How do I attract to my website?

[Craftduo]

We have had our Craft-duo website up and running from Jan 3rd and we have not got one order yet. The only hits we are getting are 1 or 2 every other day or so.

As anybody got any ideas how we can rasie its profile and get it noticed on the web.

Its been built from a mr site programme any ideas and comments would be welcome?


Cheers lisa

[staceyjlew]

Hi, my Mr Site has been up since middle of Dec and only had one sale however I do get about 15 or so hits a day, mainly from using google adwords and facebook advertising.

It does cost, but you can set your own budget, and I'm hoping to use it until I appear high enough up the rankings!

Stacey

[elzi]

Hi, it takes a significant amount of time for a website to be established and for people to know you are there so don't panic and stay patient.

even google has a "sandbox" policy of keeping new sites to the bottom of the listings for a while...

basically take every oppotunity to promote your site.

this means online and the real world. i don't know if you do fairs etc but if so hand out flyers with your web address on, have a big sign with your address on stating that people can also buy online. if you don't do fairs maybe try one - if not for the sales for the website advertising oppotunites. my hits always go up after a big fair.

start advertising online, getting other people to link to your site, start blogging with updates of your latest products. do some searches for "SEO" search engine optimisation advice and you should get some ideas.

popular websites takes many months if not years to build up trade so if you've only been going since jan 3rd then i wouldn't be too worried, keep on going good luck!

p.s. also i've just had a look at your site and unles i'm missing something you don't have any information about postage/delivery or contact info (other than the form). i think that might put me off a bit if i was buying - i usually look for a physical address and phone number!

[Craftduo]

Thisn sounds great!

Thanks for the advice, lots of thing to try. My problem is my impatience.

We want to do some craft fairs but are a little scared on how to start. Do you need loads of stock?

good advice about the postage and packaging info. I will add a a page and give lots of info. Is it a good idead to add the address if it is your home? Would this be a problem or am I being too cautious?

Cheers Lisa

[elzi]

hi, you will need some stock to do a fair, but better to have a variety and if you don't have enough have a selection and a big sign saying "like these - buy online at our website" etc if that's the general idea!

i have to confess i don't have a physical address on my site though i do have a phone number and lots of info about terms and posting etc. i should point out if you are selling online it is law that you should have physical address on the website.

i am struggling with this also as i have listings of my craft stalls (i.e. when i am out of the house - though often someone else is in!) and i'm looking into renting an alternative business mail address. people do still buy off my site without my address on but i personally wouldn't buy from a site without an address (which is a bit hypocritical of me!)

http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_res...or-information

[Craftduo]

Difficult one

Hi
Thats is a difficult ones as I work fulltime and so does my partner so a little unsure but the phone should be OK because I can use my mobile, mind you do you think this is a bad signal too? Would it be better as a landline for more credability?

My business partner has a husband that is at all all day so maybe we could use that.

Cheers

[Trixie]

Do you have a links section? you need to be linking to and from as many sites as possible (same area though gifts, cards etc) and also submit your site to as many search engines and shopping directories as you can. On the seo side of things I can't reaaly help there as I have never used Mr Site, but I do know there are alot of people on here that do use that so they may be able to point you in the right direction.

[krafty1]

I'm trying to look through your site but the pages seem to keep sticking and won't load completely, for instance I am looking at the Family & Special Occasioans page and it's sticking at '2 itmes remaining' and the little green bars are still loading at the bottom, so can't click on any individual pictures. It's been like that for 5/6 minutes now.

Is anyone else having that problem, or just me?

[Craftduo]

Thats interesting

Hi
Thanks for that info , I will take a look at this its not good if the site isn't working well, that would put anyone off.

How do I get on directories and on to linking sites? again all new jargon to me. I have thought about going on to YouTube? as this worked for anyone else?

Cheers Lisa

[Craftduo]

Hi
has anybody else had problems with the sticking on our site? I have just been on and I was OK but that might be because its my site?

Also we have never had any external (only family & friends) feedback on our cards, so we are still unsure if they are actually any good. Honest feedback would be really appriciated on any aspect, look price, size, description, colors extra.

Now I am getting use to this forum interaction I would really value your comments.

Cheers Lisa

[nattynetty]

Hi
has anybody else had problems with the sticking on our site? I have just been on and I was OK but that might be because its my site?

I didn't get any problems, it loaded really quickly for me. I wouldn't panic about the lack of orders just yet, you've only been live for a few weeks and it can take google a few months before you start appearing on search pages - and initially you'll be really low down too. I'm no expert (by a long way) but I do know that to help get google to notice you and to get higher up on the searches it's a good idea to get links. If you search for craft directories on google you'll get a list of sites that you can submit your website address to along with a discription. Be careful though, avoid any that have spam or slightly dodgy links on there too (porn, drugs, moblie phones etc) as this can actually damage your website's ranking by association. A good directory is http://www.ukcraftwebsites.co.uk/ which is run by 0103Media who also runs this forum. It costs about a fiver a month to list but as well as appearing on there you'll also randomly appear here on the forum down the right-hand side. I listed on there when I first started out and get plenty of hits every month from it and I'm still paying my monthly sub over 3 years later so can't be bad

Enough about technical things and websites from me, I also wanted to say that personally I love your cards, they look very professional and well put together creatively (if you know what I mean sorry brains a bit dead tonight)

[elzi]

hi, i haven't had any problems with your pages sticking but its best to test it on lots of different computer set-ups (different browsers/pcs/macs etc)

you need to be linked to from other sites to get higher ratings on particularly google. however you will need to be careful about these links. you need links from sites with similar content and ideally with high google page rankings. there are some dodgy places that charge you money for inclusion in their link directories - try avoid these places.

all of these things are SEO considerations which is a huge subject area that is changing all the time even the experts are constantly catching up!
don't panic if you don't know everything at once. it takes time to develop a popular website . if you begin reading some stuff about optimising your site for search engines looking around for similar sites that you could link exchange with (you link to them - they link to you) then you will get there.

[Craftduo]

Great

Thanks for that, I will have a look at that directory. I think I am getting a feel for this linking thing.

Thanks for the feedback on the cards, you never know for sure until you here it from anybody outside the family.

Cheers Lisa

[Craftduo]

How do you know if they can link to your website? or am I beng dim?

Not hard I can tell you?

Cheers lisa

[CeeGee]

Hi, great looking site, good luck with it. There was something I noticed though. On your homepage it says this:

Please Note: As all our handmade cards are unique produced in small quantities, if you should order a card that has run out of stock before we have removed it from our website, we will send you a handmade card of the same quality, colour, size and cost, but cannot guarantee it will be exactly the same.

That would put me off as a customer, because I wouldn't be confident about getting the card I ordered (and I'm fussy !). I know stock control is difficult when you sell on and off line, but to be honest I think it's safe to remove this and take the risk at this stage. If you do have the bad luck to run out of something, then you can contact the customer with profuse apologies and offer their money back, or something of equal or greater value. It hasn't happened to me yet (touch wood!) and I do a number of one off designs.