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Setting up a website..
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[Deleted User]
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Hi All,
I've been selling clothes on eBay for the past year and it's turned out to be a small success. I am feeling a bit adventurous now & would like to set up my own website.
Over the past few days I've been reading online on where to start & what to do. But I have no idea. Everything might as well be written in a different language as my head can't take it all in. I've been looking at courses but I am unsure what one I should be joining.
Some sites I've clicked on look a bit dodgy – hence the reason why I’d rather make the site than trust someone else to.
If anyone could advised anything - I'd appreciate it!
I've been selling clothes on eBay for the past year and it's turned out to be a small success. I am feeling a bit adventurous now & would like to set up my own website.
Over the past few days I've been reading online on where to start & what to do. But I have no idea. Everything might as well be written in a different language as my head can't take it all in. I've been looking at courses but I am unsure what one I should be joining.
Some sites I've clicked on look a bit dodgy – hence the reason why I’d rather make the site than trust someone else to.
If anyone could advised anything - I'd appreciate it!
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Its the best, Just drag and drop, you can even set up your domain through them.:)
You can choose from different themes as well, and it allows you to set up a store.
As well as the actual hosting, you'll need domain registration - sometimes this is thrown in as part of package, sometimes not.
You'll need some method of creating the site. An online CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress or Joomla is probably the best way nowadays, and for a beginner it's probably a good idea to have this software pre-installed for you as part of the package (experts can install these things themselves on the hosting server).
Then you'll need to investigate how to handle orders, and credit and debit card payments.
How do you set up security for your website?
I can recommend Webhosting UK - been with them for 6 years.
Get a Cpanel package and then setup the Opencart software - its all included in CPanel as well as forums and various other software.
http://www.webhosting.uk.com/cpanel-hosting.php
There are a lot of simple website builders like Weebly.
Moonfruit isn't bad either.
Don't go anywhere near 1and1 though. Very restrictive.
Set up a website using one of the free builders, weebly etc: Medium amount of time, small cost, but not a professional end product.
Build it yourself using Joomla, etc: Large amount of time, small cost. Potential for a better and more flexible end product, but steep learning curve.
Employ a professional company. Large cost (probably about 1-2k for a basic commerce site.) But you will get a professional end product which customers will enjoy using.
It sounds like you want to build it yourself, which is admirable, but website creation takes a long time to become good at, so be prepared to put the hours in. There are too many awful sites out there already.
The design company will also take care of implementing security certificates as well so that payment details are encrypted, as well as any other security issues related to the server and site.
I'd agree with this, Hire a professional if possible They'll be able to create a responsive site with rich client side operations in the user interface as well as implementing proper security and standards... something that someone who has read web design for dummies might struggle to do quite as well
Web site design is one of those jobs that amateurs feel they can take on and sometime, if they do the learning, they can come up with a decent site. But it won't be as good as someone who spent years gaining a professional qualification then gaining a lot of practical esperience. You wouldn't think of trying to fly a 747 after a single flying lesson in a cessna.... so if you can afford it, go with hiring a professional. It can make the difference between your site being okay and a really attractive, professional, functionally rich and accessible one,
you can take a look at :
http://www.Webhost.Uk.Net
or
http://www.Rshosting.Com
Both are UK based got personal experience with both companies from 4 to 5 years support and service is great.
Yeah your website probably looks like one that's been set up on wordpress by a "complete IT idiot,"
Feel free to post the link and prove me wrong
1) If you're happy to keep selling using eBay, then I'd keep your new website light and full of personality. Selling via your own shop system isn't easy and costs money
2) Make sure you get an attractive website name. Nothing too long or too short. Even consider using a country code that allows it to be shorter (i.e. www.stri.ng - .ng is the Nigeria code)
3) I would look to building your brand via a blog. Add some personal thoughts on your brand and take pretty pictures to upload and give dedicated followers a reason to keep coming back to your eBay shop. There's a new blog system called Ghost (www.tryghost.org) that will be centred around blogging and not be as complicated as Wordpress. (try to avoid Wordpress / Blogspot)
4) Keep the website updated! Important to keep people coming in.
5) Make sure you have a simple single e-mail address so it's easy for customers to contact you and you keep your work from personal stuff.
A website which does include an ordering system and then tied to stock control with security costs money. Even off the shelf. If you want anymore help; feel free to PM me.
There are e-commerce plugins that do it for you on Wordpress, but it isn't cheap or easy to do.
That's because you don't understand how it works. It's a domain name. All it does is redirect a name to a number where your site is hosted (like a house number + postcode). You trust the site by the SSL security certificate. There's plenty of dodgy sites on .com and .co.uk. Makes no difference how secure it is. :rolleyes:
I'm doing one right now for my karate club using
www.wix.com
I'm a complete dullard when it comes to things like this but this is so simple I'm really having fun with it! Its free too!
Backups...will they backup your site for you so if the server its on dies you can just move over or will the answer be tough!! and don't forget how often will they do it as you may have to rebuild all your data from the last backup to what it was before it went down
Diskspace/bandwidth..how much you get, might not seem like much today but if you start flogging stuff and use video's to show the item it'll soon eat up both of them and you'll have a limit per month normally on both especially for a free host
Background databases..the choice of DB engine(s) may affect the software you can use to build your website
Support - do they have 24x7 support or just office hours and also response time to any problems you may have
Oh crap eventuality - does the data centre have battery backups/generators and if so how long do they last along with extra links out of the place to cover some numpty with a JCB outside pulling up cables by the mile
If they can answer those then you have a good idea of the service level of the company so as you can see theres a lot more to choosing a web hosting company than price and a fancy looking frontpage