Navigation Refinements: When Less is More
Posted on July 20th, 2010 by Luke Moulton
What’s missing from this picture?
“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” —Antoine De Saint-Exupery
In an effort to simplify our navigation and focus on the Flippa offering, we’re considering removing the three listing type tabs that used to appear above the main navigation (All, Websites, Domains). Check it out on our beta site.
Why the change?
The main motivator for this change is the desire to focus on our primary purpose: being the #1 marketplace for buying and selling websites. Buying and selling websites is what attracts people to Flippa and is our main point of difference to other marketplaces. We’re not really the place you go for domains, and we realise that.
That’s not to say we won’t be listing domains. Domain sellers are still welcome to list domains for sale on Flippa and if anything, will receive more exposure to buyers as domain listings will be mixed in with website listings.
For buyers not interested in domain only listings, you can use the Listing Type filter to remove domains from your results:
We reckon this helps promote a positive user experience for both buyers and sellers, but we’d love to hear your feedback. Check out the changes on Flippa Beta then give us your opinion in the comments section below.
Comments (71)
Comments are closed.
July 20, 2010 - 2:45 pm
Like it!
What about high end/mid-range/entry level?
Do people use these?
July 20, 2010 - 3:38 pm
Good question, Danny, that’s the subject of future study at this end…
July 21, 2010 - 4:06 am
Hey!! do not touch them… I allways use those filters!
July 20, 2010 - 6:46 pm
Looks fine
July 20, 2010 - 11:32 pm
Great change, I checked out the beta site and it looks very clean. You guys should definitely make the change!
Ian
July 21, 2010 - 12:09 am
I like it. Not much of a major change but it definitely will make things a bit more pointed. To address the poster above. I always use the entry level/mid-range/high-end…in fact it’s one of my favorite ways to find a website. I definitely would not do away with those. It helps me cut out sites that I have no interest in.
July 21, 2010 - 12:09 am
i think it’s a good move. the simpler the better.
July 21, 2010 - 12:12 am
Certainly keep high/mid/entry this is a very useful feature. Gives an idea of vendors expectations. Also prospective purchasers that know the value of site they are after don’t have to trawl through many unsuitable descriptions.
July 21, 2010 - 12:12 am
I really like how the price while vieiwing the listings is green if it has reached reserve. That makes it a lot easier on buyers.
Joe
July 21, 2010 - 12:12 am
I like it. Two thumbs up!
The “TAG” addition across the top is excellent.
Thanks
Jamie
July 21, 2010 - 12:15 am
Please keep the high end/mid-range/entry level categories please!
July 21, 2010 - 12:17 am
i am sure that this is what i need, because domain listing is not so useful for me.
thanks for upgrading!
July 21, 2010 - 12:18 am
i look this change very good.I like it…
July 21, 2010 - 12:19 am
That look really good.U guys are so great.
Best regards.
Jackie Chia
July 21, 2010 - 12:19 am
The text-shadow on top-grade browsers in the navigation seems a bit off, too dark that is. You should lighten it a little.. Otherwise it looks promising.
Regards,
Masson
July 21, 2010 - 12:20 am
I agree with the other comments and agree that it’s a positive change. I’ve never been a fan of the tabs on the upper left and removing them will only make navigation better.
July 21, 2010 - 12:24 am
Also, have you thought about adding categories in addition to tags? I find tags virtually useless.
You could have one category to specify type of site and another to specify subject.
For instance, if I were to be in the market for an e-commerce site that sells pet supplies, right now, the only way I would find it is if I were to randomly see it.
July 21, 2010 - 12:24 am
Not sure how much of an impact this change will make really.
What drives me crazy are the extra steps you must take to do a search on the site. I wish there was a change to that somehow.
July 21, 2010 - 9:34 am
Michael, us too. We’re constantly thinking about the best way to get search working seamlessly.
July 21, 2010 - 12:35 am
I like the change, but I think domains should be removed from listings by default, meaning you have to click the checkbox to add domains to the result.
July 21, 2010 - 12:36 am
I looks awesome. I have seen very fast development of Flippa recently. You are deserved #1 of bidding marketplace.
July 21, 2010 - 12:40 am
Same as most, remove the tabs…great idea…
Hopefully your next re-jig/re-thought will encompass the search functions of your auctions/for sale process.
If you have a suggestion tab/navigational link, i’ll be happy to elaborate
otherwise, nice job
July 21, 2010 - 12:40 am
Less is more but I must say that I really appreciate being able to always remove the domains from my search, I don’t use Flippa to look for domains
July 21, 2010 - 12:42 am
interface looks fine and clean.
was hoping on a larger change
still kills sedo though
July 21, 2010 - 12:43 am
The Beta Site Looks Great! Much Cleaner Now Without The Listing Tabs. Keep Up The Good Work!
July 21, 2010 - 12:49 am
So much better, more convenient.
July 21, 2010 - 12:57 am
I think this seems like a good idea… the only concern I have is for people not totally used to the idea that domains without sites on can go for a LOT of money… at least with the tabs you couldn’t make a mistake and bid on a domain thinking it came with a site… If this is made very clear on the listing summary then I think it is a good move, but it will need to be otherwise the domains may get lost amongst all the site listings and new people to the site could be bidding where they didn’t mean to… All in all though a good move I think!
July 21, 2010 - 1:00 am
I believe it makes sense in light of your mission statement. When I think of Flippa, I think of selling websites not just domains. I also think of a more savvy buyer and seller, so anyone selling a domain would likely have some content there which would make it qualify as a website of sorts.
As a testimonial, I have had more success selling websites in a shorter amount of time on Flippa than anywhere else. And that is from someone who has been in the web business for over a decade.
I look forward to many more successful transactions.
July 21, 2010 - 8:25 am
Thanks for the comments and the great testimonial Anthony.
July 21, 2010 - 1:08 am
I like it! As a new user I like the fact that you tweek your site with less to make it easier. Thanks!
July 21, 2010 - 1:31 am
Like the idea. Would love the ability to easily filter/sort on revenue as well.
July 21, 2010 - 1:41 am
The change looks great to me.
Less clutter – easy nav
July 21, 2010 - 1:44 am
It’s a cool idea, i fully support and welcome it.
July 21, 2010 - 1:45 am
Hello, for my opinion you hav made the right move deleting the three voices.
If one is searching domains can use listing type filter, otherwise is well indicated if the offer is based on a Domain.
This is great.
Thanks and goodbye,
Alessandro Zamboni
July 21, 2010 - 2:24 am
My suggestion would be to beef up the advanced search options. I would love to be able to search by SEM Rush rankings or any of the other details of the listings and then rank the active auctions high to low or vice versa.
July 21, 2010 - 2:34 am
Since High end mid and entry are more or less subjective, how bout a dropdown box that lists price ranges, 0-50 100-1000 10000-200000-50-75,000
since some people shop with a budget in mind. high level to me is diff than high level to others. someone may have 100K to spend, but think that mid level is where to look. where as buying other businesses, i expect to spend 500K as a entry level….
could tidy up that part
July 21, 2010 - 2:36 am
I would really like to see some clear distinction between blogs and other websites. Flippa has been flooded with autoblogs recently so people looking for static html sites have to wade through the dross. I no longer have the time to waste on that exercise.
July 21, 2010 - 8:26 am
We’re looking into this Roy.
July 21, 2010 - 12:02 pm
In the meantime, you can exclude blogs from your results by adding “-blog” or “-autoblog” to your search terms.
Our search is much more capable than we let on, perhaps we should post a tutorial outlining all the boolean search features.
July 21, 2010 - 2:46 am
I like the new layout. The only thing i would change is to remove the unsold link and replace with a most traffic or most rev link. I don’t see any reason to have a link to listings you can no longer bid on.
July 21, 2010 - 2:52 am
I keep telling people to simplify, whether it be our lives or our websites.
July 21, 2010 - 2:59 am
Of course it’s going to look improved. Long as you keep things simple there will be few negetive responses.
July 21, 2010 - 3:02 am
All I know is the last re-design was horrible and I think killed some sales. But enough of this redesign crap. You guys are charging WAY too much for those of us who can barely afford to eat. Should we really be paying $50 or more for domains that are only worth $200?
July 21, 2010 - 3:06 am
Narrowing all the options people encounter when first arriving at site is always a plus. The better focused Flippa, the better the experience for the visitor. You’re moving in the right direction.
July 21, 2010 - 3:16 am
I like it! Makers the listings more significant and easy to locate, especially for a newbie.
July 21, 2010 - 3:33 am
My biggest annoyance with Flippa is the ‘clunky’ Watchlist. Cannot tell which site is listed because there is no domain listed here.
I would really appreciate you making the Watchlist results looks exactly like the Listings. Even better would be to have them ordered by time to end of auction.
July 21, 2010 - 3:34 am
That will be a great change. I don’t think many depend on Flippa to sell the their domains too.
July 21, 2010 - 3:35 am
@Roy, you can usually weed them out by setting up a revenue, pagerank filter. The idea that an autoblog is truly capturing $1,000+ month makes me laugh. I have yet to see one that passes the sniff test.
@Flippa – go with it. The shaded fonts look nice
July 21, 2010 - 3:52 am
Looks just fine. And I’m totally loving the quote below the screenshot.
July 21, 2010 - 4:01 am
like it alot!
July 21, 2010 - 4:02 am
Looks fine.
July 21, 2010 - 4:04 am
After looking at the new design, I really like it better and actually wound up wondering if the tag bar was rally useful or might be something else that could be taken away.
I think that becaause when I come to look for something at Flippa, I already know what I want and don’t use the tags. I realize that a lot of others may use the tags but they might be sonething that could leave in favor of more simplicity in the interface.
July 21, 2010 - 4:20 am
I must be the odd man out because I like the old version except that it might be better served if the default was websites, then domains then all.
July 21, 2010 - 6:04 am
BAD IDEA
For anyone that sells websites this is a horrible idea. It just means that your website listing will now be pushed off the first page even faster. Your site gets most of its exposure in the first 24 hours when it is on the first page. With the amount of listings flippa gets per day your’re lucky if you don’t get bumped to page 2 within 24 hours. Same thing happens when you make your listing featured. I don’t know about the rest of you but when i pay $29 bucks to feature my auction I barely get what I paid for because I’m off the first page of featured listings in 24 hours. Now throw all those domain listings into the mix and you will be lucky if you 12 hours on the first page.
July 21, 2010 - 6:36 am
just an idea for flippa, I think flippa provide a place to sell just the domain and logo
July 21, 2010 - 9:41 am
Like Nice…