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Wish to establish a website going forward
I will need it to be of a commercial nature with emphasis on high quality pictures and world wide sales and distribution
I am clueless how to achieve this
Could someone recommend a reputable website builder
And what sort of $ will it cost?
I will require slick photos,maybe 3 dimensional,to display my products...this is a paramount requirement.
Thanks in advance
Log Dog :)
The wife and I did this ourselves..
Possums Run Glass Art
On Squarespace.com
Actually not as hard as you may think. You get a free trial period, so it's worth a bash to see if you can manage to do it.
That's what we did, and when the trial was nearly up we decided we were happy to sign up as we were confident we could
manage to get it looking good.
You will need to buy a domain name, if you have not already. Google Domains is a good place for that. Google Domains – Register Your Domain Name – Google Domains
When you buy that it's an idea to buy ones similar. We have Possums Run.com, .com.au, and others as well as StainedGlassPerth.com. and others. All of these point to our website, so if someone gets confused they still end up with us, as well as stopping competitors (should we get famous...LOL) pinching our potential customers.
The photos are entirely down to you, unfortunately. Not sure what "3 dimensional" means?
That said all of our images were taken with mid range mobiles. We did invest in a lightbox, a couple/few hundred dollars and that improved the pics out of sight.
Lots of "plugins" available to have an on online shopping presence. Not really something we need as every piece we do is a one off, therefore no point in putting the effort into a shop listing.
There's some need I think for you to also look into Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), if you're looking to push your site internationally.
We have also had a lot of joy using Your Access To This Website Has Been Blocked
A great place to source all sorts of skills at a reasonable cost, ie: our logo was $90.00 and we like it a lot.
We had one dispute and Fiverr sorted quickly and I have not seen the supplier back on there, yet.
PM me if you would like to discuss further, happy to help in my limited way.
Thank you so much David for your helpQuote:
Originally Posted by david.elliott
This has given me great insight going forward :2tsup:
Log Dog :)
There's alot to choose from ultimately depends on how much revenue you're realistically going to be generating. All the commercial website offerings target a specific market share its up to you to decide which bucket you fall into and how much work you're willing to put into them to get them up and running.
Without knowing your specific business and intentions i'd recommend doing some reading on whats available, eg look into shopify, wix etc. Sign up to a few of them and have a play at creating a free website. You'll find it doesn't take that much effort to get a half decent looking website. However the biggest issue with these kind of websites is they can end up looking... out of the box if you know what i mean. Then there's the obvious ongoing costs with them. Typically these have an ongoing monthly cost not much more than a basic phone plan, there's also the cost associated with domain names which are typically separate
Getting one made from scratch by reaching out to a web developer company costs more initially, but you get a custom website that looks more unique and tailored to your business. You also can have the opportunity to run them off your own server (if you're serious) and save on the ongoing costs associated with having an ecommerce site host for you. Depending on what you're after allow for a couple of grand for a turn key option, however this option is also one that falls into the how long is a piece of string basket.
The third option is learning how to develop one yourself from scratch, obviously the cheapest but also the most time consuming and wouldn't recommend it unless you've got loads of time on your hand.
Either option will allow you to load high quality images and video, however if you're planning on using loads of visuals look at one one of the more reputable options (read more expensive) as they will offer servers that won't get bogged down.
SEO is something that will set you apart in search engines, but the way google algorithms work no matter how good your SEO is, unless you're generating new and relevant content regularly you'll quickly drop down the rankings.
In terms of logistics, there isn't any ecommerce platform that will do that for you, depending on what you're selling, will depend on which route you ultimately use. Some use regular aus post, some use couriers, some use their own trucks.
Will register some Domain names today
A search yesterday revealed that my preffered business name(s) are indeed available...excellent!
I felt the pricing was reasonable too
Logo is next step...and a very important one too
I need to be a little creative I suspects
Log Dog :)
Hey Log Dog,
Check out Fiverr.com for logo creation. We had excellent results, we think. All I supplied the designer was a photo of a cut steel panel that had a possum in it.
Couple of tweaks with text and the possums shape and all done in less that a week for $90.00.
Will check it out today David...thanks mateQuote:
Originally Posted by david.elliott
Pricing sounds reasonable too
Log Dog :)
Hi Log Dog. Also check GoDaddy.com for web domain, self website builder and much more.
Pricing, including .com.au domains, much cheaper here than other sites. Worth the comparison.
Also, worth checking out is designcrowd.com.au for logo design, business cards etc. I have had very nice results with logo design projects here
Given the nature of websites you can get them put together anywhere. Personally I use a bloke who lives at Noosa. Dave's his name, nice bloke, and he's cheap and does web hosting too. Noosa Web DesignQuote:
Originally Posted by Log Dog
I don't use his web hosting, I use Digital Pacific who are, after a couple of years using them, a company I'd recommend.
It really does go on and on and on, and can be eye wateringly expensive.
Products are high end timber suitable for fancy turnery,box making,knife handles,pen blanks and guitar blanks
Specialising in extreme figure and quarter sawn material
Also species specific...Qld Maple,Maple Silkwood,Red Cedar,Nth Silky Oak,Acacia spec. and more.
So most items are fairly small and compact for posting
Wondering what platforms perform better than others eg Amazon,ebay etc.
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance
Log Dog :)
To be honest I'm not sure I'd be too concerned about that at this stage.Quote:
Wondering what platforms perform better than others eg Amazon,ebay etc.
Given the specialised nature of your product I'd be focusing on where my market is concentrated. Woodwork forums would be my first point of contact, how many there are I'm not sure. Then there's all the other forums for instrument makers, knife makers and anybody else that needs timber as an input to their specific business. Also trade magazines and the like.
Just a word of warning with Fiverr etc. Make sure you do an image based search for your proposed logo before you make any payment. I tried using them and a similar service twice, and in both instances the submissions were overwhelmingly lifted from the web and perhaps slightly modified, or stock imagery for which there could be no ability to exclusive use as a trademark.
I would suggest you find a local graphic designer, and have a chat to them instead.
Have a look at EtsyQuote:
Originally Posted by Log Dog
Etsy - Shop for handmade, vintage, custom, and unique gifts for everyone
https://www.etsy.com/au/sell
Thanks mateQuote:
Originally Posted by Fallen Woodwork
Appreciate the link
Impressed with this selling platform
I have just registered with PayPal
Business name registration will follow this week sometime
Still contemplating that one!
Logo is work in progress too
Log Dog :)
Logdog on Etsy would be pretty unique ;)