The Business of Software

Hello crew,

I just went live with my product's website at www.flashmybrain.com and I'm starting to see some traffic through my advertising.  I'm delighted at the number of people hitting the order page but frustrated at how few actually fill out an order.  Opinions on the aesthetics and design of the website would be appreciated, as well as any thoughts on how I might be turning people away or how this is totally normal.

maybe a more colorfull website?

I get the following error in IE 6 on your front page:

Line: 556
Error: 'undefined' is null or not an object

Good points ... fixed that JS issue.  Scriptaculous wires got crossed.  And quite right about the lack of color -- though I hesitate to put more in without rethinking the whole color scheme and design.

For what its worth, when viewing your website using Safari on the Mac, most of your pages display only the header and footer with a full-page gap in between. The HTML divs are clearly there when I view source, so perhaps it's a stylesheet issue.

I realize you may not be interested in catering to Mac users, but I figured I'd mention it.

Your video tour is nice.

It looks to me that people are going to the order page to just find out what the price is.

Just a few quick observations....

Too much text on the introduction page.

Is there a downloadable demo I can try out? For this type of product I think this is essential.

My first reaction was "why is this better that writing my own in Word?" I wasn't immediately obvious. It was only when I started watching the video did I start understand a bit more about the product.

If I were a teacher at a school I would be looking for specific purchasing information. How many licences would I have to buy to use it at school? Would each class member need to use the software package to get the benefit, or is it worth buying 1 licence and print the cards for the class?

I personally would prefer to see bulk purchase prices up front rather than emailing for a specific quote.

I wonder if Google Shop is puting people off. This is the first time I've seen it and I can't say I was inspired.

IMO if you can get the shop to have the same look and feel as your Web site it delivers a much better message to the buyer.

Integrating "Buy Now" directly into your app (which eSellerate provide) is even better again. I use both in Surfulater.

Works on Safari/Mac now.

You did a good job with the ad copy; and layed it out on the page well. It's in manageable chunks; with good visual aids, so it's not overwhelming.

Did you read any particular books to help you get the ad copy right, or did you just work from scratch/experience?

Thanks for the input, people.  It's been very helpful.

Google checkout: It is -so- easy to set up, and it's not paypal, and it's essentially free with AdWords.  As a uISVer it has been a positive experience.  A proper store is coming in the future.

The color comment is an insight that had escaped me.  I'm confident in the design statement of the website -- it's a bit busy with the text and links, but I like light text on dark as a way to stand out.  The actual web community and software is dark on light, as usability suggests.

There is no downloadable version!  Shock. Well I hate trial software.  There's crippleware which leaves a negative impression of the software, and then there's honorware which doesn't encourage buying.  I want Flash My Brain to have a positive buying experience -- put down your money and you get something totally sweet. 

As for the ad copy, I keep cutting fat away to get to plainer descriptions of the software.  If what the software does is cool, then tell what it does, and shouldn't that be enough?  Still more I can do on that front.

Thanks again for looking at my hard work.  I think the next iteration of the website will have a simpler and more obvious navigation scheme and introduce some flash-demo/video material into the targeted pages. (Right after I finish enabling Tibetan and Georgian scripts!) Preachin' the gospel of Flash My Brain!

Charlie

"There is no downloadable version!  Shock. Well I hate trial software.  There's crippleware which leaves a negative impression of the software, and then there's honorware which doesn't encourage buying.  I want Flash My Brain to have a positive buying experience -- put down your money and you get something totally sweet."

This is just so wrong.

No one buys a car without a test drive these days, or at the very least being able to see it in the flesh. If someone says that you can't test drive a car first, you're going to be very suspicious and probably walk away.

You're telling your potential customers you have something to hide.

You need to be more transparent.

Is it so wrong?  It was my hope that with full description and a video demonstration that I could get customers excited enough about the product.  Indeed, it has to some extent, but I'm not claiming victory.

The test drive analogy can apply to my thinking too -- when you test drive the Mercedes you're given a Yugo and told to imagine how great the real thing would be.  Or you're given a Mercedes proper to take for a spin and you get all your fancy-car-driving out of you, all done!

Well. I'm thinking about how to do a demo version that would get people excited about buying and using the product.  I just want to avoid what I call frustrationware.

"The test drive analogy can apply to my thinking too -- when you test drive the Mercedes you're given a Yugo and told to imagine how great the real thing would be."

This wouldn't happen and for good reason. That's why most people prefer time limited demos (test drive the real thing) rather than cripple ware.

"Or you're given a Mercedes proper to take for a spin and you get all your fancy-car-driving out of you, all done!"

If someone is satisfied by a short spin, then so be it, they're obviously not going to be a customer anyway. But if the customer has got the desire to buy a car in that price bracket, they're definitely going to want to test something very similar to what they intend to use for a considerable time after purchase.

"Well. I'm thinking about how to do a demo version that would get people excited about buying and using the product.  I just want to avoid what I call frustrationware."

Time limit, 10, 15 or 30 days.

Maybe a "UNREGISTERED" water mark or similar mechanism that allows you to fully appreciate the product, but reminds you that you'll be having to pay up at some point.