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Author Topic: Recently launched a website, looking for ideas / like dislikes  (Read 4287 times)

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Glenn

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Recently launched a website, looking for ideas / like dislikes
« on: December 03, 2016, 02:02:06 AM »

I recently launched my website http://www.alaskanlapidary.com/ if you guys could pot some feedback / idea / likes dislikes that would be great.  I realize that my stories need some grammar done and a few other areas and that I need new photos of slabs that have a carpet background.

Overall purpose is to share the adventure with the world from the stories to a piece that someone can own.

Thanks,

Glenn

Grinder69

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Re: Recently launched a website, looking for ideas / like dislikes
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2016, 07:41:12 AM »

It seemed pretty easy to navigate and find stuff.   Of course I am hardly an expert.  However as a representative of the computer troglodyte group it may be that I am an okay representative.   With regards to the stories I always appreciate a bit of geology/history of the deposit if possible. 

Thanks
Mike
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Glenn

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Re: Recently launched a website, looking for ideas / like dislikes
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2016, 04:00:17 PM »

It seemed pretty easy to navigate and find stuff.   Of course I am hardly an expert.  However as a representative of the computer troglodyte group it may be that I am an okay representative.   With regards to the stories I always appreciate a bit of geology/history of the deposit if possible. 

Thanks
Mike


The average user is what i'm shooting for. As for stories I will try to release one a quarter at least to subscribers and the next month put it on the site. Now that its winter and i'm not working 60 hrs a week I can probably develop / make more stuff

freeformcabs

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Re: Recently launched a website, looking for ideas / like dislikes
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2016, 05:48:37 PM »

Hey Glenn,
 Everything looks pretty good from my eye. Simple, but that is ideal for sites regardless of content.  Couple things I would pay mind too as a web developer right off the top. But you can take it as a grain of salt.

*Thumbnail images make a site look better when they are all the same size. If the google does the thumbnail resizing then just go with it. If you do the resizing. It looks like a lot tend to be around 175px in height. try to keep all thumbnail images to that 175px height.

*photos are big in gems and lapidary so don't be shy with them on your about us page. Maybe show some personal pieces, your home town, or cool sites close by. As well, I don't know why we tend to hide online but I personally like to see faces of the people who own the site.

*Your stories will be the main content generator of your domain. The more your add them, the better rankings and results you will get from search engines. Then the "average user" will find you best and easiest.

*I think your "alaskan rock type page" is great. You don't have to exact collection locations. But region like your mention in your products would prove most insightful to travelers. As well as a rough example if its something that is cuttable.

*The stone pattern page I believe will lead to some category creation when you post more items for sale. If you create these pattern types as a link to a categories that has your posted items for sale that match it would prove most helpful to shoppers. However be wary of generating just products. Keep it light and few, worry more about content in the form of stories. If you just post things for sale it will drop your rankings and placement unless you are SEO savy.

*If you have a merchant account with paypal I believe they still do "buy now" button creation. If they do these are easy add ons into your tables on your items for sale page. May prove easy for best selling items.

*The idea is to also keep people on your page. If you are able to code the full link in your navigation to your facebook page, for example.
Quote
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Glennslapidary/" class="sites-navigation-link">Our Facebook</a>

If you made it look like this:
Quote
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Glennslapidary/" target="_blank" class="sites-navigation-link">Our Facebook</a>
It would open your FB page in a new tab and keep your website open. Or the user on the site still. Same goes for your subscribe and contact us links.

The last bit has to do with SEO and search engines. You really don't have much content/meta/keywords in your head tags. I have not tried the google site creator but their should be a feature in there for that type of stuff. Make sure to create some of this type of content that matches your website body content. (several layers are repeating keywords are good). And update this content every couple months if not sooner. It will prove great in search results for average users finding your site.

I am more than happy to help consult and debugg sites for free if your ever looking. Keep it up!



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Glenn

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Re: Recently launched a website, looking for ideas / like dislikes
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2016, 07:48:20 PM »

Thanks for the input. The whole website thing is new to me



Hey Glenn,
 Everything looks pretty good from my eye. Simple, but that is ideal for sites regardless of content.  Couple things I would pay mind too as a web developer right off the top. But you can take it as a grain of salt.

*Thumbnail images make a site look better when they are all the same size. If the google does the thumbnail resizing then just go with it. If you do the resizing. It looks like a lot tend to be around 175px in height. try to keep all thumbnail images to that 175px height.

Unfortunately google does all the resizing and I have been looking for ways to fix that, Sometimes I wish the photos could be even smaller

*photos are big in gems and lapidary so don't be shy with them on your about us page. Maybe show some personal pieces, your home town, or cool sites close by. As well, I don't know why we tend to hide online but I personally like to see faces of the people who own the site.

I have very few photos of myself but I can work on this

*Your stories will be the main content generator of your domain. The more your add them, the better rankings and results you will get from search engines. Then the "average user" will find you best and easiest.

*I think your "alaskan rock type page" is great. You don't have to exact collection locations. But region like your mention in your products would prove most insightful to travelers. As well as a rough example if its something that is cuttable.

 :smiley:

*The stone pattern page I believe will lead to some category creation when you post more items for sale. If you create these pattern types as a link to a categories that has your posted items for sale that match it would prove most helpful to shoppers. However be wary of generating just products. Keep it light and few, worry more about content in the form of stories. If you just post things for sale it will drop your rankings and placement unless you are SEO savy.

The idea was to give examples of patterns for people that would like to custom order stones, perhaps I should hide this page for now until I have enough material to categorize a sale page? Maybe change it into a past creations or sold items page.

*If you have a merchant account with paypal I believe they still do "buy now" button creation. If they do these are easy add on into your tables on your items for sale page. May prove easy for best selling items.

I have looked into this and those gadgets don't have an item could.. so in theory 5 people could pay for the same item of which I have 1 of. If it auto deleted

*The idea is to also keep people on your page. If you are able to code the full link in your navigation to your facebook page, for example.
Quote
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Glennslapidary/" class="sites-navigation-link">Our Facebook</a>

If you made it look like this:
Quote
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Glennslapidary/" target="_blank" class="sites-navigation-link">Our Facebook</a>
It would open your FB page in a new tab and keep your website open. Or the user on the site still. Same goes for your subscribe and contact us links.

I'm not sure if google will allow me to do that but I will try

The last bit has to do with SEO and search engines. You really don't have much content/meta/keywords in your head tags. I have not tried the google site creator but their should be a feature in there for that type of stuff. Make sure to create some of this type of content that matches your website body content. (several layers are repeating keywords are good). And update this content every couple months if not sooner. It will prove great in search results for average users finding your site.

I will have to look into this

I am more than happy to help consult and debugg sites for free if your ever looking. Keep it up!

That would be great, as mentioned earlier this is new to me. Through this site i'm hoping it can help me buy a house faster and actually have a full dedicated shop.

freeformcabs

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Re: Recently launched a website, looking for ideas / like dislikes
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2016, 07:57:38 AM »

Ya, i figure they do the resizing. It can be fixed in coding pretty easy but just leave well enough alone till your ready for that.

Don't hide your patterns page. Just know it may lead to questions about the exact rock pictured and if that piece if for sale. Even if you mentioned on the page these are just examples of the patterns. People shop with their eyes, ask questions, and then read. ;)

Yes, paypal buttons are not the handiest. But it could lead to direct purchases without your effort of "selling" the item. The effort then comes when an item sells, to remove the button ASAP so no one else can purchase it.

The link code is just good practice if you have that control. I think the contact us and subscribe pages take the user back to your site. But the facebook takes them off your site all together. Just make sure if you can not control how those links work. To find a way to place your website link on those pages clearly for the user to find in case they want to go back to your site without having to use the "back" button.

websites are always ongoing and really need updating constantly with content and fixes(debugging) This is probably the 30th time freeformcabs has been completely rebuilt and it still a work in progress. ;)
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Glenn

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Re: Recently launched a website, looking for ideas / like dislikes
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2016, 12:46:16 AM »

Ya, i figure they do the resizing. It can be fixed in coding pretty easy but just leave well enough alone till your ready for that.

Don't hide your patterns page. Just know it may lead to questions about the exact rock pictured and if that piece if for sale. Even if you mentioned on the page these are just examples of the patterns. People shop with their eyes, ask questions, and then read. ;)

Yes, paypal buttons are not the handiest. But it could lead to direct purchases without your effort of "selling" the item. The effort then comes when an item sells, to remove the button ASAP so no one else can purchase it.

The link code is just good practice if you have that control. I think the contact us and subscribe pages take the user back to your site. But the facebook takes them off your site all together. Just make sure if you can not control how those links work. To find a way to place your website link on those pages clearly for the user to find in case they want to go back to your site without having to use the "back" button.

websites are always ongoing and really need updating constantly with content and fixes(debugging) This is probably the 30th time freeformcabs has been completely rebuilt and it still a work in progress. ;)

Until paypal comes with something better, it is not worth the risk as I only access my e-mail once per day give or take. I'm going to work on my stories and add an our scenic photos section along with past creations

freeformcabs

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Re: Recently launched a website, looking for ideas / like dislikes
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2016, 07:21:06 AM »

Here is a link that talks about a paypal gadget that can be found in google sites.
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/sites/eed3BU43UEs

As a reference when using Paypal buttons and even if you didn't remove is from the listing right away. There should be a way to create a single item button. Once someone clicks on it and it sells. Even if the button looks active on the webpage still. Another customer should not be able to purchase that item again. The button should become inactive.  Here are a couple more links to read over if really interested in a paypal button.

https://developer.paypal.com/docs/classic/paypal-payments-standard/integration-guide/buy_now_step_1/
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/About-Selling/how-do-i-add-a-quot-quantity-quot-option-to-my-button-ie-5-x/td-p/480148
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Glenn

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Re: Recently launched a website, looking for ideas / like dislikes
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2016, 07:06:22 AM »

Here is a link that talks about a paypal gadget that can be found in google sites.
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/sites/eed3BU43UEs

As a reference when using Paypal buttons and even if you didn't remove is from the listing right away. There should be a way to create a single item button. Once someone clicks on it and it sells. Even if the button looks active on the webpage still. Another customer should not be able to purchase that item again. The button should become inactive.  Here are a couple more links to read over if really interested in a paypal button.

https://developer.paypal.com/docs/classic/paypal-payments-standard/integration-guide/buy_now_step_1/
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/About-Selling/how-do-i-add-a-quot-quantity-quot-option-to-my-button-ie-5-x/td-p/480148


I'll look into it when I have time, Thanks :)
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