Recommendation Site

J

Jamie_Ramsamy

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Hi,

I've launched a recommondation site called, wait for it, "Recommend Me!" www.recommendme.co.za

I've noticed that even though people LOVE visiting the site and looking through the listings, convincing people AND businesses, to actually list is difficult.
Site traffic is unusually high but I can't understand how to get people to list stuff.

Any ideas on how to convince people to list?

Cheers,
Jamie

_ _
Word of Mouth Goes Online www.recommendme.co.za
 
A few things.

Where do I recommend? Sure thing, I know, but I had to view the site for 3 minutes before knowing how to add a listing.
Fonts. Your fonts suck, quite plainly. I've got a high end Samsung Monitor and your fonts aren't uniform (the same throughout) and the text quality looks broken (blocky and disoriented). Choose a smooth font, size and type and use it throughout the site (the Times Roman thing is old age).

Site Layout, not functional.

Read online especially from seasoned Web Developers that people do not Read websites, we scan them, and thereby we get the content that we need. To read a website, like yours, implies effort and makes me click the Close button.

I'd like to be as critical as possible. Make the RecommendMe the focal point of your website. Like Facebook's Like, Google +1 button, Twitter's tweet button, your RecommendMe button should be sophisticated and clearly visible, so I can click it and start the recommend procedure.

Ciao,
tera
 
I would recommend that you cut down on the information on the frontpage.
There is no need for a Google Map (especially one that shows the world when your site is focused on SA).
A twitter feed may be cool in the future, but you dont need it now.
For now, focus the site on its PRIMARY objective - its a directory / business list.
You also need more info on the site - go to elancer, vworker.com or a similar site and pay someone to actually populate your site with more listings
By the way - T3 is cool!
 
excellent feedback!

Thanks! I'd really appreciate more critical feedback since any feedback is good feedback.
I'm a private individual with a normal day job so I really can't afford paying someone to populate the site.
Is there a place where I can buy a database of businesses which I can then import into the site?


In surmising what I've seen above I am correct in saying that the homepage should be:
a) less busy
b) the Logo and the Recommend buttons be more prominent to make it a defining feature?
c) change fonts (any particular font that would be appropriate?)
d) Lose the World View and make is just SA or lose it entirely?

Primary focus to POPULATE the database since it's sparse at best?

I have another question of vital importance,
What mechanisms would make this sort of site go viral? I've added post to Facebook features, but that really has't gone the way I'd hoped. I've run out of ideas and even my Facebook page www.facebook.com/recommendme has stopped increasing rapidly. It appears I've hit the saturation point.
 
I think the most important question, which I should have asked at the start of this project, IS THIS SITE NECESSARY? Is it something that people want/need?
 
Jamie_Ramsamy said:
I think the most important question, which I should have asked at the start of this project, IS THIS SITE NECESSARY? Is it something that people want/need?
Click to expand...

Short answer is no.

But we like to give our opinions. That's why sites like WOMF and Hellopeter exist. People would like to give their opinions on service levels or companies as well as promote their own businesses (free and paid options here).

The process to give a recommendation need to be streamlined, short, sweet and to the point. That's why I suggested having a feature just like the Google +1 and Facebook Like buttons. This would be an easy way to have a company like Vodacom and people +1 their service and write a short description of why, or alternatively why not.

I see great potential for your site and I've seen far worse directory listing sites, so don't feel offended by my comments (I know you aren't though).

Do not focus on populating your site if the site isn't functioning according to it's purpose, then it makes more work later on. Fix the layout, aesthetic features of the site and then think of adding content to it.

Fonts, layout, design all that jazz is up to you. It should supplement your entire site theme, so read online for best practices here.

It's trial and error unfortunately, but all the best to you :)
 
Will do!
If anybody else has any comments or feedback, I'd really appreciate - go wild!

btw, I've noticed that there's a site in the US and now, elsewhere internationally, called Yelp.com is doing rather well. What sets them apart from others like HellePeter.com?
 
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