Websites

[MoonShadows]

I'm refining my website and would like to know what buyers want to see when they are looking at a business's website.
This is my website in the making. www.rosewoodpoultry.weebly.com
Thoughts? Constructive criticism?
I'd also love to see your websites!

I see you are working very hard on your website.

One thing you will want to consider as you move on is buyers want to do business with professionals and people who are serious about their business. A website makes a statement to the buyer, and if that statement, or first impression, is not a good one, you will lose the customer before s/he ever sees what you are selling or your good prices/services, etc..

Having a website that advertises it is free, especially right on the homepage, and that uses a sub-domain (www.xxxx.yyyy.com) and a gmail email account, is not professional and makes a statement right off the bat about your business. You don't have to spend a lot of money. There is website software out there that costs little to nothing that can make you look much more professional and business-like. Check out these sites: http://www.oscommerce.com/, http://www.zen-cart.com/ and http://www.cubecart.com/. I believe they still offer their software for free or very low cost. What is good about them too is they are websites and shopping carts all in one. You will need a domain name hosting for your software, but you can buy a domain name for under $10 and get hosting for as low as a few bucks a month. Take a look at http://www.top10bestcheaphosting.com/ for a list of cheap hosting packages. You will also need a merchant account to take payments online...when you begin to ship, which you mentioned you want to start doing. Once again, you can get inexpensive merchant accounts. The best known and least expensive (I think it still is) is www.PayPal.com. You can open an account for free and they will only charge you 2.99% on what you collect with no hidden or monthly fees like so many other merchant accounts.

Good ecommerce software, your own domain name and hosting, and a merchant account are the basics of any business website.

 

[call ducks]

Hi

I develop websites part time for fun. I can't design and I know this. So for right now I purchased a theme online for ~60 bucks. And then using my coding experience I made it work with my content management. However in the coming year I will be moving to an Ecommerce solution. But this is coming at a cost ( but as a business start up I know that I need to spend money to make money). The thing that matters most is user experience and organization. Take a look at my website (http://fundypoultry.ca) I try to keep everything as organized as possible so it's easy to find. While I don't have images of my stock on there at current time this is more or less because I can not come up with a really good way to display them - I don't want to settle for mediocre images of my stock.

Now don't get me wrong I am not happy with my current site - It's disjointed in some locations. This why I am having a custom design made for the Ecommerce solution I have chosen. But this is not a cheap endeavor and would not be the best way to go if you are just doing this as a hobby.


Now my feedback on your website:

Over all you are heading in a good direction. use the KISS rule. Make everything organized and keep it clean.

 

[MoonShadows]

Call Ducks makes a very important observation. Almost intuitive navigation and "in your face" information is crucial. If the viewer gets frustrated, can't find something, or your site does not have a logical layout, s/he will go somewhere else in a heartbeat. Most viewers size up a website in seconds, and it is in this very short time frame that they decide to stay or leave.

There are other reason as well viewers leave or stay on a website.

Here are a few good resources:
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/43-web-design-mistakes-you-should-avoid/
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/long-website-viewers-attention-72249.html
http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/09/25-questions-your-site-must-answer.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/t...e-slow-loading-sites.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

[ottbjumper06]

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I know that a free website is not ideal for a professional business, but please remember this is just a hobby for me. I am doing this because I enjoy communicating with people with the same interests as me and sharing my stock with others. The minute my enjoyment ceases to exist I'll no longer breed to sell. I'm not doing it for the money, rest assured I'm not making any off this hobby, LOL!

I'll do everything I can to make the best of what website I do have and be happy with it. If a prospective buyer chooses not to buy from me because I don't have the right website, so be it.

What is the KISS rule? Sorry if I missed it in your post Call Ducks.

 

[MoonShadows]

Wish you the best of luck ottbjumper06, and enjoy yourself. Whether a business or a hobby, enjoyment is always a top priority.

 

[call ducks]

What is the KISS rule? Sorry if I missed it in your post Call Ducks.

KISS stands for "Keep it simple stupid" - Does not mean you are stupid but just keep it simple and easy to use

 

[MoonShadows]

Friend of Bill?

 

[ottbjumper06]

Pardon?