Suggestions on the Website

[Scottinboca]

You said it, not me!!!
Maybe a better way to bring up this issue you are having, is to make a thread about difficulties navigating the GV website. I personally don't think it's a good idea to go on a vendors sub-forum and call their website "awful". I'm not a gv fanboy or even like gv products, but most people have the etiquette not to do that. Just IMO!

Really? I guess I am just stupid.

 

[trevor148]

While were discussing the web site you might want to remove items from the product showcase on the home page that you no longer sell. I noticed the cryptonite 8 and a few others.

 

[Hello World]

Just went to GV for the first time, and here is what I noted:

* Slow page loading times. (Not too bad, but noticeable)

* Pages a little too cluttered with products for my liking. (Too advert-heavy)

* Too much stuff sold out.

* No top dog Genesis RBAs (Personal preference only)

I had no problems navigating the site or finding items I was searching for. Even went through a dummy ordering process, and this site is pretty much on par with others.

The website layout is not the best but also not the worst, and would not be the first site nor the last I would visit. But, due to the incessant complaints in the negative review section, I do not have the company bookmarked as a vendor I buy from, and may, or may not consider them as a last resort depending on the cost of the item. $20 might be as much as I would wager on a wrong or faulty item shipped to me.

 

[PONKAW]

I am open to hear them out (actually would be appreciative of it) and we can see what we can do to help in that area.

For me one of the biggest issues is all the proprietary items and labels. I know a company needs to stand out, but it can be a bit off-putting if i have to do research on the web to find out what Gotvapes calls a "stardust" or "vivi nova", etc. For me it's not necessarily the navigating... but the deciphering. (not really your fault)
I can appreciate your very quick response and awesome customer service!
Don

 

[junkman]

I'd do anything to make it easier to navigate. For those of you who may be having trouble do you have any suggestions?

Right now the way I have it is, major categories, then you drill down. For instance if you are looking for a Stardust: It's a cartomizer, so you click the main category on the left that says Cartomizers. You then have choices there. Since it is an ego cartomizer you go to the ego cartomizer category. Once you click on that link you have all of our ego type of cartomizers contained there such as: Stardusts, Kanger (T2, T3, T5), AlphaStars, SMOKtech ReDuX, etc. In each of those categories you also have the changeable heads so you don't have to search for those.

Then lets say you are looking for something that isn't a battery or a cartomoizer or a tank. If you look through the main categories you might imagine those miscellaneous vaping supplies might be there in the Atomizer and Accessories category, there you might find the eGo chargers, batteries, ego holders, ego lanyards, juicing supplies and so on.

If all else fails the search box works really really well.

We used to have the left hand navigation column that became quite a jumble and we decided to consolidate it. If any of you have any suggestions that woudl make it easier I am open to hear them out (actually would be appreciative of it) and we can see what we can do to help in that area.

I think maybe the search is the problem, because like I said, search for chargers and you don't really find chargers. Maybe it was just this item, but I don't think so, cause I think I had the same issue on other items.

Maybe it comes down to being much more stringent on what you code for the search categories. If search chargers, I shouldn't get 19 results in front of a USB car charger that are not chargers.

I think you are right in general, the few general items to the left with drill down from there. And it is probably ok as is, but need a category for batteries and chargers and everything would be cool. Throwing chargers under atomizers and accessories kind of throws me. I guess chargers could be considered accessories, but I thought it meant atomizers and accessories thereto. LOL maybe if you put a batteries/chargers link you will sell much more batteries and chargers.

Sorry for being critical. Just I have been frustrated searching on the site in the past, then someone else posted about it and I felt like I should say something.

 

[AG51]

I'd do anything to make it easier to navigate. For those of you who may be having trouble do you have any suggestions?

Right now the way I have it is, major categories, then you drill down. For instance if you are looking for a Stardust: It's a cartomizer, so you click the main category on the left that says Cartomizers. You then have choices there. Since it is an ego cartomizer you go to the ego cartomizer category. Once you click on that link you have all of our ego type of cartomizers contained there such as: Stardusts, Kanger (T2, T3, T5), AlphaStars, SMOKtech ReDuX, etc. In each of those categories you also have the changeable heads so you don't have to search for those.

Then lets say you are looking for something that isn't a battery or a cartomoizer or a tank. If you look through the main categories you might imagine those miscellaneous vaping supplies might be there in the Atomizer and Accessories category, there you might find the eGo chargers, batteries, ego holders, ego lanyards, juicing supplies and so on.

If all else fails the search box works really really well.

We used to have the left hand navigation column that became quite a jumble and we decided to consolidate it. If any of you have any suggestions that woudl make it easier I am open to hear them out (actually would be appreciative of it) and we can see what we can do to help in that area.

Seems to me here Dan is asking if there's any suggestions as to how to make it better................. Well ??? Anybody ??? Amazes me how some people can cut others down but can't lend an idea or a hand to improve the situation

 

[dannoman]

Thanks for the advertisement on the GotVapes site. As a noob looking for a carto tank and some cartos to go with it, I was having a heck of a time knowing which cartos would go with the SmokTech tanks. GotVapes has the cartos on the same page as the tanks (imagine that!).

FWIW, I have no trouble at all on the site, there are good graphics and photos that are not overwhelming. Navigation is a snap and I know where I will be placing my next (tank) order from.

Exactly - I have often shopped at almost EVERY other site out there including all the biggies. You go to their consummables that take replacements and look how hard it is to find the heads, replacement cartos for the tanks and so on. We put them in the SAME category and page so they are easy to find. AKAIK we are the only ones who do that. Thank you for pointing that out. That is done purposely with forethought for the customer, we try to list items that are directly related together.

It took me about 4 clicks with 1 wrong turn to get an ego charger and I've only ordered twice from here.
I can think of a different web site that tried to improve things and made them worse. I don't want to have to reset my account or learn a new layout or have zoom in to pictures never work again cause a couple people got frustrated. I would also dislike 100 categories on the left of start page like another site. Maybe change the picture of ego chargers to an ego charger but that is about it.

Again, exactly, on some sites you go cross-eyed looking through a lonngggg list on your left (with cartos and tanks and batteries/mods possibly being in one of multitude places)...we try to keep it simple by using a drill-down approach.


***********************************************************************************************
With that said though we are actually excited to get suggestions. But I appreciate these two posts because they aptly point out a couple of the main features we have that were purposely done and thought through to actually make things EASIER.

 

[junkman]

Just went to GV for the first time, and here is what I noted:

* Slow page loading times. (Not too bad, but noticeable)

* Pages a little too cluttered with products for my liking. (Too advert-heavy)

* Too much stuff sold out.

* No top dog Genesis RBAs (Personal preference only)

I had no problems navigating the site or finding items I was searching for. Even went through a dummy ordering process, and this site is pretty much on par with others.

The website layout is not the best but also not the worst, and would not be the first site nor the last I would visit. But, due to the incessant complaints in the negative review section, I do not have the company bookmarked as a vendor I buy from, and may, or may not consider them as a last resort depending on the cost of the item. $20 might be as much as I would wager on a wrong or faulty item shipped to me.

I will say that everything I have ordered was correctly delivered and I had what I thought was a problem with one item and they offered to replace it with quick customers service, but turned out to have been ok, (just some fluke on a battery not charging but tried again and worked.)

So, I can't fault them for customer service at all. I liked their products, but just never got the hang of being able to shop on the site.

 

[dannoman]

No but thank you, lol its just your OP thread title isn't so chariming but we're all grown-ups we'll make the best of it

Maybe it might not be a bad idea to pull out a couple of those out from under accessories but again, I am trying to keep it as simple and uncluttered in that area as I can. I want someone to be able to KNOW that they are in the right main category. You will absolutely know for instance, if looking for the chargers, that it wouldn't be in the other cats. But with that said I actually DO go through the trouble sometimes of creating shortcut links to related products out of the accessories category that may have a direct correlation to a product you may be purchasing say, in the e-cig kits area, such as compatible batteries for that mod you want - thats when I can find the time that is!!

I think maybe the search is the problem, because like I said, search for chargers and you don't really find chargers. Maybe it was just this item, but I don't think so, cause I think I had the same issue on other items.

Maybe it comes down to being much more stringent on what you code for the search categories. If search chargers, I shouldn't get 19 results in front of a USB car charger that are not chargers.

I think you are right in general, the few general items to the left with drill down from there. And it is probably ok as is, but need a category for batteries and chargers and everything would be cool. Throwing chargers under atomizers and accessories kind of throws me. I guess chargers could be considered accessories, but I thought it meant atomizers and accessories thereto. LOL maybe if you put a batteries/chargers link you will sell much more batteries and chargers.

Sorry for being critical. Just I have been frustrated searching on the site in the past, then someone else posted about it and I felt like I should say something.

 

[dannoman]

Ironically Don, those names you cited? They are household names now but those were OUR original names. So when we put Stardust on a product, know that we were the first to champion that particular product and make it well known then it gets copied around. Other sites may just use eGo Clearomizer because they respect our trademarked name Stardust. Nevertheless, usually just a quick glance at the title on the product page also reiterates that it is an ego clearomizer which is done for search purposes. And then of course, no one does beauty shots like GotVapes - we do that for the customer (its takes ALOT of time when we could simply swipe a stock manufacturer photo or two). Each product page usually has a plethora of original photography that expressly shows you without a doubt, and from every angle, what you are getting.

Vivi Nova - thats actually what we call it on our site, so we don't have a proprietary name for that at all. But again, inronically! (haha), did you know that the ViVi Nova name was coined by GotVapes? Max from Vision asked us to help him with a name for the product. Chris and I commiserated, then took it to our helpers thread on skype and thats how the name 'ViVi Nova' came about

Its trivia time at GotVapes!!

For me one of the biggest issues is all the proprietary items and labels. I know a company needs to stand out, but it can be a bit off-putting if i have to do research on the web to find out what Gotvapes calls a "stardust" or "vivi nova", etc. For me it's not necessarily the navigating... but the deciphering. (not really your fault)
I can appreciate your very quick response and awesome customer service!
Don

 

[nathkiira]

just my 2cents .. maybe give atomizers its own section in the menu ..and change "atomizers and accessories" to "Accessories and chargers"

or make the cartomizer link "cartomizers and atomizers"

=)

(still patiently waiting for the atomizer restock )

 

[dannoman]

Thank you Hello World (You must be a C programmer )

I hope you arent experiencing slow page loading as we just upgarded to a dedicated server that is running us about 3X's the cost of what we had before, a dedicated server at a state of the art facility, with state of the art specs. Let me know if you see this on a regular basis or others see it and I will submit a ticket to them.

We carry a ton of product and when it gets sold out we leave the page up so people can put in a Back In Stock notify. But we are also working with China, long lead times on somethings to get them back in stock. THEN, there are those products that show out of stock that we are not necessarily going to restock, we are moving on past them or thinking about it and so not ready to make a decision to restock until Chris and I can put our heads together on it. Generally speaking, on the major products such as Vision stuff, Joyetech and the such, we don't go out as stock as much anymore and try to buy in heavier bulk.

Just went to GV for the first time, and here is what I noted:

* Slow page loading times. (Not too bad, but noticeable)

* Pages a little too cluttered with products for my liking. (Too advert-heavy)

* Too much stuff sold out.

* No top dog Genesis RBAs (Personal preference only)

I had no problems navigating the site or finding items I was searching for. Even went through a dummy ordering process, and this site is pretty much on par with others.

The website layout is not the best but also not the worst, and would not be the first site nor the last I would visit. But, due to the incessant complaints in the negative review section, I do not have the company bookmarked as a vendor I buy from, and may, or may not consider them as a last resort depending on the cost of the item. $20 might be as much as I would wager on a wrong or faulty item shipped to me.

 

[Ken62]

dannoman, I do have one request though, not about your website but your shipping systems. When I order vape gear, I want it delivered yesterday. Can you make that happen? If so, you will have customers knocking your virtual door down

 

[wacdenney]

I actually often have a hard time navigating the GV site also...

Since I am on pins and needles waiting for the CVI to drop I've been to the site every day the past week or so. At this point I have figured out where to look I think but it took some figuring. I originally looked for a category like "Advanced PV's" or "mods". The closest thing I could find was "Got Vapes Advanced". So I tried that, but that seems to be all the tanks that aren't listed in the "Got Vapes Tanks" category.

After not knowing where to look next I just started down the list. I think I have found all the mods together under "GV e-Cigarette Kits & Batteries" which seemed like a wierd grouping to me. I guess when I see kits I'm thinking cig-a-like kits for newbies.

Now I think I have figured out what I'm looking for and where to look, but it's definately a little awkward. I used to get overwhelmed by the branding a long time ago, but it doesn't seem to be as bad anymore. I think bottom line is that it is just setup quite differently than alot of other sites. Good or bad, idk...

I did try to find the evic short tubes earlier after seeing someone post pics of them interchanging with the CVI but I was unable to find them. No idea where to look.

 

[dannoman]

We're actually beta-ing a time flux capacitor as well as...drum roll please....an inanimate particle transporter system...mhm...details forthcoming maybe around the 1st of April....

dannoman, I do have one request though, not about your website but your shipping systems. When I order vape gear, I want it delivered yesterday. Can you make that happen? If so, you will have customers knocking your virtual door down

 

[dannoman]

I was actually thinking of pulling the 'mods' out of e-cig kits and batts but then people will get confused with that too soemtiems like, is the ego-t mod what some would consider a mod in the tradition since, etc...Does everyone know what APV really means? I mean alot of people call anything that is variable an APV and such, so I thought the best thing to do was put all PV's in one category then from there you use the ole drill down...but of course we'll look into breaking out anythign that requitres insertion of batetries, or 'mods' in its own cat. Maybe change that cat name to e-Cigarette PVs/Batteries/Mods (we do have a restriction on number of letters we can use without modding that area terribly!)...

I actually often have a hard time navigating the GV site also...

Since I am on pins and needles waiting for the CVI to drop I've been to the site every day the past week or so. At this point I have figured out where to look I think but it took some figuring. I originally looked for a category like "Advanced PV's" or "mods". The closest thing I could find was "Got Vapes Advanced". So I tried that, but that seems to be all the tanks that aren't listed in the "Got Vapes Tanks" category.

After not knowing where to look next I just started down the list. I think I have found all the mods together under "GV e-Cigarette Kits & Batteries" which seemed like a wierd grouping to me. I guess when I see kits I'm thinking cig-a-like kits for newbies.

Now I think I have figured out what I'm looking for and where to look, but it's definately a little awkward. I used to get overwhelmed by the branding a long time ago, but it doesn't seem to be as bad anymore. I think bottom line is that it is just setup quite differently than alot of other sites. Good or bad, idk...

I did try to find the evic short tubes earlier after seeing someone post pics of them interchanging with the CVI but I was unable to find them. No idea where to look.

 

[WallyO]

I'd do anything to make it easier to navigate. For those of you who may be having trouble do you have any suggestions?

Right now the way I have it is, major categories, then you drill down. For instance if you are looking for a Stardust: It's a cartomizer, so you click the main category on the left that says Cartomizers. You then have choices there. Since it is an ego cartomizer you go to the ego cartomizer category. Once you click on that link you have all of our ego type of cartomizers contained there such as: Stardusts, Kanger (T2, T3, T5), AlphaStars, SMOKtech ReDuX, etc. In each of those categories you also have the changeable heads so you don't have to search for those.

Then lets say you are looking for something that isn't a battery or a cartomoizer or a tank. If you look through the main categories you might imagine those miscellaneous vaping supplies might be there in the Atomizer and Accessories category, there you might find the eGo chargers, batteries, ego holders, ego lanyards, juicing supplies and so on.

If all else fails the search box works really really well.

We used to have the left hand navigation column that became quite a jumble and we decided to consolidate it. If any of you have any suggestions that woudl make it easier I am open to hear them out (actually would be appreciative of it) and we can see what we can do to help in that area.

I have a suggestion for your search. How about "search only title" or "description" or both. I just put in "charger". All I want to see are actual chargers, but you get everything that has charger in the description somewhere. That would clean up the searches tremendously. I am assuming if I searched for charger in title, all I would see is chargers. Make any sense?

 

[antfuzz]

I've spent the last several months building a website for a friend that has well over 200 products. Unless you try and do something like that you have no idea how difficult it can be set up a well thought out navigation system. You always want to be 4 clicks away in either direction.

The only thing that I dislike is the 3 columns. I think many may find it much easier to take in what's there if only 2 columns. Also I think having two columns cuts down on a lot of scrolling. I hate having to scroll down too far. But that's just me and my index finger.

The best thing I find about this site is the photography. In my opinion no other site has the quality eye candy that GotVapes has. Detailed photographs can make a big difference when a customer is looking at products.

 

[bssage]

Ok I'm kinda bored. So here is my 2 cents:

Awful is when my kid poops in the tub.

Awful is when the cat gets tangled up in the serpentine belt on the wifes car.

Awful is a red eye flight that boards 50 church camp adolescents.

Got Vapes is not Awful.

That said it is a little cluttered. I kinda like that because its a mini adventure. And I am easily entertained. I do stumble on new stuff when I search.

I do think it could be simplified. Like a just an exploded ecig outline with outline with the components (kinda like a fish chart). There are only four components if you count tips. Then pop ups or drop downs as you mouse over the cig. From:

Kits:
Tips:
Carto/atty/tanks
Batteries/chargers.

Maybe the head of the explosion could be a specific model? IDK.
Plenty of room around the explosion for highlighting products or clothing ect.

Keep in mind I am OK the way it is. I like the adventure. But if I were just to sit and buy. It could stand a little trimming.

​Sorry forgot the juice.

 

[dannoman]

Thanks Wally - good thing to point out. Actually if you first click the magnifying glass icon next to the search icon you can refine your search and actually uncheck the box where it says "Seach product descriptions" and do other refinements of your search.

It may not be a bad idea to do a Camtasia video demo on how to navigate (explaining the logic behind it) and how to maximize your search results (in twelve easy steps! jk)...

I have a suggestion for your search. How about "search only title" or "description" or both. I just put in "charger". All I want to see are actual chargers, but you get everything that has charger in the description somewhere. That would clean up the searches tremendously. I am assuming if I searched for charger in title, all I would see is chargers. Make any sense?