Home – New › Forums › New here? Share your story › Obtaining a website
- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
March 19, 2016 at 5:27 am #994240Up::0
Hello, could I have some help regarding choosing someone to make a website for me and also the hosting side of it. There are so, so many websites about websites ! I have decided to start a little business and have products ready so am eager to get started. Thankyou kind regards Sarah
March 19, 2016 at 11:35 am #1195736Up::0Hi Sarah,
Welcome to the forums! A little more info will help our members give you the best advice. The right recommendation will depend on your budget, location, business type, and whether this is a small side hobby or a new full time gig for you.
Any details you can fill in would help a lot.
Dave
March 19, 2016 at 12:46 pm #1195737Up::0Hi, thank you, my aim is that this venture will replace me going into my present work, but at at first due to finances I will have to do both. I am going to sell fun, fashion jewellery for all ages. The cost of each piece will not be very high. I live in Sydney. Best wishes Sarah
March 19, 2016 at 10:55 pm #1195738Up::0Cool Sarah. You’ll probably be looking for someone who builds online stores (often called ecommerce websites). Find web designers with sites in their portfolio that are similar to what you have in mind. That should help you to narrow your search a little while you wait for some specific referrals.
Dave
March 23, 2016 at 2:28 am #1195739Up::0Dear Dave,
I searched ecommerce and came across a ratings chart for a few sites. I chose one that had a pretty high rating, with a few inclusions that sounded helpful,for the price ($19.99) a month. It is called 3dcart.
Have you heard of this one by any chance.
I looked on my bank statement and $26 had been taken out so I checked and the site is actually based in Florida. So I think I may have made the wrong decision. Before I attempt to follow instructions on getting it going could you possibly find time to check it out, perhaps I should I forget this payment as a wrong decision and search for a site in Australia to make things a lot easier.
Thank you.
Best wishes,
SarahMarch 23, 2016 at 5:17 am #1195740Up::0Sarah if your budget is super low then it might be worth investigating something like Etsy rather than setting up your own website.
Trying to build a whole ecomerce setup for $20/mo is likely going to end badly i think.
March 23, 2016 at 6:09 am #1195741March 23, 2016 at 6:13 am #1195742March 24, 2016 at 12:39 am #1195743Up::0It might even be worth starting out with eBay. A lot of people build successful eBay stores before they set up their eCommerce store.
March 24, 2016 at 1:12 am #1195744Up::0Hi,
I just checked the etsy and the items have to be handmade with an input of your own. I did look at an eBay site just now and then came across Shopify, so am currently following the steps to use this, I hope it is ok.
Thank you for keeping in touch.
SarahMarch 24, 2016 at 1:21 am #1195745Up::0Hi Sarah,
I don’t know much about 3dcart, it looks like you’re going the way of DIY on a hosted online shop platform. The most popular service of this type is Shopify.
Other options are:
1) Start selling without a website (ebay, etsy) as other have suggested until you can make some sales and get a feel for the market.
2) Have a website built for you. It will cost you more upfront but this way you’ll own the site and can invest more in it over time.
[1 then 2 might be a good progression]You can also use a hosted service like 3dcart or shopify but have a designer customise it for you, which will cost you a few extra dollars.
If the platform you’ve chosen looks good, then just get cracking. You’ll learn a bunch and if you have a website built for you later on you’ll be much clearer about what you need and what you don’t.
Good luck!
Dave
March 27, 2016 at 7:25 pm #1195746Up::0Hi Sarah,
My wife has an online gift store which is on Shopify, we switched from Magento about two years ago and love it.
There are plenty of free or low cost templates that you can use to make your store look professional and the management system is very user friendly.
Shopify is generally good for Search Engine Optimisation but you may want to consider the previous suggestion about an eBay store whilst you build the site and drive traffic to it.
I have used Net Regustry for hosting and have always found them to be quite good.
Hope this helps, good luck with the store!March 31, 2016 at 2:33 am #1195747Up::0Hi Sarah, im an actual web designer, my suggestion would be to be a domain name as soon as you can, the older the domain the better.
in regards to hosting, i would suggest going for an Australian company with Australian server, but they tend to be a bit more pricey. just make sure they have good support.
i would try and stay away from the monthly fee shopping carts, as they will charge you more and more in the long run and you don’t actually own the site anyway.
A website of you own is the best option but if that costs too much, try and setup social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any others depends on what type of business, and be active on them.
You could also try Gumtree. -
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.