Website ideas on construction / pitfalls / advice

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Dixieblade57

Joined
Jun 20, 2007
Messages
1,361
I am tinkering with the idea of starting my own website. Most of my knives have been sold by word of mouth up till know, and I sold a few on eBay, (I will never do that again). I know there is a whole another chance to sell out there and need to be taking advantage of that opportunity. However I don't even know where to begin with a website. I was basically computer illiterate till a few years ago. I had to self teach myself way back on Windows 95. I knew how to type but had never touched a PC till then. My kids use to look at me like I was so dumb and I will say there is a lot I still don't understand about some things.

So I need to be able to handle this website all myself so it needs to simple at least to start off with.

I make all kinds of knives but I like to specifically deal in the knives of the 1700's - 1800's. I want to be able to post pics of knives I have built and anything I might have available. Along with my bio and info on purchasing, etc. etc.! I also make items that are connected to the Mountain Man era of our history here in America. Some are connected to black powder hunting in the traditional sense.

Well there is a very rough idea of what I want to put out on my website. Any information you might be willing to share, any pitfalls you fell into when developing your own websites, anything you would have done different. Advice on maintaining security etc. would be greatly appreciated. And remember I use to be a blonde so type slow and be sure to spell it out for me! :eek::D:D If you want to post your website so I can have a look at it for ideas of what to do or not to do on mine it would be greatly appreciated.

I know I need a domain name and how to get it, but...........I really don't have a clue here as to where to begin on the actual site construction. When I finish I want a well functioning and easy to understand site. With good security. Anybody.........................Help please!
 
There is proprietary software you can buy (or sometimes download for free) that will do it all for you. Much of it is aimed at the small business market, where they can't afford to employ IT bods full time or even hire a consultant and so have to do it themselves (and most aren't any more computer literate than you are). Ideas and useful functions can be pinched from the web pages you first saw them in. if all you want to do is get your webpage up and running and administer it yourself, that's what I'd do.
 
Blogspot is usually a good starting point (check out blogspot.com). They have a bunch of templates that you can pick from, and it is actually very easy to customize and edit your site on there. you'll have a seperate admin login and view of the site, so security is not really an issue either. There are a number of similar tools out there as well - Google is your friend!

alternative you can go to a site like 99designs, and contract the design/building of your website out, and just add/remove pics and features once the stie is built as regular maintenance, but that is goingt o cost you a bunch of $$...
 
Yeah thanks guys maybe I am not saying this right. I think I can handle getting the website, and I am sure my son in law can help with the building of the site as well as security. I guess what I am asking is there something you would have done differently when you were building your site. I am looking for your own thoughts and ideas about what makes a good website, maybe as much as anything. What ever I come up with in the end it will be run and maintained entirely by myself so I want a site that is easy to maintain once I get it set up! Maybe I should have discussed this a little more with my son in law before asking this question. He is such a geek when it comes to computers I feel he is talking way over my head at times and I just nod and smile!
What is something that may be unique to your site or you just how love how that feature works, or something you saw on another site and wish you had incorporated it into your site?
 
I found it pretty easy to build my own. It will save you some money in the long run, as you will have the ability to update and modify your site at will.

Buy some hosting space, and register a domain name. It shouldn't cost you a fortune, Go-Daddy was pretty good to me; while I wanted to operate a website. you don't need any bells and whistles from them either.

Use an HTML editor like NVU / Kompozer (freeware, doesn't cost anything and I found them to be pretty reliable until you really start doing complex edits.) learn to build the links insert photo's backgrounds etc. And be the master of your own website, and not in need of paid support all the time.
 
Any advice on the best web hosting sites? I have seen some knife makers site that were incredibly slow. Also I have seen some that just didn't seem to function well at all, but I think that may be more linked to design that the host!

Any advice on sitting up a site to get the best search engine optimization/promotion?

Is there any way to set the website up so that it emails you if there are problems? I know that sounds a little out there but it would be nice to have a heads up if you haven't checked the site recently!

I am sure the more I work on making this idea a reality the more questions are going to pop up in my mind!
 
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Dixieblade57 said:
Any advice on the best web hosting sites? I have seen some knife makers site that were incredibly slow. Also I have seen some that just didn't seem to function well at all!
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Honestly it is pretty safe to guess that they are hosting on a free server, their personal machine with IP forwarding to domain name, or they are given some bandwidth and space from their ISP.

Paid for space should not let you down.
 
I use Google Sites, free hosting. It's not very slow, and you can create a large website with them. (I have over 200 pages and counting on my site). The site building software is easy to use, no knowledge of HTML necessary. Not necessarily recommending this path, especially if your son-in-law is a certified whiz, just saying it works well for me.

Hosting your photos on a site like Photobucket or Picasa, then hotlinking them into your pages will conserve space. Don't insert photos into your site at too large a resolution or file size- that's one of the things that can make a site run SLOW. Especially in your knife gallery. Once you get a large body of work photo documented, it can help to have your main gallery as thumbnails or small images for an overview. Then, an image can be clicked on for full view. Or as I've done, the image caption can be clicked, leading to a page of the knife with full pic and description, materials and size, etc. I also include a link to more pics of each knife at wherever it's actually hosted (Picasa, et al.)

Including rich content will help. Such as, WIP thread links if you've done any, a shop tour, some tutorials or vids of sharpening or cutting, whatever interesting stuff you dream up that's not just pics of your knives. This will generate added traffic- whether or not it's generating revenue, it makes your site look more important to search engines.

I second GoDaddy to at least host your domain name. I've not built a site with them, but registered my URL with them- they re-direct traffic to my site. Affordable, and I got a custom e-mail address with them- it's handy to have another address, and it looks professional to be yourname@yoursite.com.

Submit sitemaps to the search engines. Once you have your site published to the web, submit to Google at least,maybe Yahoo too. This means that people will be able to find your site by searching Google, and that Google becomes aware of your existence (it will happen anyway, but can take a long time otherwise.) This will help to get you higher in search engine results sooner.

I like to include a "customer feedback" section. Include links to it from your commercial areas, for sale page etc. People like reassurance. Include a link to your warranty, returns policy, whatever.

Get analytics for your site. That way, you can monitor how much traffic you get total, and to what specific pages. This will allow you to see for instance what page is being found by search engines most often, and if it's not your sales page, figure how to redirect them (convert) to your sales page, and hopefully make a sale (completed goal.) Google Analytics works great for me, it's very detailed, and FREE. There are a bunch of other uses for and relevant facts generated by analytics.

You seem well-spoken and articulate, that's a big plus in a knife website. There are many sites out there with decent visual content, and text that is disconcertingly ridden with errors on spelling, syntax, punctuation, etc. It looks as if the maker didn't care to proof read or edit his text, (or at least have someone else do it) which is not a great quality in someone you may pay to do a careful job on an expensive item. So, double check your text.

Adding a link to your website in your signature on forums (where possible) helps. This is a link from an outside source to your page, adding them up helps traffic. Doing WIP threads and showing your work in galleries at forums will boost your traffic.

Make your text easy to read- it should contrast well and consistently with your background, and be large enough. Read your site for a while, then if your eyes hurt, adjust your colors, size, font, etc.

That's all I've got for now. If I think of anything else relevant I'll post again. Hope it helps, good luck.
 
Couple of things. Like you we have a wide variety of things we make and sell and we too have a traget market. Even after you have a website you must still advertise. You must get customers to your site. The website is not the begin all and end all that many believe. For instance I just googled "custom knives" and there was 5,110,000 results. Where are you going to be on that list? If you are not on page 1-3 of a google search you're not gonna see much traffic that way. Advertise, advertise, advertise so folks go directly to your site. Look at having a Facebook page, magazine ads etc. Advertise where your target market is gonna see it. Keep track of what works and what doesn't. We use to advertise in several magazines and now just one. Because we found by keeping track, that this one was working for us and the others wern't. Magazine advertising is very expensive and its tough to write that big check every month but its worth it. I have several folks I know who's target market is the same as mine. They have websites too but they are sitting around waiting for their next order. Advertise.

Research "tag words". If you have your site hosted by a "biggie" you will able to learn how people are getting to your site. For instance when I get an order it actual gives me the purchasers internet "path"/ history of how they got to my site. Its actually kinda big brother scary what ya can find out. Use this info to determine what tag words will work for you. One I remember was a guy googled work gloves and that took him to a site that took him somewhere else that took him here then there. By the time he was all done he'd been to 10-12 different sites and ended up on ours ordering a custom sheath. That whole internet history is printed on the order form. We don't even sell gloves. I can't say I understand all this but I know that tag words bump you towards the top of the list when an internet search is done. The same with links to other sites. The more out going links and ingoing links you have the further up the food chain you are. Even posting here will get ya noticed.

I'm sure there are folks here that give ya some of the technical info better than I can but these things that I've mentioned here are important to consider.
 
I use and like GODADDY.COM as an ISP. They have low prices and pretty much offer anything you need to get started. I typically pay about $50 per year for a domain and the Linux (or windows) basic hosting service, which includes up to 1GB (or is it 10GB) of storage space, and enough bandwidth for any knifemaker site.

There are a lot of software packages out there that you can use to run a professional sales site, but unless you have pretty good volume you'll need to decide whether it's worth the money. There are free packages available for sourceforge.net, but they are generally VERY basic and require a lot of upfront work to build a real retail site.

Good luck on your venture.
 
Hey Dixie, maybe I can help. I'm self taught as well but I started back in the mid 90's. Now I build sites for myself and make a full time living off of it.

I'll try to break it down in a step by step way.

1. Get hosting. Forget GoDaddy or free places like Blogspot unless you want to risk the chance of losing it. I highly recommend Hostgator.com. Get the Hatchling plan if you will only be hosting one domain name. Buy it for 3 years and it will only cost you $3.95 per month. You can also buy your domain from them. Remember, domain names and web hosting are two different animals. Domain names will run around $10 or so per year (some will throw in a free domain if you buy your hosting through them, not sure if Hostgator does this currently). If you're only be using one domain, I recommend getting it from the same company as your hosting is at.
2. Hostgator has a one click install for a program called WordPress. Once installed, there are thousands of free templates for it. Just pick one you like. WordPress is really easy to use and there are thousands of little side programs called "plugins" that will handle specific task like creating a photo gallery. I believe PayPal even has a plugin so you can integrate PayPal payments into your site. If you can use these forums and email, you can operate WordPress.

All this will normally take less than a day to figure out. If you need help with any of it, just drop me a line.
 
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Thanks guys this is the kind of info I was looking for!:thumbup:
I guess when I finally put this all into motion I will have to upgrade my user status so I can include a link to my site. Wow that sounds nice, "my site"!
 
Mudbug - you are completly correct. For some reason I completely forgot about about WordPress (even though I have a couple of sites up on it). I too am not a big fan of GoDaddy, and have used hostgator as well - never had any issues with them. Last time I checked there was a PayPal plugin for WP, as well as a full e-commerce plugin (can't remember the name of it now, though).
 
+1 for host gator. They're the consumer arm of a major commercial data center and I've had almost no issues over the years. They tend to be very on top of the potential issues and don't overload the servers. Remember, with normal hosting you're sharing a server with many other people and it's easy for a provider to overload the servers to maximize their profits. Host Gator seems to avoid that and look at it as a long term deal, if they don't keep customers happy they'll lose them, so overloading servers is not a long term strategy. They offer all the usual options and have great plans for folks like us. I host a fair number of domains right now, no issues. They're not like some companies that pitch a fit about how you use it, you're buying hosting, they don't care if it's commercial use or personal. If you need more horsepower they'll offer to upgrade you to a dedicated machine but that's unlikely unless you decided to host Bladeforums or something. :)

Best part? $10 a month covers all the hosting costs with room to spare. You'll be responsible for your own domain but they're in that business too. Given the less than ethical behavior of many domain registrars over the years, I would suggest you go with host gator for that. I've used Godaddy as well and so far they've been ok. Some of my older domains are on an old school registrar called domains priced right. They've been good as well, but they're not as polished as godaddy. Remember, all you want from a domain registrar is the domain, don't sign up for extra services, you'll do all that through your hosting service.
 
I know here is my computer illiteracy showing up but, can anyone explain this in plain English!


Hostgator offers linux hosting only, but they will be adding windows hosting shortly. They offer hosting plans in three different categories, Hatchling, Baby, and Swamp. Baby and swamp offer unlimited domains too. Their hosting services are all equipped with the tools you need to get your website up and running.

Oh I feel that stupid feeling crawling up my back side. :eek::mad:

When it say it will be offering windows hosting shortly does that mean it won't work with a windows format!
 
Dixieblade57 said:
When it say it will be offering windows hosting shortly does that mean it won't work with a windows format!
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No, that's not what it means. You really don't need to worry about what type of operating platform the server uses. For what you need, either will work just fine. I use Linux because those that are suppose to know about this kind of stuff says it's better. But honestly, I couldn't tell you which is which when I pull up a website. I have accounts at about 11 different companies and the majority are Linux but I believe a few do run off of Windows.

Don't sweat it. Like I said earlier, if you'll just be having that one domain, go with the Hatchling plan and pay for the 3 year plan upfront. Your cost for hosting will average out to be something like $3.95 per month if you do it that way.

You would only want the "unlimited" domain feature of the "Baby" and "Swamp" plans if you will have more than one domain to host.
 
Thanks Mudbug007 I think one of the biggest problems of computers, programs and lingo. It is all developed by someone who is too smart for what they are trying to do. :eek::rolleyes:

Thanks for the info you and everyone else who had chimed in iwth. All and all I have learned a lot from the info on this thread and it should be informative for everyone thinking of opening a web site!:thumbup::thumbup:
 
tryppyr said:
That statement doesn't make any sense. GoDaddy is a hosting site.
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Well, actually they're a Hosting company, Domain Registrar, Domain Auction company and a Danica Patrick sponsor. If you ever end up losing a domain or have one stolen from you through GoDaddy, that statement will make a lot of sense! I along with many others who've used GoDaddy have had these and other problems with them. And of course, it's never their fault even if you have the proof! They're like the McDonald's of the hosting industry. But instead of getting a Quarter pounder when you ordered a Big Mac, you just lose your domain.

The same is true for Blogspot and WordPress.com. They can, and will, yank your site and do not have to, and probably will not, give you a reason. Most of the times it will be because of a few complaints.
 
I used weebly. $50 a year for hosting and to own the domain name. Set up is literally drag and drop.
 
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