Web design 'n' stuff

[JLSleather]

Better start looking in to this soon.  Bout that time to re-up the web site, and I do get a bit tired of those messages about how you folks crashed me again due to high traffic (627 times in a month).  So, change the site, change the host, or ditch you folks

Problem is, I've done web design, though only for a couple of years and I let the tech pass me up - didn't keep up with it.  Other hand, I know something about that, so it's much more difficult for pseudo-designers to con me into extravagant payments for simple stuff.  I expect a guy to get paid, but some of them have lost all sense of TRUE worth

Think I'm good 'til after the new year, but I should check ...

[Mike306]

Remember there are 2 sides to this: - the tech side which affects the user experience (crashes etc) and the content/relevance side which impacts user experience in terms of sales. If you're gonna go through this updating process then put as many eggs in the professional word editing, updating and reframing of your content basket. This observation applies to any biz . You've got a head start with your b**sh** detector. Happy to chat. 

[chrisash]

I may well offend you but your site is quite poor for selling

I assume you want customers to buy your products yet they do not have a buying experience, it looks like you sell either Belts or Holsters but the home page shows neither and  there are no products to buy or have a good idea of price

You really need the home page to have a brief description of who and what you do and some images and links below to full descriptions of what you are offering as basic models. you could have something like a image of a belt with text underneath stating available from $ xxx to $xxx and a link to a page showing a selection Belts all with a description of what they are built with and the benifits to the user. the most basic belt designs can have a fixed price showing and the tooled belts a max and min  price with contact details to contact you by email with their requirements

Your header looks like a poor copy of your logo without much detail so you find it hard to even read the word leather in the logo

There is no method of paying online which is ok if all are made on order, but would make more sales if you had some stock items. it's so easy to do e-commerce these days and people just want to find the product and buy for delivery within a couple of days

Break the products up on different pages to standard and tooled or stamped or even three pages per product range

Descriptions are what sell. they cannot touch , smell or pick up your items so you need to say what they are

Belt hand made and hand sew in the traditional way using the best US leather  that has taken over a year to be tanned using the bark of Oak trees, Each belt comes with a solid brass buckle in various designs and has removable screw fastenings so you can easily change the apperance with a different buckle. Belts can be lined or unlines  and so on

Edited November 12, 2018 by chrisash

[JLSleather]

2 hours ago, Mike306 said:

You've got a head start with your b**sh** detector. Happy to chat.

1 hour ago, chrisash said:

I may well offend you but ...

There is no method of paying online which is ok if all are made on order, but would make more sales if you had some stock items. it's so easy to do e-commerce these days and people just want to find the product and buy for delivery within a couple of days

Descriptions are what sell. they cannot touch , smell or pick up your items so you need to say what they are

Belt hand made and hand sew in the traditional way using the best US leather  that has taken over a year to be tanned using the bark of Oak trees, Each belt comes with a solid brass buckle in various designs and has removable screw fastenings so you can easily change the apperance with a different buckle. Belts can be lined or unlines  and so on

I'm not offended.   But you're saying two different things there.  So, I'm not trying to persuade you - just thinkin' out loud here ...

There is a place for "click and have it on my door in a day or two".. but I already declined an "invitation" to Amazon.  Not my thing. Only time I have "stock" items are when sometimes when people order something, I make a second while I'm at it. OR, sometimes I have been known to make 3 of something just so I can do 3 different colors of that thing. So those git stuck on Cutesy, or sometimes go locally.

Not looking for an "e-commerce" site in the "traditional" sense .. one reason being that might associate me in some people's mind with some recent scavengers. I've seen them, of course - they're everywhere.  You can click some drop-downs, or select some option buttons, and then get notified that you can send money and hopefully get something in return in WEEKS or MONTHS.  Now, seriously, if what you're getting a CUSTOM REALLY IS ONE OF A KIND item, or if Elvis wore it, then this would be valid.  Otherwise, the site is just a con man wanting a 0% interest LOAN.

You have a point about the "logo" (though that's not actually THE logo).  I see my "slider" thing with pics isn't working - sometimes happens when too many people are over there downloading free stuff.  From that standpoint, really can't be considered "commercial". But then, the "logo" (which is actually on the right side) doesn't bring anybody TO the page.. they don't see (or not see) that until after they're ALREADY THERE.

But having this conversation got me admitting that I really am going to have to take care of that myself.  Too many people these days have a "plug it into the formula" mentality -- which makes no sense when you're claiming to be NOT like all the rest   I'm not looking for a "template".  

"Leather" web sites recently seem to be 1 of 2 things: 

• "watch this pretty video that drags out a simple point, then click here to give me money", OR
• here's a nice piece of leather you can wait multiple weeks to get #hermannoak #wickett #blahblah #note,the,hashtags,all,the,same,as,the,other,guys

If personal appearance is any indicator, I guess some "leather workers" main talent is having a snack.  Maybe I could pack on about 50 pounds and make videos?   I think the trick is to get a JOB, let somebody else PAY YOU to do something ELSE while you work on your patterns and your "social media" (I used to network computers, so i KNOW what employees are up to).

I suppose it's trademarked and I can't use it, but I always liked that tag line by the motor oil company ... "If you can't TELL the difference, then why PAY the difference?"

But I'm hardly "conventional", which my customers seem to appreciate. Yesterday I had a guy "order" a holster I'm not going to be able to get to - even start - for a couple of weeks.  Sent payment in full.  So I contacted the guy, let him know he can wait if he wants, or I can return his money if he'd like to shop somewhere else for a more immediate return.  He decided to wait, so I kept the payment - not a lot of money and not worth the trouble of a credit, refund, re-purchase, etc.  If it was going to be more like FOUR weeks, I would have returned his money and told him he's on the list and can pay when work begins.

____________________________________________

TURNING THE PAGE to a slightly more personal note:  Happy Veteran's Day to all those hard-working honest boys ('n' girls) who served this country WITH HONOR. I don't mean every single body who got a check from the fed or ever had a stripe sewn on a sleeve - I'm talking to those with some spine, who did what they were intended to do, simply because it was their job.  The ones who did it even when nobody at all was watching. That's a narrower group than most seem to think.. and the ones I'm talking to know who they are.  They'll probably just read this, remember their service with a bit of a sense of pride.  The others might well reply to "prove" ... i don't know what.

[chrisash]

Even without the e-commerce your still trying to sell your goods and at present just showing a number of images hidden well down the dispal under gallery, not with some product leads on your home page to catch peoples attention, and no descriptions anywhere

You know your market and seem to have enough trade so maybe it does not matter today dont even know if its a full time job or hobbie, but a professional looking site will be guaranteed to get better results, by grabing there attention in the first few seconds before they go to the next search

When the going is fine we ignore the future, when the going gets tough we curse not changing before it was history

[JLSleather]

I perceive you may have missed my point  No matter, all good.

And this IS my job, or at least ONE OF them.  i do not bilk an "employer" out of money for HIS business while I tend to mine.  But I no longer have employees, so some think "not a business".  I'm not opposed to employees, just haven't met any I'd care to keep.

Side story -- I once got called on an "emergency"... the network was "down' at a law office.  They could schedule appointments, see their INTERNAL files, but couldn't get out to use the internet, though email was working fine.  At the time, "emergency" meant a significant charge for dropping what I'm doing and coming right there.  Turned out, one of the receptionists had a date this weekend and was not able to shop the latest miracle bra (no, not kidding) and she was perfectly willing to spend a few hundred dollars that were not hers to get it up and running right now.  And apparently willing to cash checks for $40k per year to sit at someone else's desk bra shopping.  But they have a "business"   

 

 

 

[JLSleather]

#$@#$%!@!@$%  WEB DESIGNS

Granted, it's just wordpress.  That may be the problem.  Started to pay somebody, but explaining what I want almost seemed longer than jsut doing it.  So, I start putting in a few things, get it WORKING, and THEN enter most of the "goods".

Just about got it in the works, when the thing pretty much "decided" to "upgrade" wordpress (to 5 point something), and suddenly the shipping calculator is useless and I get messages about plug-ins not tested with that version of WP.  Sigh ....

Oh, and $79/year for USPS labels I would consider CHEAP for that service, print postage right from there. But SO many people on the site whining about the bugs in that ...

Edited December 27, 2018 by JLSleather

[YinTx]

On 12/26/2018 at 9:06 PM, JLSleather said:

#$@#$%!@!@$%  WEB DESIGNS

 

Think I'll bypass a website for now.  Busy enough anyhow, I don't need that stress or the bill.  Thanks for letting me know how it went so I can live vicariously through you.

 

YinTx

[Constabulary]

I would go with a e-commerce shop software like "Modified e-commerce Shop Software" - its free - you only need the web space and have to adapt it to your needs.

https://www.modified-shop.org/

Not sure if they have an "english branch" but it has lots of templates you can choose from and you can check out some templates designs at their demo shop site:

https://www.modified-shop.org/demoshops

 

EDIT:

or check MAGENTO:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magento

https://magento.com

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by Constabulary

[fallequinox]

Have you looked into options like Wix? They do all the heavy lifting for you. The only thing I don't go through them for is my domain because I want privacy on my domain registration (which they don't seem to offer) but other than that they handle it all for me. 

Just an option to think about.