David Fiske A subtle blend of affiliate marketing and web development

Compare Sat Nav has been the subject of an overhaul over the past few weeks, which also goes to explain why I've not posted here much.

This post explains some of the new features I've built into CSN, the logic behind those features and a before and after shot!
 
Here's what the old site looked like:



The Problems

Firstly, it was taking too much free time on a Friday to update. It usually took a couple of hours though it depended upon several factors (such as how bored I was, how many merchants were on my books, how many products each had to sell, etc.).

Secondly, the frequency of the updates were a problem. Once a week is not good enough for a product such as this. Some prices can change several times a day let alone in a week.

The price tracking kind of broke - a new year bug. Some systems still archived properly but others didn't.

There's no search option, just a drop down box. Not very good if you are after the Go 920 but can't remember who it's by.

As for the design, it's not one of my favourites and it doesn't scream "buy me!".

Here's the new site:



What's New?

Loads! First to note is the new design - a fresher shade of blue. Whilst the new version seems more packed and concentrated in terms of content, it is significantly easier to search.

As part of the new design, I've had a mascot drawn up (Gav the Sat Nav) and he appears throughout the site. I had 4 poses drawn up for the princely sum of $40. A bargain if you ask me!

On the home page, there's a new section for reviews and discount vouchers. In the last version, I had a primitive discount voucher section but it fell apart when Halfords sent through a list of a dozen model specific discount codes. Now, the site is able to handle blanket codes for an entire product range as well as model specific codes. Woo hoo!

Reviews is my new toy. I've had a star rating on the site which is OK but not that great. Reviews is where people can add their own viewpoints and tales of specific models. Within this, they can add a star rating.

Another new home page feature is the "Essential Info" block, detailing price checking activity. It also advises on whether it is a good or bad day to buy a sat nav based on the average of a sat nav system yesterday and today. There's a link there that shows a trending graph.

Ajax tabs have returned to the site and at the top of every page, users have a choice of the following:

• Search - text based search box
• System Wizard
• Find a Sat Nav - drop down select box
• Search by Price - drop down select box
• List Brands - drop down select box
• List Stores - drop down select box
• Expert Guides

The search page is more than just the average search page! it has misspellings functionality built in to suggest sat nav systems related to what the user typed in. So if the user types in TomTon, they are shown a list of TomTom systems. It's not infallible and doesn't (for instance) recognise TonTon. It's better than a "No results found" page though.

The System Wizard is another nifty feature and is a quiz. Answer 5 questions and a list of possible sat nav matches is shown. Again, it's not infallible and sometimes shows 0 results if you list too many specific requirements. For the majority of searches, it works though.

The other options provide various ways to search the site for specific models based on various criteria.

Once the user searches for a system, they are presented with a search results page displaying a picture, the average price, the number of retailers and options to compare prices or read reviews:



Once they click on a system, they are taken to the product page. This offers the following information:

• Price comparison
• Reviews
• Auctions
• Price tracking (it's back and it works!)
• Videos
• Related systems

Overall, I am pleased with the results so far. The price comparison section has been built with fail safes so the site won't collapse if a price can't be checked. The price checking happens daily which increases the price accuracy by 700%.

It's not completed yet though! The real benefits will be seen in the next few weeks when more merchants are added. I'm also toying with the idea of adding non-affiliated merchants to add a dash of impartiality into the equation.

I'd love to hear your comments (both good and bad) below.