From: Aunty Alias <AuntyAlias@yahoo.com>
To: CITY-CraftBizAdvice@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, March 12, 2010 12:58:44 PM
Subject: [CITY-CraftBizAdvice] Apryl - Website building

----- Original Message ----
From: themontanamuse

Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone knew of a good website designer? I'm trying to find someone to build me a simple website for my business. It would mostly focus around my homemade goods.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Apryl S.
TheMontanaMuse
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Apryl:
 
I suppose the first questions should be what are you thinking of spending for a website designer?
 
There are website designers who focus on artists/craftspersons. When you visit websites of other artists/craftspersons and you think "This is a nice layout. I like how they do...such and so..." look at the bottom of the home page and often you'll see the name and the link of the person who designed that website. Click their link and you can start pricing out services.
 
Someone who designs your website isn't like a caterer who comes to your party, serves the shrimp cocktail, cleans up and leaves. It's more like you, the client, are going steady with a website designer. You will need them to makes changes, upload new stuff, take down old stuff, solve any technical problem. All the while you are paying them for their services. Like any relationship where you are dependant on another getting the right website designer is more than important, it's imparative. Any relationship can go sour, especially when there's money involved. But let's look over some other options before we go dashing off to find a website designer and throw money at them hoping they're going to do the right thing.
 
You've already registered a domain and paid for a webhost, right? Registering a domain and having picked and paid for a webhost should be done before enlisting a website designer because if they have to do this for you then it costs more. Plus you might be stuck with the domain registrar and webhost that the designer thinks is appropriate. That webhost might be appropriate only because the webhost has a relationship with the designer, not because it would necessarily suit your needs going forward.
 
Ok, let's say the thought of being autonomous is attractive. What are your options?
 
Some webhosts have a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) webpage building interface as part of their "dashboard", the behind the scenes section of any website. It cost nothing because it is part of the webhost package, like WordPress or b2evolution blog installation, but we'll get to that later. The webhost webpage builder relieves you from depending on a website designer and also from having to purchase webpage building software that will one day be discontinued (like my FrontPage 2003...arrrrgh!). With a WYSIWYG interface you can build pages, upload photos, put in your PayPal buttons and be an independent gal.
 
There are online vendors that sell an instant noodle website package. It could be 1 page or 5 pages. You will be limited to the colors, fonts, link buttons, and layout that a particular package held. Then it would be up to you to upload pictures and manipulate the pages. I'm not sure how that works because it would see to me that you'd have to have webpage building software like FrontPage or DreamWeaver to begin with. I've only looked at the online vendors who sold FrontPage theme packages. If anyone else has experience with the instant noodle website packages please join the discussion.
 
Some artists bypass the website route as being "so 5 minutes ago" and just set up a blog of some sort. The blog can have a side bar to Etsy or ArtFire where your items are up for sale. The blog itself is where you share your artistic process, inspirational websites of others, tutorials and/or process shots of you making the things you're selling. This seems to be the trend actually for a number of reasons.
 
A vendor should want to create a dialogue with their website visitor and potential customer. So many people are selling things what makes one website stand out from another? What makes a website worth visting even if the visitor doesn't have money to buy something ....just yet? Ask yourself why do you return to websites over and over even if you're not buying something?
 
Could it be for the free information, tutorials, interesting and original content? That's why someone would visit a website or blog even when they don't have money to buy stuff at this time. If the content is informative, fun, original, and leaves the reader feeling good then you can bet they will come back to that website or blog to buy something when they do have funds. A relationship had been built by offering eye and brain candy for free.
 
A blog encourages comments easier than a website. Blogs are also easier to set up and there's a lot of different options available, for example:
 
The single stand alone blog:
http://norajean.com/Blog/   That's WordPress, links to their website on the side bar.
 
The multi-user/multi-blog:
http://norajean.com/AstroBlog/blog1.php   That's b2evolutios, links to their website on the side bar.
 
I'm loving the b2e blog because one can have a space to just natter and invite discussion, a space to sell things, a space to share pictures, you name it - you build it, easy peasy lemon squeezy. Since b2evolutions is fairly new there are less ready-made free "skins" for changing the look of the site. One can build their own look and some people have for their b2e websites. Here's one for example, picked at random from the b2evolutions website. http://www.swaggrabber.com/blog1.php
 
It is not difficult to set up the b2evolutions multi blog and it ends up "feeling" like a website with sections. The software is free, there is a forum and manual online, and you're in control of your destiny. Once you decide whether you're going for a website or a blog for selling your things let's think about how to get people to come to your online space and to return again and again.
 
A website/blog that has items to sell and no other added content is like another stall in the bazzar where the shop owner is leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette... not interesting, not compelling.
 
A website/blog that has free tutorials, fun facts, humor, is like the stall in the bazzar where an active shop owner is out there joking with the crowd, handing out free samples of that yummy stuff, giving a little extra to the people who do purchase.
 
Information and free tutorials will encourage other people to link to your website or blog and increase your google ranking. When you publish a new blog post about something fun and interesting you go and distribute that link to FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace, where ever it is appropriate to share that you have a new blog post. That increases your exposure.
 
Another way to increase the exposure of your website/blog is to join in on discussions on other blogs and social networking forums. People are encouraged to click on your link if you're fun, interesting, and informative. People are inclined to avoid a link that has a comment that is rude, complaining, or badly written even if the content is ok. If we're standing outside of our stall at the bazzar how are we perceived by the crowd passing by? Are we smiling, joking, being interesting and generous? Your blog posts and how you distribute the link to them is your sidewalk persona at the bazzar.
 
Is a website the way to go? Or is utilizing the blog format a better bet because it encourages a dialogue with your visitors? The items can still be "for sale" on the side bar of a blog. The items for sale can be "tagged" as "for sale" and anyone clicking on that tag will get all the things for sale.
 
Ask youself, what websites/blogs do you go to? Why do your return to them, even when you're not buying something? What was the draw to return? Fun and original content that is updated regularly? Tutorials? The opportunity to leave a comment and be part of a dialogue or a discussion with a bunch of like minded folks?
 
Some folks have a website where the stuff is up for sale but their traffic comes in from their blog because of the interesting fun, original content that keeps the crowd coming. Original content that visitors will share with their friends as links or link in their blog as "This is so interesting.." leading more traffic to your blog and then to your sales area.
 
So rather than recommend a website designer that will cost you money and then you'll be stuck with God only knows who, for good or ill. I recommend you check out the free offerings on the dashboard of your webhost. Do they offer the WYSIWYG webpage builder? Do they offer free installation of WordPress or b2evolution? If so then you don't have to pay more money and you can control your own web presence.
 
If you have the spare money to hire a website designer I'd go to my favorite couple of polymer clay or doll websites and check out who designed those. Write to the site owner and ask them how was their experience with their particular website designer. You want a website designer that is familiar with your artistic niche, not one who usually builds motorcycle or tattoo websites. LOL
 
This might be more than you expected to get as a reply, so sorry if your butt has fallen asleep sitting here reading this. It's just that it was such a great question and something that all of us here should be discussing, e.g. the benefits of website over blog in this Web.2 era.
 
xoxo
 
NJ