed. But...IMHO I wouldn't make any of these type of claims. When a paraffin candle is being burned, it's constantly producing carcinogens and other toxins known to cause cancer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brudil18 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I agree with Silver and the others. There is no factual information to support the claims about parrafin wax causing cancer. Plain and simple wax bashing never looks good.Strictly from a business standpoint. Focus needs to be on the benefits of your candles, not why others may be bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerina Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 ... and it's not like fo's, wicks and dyes... no matter how 'Premium', are all natural and GOOD FOR YOU as they burn either. :-) Just saying. I was waiting for someone to say something, lol. I'm surprised it took so long. We are all very friendly but this comes up so very often and is a big topic of discussion around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsbennis Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Is it really neccessary to bash a wax in order to sell your candles? I would think that scare tactics are probably not the best way to promote yourself or your company but I see this all the time. Seriously what would happen if the bashing were not on the website, would the candles not sell? If that is the case then I feel bad that some companies feel the need to promote through fear. IDK...just my opinion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsbennis Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) Hey Brian, I realized that after I re-read what I wrote it may have come across a little harsh. Sorry about that, I was really just making a general comment and not personally against you. My response was just frustration from comments that I have seen on many soy candle sites, just think tactics like that are unneccessary to sell candles.(but thats just my opinion) Maybe just point out the positives of soy without bashing another wax. Anyway, not meant as an attack against you personally. :tiptoe: Edited January 10, 2011 by lsbennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwoodcandlecompany Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Wow, I didn't realize this was such a hot topic of discussion around here. Pretty much any place I've looked on soy candle web sites, they have a page dedicated to this. I wasn't sure how much to push this part on the site, but it appears it should be very minimally, if at all. I could also go back and do more research, siting the sources of the information, although when doing the research orginally, I was reading articles from doctors, candle manufacturers, and and others that should be knowledeable - or so I thought. I know personally, after learning the process of making a paraffin wax candle, you won't find them around my home. But, ok. Suggestions taken, and we'll see what changes we can make in the next day or 2.Sorry for the delay in response, I didn't realize there was a 2nd page of comments. I'm new around this site. But enjoying/appreciating the feedback. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwoodcandlecompany Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 After just a quick review of the page, I'm thinking a better option would be to eliminate the 'paraffin bashing' part, and focus simply on the benefits of a soy wax candle in general - not compared to anything. And why we feel our product is a great option.Yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsbennis Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 After just a quick review of the page, I'm thinking a better option would be to eliminate the 'paraffin bashing' part, and focus simply on the benefits of a soy wax candle in general - not compared to anything. And why we feel our product is a great option.Yes? Great Idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I think you are NOW on the right track Northwood. Let the public/customers decide. It's one thing for a customer to say they don't like paraffin or soy candles...but IMHO a business shouldn't be "bashing" another company to sell their products. Maybe think of it this way. You don't see the big candle companies knocking each others candles..at least I never have. I used to burn Yank## candles all of the time and didn't realize there was a way to prevent black soot from covering the whole jar...lol. I've burned Village Candles, Partylite candles and a local candle company's (OOB now) candles before I started pouring my own. I determined what was good or bad about each companies candles. Glad to see you have taken the posts in a good way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwantItgreen Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Northwoods, here is a website that is very informative and non-biased about paraffin and natural waxes. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
se2653 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Will you be selling fragrance oils, wax, and candle making supplies also? It would be nice to have a supplier to close, as I am in the same town. I am just starting out making candles and lotions, so still researching good supply companies out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwoodcandlecompany Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 se2653. interesting that there are other people in the area using this message board. depending on what quantity of fragrance oils you were looking for, we could possibly work out something together. feel free to contact us from our website and we could discuss this further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsbennis Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Hey Brian, I read the changes that you made and it sounds great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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