Shopping Carts and Websites!?! = headache!

[Bubbleluxe]

Howdy All!

I just finished my website but I think it will forever be a work in progress! I went with Go Daddy for the web site builder and shopping cart...not as easy as I thought and the fees are adding up! I am still working with them on some issues with custom shipping. I was trying break away from Etsy, but now I am wondering if that is the most cost effective option...it sure is easy!

So I am curious, what is everyone using? And what lead you to that decision?

I do like that I was able to plug in my Go Daddy Cart to Facebook, check it out:
https://www.facebook.com/BubbleLuxe
Feel free to 'like' my page

Here is my website if anyone has time to review and offer suggestions:
www.bubbleluxe.com

I sincerely appreciate any feedback, thank you!

Carrie Ann

 

[lsg]

I use PayPal

 

[lsg]

I use http://members.webs.com/s/login/relogin;jsessionid=68F674701195F86DD19F727CE5F822B6 and PayPal

 

[Genny]

Welcome Carrie Ann,

Your website is clean, easy to navigate and your wording is descriptive and inviting. Your soaps are lovely and your pictures are very nice and clear.

Are you planning on having pictures on a banner across the top of your website. I think it would make it more inviting if you did. I also noticed that some soaps don't have ingredients listed under them. I know that it's legally required, but since you have some with the ingredients, it's good to be consistent.

If you have not done so, I highly recommend reading the FDA regulations on Cosmetic Guidance, Compliance & Regulatory Information. I do see several things on your website that would be considered making or insinuating drug claims. If you want to know specifically what I'm talking about, just let me know

 

[Bubbleluxe]

Thanks for the feedback!

Genny- You made me groan! LOL! I can't believe I forgot to list the ingredients for some...consistency is key! Thanks for the extra set of eyes....mine are crossing trying to get all this completed.

I do plan on a banner, just as soon as I can figure it out and I also plan to work on a logo..all in due time I guess

I did read the FDA guidelines, but was thinking I was covered as long as I had all the ingredients listed...but I think I know which descriptions could be questionable as falling under drug...I fell into the essential oil trap lol! If you could eyeball it and let me know, just incase I missed what you were going to reference.

Thanks so much!

 

[melstan775]

I use WordPress to build web sites on, and I use WooThemes to build the websites. WordPress is a total content management system (not just blogging like some people believe), and WooCommerce has some great features. The Woo community is excellent as well, their systems are totally customizable and easy to maintain once you understand how they are put together. I think anyone who is using an "easy builder" like the one you get on GoDaddy or any other host is limiting themselves. You should be able to install WordPress right into your website if GoDaddy is your host. If what you have is up and working, great don't change it, but in the future I highly recommend WordPress installations for web sites.

 

[Genny]

I did read the FDA guidelines, but was thinking I was covered as long as I had all the ingredients listed...but I think I know which descriptions could be questionable as falling under drug...I fell into the essential oil trap lol! If you could eyeball it and let me know, just incase I missed what you were going to reference.

Sorry, I thought I already replied again. I think I'm losing my mind LOL

Anyway, I looked over your site again & can't remember if there was anything wrong with the eo descriptions, but many of the descriptions in your Ingredient Glossary would be against FDA regulations. Mentioning that any of the ingredients can help with acne, eczema, antibacterial, etc is the same as saying that your products can do those things in the eyes of the FDA.

 

[carvan]

I had two qualifications when I started to build-out my first ecommerce site:
1) Easy (as I dont have programming ability other than very simple code)
2) Cheap

We ended choosing Opencart.

Getting the site up and running only took about 2 days. What was most time consuming was taking pictures and typing in descriptions. Now we are advancing into marketing areas of facebook/google ad and that is requiring alot of reading and research. Here is our site I built in 2 days for less than 50 dollars: http://www.guuky.com/

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Nice site looks good and easy to use!

 

[melstan775]

I didn't realize I'd already replied. headdesk <3

 

[Marilyna]

Your site is really nice.
I've been out of things for 6 years, so I'm not up on current options. But back then I had a site through www.citymax.com that I loved. It is $19.98 a month, but it is so flexible. I could do special sales, have feedback forms, autoresponders, password protected pages, just anything I could dream up, it was able to do.

 

[andoy]

I develop web sites, so I do everything from the ground up. Many of these sites charge you quite a bit to add things like shopping cart features.

Cheapest option is to create/maintain static HTML pages. I've seen some people with relatively little knowledge of web development, creating web pages themselves using simple tools (you could even do it in word... you can open and save HTML documents in word, but it creates some very messy code) or download some pre-existing pages then modify. e.g. http://www.oswd.org/ have free to use layouts. Change the images and add your own content.

Paypal has info on it's website on adding shopping cart functions. Paypal shopping cart are relatively easy to do if you already have web pages and understand a bit of HTML.

Once you've created you pages, just upload (FTP) your web pages to a basic/cheap web hosting package. No need for databases of any serverside scripting like PHP

 

[Mark the Box Guy]

Driving an eCommerce site is far more than the customer-facing website. The site's administration features (that often manages inventory, content, shipping and ordering) should also play a role. Our website (we sell packaging) is hosted on Shopify, and we've worked very hard to integrate it with MailChimp, SagePay, fulfilment houses in the US and UK, a several other sites/services that manage everything from financial reporting, site analytics, social media, and customer relations.

If I can help you evaluate a service provider, please don't hesitate to contact me.

m