OK car guys - is our website clear?

[cstreit]

Hey all, we recently "re platformed" our website and after 15 years of staring at menus, products, and thinking about how car guys might shop and navigate - I've lost all objectivity. I could use a 3rd party opinion.

To set the stage - a large portion of our business comes from three things:

1. Big Brake Kits
2. Replacement pads and rotors for the same
3. Other service parts

I want to know if finding these things is clear - and/or where the low hanging "its too confusing" fruit is? I just can't be objective any more and my techie friends aren't all car people so they can't help (as most of our customers are DIY car guys).

https://alconkits.com - Don't hold back.

Are there too many ways to get to want you want? Not enough?
Do I need to talk more about who we are and why you would choose us? ...or is it legit enough I don't need to waste the real estate?
What am I missing that you would want?

[john70t]

The rebate header is overwhelming large on my laptop. Yikes.
Models covered is good. The third "Shop Now" is not relative and redundant to the two others on that page.

The main pull-down bar should be more pronounced and not disappear when scrolling down.

Need a "Alcon is the leader in performance kits blah blah" boast. Reviews and testimonials are good.

On "Shop by make" tab, Volkwagen is hidden at the bottom and requires extra scrolling. But then that menu disappears with a scroll wheel notch too far.

Do the kits fit all OEM wheels? Extra hardware required? Links to aftermarket affiliate if not. Links to DIY youtube channels. Manufacturer install specs. Proven performance gains if applicable.

"Myth or real" is tech info and squeezed into the other three shopping links. Maybe expand tech and common problems section.

Everything else (menu/photos) look good to me.

[Magyar Kiwi]

Some very small details:
Main Menu "Contact" leads to e mail form, missing phone/sms number and address?
Main Menu "Support" drop down includes "Sizing Guides" which is on the Main Menu anyway ?
Shop, "Tools and Supplies" "Brake Fluid" Headings have Volumes, in oz, or ml, or litres, or not provided at all.
Shop, "Tools and Supplies" "Brake Fluid" Second "View As" format has no pricing visible.
Shop, "Tools and Supplies" "Brake Tools" and "Brake Bleeding" have four items each. suggest combine.
Also "Shop by Make" I couldn't get to bottom of the Makes drop down, as reported above.
Seems like shopping for Upgrade Kits would be easy.

[unclebilly]

Why bother with photos of thr brake kits when the photo is the same for every application?

I prefer the layout and architecture of the rock place’s website.

[Alan A]

You lost me when your header was half my screen on the iPad, but as I scroll I see the designer used the Amazon throw everything including the kitchen sink on the landing page in the home something sticks method of ui design.

If I’m going to a brake vendor I don’t need testimonials or blog posts - it’s not a magazine.

[cstreit]

Thanks everyone. The menu is the thing that worries me the most. I feel like its too much real estate but its somewhat "fixed" in terms of design.

There are some great tips in here.

UncleBilly - 80% of our traffic comes from Google and the person lands on a product rather than browsing. So they only see the one picture. Looks weird when browsing but with the alternative of No Picture, not sure what else I could do there...

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by Alan A

You lost me when your header was half my screen on the iPad, but as I scroll I see the designer used the Amazon throw everything including the kitchen sink on the landing page in the home something sticks method of ui design. If I’m going to a brake vendor I don’t need testimonials or blog posts - it’s not a magazine.

Well you're talking to a car guy who is also the "designer" and knows little about UI design.

Our informational pages generate a lot of reads and cross-sells, as well as SEO Rank. Since they're below the fold I figured it kept the page fresh for SEO. Is there a better way>?

[Jeff Alton]

Not sure the search function works that well....

Put in year/make/model and only some parts. Change the Y/M/M to a car that has the same front brakes (think 987 vs 997) and more options pop up.

I can send you an email Chris to discuss, love the products.

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alton

Not sure the search function works that well....

Jeff, that would be super helpful. Are you referring to the search bar, or the YMM lookup?

Appreciate all the ideas everyone, keep them coming! Naturally I know how to navigate and find everything - so I've lost all objectivity so your fresh eyes are so helpful.

The YMM function for us us 100% manual so undoubtedly not perfect as it relies on this guy to maintain. Our catalog isnt so extensive that a subscription to ACES and PIES (YMM mapping for SKU's) is warranted yet.

Made changes based on your feedback.

- Lowered banner footprint.
- Got rid of dissappearing drop down menu
- Changed the "Shop by Make" to two columns for better visibility.

This is challenging because a lot of the items we carry are compatible across many platforms - and others are VERY specific. Its a high-touch purchase in many cases because items that aren't specific to a year/make/model may look compatible, but may not be.

[wildthing]

There are "user experience" (UX) designers these days that are employed by either marketing teams or online stores. I've never used them, but I hear this is their area of expertise...

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by wildthing

There are "user experience" (UX) designers these days that are employed by either marketing teams or online stores. I've never used them, but I hear this is their area of expertise...

Thanks. I'm definitely aware of UI/UX as I'm in tech by trade, but I'm also a cheap SOB. Hmmm, intern perhaps?

[schamp]

Remarks above much better than mine. Looks good to me. I want to change the entire brakes on a
GMC 1997 Yukon Xl with 6.5 Diesel. It has hydra boost and it will not stop. Would like to go to a traditional vacuum system. Will change whatever to make it stop. Thanks

[David]

Looks good to me. I've found this site before when looking for Tundra brakes not realizing it was your site. Now I just need to find an extra $4100 laying around for the brake kit

Reminds me of a brake question: A friend has a Saleen F150 that came with a Saleen big brake kit but Saleen could not get them to work without too much ABS intervention so they took them off. Any idea what the problem is and is it solvable?

[cstreit]

Honestly I didn't come here to try and pitch our website on our hosts platform. Just know I get a good density of smart car guys who know I'm not just some schlub off the street for honest opinions.

Schamp - I don't really have anything for your application. We only cover the latest gen Yukon.

David, drop me a line - I can try and work something out for a fellow long-time Pelican.

THe Saleen question is an interesting one. That could be quite a few different things. To date I've seen:

1. Changes in ABS rings to accomodate upgraded suspensions that messed up the computer.
2. Tire sizes that did the same
3. Weird selection of brake pads because they only upgraded the front, left the rears as ceramic stock.

Do you know which calipers he uses? Roush and Saleen both used Alcon's periodically in their builds. He can always send us some pics. I've got some contacts there I could reach out to.

[einreb]

Chris,

Bottom navigation support link goes to https://alconkits.com/#

I'm not much of a car guy or good at UI so no comment there.

The one thing that may be nice is some reference on the contact page as to where you're located? I realize this may be a nebulous subject given the nature of your business, but I'm often a little suspect of online sites with absolutely no reference (that I could find) as to where the folks are that I'm dealing with. Even just a vague reference to 'Chicago Suburbs" or 'Illinois Corp' etc. would add a little weight? Also understandable if you don't want that at all.

Cool to see what you've put together over the years with regards to that business and good reputation in general.

-Bernie

[wildthing]

Don't know if your target market uses mobile devices. (Recent stats show more than 50% of online sales are completed on mobile.)

The countdown banner takes up almost all of the screen.

[cstreit]

More good feedback. Thank you.

Bernie - thats not a bad idea. We have several locations now (co-lo space, etc.) but they aren't open to the public. Knowing we aren't in Indonesia or Andalusia is probably useful though. Appreciate the kind words. Trying to break through a ceiling in a nitch market post Covid has been hard. I don't want to dilute our brand with other things - but struggling with where expansion could make sense.

Wildthing - this is actually part of the reason we re-platformed. Our old site was a little awkward on mobile and we made a sum total of ZERO sales for 5 years on mobile. Now 60% of our checkouts are via mobile. I can only hope thats additive in some way. That countdown is short term to drive urgency. I know its a lot of phone real-estate but these deadlines are proven winners for us. It will dissapear in 2 days. Wish I could make it smaller though, but I cant.

[wildthing]

These banners are smaller is all I'm saying: https://www.names.co.uk/blog/website-builder-widget-of-the-week-countdown-widget/

vs. this is what it looks like on FF on MBP 2023:

[cstreit]

Thanks for the tip. We're using the widget provided by the platform but I've managed to create one thats less real-estate.

[john70t]

Uh don't make it too small and ignore the details.
Everyone likes a sale.