Building a website

[misskat22]

I'm in the process of putting together a website that people can purchase my products and learn about my stuff (why I do what I do, who I am, and such). I'm curious what you look for when you're buying online. I know not to have it too cluttered but I do have a lot of products, so I'm trying to make it look as neat and tidy as possible. I know it also needs to be easy to navigate..I've put a slide show in, but I think it might be a bit too big/clunky for what I'm doing..it's basically just pictures that are found in other places around the website anyway. Would love to hear how you guys have done your sites, or what you like/dislike about some of the sites you use. Thanks! :smile:

 

[deg195]

I am new to web designing and selling. I recently set up a website. It was not as hard as I thought it would be but it did take time. I went thru ipage and designed a weebly page. Next time I would just go thru weebly directly. I only wanted a website so I could have a base for my products and contact info. I actually have been getting orders....
The site is www.scrubhappysoaps.com
Hope this helps.

 

[Miz Jenny]

Virb.com is fantastic. It's web-based, as opposed to html, and very easy to setup & maintain. I'm paying $10/month. Took me a day and a half & I was doing it inbetween other stuff.

 

[Sammi_552]

If a website loads too slow, I'm outta there and onto another site. Make sure your slideshow doesn't slow down loading your page or you might lose sales. I get irritated at sites that make the "view cart" button so small you can hardly find it. I like a site that's easy to navigate through. There is just too much competition to try to navigate an irritating website. Man, I sound *****y!

 

[Paintguru]

I recommend squarespace.com. They now have a merchant option so everything you need is in one place. If I EVER get around to selling anything of mine, that is what I plan to use.

 

[MaitriBB]

I got my website hosted through Arvixe and use a WooCommerce plugin for Wordpress. Love it!

 

[Marilyna]

I like to see lots of pictures of gorgeous products. I don't want to see unrelated scenery or pictures of you (well, one is okay, but not the focal point).

 

[BankerJohn]

http://shop.EpicSudz.com

I left the design to my 10 and 13 year old daughters. It is their business. GoDaddy! (yes, my kids went through GoDaddy for their site).

 

[misskat22]

Thanks for you input! I'm using Weebly as I like how easy it is to use. I'm trying to make it easy (just a few buttons on top to find what you're looking for). Sammy, I don't think you sounded *****y, you told me what I asked for I don't like websites the load slow either, so I'll definitely keep an eye on that slideshow, I think I can also set it to not autoplay which might be a better option, because then people don't have to wait for it. I plan on putting just one picture of myself/my husband on the "about us" page (he helps me out with most of what I do) and am keeping the rest product oriented. I did have a few props (table cloth and rocks) in my pictures, but tried to really make it about the product. Hopefully I'm headed down the right path with this..any more input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[melstan775]

I got my website hosted through Arvixe and use a WooCommerce plugin for Wordpress. Love it!

This is exactly what I do. It's complete control of your web site with your own payment gateway and an easy to use content management system. Wordpress is actually the standard in web site building. Most of the popular bloggers and vloggers use it,and big websites like MSN and Yahoo are also run on it. I've used it for years. You could run a store through BigCartel for less then the cost of running a WordPress site if you don't want to bother with some of the trickier details of running a website, but WordPress is always my first choice.

 

[ohliver]

I use squarespace for mine. It was a bit confusing at first, but very easy to learn and use after a while. I find that they're a tad more expensive, but they have great options and wonderful templates. They really look professional.

 

[Relle]

I left the design to my 10 and 13 year old daughters. It is their business. GoDaddy! (yes, my kids went through GoDaddy for their site).

Just curious BankerJohn about your web site, I thought you were only new at soap making ?
You also have listed a fragrance free soap with orange EO listed as an ingredient.http://shop.epicsudz.com/Goat-Milk-Honey-Soap-GoatMilkHoney.htm

 

[jcandleattic]

Wow - I think it's great everyone is getting their sites all up and running, but I see sites here that are selling from people who have just started soaping and it just makes me cringe.
And quite honestly sad.

*big sigh*

 

[misskat22]

Oh, I'm not really planning on putting my soap on my site yet, I've been doing candles, wax melts, incense, bath bombs and stuff like that for 2 years now and that's what I'm planning on putting up on my site. I do have people wanting to buy my soaps already though, and I keep having to tell them they can't yet because either A) they haven't cured yet..people just don't get it, or B) I'm not comfortable selling them yet. I do have some people lined up to do some testing for me in the next little bit and my first soaps just came up on their 6 week cure. They're looking beautiful after that long, and a nice mild soap!

 

[Nobellius]

Personally, I think a slide show is a terrible idea. When I'm looking to buy something online, I want to find it, buy it, and get back to facebook as soon as possible. (You might think I'm joking, but I only kinda am )
If it were my website, I would probably just go with using frames for each product, maybe 20 products per page organized by color, properties, design, etc, with hotlinks in the sidebar for filtering criteria.

A really good how to for designing outlines is this video - [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwQMnpUsj8I"]Learn HTML and CSS Tutorial. Howto make website from scratch - YouTube[/ame]
It doesn't get into creating menu items or search filters, but I'm sure the information is out there!