Very New, Help with design of my website

[Mpossoff]

Hi all it was recommended that I come here from another forum to seek help in web design.

Where do I start?

I joined a cart program for my clothing line,

http://bigcartel.com/.

It was suggested that I either learn how to design or hire somebody. Right now I can't afford to hire someone so I'm going to give it my best shot myself.

I had a choice between 2 website solutions and it was recommended that I use big cartel.

This is what I have so far. I haven't got my domain pointed to site yet so you'll see a sub domain which is only temporary.

http://yahsome.bigcartel.com/

As you can see nothing.

This was my question in the forum and would appreciate any other input;

Thanks I would like to learn to build my own site. But I would like to get something out there quickly.

Now some questions and/or concerns related to getting a presence sooner than later;

if I start to build my own site via big cartel what is the minimum requirements so to speak for a basic website in regards to not hurting myself in regards to seo? I've read that you can actually 'shoot yourself in the foot' if your site doesn't meet some kind of basics minimums benchmarks in regards to web presence, seo and the like. Is this true?

If the above is true and I shouldn't 'launch' the site until the basics are down pat, can I use the likes of facebook, myspace in the meantime to get my products out there to make sales? Or any other means to start doing until these basics are 100% or close?

Thanks,

Marc

the answer was;

Well the first rule in SEO is, 'Content Is King', so make sure you have some quality, useful and unique content.

There is no rule on how many pages a site should have, but never put up a page that is 'under construction'.

Also you need to understand some basic SEO tips , such as title tag & description, hyperlink text or image alt attributes, proper use of headings and well written copy text to name a few.

And as I said was advised to join here.

So where does a newbie like me start with not really much skill?

Hopefully this post is a start.

God Bless!

Marc

 

[kjv1611]

Is there a particular reason why you were advised to go with

http://bigcartel.com/?

I'm not saying it's bad, but you may want to look at other options yourself, and see what works best for you?

Is it possible for you to consider a Yahoo store? I have no idea how much it costs, but there have been lots of stores that start out with Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, etc. That way, you don't really have to do much of the web design yourself.

Tigerdirect.com started out as an amazon or yahoo store, I believe.

Anyway, you could start with those, worry more about your core business goals, and then hire a web developer later, that way.

Otherwise, if you aren't stuck to the particular product, there may be better development options.

For isntance, there are many CMS products out there, which are free or cheap, and that way, you get to make use of the resources of various other programmers and designers.

For instance, I flat love using

http://drupal.org.

Many others like WordPress, Joomla, and others. For Drupal, I know there are modules (basically, plug-ins or add-ons) for things like setting up a store front. You could try that. Drupal seems to work very well for SEO.

Otherwise,

http://www.Google.com

can be your friend for understanding Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Also, besides the content, tags, etc, you can also buy some ads with Google and/or Yahoo, and possibly get some further hits there.

And I would definitely not forget about Google Analytics. That can help your site be better indexed with Google, as well as provided you an excellent free tool for viewing reports on site visits, etc. Drupal has a nice module someone build just for that piece.

Anyway, I can easily go off into recommending Drupal, b/c it's just my favorite tool for web stuff. I'm by means a "web designer", myself, as far as a full-time job, and I've got lots to learn. Drupal gives you lots of options - you can go as deep or as shallow as you want into the code, and get the job done either way.... so you could start out simple, and learn as you go.

Of course, if you're going to stick with your originally mentioned item, then I'd also look there for help, searching:

http://help.bigcartel.com/

For web questions in general, there is always the site,

http://www.w3.org/,

which is considered THE biggest or at least one of the biggest sources for information on various web technologies - html, css, scrpting, etc..

 

[mmerlinn]

The only suggestion I can give at this time is to make sure that you get the BEST pictures possible of your products. The pictures you show in the example site will DRIVE your customers AWAY. Get better pictures, ones that will ENCOURAGE your potential customers to buy from you.

I, for one, do not patronize anyone that does not pay attention to detail. I feel that if the seller is not willing to spend the time and effort to ensure good images, good grammar, and good spelling on his webpages, then I feel that the same seller will not ensure good customer service after the sale. Or to put it another way, I feel that sloppy presentation highlights the sloppy business practices of the seller.

An example. I have a local customer that is VERY detail oriented. How do I know? When I walk into his shop all of the coat hangers on his coat hanger rack sitting on his floor are ALL oriented EXACTLY the same way. That tells me that when he fixes a transmission that he is VERY exacting in getting it fixed correctly the first time. He may take a little longer than another builder, but when he gets done it works like it is supposed to work.

mmerlinn

http://mmerlinn.com

"We've found by experience that people who are careless and sloppy writers are usually also careless and sloppy at thinking and coding. Answering questions for careless and sloppy thinkers is not rewarding." - Eric Raymond

Poor people do not hire employees. If you soak the rich, who are you going to work for?