+3 on modernizing the look and feel of the site. It’s dated at best - 90’s high school project isn’t too far off the mark. It doesn’t need to be slick Madison Ave but should reflect Iconoclast with modern navigation and style.
Don’t back off on content. Highlight your transparency. I’ve been looking at a lot of cables lately and no one provides more information than Iconoclast about conductor details and cable construction. It’s almost as others have something to hide or they don’t acknowledge/recognize the importance. The nautilus adopting manufacturer does provide some of the sausage making details which is interesting.
I’d suggest providing more product pictures and physical characteristics.
Hi Bob,
hope you are well and the recovery after surgery went as speed as possible.
Web publishing is my job. And I’m a (small) business owner. You definitely need a new website.
I first knew about Iconoclast on this forum and you know how I appreciate your products and your customer service (highly professional). Not to mention my admiration and respect for Galen’s genius.
I remember when I visited your website for the first time: I immediately decided not to buy the product.
Please don’t consider me disrespectful, my aim is to be helpful.
What is wrong in my opinion? All the contents, specs, technical papers - that have a great value - are simply underwhelmed and ruined by the graphics.
Think about food (I know, the usual Italian guy!): if you use genuine ingredients and take care of cooking process scrupulously and the taste is phenomenal… isn’t enough! The plate requires to be attractive! Otherwise you eat something else.
The contents should be enhanced with more modern graphics (in the language of the internet), separate sections dedicated to technical descriptions better divided by topic as if they were chapters of a book, with titles and paragraphs. Better if largely accompanied by drawings.
The description section of the products is not attractive, it transmits a feeling of distrust to the customer, for purely aesthetic reasons. The Internet forces you to keep up with the times, giving a dated image risks being counterproductive, makes you think of something not taken care of, raises the suspicion of a reality in difficulty because it is neglected or without the necessary means to stay on the market. In short, it doesn’t instill confidence.
I understand the philosophy of wanting to focus on substance over form to stand out from competitors, who seem like smoke sellers and only focus on marketing. Good choice. But I believe that the science and research that distinguish Iconoclast products can be better understood by the public if presented in a more aesthetically pleasing form.
The photos of the products, with shots of the details, might occupy entire screens. You might use texts overlaid on background images. The section menus might be improved. Descriptions of the different models and different sizes should be provided on different pages, the space is infinite on the web.
For example, the price calculator should also be improved, the current one really gives the feeling (IT side) of being outdated. A product selection structure, with large and beautiful images and descriptions, which allows you to configure models and dimensions, clearly highlighting the amount as in a configurator when choosing the options of a car. Integrated with that wonderfully useful form that you fill out to understand how to orient the connectors based on your system. Why without images? The current feeling reminds a sad Excel sheet look.
And finally a “shopping bag” to collect the selected and personalized configurations made. The possibility of having your own account to save the configurations and orders already made, creating a history.
A blog page linked (shared) to this Forum, showing customers comments of the products - this is mandatory to catch attention and gain trust new customer. Enriched by Q&A section, how valuable would be all the Galen’s answers already available here on this thread if they were easy to find on the official Iconoclast website!
Registered users management permits you to periodically report product news, communicate your presence at trade fairs and share reviews that speak about you via email.
Forgive me Bob, I don’t want to have been too direct, it is not my intention to offend, I allowed myself to speak frankly, as I do at the meeting table of my company or with a dear friend, in complete sincerity because moved by real affection.
Hope that helps.
20 Likes
@luca.pelliccioli I think you have just become our new ambassador. Excellent suggestions and presentation.
3 Likes
Luca has covered everything perfectly but you might take a look at this website that we use on a daily basis. Your company undoubtedly also uses it on a daily basis.
The offer:
Main page showing clickable pictures all product groups.
Sub groups with clickable pictures that show up when a main group is selected.
Lots of pictures all along the order process.
A really good product search engine. Partial spelling and misspells are not ignored and usually work fine. Search engine is available on every page.
Multiple saved orders (“carts” in current jargon).
Order history.
Order history search.
Reorder from history. Change qty or options in “cart”
Flyouts where multiple options exist
Qty or style pick from flyout list.
Downloadable PDF prints of product (without giving protected info away)
Enlarged images when hovering over an image
Saved addresses and payment info.
Contact info plainly shown no matter where you are in the process.
Email popup window for product questions (they almost always reply within the hour)
Here is the current order page plainly showing every detail needed:
I would also agree with the hive that a more modern appearance with a little (or a lot) more “show and tell bling” would help improve sales among the less data driven customers.
The current site shows Galen’s engineering background influence and no BS sort of mind set but I think most audiophile type customers like to be schmoozed and wowed more than that and aren’t really “data driven” as much as “wow me driven”. Spectacle sells. 
As good as the products are and the value they represent allows you to brag and pat yourself on the back publicly a little louder.
A few more random thoughts probably already noted in the previous responses:
Links or popups to show and tell, best practice or YouTube videos.
Rooms using your cables at shows.
Links to online reviews.
User feedback for each type of product. Send a feedback request with each order maybe a week after delivery.
Static pictures with magnifying glass option.
Pictures showing best practices and use.
Pictures of customer rigs and setups.
Hopefully all of the group’s suggestions can help you move the site into the 21’st century.
Personally I am the data driven engineer type that is fine using what you have but I am obviously also not in the 99% of the rest of the audiophile world.
Still keep the data and white papers easily accessible as in the past.
Good luck with the project!
Vern
8 Likes
Hi Luca, I was really hoping that you would comment. Your response is “exactly” what I was hoping for. First, you are an industry professional in your field. Thank you so very much for the specifics and recommendations that we need! Forgive you? I want to give you a big hug!! Thank you sir.
3 Likes
Thank you Vern, grateful for the comments and recommends!! We’ll spend some time on the McMaster-Carr site.
Thank each of you for your comments. I hope others will continue to add. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Spring is on the way and Axpona just around the corner.
1 Like
I have bought or trialed cables from several companies Audio Quest, Iconoclast, In-Akustik, common ground cables and visited each website prior. None of them do a very good job in my opinion. I always look for user forums and testimonials, God help me if I may read a professional reviews of glorified superfluous prose. I end up deciding after accessing all the info. I still look for the designer explaining the science in emails or you tube videos. If there is none in the product or pure BS hidden like synergistic research . I look elsewhere.
But I do appreciate Luca bringing it together better in a website. Maybe he will work for cables? LOL.
2 Likes
It has a most dated look IMO, and a refresh as you suggest when done properly may be in order. The trick being to get the initial traffic to the website, specifically buyers.
Here is an example that gets to the point.
1 Like
Luca great advice as you nailed it. Hopefully they will take your advice to heart. IMO the site has the look and feel of 1990’s Audio DIY, we have evolved.
3 Likes
My pleasure, my friend!
2 Likes
So well said, Luca! 
3 Likes
I first read through this forum and an Audio Bacon review from Inconoclast. I visited your website back then but unfortunately it didn’t appeal to me and didn’t awaken any desire in me. According to his statement, Luca is not made to work, but he is even better at steering, thinking and using words. He analyzes meticulously and his reviews are always written with comparison tables for one and flowery words for the other. Highly professional. He knows how to animate some people with it. There is little I could add. A shopping basket that stores everything you put in it always makes sense. So that when you return to the site you can easily continue where I left off. There is nothing worse than being frustrated and having to put everything back together again. Just like with the Goggle translator. I type for a long time and suddenly everything is gone and then sometimes I don’t feel like writing everything again. Images of the products quickly make it clear what you are looking for or what you already have in your shopping cart. Some people only look at pictures and others prefer to reeding texts. Not everyone is that comfortable with letters. First something to look at 
A tabular sound/performance comparison like Luca does would also be a decision-making aid. I think Inakustik did it that way with musical notes. The more in a category the better. Or bars. In any case, it should have colorful and attractive images and be clearly laid out. A part with the advantages of the product and for those who want it precise and technical, the data and facts. Reviews and links to test results. Not an easy task, every type of customer is different. Just like the people in the forum. Some people need someone else’s opinion or rely on test results. The other data. Someone else has to try it out for themselves. Inakustik offers this service of a test package. And there should also be people who read the menu from right to left and they like what is expensive and not everyone can order. But some people have already jumped on the bandwagon and think that if they sell it at a high price the buyer must believe that it is good. I prefer to look at pictures and then read reviews. Greetings Andreas
3 Likes
I can’t thank you all enough for your comments and suggestions. Most appreciated!!!
3 Likes
Now comes the hard part. 
4 Likes
You don’t say?
2 Likes
This might be too much but a short and perhaps animated video highlighting one of Iconoclast’s main features: Velocity of the signal and how the geometry affects it. Could be helpful.
1 Like
There have been some sound technical design suggestions made. I’m not a web designer, so I’m coming at this from the perspective of a consumer, and I have a bias. As a general rule I hate over-designed websites. Invariably I have heard – somewhere else– about the product or service and the associated website before I seek it out , and I go with questions that I’d like to get answered as simply, completely and honestly as possible. If the site is engaging and entertaining in the process of being informative, so much the better.
Nothing pisses me off more that having to wade through unrelated graphics, pretty pictures of smiling “diverse” models and breathless techno-BS that leaves me with more questions than answers. Bury the “contact us” link somewhere in the nether regions at the bottom of the page and don’t list a phone or e-mail contact and - “click” - I’m gone.
Yes, the Iconoclast site could benefit from a tune-up, but websites don’t have to be pretty to get the job done. Case in point: Mark Sammut’s Reno Hi-Fi site (Geez, I DO miss that guy) was pretty basic, but I doubt if it hurt his business all that much.
I think it’s important to note that what sold me on multiple purchases and upgrades of Iconoclast products were the posts on this very forum, and not their website, which I simply used as an order form once I corresponded with Bob and Galen. They, and early adapters who posted their delight with the product, made the sale. Not the website.
My suggestions, which being free, should be taken for what they’re worth:
-
Since the brand promise seems to be: “Value through design that trumps hype and voodoo,” the site should prominently explain why design > materials. The technical papers are super nice, but over the heads of many. A series of concise 2-3- minute focused videos, as non-technical as possible, that explain the nuggets of science behind the product seems to be a must have. This will NOT be easy, From recollections pf my business days, people start clicking away from even the most informative videos after about 2 minutes. Think in terms of chapters in a book.
-
A forum of some sort where site visitors can interact, get involved, post reviews, and ask questions. Again, not so simple. It’s work to keep it on track and non-toxic. Ask Mr. Elk.
-
Links to reviews. After decades in this ridiculous hobby, I never once invested in a piece of gear that (a) I didn’t hear for myself, (b) received a preponderance of favorable reviews, or (c) was recommended by an especially trusted reviewer (Tony Cordesman, R.I.P)
-
The free trial period is what makes a trial risk-free. Also, Mark Sammut’s practice of making a trade-in market in used Pass gear is worth consideration. Gently used and re-marketed cables as an “on-ramp” to the brand. Audiophile cables tend not to wear out. “Cept in Al’s case where they may become bunny food.
At the end of the day, the business is Galen, Bob and their minions. You guys are a pleasure to deal with. Whatever you come up with for a web re-design, don’t let it get in between you and your customers.
4 Likes
Hmm, gonna’ have to change my icon
2 Likes
HA! Me too!
1 Like