Plugin Boutique is Redesigning Their Site….Here’s a Sneak Peak

[LinkedMusicians]

Plugin Boutique just sent me over a link to the redesigned site they’re planning to release next week and I think it’s a fairly decent redesign. Here’s my hot take on the redesigned site.

What I like about the redesigned home page (see the screenshot below):

• It’s more streamlined than the current site, which also means that it looses some of the charm the current site has. Each page view fits in a lot more content and details. Where the current site gives you a 3 product across view on a desktop (of course, dependent on your monitor and settings), the new view is 4 products across. That helps you look through and find things more quickly.
• I compared the current site and the soon-to-be-released site on search results and found that the new site displayed a lot more items.
• 3 big deals across the top of the home page is very nice.
• One big thing that surprised me was that the “Free” category on the top menu is no longer in the new site.

I found the styling on the bland side. But I am a believer in function over flash, so it really isn’t very important, IMO, and I don’t think it will be much of a factor on site usage. I think the product pages (see the above screenshot) are basic, but efficient.

What do you think, based on the screenshots?

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5

[jude77]

I never really cared for the old page.  it looked kind of like something I would put together.  The new site seems much more attractive albeit a bit utilitarian.  In the end I’d keep shopping there either way.

2

[Nitrate Audio]

nice. any price errors?

Gear & Setup:
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4

[LinkedMusicians]

On Nitrate Audio said

nice. any price errors?

I was out in a public, I went to check on the site and saw your post, @nitrateaudio, and ended up laughing while staring at my phone like a total dork! Thanks for the laugh. 😉

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POWERSEARCH TOOLS: Synth Presets, Loops & Sound FX, Gear Reviews 
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1

[peter]

Someone just made a post accusing me of secretly doing marketing research for Plugin Boutique with this thread. Because it was toxic, I removed it and privately DMed that person and things are resolved. But I want to address the acusation that I am covertly conducing marketing research for Plugin Boutique.

Nope. I do not advise Plugin Boutique and am not conducting “market research” on their behalf.

As I’ve clearly stated all over this site and shared in numerous posts, I am in Plugin Boutique’s (APD, Best Service, and a few other) affiliate programs to help pay for the costs of operating this site. I’ve made around 12 bucks this last quarter from Plugin Boutique — I have and will always be very transparent about this stuff. I am not an advisor to Plugin Boutique and I am not a market researcher anyhow. Market researchers commonly have PhDs. I’ve worked with a bunch of them and am certainly not one.

Brands regularly send their affiliates previews of website redesigns; I’ve done it with a major brand website I managed. It’s standard stuff. Brands want to make their affiliates feel involved and get their input. In the blast email they sent to me and all of their affiliates they asked that we don’t share the link to their new redesigned site preview. They didn’t state we couldn’t share some screenshots and I thought, considering that a lot of us are PIB customers — including me — that it would be of interest to people. I thought it would be fun. I also wanted to share my own feedback to PIB and see what others thought. That wasn’t covert marketing research. I don’t get paid to give PIB feedback or do this. The only relationships I have with them are as a customer and a tiny affiliate that doesn’t even generate commissions that are a fraction of what I spend with them in a year.

LinkedMusicians Founder. Your friend who keeps the beat.

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[Author]

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