Building a New Website/Webstore, any suggestions?

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A short while ago I received a notification that the company (ProStores) that hosts my web store would be closing down after the first of the year.
I have been using them for about 5 years and have been pretty happy overall.
There have been some minor glitches and annoyances though.

So in the coming weeks I will be building a new website / web store.
With the new host for my store it will allow me to do a lot more than just the normal storefront.

There can be things that I might overlook that may be noticeable to you guys.
That is why I am asking.
Are there things about my current web store that you don't like?
Lots of other websites I visit have little things that annoy me so that is what I want to avoid in my new site.
Are there any features that I should make sure are included in the new website / web store?
Any input, advice and comments from all of you will go a long way with helping me to do things better this time around.
 
Mark I had to close mine too for the same reason. So far I love weebly. Its alot cheaper than prostores, easier to set up and customize.
 
KISS keep it short and simple
I like your site, it is easy to navigate and it shows what matters and only what matters.
I hate sites with bells and whissels.
Also stay away from flash 9/10 times I click away sites build in flash. They distract from what it is about.

Maybe explain the different results from the two stabilisers you use. What is the difference
And international shipping costs
 
I'm using a product from GoDaddy called the Quick Shopping Cart.
Some assembly is required but nothing beyond anyone capable of posting an image in these forums.
Able to process Visa, handles inventory and shipping and has a ton of other features I haven't used yet.
Overall I'd give it an A-, though as I say, I have not tried everything.

- Hal Zucati
 
I have had good experience with Squarespace. They Tech support is very good. You can chat with someone anytime and have them help you do exactly what you need. You can also integrate shopping cart and all that right in with squarespace. The layout is not always intuitive , does take a little to get used to. But again, tech support is great. Email integrates very easy with gmail. Another big plus that is often overlooked, squarespace atuomatically formats to look correct on smarthphones. This is huge as mass amounts of people are using these things more than a PC. I dont have the volume of sales to justify setting up the shopping cart stuff but it seems to be pretty good.
 
Mark, I like your site. It's easy to navigate. Maybe bigger pictures in the expanded view of the wood to get a good look at the grain, or a 3d rotation of the wood?
 
I have selected a host for the store based on features and reliability.
The picture thing is easy. The photos will be able to be enlarged for a larger than real life view.
Sometimes that way I am able to see a flaw that I could not see when actual size.
Some of the other features I am working on are the ability to sort based on price, how new and stuff like that.

Lately our internet service has been real slow so things are taking longer than I had planned.
 
My only suggestion is keep things simple. That was one of the things I appreciate about your site.
Don't get caught up in flash. It just slows things down and makes it hard on us iOS folks.
Also the simpler you keep it the less you'll have need for a "mobile-friendly site." I put that in quotation marks because I've yet to find a mobile friendly side to a site that I didn't hate. I understand the purpose but the execution creates a site that really inhibits the functionality IMHO.

I've been a part of web design and have built some sites as well. One of which was on the squarespace platform. I've never dealt with their "cart" product but over all was happy with their platform, reliability and the ability to integrate things other then their pre-programmed modules. That was something a lot of other cookie-cutter sites don't give you the flexibility to do.
 
I was hoping some of you might take a moment to look and give your opinions.
Bear in mind a lot of what is going to show up has not been corrected and won't be accurate. A lot of what is there are only place holders.
This is a link to the practice site I am working on.

The biggest question I have is the carousel on the home page.
I have mixed feelings myself.
But currently my internet connection is the equivalent of dial up and it is not lagging.

Feel free to try adding things to the cart and checkout, just don't pay for anything.

Once again, any help, advice and opinions are welcomed. Thank You all for your help.
I need to get things in order and ready to go by the end of this week.
 
I am a fan of the practice page Mark. Simple yet really nice to look at, and no hindrances/annoyances :)
 
I made some headway today in spite of a really really bad internet connection (average .40 mbps)
Got rid of a lot of the extra junk on the pages and slightly different layout with product pages and enabled the compare feature.
Still a lot of work to go. The ancient bog oak section is showing closer to how I will be doing the products.

Here is a link if anyone wants to take another look.

An technician is coming out tomorrow to try to fix our internet. Then I should be able to get things fixed up faster.
 
Your existing site has been easy to use IMO. I'm glad you're not trying to re-invent the wheel.
 
Thanks rcetroy.
My main goal is that it be easy to use and get rid of the things that can be annoying.
Several of the people from different forums have been helping with proof reading and stuff.
One of them is writing a script so people can switch between inches and metric measurements for the international customers.

My biggest challenge is my internet connection. Lately the speeds have been slower than dial up.
OK....I'l quit complaining and get back to work.
 
I like the new site a lot. It navigates well and all info is well laid out.

One of your sites best attributes has always been the crisp photos from both sides of each block. The enlarges pop-ups with just a click are great.
 
One of the forum members wrote a script that allows you to switch from inches to metric and back easily. (THANK YOU ANTON)
This is how the category pages display with inches.
in_zpsc5a54d88.jpg

And when you click on mm it displays all the measurements in metric.
mm_zpscb97e9e1.jpg
 
I put in the request for the change with the name servers to redirect my url to the new website.
It is propagating right now but the home page is not fully loading yet.
Hopefully soon.
Thank you for everyones input, advice and help.
This new website will be a whole lot better than the old one.
 
Hi Mark - Web store link in your signature needs update (basically remove 'servlet/storefront')
 
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