Who has a Website & Is it worth it?

[Stitch Up]

Just wondering how many of you have a web presence for your DyeSub business?

Is it worth the effort & cost? How often do you get business as a result?

I'm working on a website just now, trying to save money and all that!!

John

[Justin]

I have a shop www.32below.co.uk (http://www.32below.co.uk) it no longer gets any traffic as I closed the business a couple of years back.
I've kept it running as I'm hoping for a change of use.

My shop was for a very specific market so getting traffic through wasn't easy. That said, at it's best it wasn't too bad at all. It cost me £1250+vat and I pay £20 p/m hosting (which will soon change!)
For that price I got a fairly basic site with PayPal integration. Personally I believe a good shop should enable the customer to get on quickly, find what they want...quickly, pay for it....quickly and then get off...quickly. I hate having to hunt high and low for something.
I have a good admin interface with this site that gives me full control.

Overall, yes, I would say it was well worth the expense. I set up my own but I could never get it to look half decent.

Justin http://illiweb.com/fa/i/smiles/icon_jokercolor.png

[JSR]

Pretty much all of my business is via my website. Okay, I'm not making a fortune but it is slowly growing.

Price of website: £0 because I use ZenCart.

Before using ZenCart I tried doing the whole thing from scratch. It looked okay, took me ages to do, and I couldn't work out payment integration. Result? No sales.

But I put up ZenCart and tweaked it. Almost immediately, I got a sale - proving to me that the previous version of the site was pants! :oops: This proved to me that people want to "see, click, pay" and that's it. Paying for a bit of Google also helped increase sales, but I'm careful what I pay. I've had a few orders with payment by cheque, but people have to write out a cheque and often "forget" (which is another way of saying they found somewhere else to buy from).

I'm fortunate in that I run a couple of websites for other people off my own server, so I can run my website on that without paying too much (the majority of the server costs are paid for by the other sites).

[AJLA]

How much does a little bit of google cost, often thought of looking into it but expected the cost involved to be high.

(By the way I dont do subli stuff from my site so it wouldn't affect anyone here)

[Stitch Up]

I'll have to take a peek at Zencart

[JSR]

How much does a little bit of google cost, often thought of looking into it but expected the cost involved to be high.
It's entirely up to you.

Google Adwords is a prepay system. You decide how much you're prepared to pay per day and the Adwords system puts your ad in an affordable position until your total for the day is used up. Some positions cost more than others.

If you don't want to pay much, you may find your ad appears on the third or fourth page or something. As Adwords is a pay-per-click system, if no one clicks on the ad (because it's hidden on the 3rd or 4th page) then your allocation for the day isn't used up - so the ad is moved closer and closer to more prominent positions (which cost more) until the allocation is used up. You could find yourself on the front page for paying next to nothing if no one clicks on your ad.

If you decide to pay huge vast sums of money (which I'm sure many do) then you'd probably be on the first page all the time, but you need to go careful because not every click will turn into an order.

As a prepay system, you pay in advance of the listings. If you decide to spend just £1 per day and you prepay £10, then your ads will appear for 10 days - on the 11th day, they'll stop. Google doesn't have a direct line to your bank account and so can't just keep drinking from it like a bottomless pit. If you decide it's not working for you, then just stop paying them.

I would recommend that, if you're going to go with Adwords, spend a bit of time setting it up and prepare to use it for at least two or three months before deciding if it's working. Paying for one week and then giving up is almost certain to be a waste of your time and money - but, who knows, you could get sales immediately.

[JSR]

I'll have to take a peek at Zencart
Like any free system, it helps if you have a little understanding of websites before you start. You'll also need a database on your web-hosting.

You basically download ZenCart as a zip file, extract the files to your hard drive, upload them to your webspace, and follow the instructions. So long as you have your database details, it pretty much sets itself up with the option of having sample products installed at the same time. Once that's done, you have a shop with the standard template all ready and waiting.

The admin section has numerous options for installing your own products, activating payment methods, and shipping methods. Give yourself time to set it up and you'll be fine. If you get stuck, there's an active forum of other ZenCart users.

And, if you decide you don't like it, just delete it. It's not like you'd be throwing money away! :lol:

[AJLA]

Would you consider a pound a day?
If I was to be in a more prominent position ie top how am I going to know what the cost per click is?
Could two clicks take up that pound?

Crazy I know!!

I make Cornish themed t shirts ie with Cornish yarns and fag designs on and I would be most gratefull if someone would have a look and see how easy or not it is to find me in Google.
I often do searches using various keywords to find the site but perhaps I use the obvious because I know the words are in the site.

If i'm not easily found then I clearly need to do something about it.

I am currently working on upgrading the site to remove the naff banner from the standard template and make it a three column design so I hope it will appear more proffessional.
Time will tell.
Unfortunately the site has hit a lull but i'm hoping it will pick up shortly for Christmas.

[JSR]

Would you consider a pound a day?
If I was to be in a more prominent position ie top how am I going to know what the cost per click is?
Could two clicks take up that pound?
I had exactly the same questions before I started. Rather than over analysing it, I started with £1 per day (or £30 per month) and I figured that if my sales increased such that the £30 per month was covered, then I hadn't lost anything. If I got more than that, it was worth it. If nothing improved, then I could just stop.

Your Adwords account tells you how many times the ad was displayed as well as how many times it was clicked (if it was).


I make Cornish themed t shirts ie with Cornish yarns and fag designs on and I would be most gratefull if someone would have a look and see how easy or not it is to find me in Google.
If I type in "Cornish t-shirts", then you're there at the top - but how many people would type in "Cornish t-shirts"? Probably not many. What you probably want to do is to attract people who are just browsing for t-shirts to consider your Cornish t-shirts. So you'd use Adwords to have less-familiar phrases show your ad - so, if someone searched for "Hen Night t-shirt", then they've half a chance of looking at your site and considering your Cornish themed t-shirts which they may not have considered before. (That's just a "for instance".)

[AJLA]

I KNEW I wasn't thinking outside the box and was sort of one track minded. So for my ad words which work as key words?
I could maybe focus on the custom printed tees/personalised tees/t shirt printing in Cornwall/ hen night as you have mentioned/gifts from Cornwall/gift ideas/funny t shirts.... along those lines?

Now if I want to do say a month here and there ie before Xmas or when I have promotions on that is ok?

I really appreciate someones feedback as of course I don't get any from the people who buy from the site. ( Several come back and buy again which is pleasing ) Hearing your thoughts outside of the box is great and i'm always happy for any comments.

I think I will try this soon as posting dates for Christmas delivery abroad is upon us and some are too late. A lot of my tees go abroad so I need to get my thinking cap on for the correct adwords :roll:

[JSR]

I KNEW I wasn't thinking outside the box and was sort of one track minded. So for my ad words which work as key words?
I could maybe focus on the custom printed tees/personalised tees/t shirt printing in Cornwall/ hen night as you have mentioned/gifts from Cornwall/gift ideas/funny t shirts.... along those lines?

Now if I want to do say a month here and there ie before Xmas or when I have promotions on that is ok?

I really appreciate someones feedback as of course I don't get any from the people who buy from the site. ( Several come back and buy again which is pleasing ) Hearing your thoughts outside of the box is great and i'm always happy for any comments.

I think I will try this soon as posting dates for Christmas delivery abroad is upon us and some are too late. A lot of my tees go abroad so I need to get my thinking cap on for the correct adwords :roll:
You can change the wording of your ad whenever you want to, or set up several ads and let Google use them at random or with certain keywords. For instance, if someone searches for "Hen Night t-shirts", your ad could say "Buy Hen Night T-Shirts... (etc)" but if they search for "Baby Clothing", your ad might say "Buy Baby Basics from...(etc)". If you're doing a special offer - like a 20% sale or something, then you could change the wording of your ads to reflect that.

The more common the search phrase is, the more expensive it'll be because everyone's trying to get noticed - for instance, if I Google for "Personalised Mugs", £1 per day isn't going to do me any favours. But Googling for "Personalised Colour Change Mugs" might stand more of a change. It's just a case of being sensible and having realistic goals based on how much you're prepared to spend. After all, there are people out there who won't buy from the advertiser listed at the top (due to the logic of "if they can afford that much advertising, their prices must be expensive!") so it's really just a case of trying it.

There are other ways of advertising, Adwords is just one of them.

[AJLA]

Thanks ever so much for your hints, i'm doing some serious thinking now (it hurts

The thing is for exmple searching for personalised mugs that is exactly what I would google for as until i got into the subli business I would not of known to search for a colour change mug. Surely someone offering those personalised t shirts will be using those words so are you suggesting using the words in a short sentrence?
Sorry but i'm a bit naive with all this it's all a differnt lingo :oops:

[JSR]

Thanks ever so much for your hints, i'm doing some serious thinking now (it hurts

The thing is for exmple searching for personalised mugs that is exactly what I would google for as until i got into the subli business I would not of known to search for a colour change mug. Surely someone offering those personalised t shirts will be using those words so are you suggesting using the words in a short sentrence?
Sorry but i'm a bit naive with all this it's all a differnt lingo :oops:
With something like Adwords, you're never going to be able to compete with the big companies who can throw hundreds of pounds into advertising. Our kinds of budgets just can't compete.

When you're setting up your keywords, you'll get an idea of the kind of cost of the keyword or phrase. Most of the time you're going to be looking at specific phrases that are cheap enough that you'll get impressions (so people see you) and the occasional click.

However, it doesn't mean you'll never get in a good position with a low budget.

Let's imagine the example of the phrase "Personalised Mugs" that may, in a prime position, be worth 75p for a click - which someone like Bonusprint is happy to pay hundreds of times a day. At your £1 per day, it's out of your price range. However, if you don't get (m)any clicks that day, Google will be working to spend your £1 budget. That means you could conceivably end up with your ad as high as the others on a popular phrase like that. It may only be there ten times and clicked just once, but then you have only spent £1 - your competitors may have spent £50.

Until you try it out you probably won't get a grasp on how it works. I know that, before I had a go, I couldn't see that my minuscule budget would ever get any interest - and I felt sure none of my ads would ever be on the front page. But it does work. You won't always be there on this kind of budget, but maybe that's a good thing. You will be there occasionally and that may attract people who are fed up with the likes of Tescos or whoever or who are fed up with seeing the same old ads all the time.

Adwords won't suddenly make you a millionaire with hundreds of customers whizzing to your door but, like all forms of advertising, it helps.

I tend to find that the oddest searches bring people to my site - such as "glass coaster" - but I still end up selling more mugs than anything else, even though I'm sure no one finds me on Google by typing "personalised mug"..! :lol:

[AJLA]

I'm actually in the process of having a look :shock: OMG! I think it's way beyond me all the words I have chosen or phrases have come up as top words almost 2.00USD each :shock:

[JSR]

I'm actually in the process of having a look :shock: OMG! I think it's way beyond me all the words I have chosen or phrases have come up as top words almost 2.00USD each :shock:
It comes up in £ and pennies for me.

Most of my keywords/phrases are set to "auto". Looking at yesterday's report, most of the keywords were about 5-7p. A couple (such as "coffee mug") would have cost 21p if they'd been shown.

If you set your budget to £1 per day, then it should alert you to the keywords you've got no chance of affording.

The reports will also give you an analysis of your chosen keywords and whether they are showing on the front page of a particular search. Looking at mine at the moment, I see that "personalised keyrings" won't show but "dog keyring" will show. Sure enough, I google for "dog keyring", and there I am in the orange banner at the top of the page next to Amazon (who, I'm sure, pay a heck of a lot more per day than I do!).

It's all about going for less generic keywords and more specific ones.

It may seem that "personalised keyring" is something people would search for, but if someone is looking for a gift for Christmas for a dog owner, they may just type "dog keyring" - and I've a good chance of getting them on my site for what amounts to 7p. I consider that a bargain.

[AJLA]

How do you set the keywords to Auto?

I think the problem is.. if i'm offering a photo keyring or whatever it is, it is what it is isn't it ?or a personalised one.
Perhaps i am in need of a thesaurus.

[JSR]

How do you set the keywords to Auto?
I can't recall how I set mine up. I think I just entered the keywords and followed whatever it said.


I think the problem is.. if i'm offering a photo keyring or whatever it is, it is what it is isn't it ?or a personalised one.
Perhaps i am in need of a thesaurus.
It depends how you look at it. My dog keyrings are personalised keyrings (printed on the tiny t-shirt which is fitted to the tiny dog with a keyring loop coming out of its head). The keyword attracts the person who's interested in a keyring for their doggie friend first, and then they realise they can have it personalised. There's nothing to stop you putting "personalised dog keyring" in your list of keywords in addition to "dog keyring". I've added many over time with and without the word "personalised", and other permutations.

Truth be told, I need to spend a bit more time getting my Adwords better optimised. :lol: I'm certainly no expert. I just started, armed with £30, and waded into it one month.

[Stitch Up]

JSR, I took a look at your website and am impressed.

I've been struggling with osCommerce & PHP but finding it fiendishly difficult!

How much ability does one need to create a website in Zencart? Any tips?

Cheers

John

[JSR]

JSR, I took a look at your website and am impressed.

I've been struggling with osCommerce & PHP but finding it fiendishly difficult!

How much ability does one need to create a website in Zencart? Any tips?

Cheers

John
It is pretty easy, but then I come from a background of websites. I've never actually been trained or anything like that, but I have been dabbling with them since 1999.

If you like, I could help you get ZenCart set up to begin with so you can have a play about and see what it's like. I would normally recommend people to do it themselves because you'll be the one who'll be upgrading it when necessary, but if you'd like some help just let me know.

To set it up for you, I'd need access to your hosting account so best to do that by PM or email.

To do it yourself, it's just a case of downloading the relevant zip file from http://www.zen-cart.com/ and then extract, upload by FTP, and follow the instructions. You don't really need to know PHP unless/until you're ready to alter files (and, even then, it's just a matter of "copy & tweak" - you'll never be expected to write PHP scripts yourself). In fact, the less fiddling about you do in the PHP files, the easier any upgrade will be.

Alternatively, you may want to check out their "Certified Hosts" link to see if there's a company that'll do the ZenCart installs/updates for you (they won't do the setting up of products, I wouldn't have thought). The flexibility of ZenCart means you can do it the way you want to do it.

JSR

[AJLA]

Just to update you JSR I thought I would bite the bullet and buy my little space on google. I'm now however about to throw in the towel!
Literally it is doing my brain in.
Filled out the form using key words suggested by them but they keep telling me they are invalid. I've swapped it, changed them, reduced the number to 10 and it still won't do it and can't even remember the keywords I originally started with.

Think i'll have to give up on that one.

[JSR]

Just to update you JSR I thought I would bite the bullet and buy my little space on google. I'm now however about to throw in the towel!
Literally it is doing my brain in.
Filled out the form using key words suggested by them but they keep telling me they are invalid. I've swapped it, changed them, reduced the number to 10 and it still won't do it and can't even remember the keywords I originally started with.

Think i'll have to give up on that one.
Perhaps they've changed it since I set mine up a couple of years ago - I know they've been doing "improvements" (whatever that means). I think it's rather silly of them to make it too difficult for the newcomer to set it up.

[AJLA]

Couldn't agree more.

[Lorcan]

I get 80% of my business through my website. The other 20% is through Ebay. I use Google Adwords and Ebay to draw customers in, then keep them with Constant Contact marketing emails. I have a range of pre-designed products to sell though, I don't do custom work. I don't do events, or market stalls, or even publish my phone number - it's all online. I use Romancart for my online shop.

I currently spend £12 a day on Google Adwords, but I was spending £15-20 a day on ebay fees for the same turnover so Adwords is a better deal in the long run. You do need to put in some work on your keyword relevancy, and make sure your keywords are on your landing page(s). Use the search ads but also use content ads on sites RELEVANT to your market. Adwords is a big subject and there is much to learn, but there are some great tips on the Google Adwords user forums, so get reading if you want to make it work.

And don't forget your USP ;)

[AJLA]

Sorry Lorcan but a reall ignorant question here...what's a landing page, is it your home page or a page or similar? :oops:
Can we have a look at your site? Always interesting to see designs etc Mine is probably a different product altogether but I do like to have a look at what you guys do too.

[Lorcan]

The landing page is the page that is linked to your ad. It needn't necessarily be your home page - you might want to take your customer direct to a specific product page for example, or you might want to set up two identical pages with different keywords and see which one works best.

[AJLA]

oh ok I thought so but how would I know which page works the best if I make two identical ones? I'm not really blone :oops:

[Lorcan]

The two pages can be identical in content, but have different names. Set up two ads in Adwords - one has the first set of keywords and points to www.whatever.com/page1.htm (http://www.whatever.com/page1.htm) and the second campaign has a different set of keywords and points to www.whatever.com/page2.htm. (http://www.whatever.com/page2.htm.) You need not have the full URL displayed in your ads. Then see which gets the most clicks for the least money.

You can do the same thing with different ad content (but the same keywords), or with different landing pages. See what works best, and keep tweaking to get the best out of your budget.

[AJLA]

Oh that's interesting, thanks

[Flash]

Very interesting thread!
I have been 'playing' with another attempt at a website over the last couple of days http://illiweb.com/fa/i/smiles/icon_scratch.png I find this whole business very time consuming and in the past have had very little success from websites :(
Anyway I will link you to my efforts as I would be most grateful for your constructive comments:Flashtees Website (http://flashtees.co.uk/index.php?route=common/home)

Phil

[GoldRapt]

Looks good, is it a template or did you do it all from scratch flash?
I believe you can pay some group of blokes in asia about £300 and they do everything for you. £300s alot mind.

[Flash]

Looks good, is it a template or did you do it all from scratch flash?
I believe you can pay some group of blokes in asia about £300 and they do everything for you. £300s alot mind.
Hi GoldRapt,
As you can see I am using Opencart and I paid for the template from one of the many resources out there. I then just 'rushed-up' a banner and put it up.
I have yet to add a lot of product and add some more information on the 'About Us' page but it is functional, I think!
There are also a lot of 'Modules' I can add to spice the site up, I will be looking into these over the Christmas break.
I have been down a lot of roads in the past but I am finding Opencart quite easy to work with and I think the resulting site is quite 'clean' looking. The 'back-end' is also fairly easy to work with.
Ideally I would like something 'purpose built' but I have had quotes for this in the past and for what I would really like it would cost me ££££££££'s. So for now I will stick with this and work with it to see how 'bespoke' I can get it to look.

Phil

[GoldRapt]

Can I ask how much you have had to pay out so far please as a gudie for the rest of us?
Ive never been able to find a template that matched what I wanted, for example mug shop or personalised gift shop so Im glad you were able to find a template.

[Flash]

Can I ask how much you have had to pay out so far please as a gudie for the rest of us?
Ive never been able to find a template that matched what I wanted, for example mug shop or personalised gift shop so Im glad you were able to find a template.
No Problem, $9.95 so £6 odd 8) And quite a lot of time :shock:

Phil

[AJLA]

I think the site looks great flash!

[castlegategiftcreations]

I would tell anyone not to get Linesave or Domglobal to do their website design. Linesave are basically c**p and Domglobal promised us when he started designing the website back in June that it would be up and running within 2 weeks - we are still waiting. The design itself is good and although customers can view the website they are not able to order anything. So yet another xmas without a website!!!

I think that when the site is up and running properly it will work well as we have had plenty of customers asking us about the site (and how they tried to order but couldn't!!!).


Beginning to wish i had done it all myself but thought i would be lazy and get someone else to do it. Serves me right i suppose.

[mrs maggot]

just trying to sort mine at the moment, its a long process for me, and i have a friend helping who runs a very very big commercial website, and as he is doing it for free, i cant complain, but i need to get it up and running.

the main problem with a t shirt website, is anything "original" soon ends up on 1001 websites

[AJLA]

That's always the case unfortunately, many moons ago when I first advertised on ebay there was one other supplier offering items similar to my own, there are now about 30 in Cornwall and elsewhere so I don't do it now. They can still of course go to the site but hey ho not a lot I can do about it.
It is annoyin tho, we have another business and a guy stole the site word for word with exception of his name on the home page. Mad as heck we were but it was funny as it talked about our little town etc etc and he was in India!
Cheeky so and so, but we soon sorted that out!

[Flash]

just trying to sort mine at the moment, its a long process for me, and i have a friend helping who runs a very very big commercial website, and as he is doing it for free, i cant complain, but i need to get it up and running.

the main problem with a t shirt website, is anything "original" soon ends up on 1001 websites

Try sticking a few of your 'originals' on Ebay http://illiweb.com/fa/i/smiles/affraid.gif

Phil

[mrs maggot]

no thanks ebay is not for me -

[Flash]

no thanks ebay is not for me -
I once had that attitude towards Ebay!
Twelve weeks ago I gave it a go as trade in our shop dived to an all time low :(
All I can say is i'm glad I did 8) It takes a little while to learn the 'game' and believe me it is a game, but if you persist it pays for your Christmas. If you really try you can also use it to drive great traffic to your website, we have.
In 12 weeks we have sold almost 1000 yes 1000 items http://illiweb.com/fa/i/smiles/affraid.gif This has been welcome trade in these tough trading times!

Phil

[GoldRapt]

no thanks ebay is not for me -
I once had that attitude towards Ebay!
Twelve weeks ago I gave it a go as trade in our shop dived to an all time low :(
All I can say is i'm glad I did 8) It takes a little while to learn the 'game' and believe me it is a game, but if you persist it pays for your Christmas. If you really try you can also use it to drive great traffic to your website, we have.
In 12 weeks we have sold almost 1000 yes 1000 items http://illiweb.com/fa/i/smiles/affraid.gif This has been welcome trade in these tough trading times!

Phil

What sort of Items flash, general run of the mill or stuff that you wouldn't want copied but you've sold with a devil may care attitude? :D

[Flash]

What sort of Items flash, general run of the mill or stuff that you wouldn't want copied but you've sold with a devil may care attitude? :D
Stuff I print and sell in my shop also, Mr GoldRapt ;) I've not been clearing my wardrobe :lol:
If other sellers copy what I do I am flattered 8) I then go back to the drawing board and put some new 'Original' ideas on there until they copy them again..................and so on! As I said, it's a game.

Phil

[smitch6]

i noticed lots of your sites list the products ie mugs, coasters, mousemats etc
i find with mine though i list the designs then have a drop down box that they can select what product they want

i want to change the skin on mine soon as i'm not keen on the look of it

i'm always swapping it around trying to get it to look and feel right
hopefully 1 day it'll be sorted and i can just add designs as i go along

[fredster]

very interesting thread..not been reading much lately as my NORMAL job has taken over ... i set up my own website from scratch a few years ago ...not the subli one but a website i had wanted to make for myself..i learned myself a bit of html and php and my website took off ..not selling anything on said website ..more a fan site for a certain musician... lol
i got into subli stuff mid last year and quickly became addicted to new things to do and try ..i'm still horrified when i need to order ink in ... lol but apart from that the learning curve and the extra beer money in brought in ..paid for the equipment and my constant craving for something to do when not at work.
ive just recently tried my hand at etching glass and now thats taking my time up im happy again .
ok back to the website question in hand...
i set up another website for myself ..again from scratch to try n sell a few wares as you do ....
i looked at using the carts stuff but couldnt get my head around it all as doing the personalised/customised items its a nightmare thats ..in my opinion best sorted by emails or fone calls etc etc as a few clicks on a website usually ends in tears.
so i went down the route of using paypal buy it now buttons for my sale stuff ...probably not the best way of doing it but it works for me.. someone orders..i get an email and i then contact the customer to personally get the correct informations from them and talk them through stuff.
i dont make millions but it keeps me happy and keeps paying for new equipment and the odd holiday:)

i also designed a few sites for my mates an dnow they pay for my hosting as i host and update sites for them too ...
Dont be afraid to try n learn webdesign ..if u can manage photoshop then dreamweavers just a spin off from that.
ive not tried google ads or anything yet but i have just been snet a voucher so may just give them a try.

[smitch6]

i'm quite handy around the design front :)
and yes i have my own hosting company, forum, chat room, dating site,
i'm never afraid to do anything even when i break things i just start again

[mrs maggot]

anyone know where flash went or his website ?? or has he retired to the bahamas lol

[logobear]

Do you recommend a design online part to your website, or is it easier to just get enquirie email with attached image and phone number so you can chat and agree?
How much business can you hope for from a selling website?
Phil

[fredster]

i like it as i get it right first time as in constant contact with the customer...

[noobie_uk]

Hey folks,

Been putting together a web-site but it's still under construction and will be for a while at least. Just not having the time atm (for time employment, young family and just life in general). Think I'll go have a look at ZenCart after reading the thred.

I think the hardest part of this will be making a script so people can design there product online.

Please have a look and let me know what you think?
http://www.ddcreations.co.uk

[smitch6]

looks nice but lots of images which are good but they take a long time to load
for me (i've not got an overly good speed)
the images on the right are there for a short time then a get a loading slider

might be an idea to have them constant but change whenever the page is re-loaded

and some of the text on the left is hard to read
like the sign writing i had to really look to see what it said

but generally it looks really nice well done :)

did you design it yourself or was it a template?

be proud of it mate you done well

[Ian M]

Mark,

I really like it & I like the font that you've used too. Well done.

Ian :biggrin:

[AdamB]

Cracking mate, but as Steve said - it's very image heavy.

I just had a quick look at your source code - there's a lot of links to http://www.e-junkie.com/ - is this a template that they provide or was yours based on something like that?

[AdamB]

Oh and quick one mate - it's personalised not personalized (your tab on the left, although it's spelt right in other places).

;-)

[John G]

Really slow to load - needs quickening up or customers won't hang around long enough to order!

[Kaz]

I don't like the font on your menu on the left, sorry. It looks OK when it's big, like in your logo, but smaller, it's hard to read.

And sorry, but, DD creations made me think of silicon boobs, don't know why, lol

[smitch6]

rofl kaz i never thought of that and i'm a red blooded male :)

[noobie_uk]

Alot to think about I guess, maybe I'll remove the all the flash just have 1 large main slide, maybe just simplify it all. Seems like the nav bar font's an issue for most so I'll have to take a look at it, maybe I can get it to work with the same font in some way.

Smitch, yes the site was designed & made from scratch by me, I'm still only getting to grips with html etc but learning all the time.

lmao Kaz I honestly never thought of it like that, you have a filthy mind. Maybe I could just use the domain for another business :)

Thanks for the comments folks, still ALONG way from anything complete but at least I can iron out stuff like the menu now.

[smitch6]

you've done a brill job mate designing it from scratch well done
i do hosting and web design and its a nightmare esp in the beginning
i rem doing my 1st site it looked great on safari and FF but IE 8 it looked horrid all over the place

images are good but you have to always rem internet can be slow for lots of ppl esp those who use a dongle

i'm always changing the look and layout of my shop i removed the blue side bars today to make it look more clean and load quicker
i still think it looks chunky so will play with it some more but it's getting there

and i also really struggle on the layout of things
when i 1st done my shop i done it using categories like mugs, coasters, T's etc
but found it didn't work there was too many sub menu's
so now i list them by design and have a drop down box so ppl can choose whether they want a mug, coaster or both etc

zencart is ok but i wouldn't recommend it, i always say you get what you pay for
and as zen is free you get a free site and i found it looked free.

there are others out there that seems better
i did look at prestashop and thought it looked quite good but decided to take the plunge and buy some software
best thing i did in my opinion
altho my bank balance might not think so at the minute lol

[noobie_uk]

TBH I've only checked it with IE and FF atm, I know im going to have to go back over everything for compatability with safari etc that could make so much more work :(

I have been thinking about a drop down menu for the design script, so it changes the template etc. I may end up having to employ someone for that. Not sure yet have to see how funds are. I used the Xpres images as there really clear. Hoping to get to BMS in april as I have a few days off, I think were going to use them as our main supplier.

What cart's would you recomend smitch? It's another area I've been neglecting due to ignorance.

Thanks for the advice matey your a star!

[smitch6]

i use safari and it looked good so thats a plus

as for carts thats a good one
it all comes down to whether you want to spend any money if so how much?
i use cubecart the add on's etc for it are really good but like all of them can be expensive.

i could of paid 1,000's on mine.
but if you go down the cubecart route let me know as because i already have a licence i can get extra one's slightly cheaper

i can only comment on the 2 i have tried and that is cube cart and zencart
as soon as i swapped from zen to cube everyone said how much better the shop looked
i found with zen it never really did what i wanted it to, and as the support forum isn't very active i couldn't get the help i needed.
with cube you can have 30 days trial for free
DO IT, as the support is free during the trial period
so if you need anything just email them and they explain, once you buy the licence you have to buy credits to ask them directly for help
the forum is ok but sometimes like all support forums you don't get the right answer or even an answer at all

most shops do free trials so it might be worthwhile getting it and setting up a shop and having a play and seeing what you like
keep the shop away from the customers so only you know it's there that way you can change stuff and play to your hearts content

but rem 30 days isn't long so do it when you know u'll have time

[John G]

Do you do your website designing yourself smitch - they look really good - I think you could earn more money doing web design than sublimation.
Love the design on:
http://www.christiandating.me.uk/
and the front page on:
http://www.christiandating.me.uk/


If you do design yourself do you use dreamweaver and if so do you use templates/CSS or layers - i'm self taught with layers but my sites are pretty basic.

Cheers John

[smitch6]

that actual website was made from scratch by my web designer lol
he's a good chap hey :)
we are actually setting up tog he does the design i do the hosting
no he doesn't use any adobe stuff
not sure what he uses actually but he's a brill chap

1 day i'll actually get the hosting design site up and running
just waiting for an instruction manual for the software which is really complicated

[Paul]

are those picture from here http://www.ddcreations.co.uk of products all yours??

[smitch6]

it's something my designer drew up :)
he asked what kind of stuff i did and made the things up digitally

[mrs maggot]

might be an idea to run a spell checker on the site - workwear not workware(as in cookware) as you have on at the moment

[chongsta]

*Heck...i made a post here and deleted the lot by accident....soz* blinking edit function and one nephew hell bent on hitting keyboard buttons :(
----

Dave.
;)

(available for corporate hire)

[chongsta]

The two pages can be identical in content, but have different names. Set up two ads in Adwords - one has the first set of keywords and points to www.whatever.com/page1.htm (http://www.whatever.com/page1.htm) and the second campaign has a different set of keywords and points to www.whatever.com/page2.htm. (http://www.whatever.com/page2.htm.) You need not have the full URL displayed in your ads. Then see which gets the most clicks for the least money.

You can do the same thing with different ad content (but the same keywords), or with different landing pages. See what works best, and keep tweaking to get the best out of your budget.

Thats interesting, are you suffering from Bounce Rate though? are the landing pages your actual site or re-directs? What content do you have there to satisfy googles appetite that your not trying to scam it?

"I currently spend £12 a day on Google Adwords, but I was spending £15-20 a day on ebay fees for the same turnover so Adwords is a better deal in the long run. "

Yes but your eBay fees were from actual sales yes/no? To have that amount of fees per day on ebay means your shifting some gear, if your selling items for say £10, then your shifting around 15-20 items at that price = roughly 99pence per £10. How does that equal google adwords which are merely click-through's to your site? Was the google sales conversion rate and ROI better than eBay's actual sales?

To me your making £150-200 per day on the example ive shown. surely your main site wasnt doing that via Adwords click-through and sales conversions? If so thats like a 100% strike rate, unheard of. what are your keywords and prices?

curious thats all?

cheers
Dave

[kris_hm]

hi,
Just launched first version of my website!! All designed and done by myself. took me good few weeks to put it all together as working full time but finally it's there :)
I would appreciate any comments on website, prices, products ect.
p.s. got permission from xpress to use their photos

http://4fansdesign.co.uk/

[AdamB]

hi,
Just launched first version of my website!! All designed and done by myself. took me good few weeks to put it all together as working full time but finally it's there :)
I would appreciate any comments on website, prices, products ect.
p.s. got permission from xpress to use their photos

http://4fansdesign.co.uk/

First impressions mate - quick, clean, professional and easy to navigate .................. just so you know, the first thing I clicked on was 'freebies'!

Just a question though mate - are the designs on the t-shirts your own? I only ask as there is no watermark on them or anything to protect them from those that steal ............... and I know you may think that the design is too small to be reproduced for a t-shirt but it's big enough for a keyring!

Out of interest, were xpress ok with you using their images? It's a good idea.

Oh, and I like the 'talk to us telephatically, or send us a message below' nice touch ............. well done you.

[kris_hm]

thanks :)
t-shirts designs are from different artist. all agreed with them and I don't hold copyrights but have permission to use them. well... you're right, I though they're to small to copy.. but maybe you're right with watermakrs (?)

[kris_hm]

oh... and xpress didn't even asked any questions. just gave me login to download any graphics from their website - very helpful

[AdamB]

cracking - good job mate :-)

P.S I have been in the arcade ............... and I have t-shirts to make ................ damn you Justin ;-)

[smitch6]

looks good mate well done for making it from scratch
nice and quick as well which is important

[John G]

Hi Kris_hm,
Your site looks really good, the only neg i'd have is there are no contacts, phone numbers or addresses anywhere - this might put some people off when ordering.

[mrs maggot]

agree with John, the need to be able to contact you - your statement about being web based only will put some people off, everyone likes to talk to someone, i also thought paypal required it as part of their business account ? that you have a visible address ?? even if its only a po box

[Kaz]

Looks good, and as others have siad, quick to load.

Only thing I can see is, when you click on the image on the photo mug on your home page, it takes you to the photo gadgets page and not to the mugs page.

And are you sure you're charging enough for the shoulder bag? Seems very cheap to me

[kris_hm]

thanks everyone for comments and suggestions !!
I'm glad you like it in general :)
John G/mrs maggot - you're absolutely right. I will add my address on website. Only problem is that I work full time and can't really answer phone calls :/
Kaz - I've got 2 different types of mugs: "one photo" mug (in photo gadgets section) and "two designs" mug (in ceramic mugs section). But maybe it's too confusing indeed (?) And the prices... will definitely go up. Especially them from 'photo gadgets' section !! so please don't worry !! Right now they're so low as I would like to generate few test sales.

[John G]

You could say "Due to current workload we're unable to answer your calls so please leave a message and rest assured - we'll reply within (so many hours etc). I think the phone number is more important than the address but if possible - I'd have both on.

[kris_hm]

thanks ! good idea

[Traynor26]

Hi all,

only just catching up on threads since i have been away. I wanted a website but did not want to invest too heavily in it.

Im not too bad on the computer but certainly no web designer.............so i went with the 'You pay for what you get' option..................i bought a pre designed e-comerce website from eBay!!

I was not expecting much, but i must say........wow, i could not be happier with it, it does exactly what i want it to do for now. I know its no where near as good as what some of you lot have got.............but it cost me £49!!!

This price gave me:

A domain name
12 Months Hosting
Continuous customer Support (He replies to my emails in no time at all)
A fully accessible admin panel
Fully integrated with paypal and other payments if you have them

As i said, im no computer wiz, but he had the 'basics' set up within 24 hours, that gave me a complete blank canvas and i then proceeded to upload all my own products in my own time through the admin page. Im still learning things on there..........like buy one get one free, how to add banners, how to add discount codes, etc etc etc

Please feel free to have a look, as i said, it does exacly what i need it to do at the moment, and once the funds are available and i can justify it, i will treat myself to a 'swish' one,

Many Thanks

Lee

www.prontoimages.co.uk

PS. I know there are some products on there that might raise a few eyebrows, but its the website im showing you lol :cool:

[JSR]

but it cost me £49!!!

This price gave me:

A domain name
12 Months Hosting
I've looked at the estorebuilder.co.uk website but I can't see any mention of the ongoing costs - i.e. the annual cost for the domain and hosting. I just see their terms and conditions that say that prices can change at any time. Do you know what you'll be paying for the second year?


As i said, im no computer wiz, but he had the 'basics' set up within 24 hours, that gave me a complete blank canvas and i then proceeded to upload all my own products in my own time through the admin page. Im still learning things on there..........like buy one get one free, how to add banners, how to add discount codes, etc etc etc
If you're doing all that yourself, then it's really no different than someone getting a domain name and webspace and then putting ZenCart (free) or similar on it. I'm not sure I see what benefit this estorebuilder.co.uk is...

[Traynor26]

Yep,

Asked that, the second year of hosting is £45, I have not hear of Zen Cart, but I msg say I'm more than happy with what I have paid.

I have regular contact with a human at the other end who I know by name and he has been more than helpful, they added an 'Image upload' facility for me, for only £30. I'm sure ps solos on here are confident that they could of done that themselves, but for £30 I was happy and it was done in 12 hours of asking for it :)

When I said a blank canvas, what I meant was that there was a few 'dummy' products for me to change and make my own, the whole structure of the site was there, I just had to personalise it and make it my own :)

As said before, I'm no PC boffin, and I'm sure there are better or may be even cheaper options out there, but the site has already paid for itself several times over, so I am 1 happy customer :)

Lee

[JSR]

When I said a blank canvas, what I meant was that there was a few 'dummy' products for me to change and make my own, the whole structure of the site was there, I just had to personalise it and make it my own :)
Yes, that's pretty much what you get with the free options like ZenCart (which includes image upload as standard).


As said before, I'm no PC boffin, and I'm sure there are better or may be even cheaper options out there, but the site has already paid for itself several times over, so I am 1 happy customer :)
At the end of the day, all that's important is that it does what you want it to do at an affordable price. I only asked the questions so that others who are looking at what to do will have the answers.

[Traynor26]

Totaly see where your coming from,

Wow, will deffo have to have a look at this ZanCart if they have an option for customers to upload images at no extra cost, a few others that I looked at wanted 100s to add this,

Thanks for the advice, might well re-think my options next year, but as you say, I'm happy with what I have paid at the moment.

Just might do some more research in the future :)

[kris_hm]

Traynor26 - nice looking webstore. It's true that you could get it all for free but it's not easy to install on server and set up properly if you don't have knowledge. So in my opinion the price you paid was fair.