M4RK RZ Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Hey all, Due to recent events (nuff said) - Ive decided to start my own website. Wondered if any of you guys know how to start up a shop with checkout functions etc.. I have a template and need to know how to make it a fully functional shop - web hosting the job lot etc.. Anyone here in the know? I am by no means thick with computers and have experiance but this is a new area for me. If you could drop me a pm there are Supra goodies avalible in return Cheers Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I'm not involved in that sort of thing at all, but if I were I'd probably start with something like this, it'll removes the headaches & pitfalls: http://www.123-reg.co.uk/ecommerce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4RK RZ Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 you know i have been looking everywhere and managed not to come across this yet - thanks. Do they host the site also then? If I buy my http://www.(address) from else where can I use it in conjunction with this site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 you know i have been looking everywhere and managed not to come across this yet - thanks. Do they host the site also then? If I buy my http://www.(address) from else where can I use it in conjunction with this site? Not that I do it often, but whenever I buy a domain name I get them from 123reg every time. They'll do web/email forwarding through the control panel they setup for you if you don't want them to do anything other than register the domain name. I think you can transfer domain names registered elsewhere into 123 reg's control, but why make life difficult - their prices seem reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lbm Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Do they host the site also then? If I buy my www.(address) from else where can I use it in conjunction with this site? How do you mean 'in conjuction with this site?' What will you be selling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4RK RZ Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 Im trying to find out what the cost is for having a site like this - Looks like (for my instance) £8.99 month for hosting SSL £9.99 (year) + domain name per month (Ide like to own it tho?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 + domain name per month (Ide like to own it tho?) Although you will be the registered owner (remember to opt out of 'whois' unless you want your home address available for all to see), you only really 'borrow' domain names: forget to renew at any point and someone else can snap it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4RK RZ Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 How do you mean 'in conjuction with this site?' What will you be selling? Not like you are thinking. In conjunction "my own" web site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 F**k me, where did you find SSL serts for a tenner a year? Mumbai market edition? Mark im going to say this before I continue. E-commerce is not for the faint hearted. I am 9 months into my venture and have only just finished the framework and about 80% of the products. The last three months I have been optimizing it. I have just come back from a holiday after doctors orders. That says it all. However, I am already knee deep in with my first company. you may have much more time than me. Ill make this brief as I possibly can (I can be here hours) 1 - A great site will do F all for you if you do not rank well in the search engines. This is the most important thing when running an e-commerce venture. 2 - you buy your domain from a domain registrar and bolt a hosting package to it. you end up with a domain and space to put your stuff. (YOU will own it and have exclusive renewals on it) 3 - whilst 123 reg are naff imo and so is their girly ecommerce package it maybe worth a shot just to start with. It is not a long term solution and if you continue you will find yourself migrating to a proper site later down the line. 4 - let us know what you are tying to sell and where you want your customers to come from. Some markets will be harder to break Your first set of questions makes me think you are starting right at the beginning, if I were you, I would be hiring someone. Have deep pockets though. If I was doing one for someone id be charging 10k upwards + SEO fees and maintenance. Suprashaun from the forum has experience with e-commerce (hes a web designer) he maybe able to help on the cheap. Feel free to ask questions and Ill be glad to answer them for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4RK RZ Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 Cheers for all the help there DamanC. I think for now Im looking for the quick easy site - then as you suggest go to a much better spec site dependant upon business growth. I am at the very start- maybe it will help me to start on 123 reg and progress from there to get a feel for it all. I dont have ooooodles of time but I have enough for a simple set up to start with - somewhere I can direct prople too I meet etc.. SSL - that price is a bolt on from 123 reg website - what you recon? any good? It seems 123 reg will only let me keep the web address on a yearly contract base? How do I get up on the search engines - I noticed something on 123 reg about that also £30, a year for addwords or summert. Cheers Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogmaw Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Subscribed. I need some serious work doing and have 10k+ budget! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 No Problem Mark, Happy to help. The SSL you speak of will be fine. its a 123 and a 123 only bolt on. It will suffice for what you want. A real SSL cert is few hundred quidd for anything decent (py). Yup the contract will be for a year. You are the first person offered to renew it it months before it is up. To get it up on the search engines you need to become an SEO guru or pay someone to do it. this could take upto 18 months to get anywhere on google. Its a full time job in itself. Id have a google about it, but in short you will not be able to do much on page optimization and as a result it will be another reason to jump ship from the 123 site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angarak Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Just thought I'd mention the SEO optimised Magento Ecommerce software (http://www.magentocommerce.com), there are many companies specialising in this software package. An example of a company in the UK would be NuBlue - http://www.nublue.co.uk (I have no links to them!) If your selling something unique (ie: Guatamalan Midget Nymph lube) then SEO would be easier than something more common (ie: toothpaste). Bear in mind that relying on Search Engines alone to bring in custom is not the best approach, SEO is important, but so is promoting your business through other mediums. The most time consuming part (hence the initial cost) is building the catalog of items you will sell (creating categories, attributes, sourcing images, product information, etc)...it is very time consuming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Gerald - wouldn't be the music store you spoke of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Magento looks nice Little basic though.... There are several e-commerce "packages" out there. The most popular is OSCommerce. Its free but not officially supported, so you need a little programming hat, but its brilliant imo so modifyable. Anyway, I have 585 keywords to be processing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogmaw Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Gerald - wouldn't be the music store you spoke of? Indeed it is. It's up and running, good rep, in business over 10 years and 12,000 on the mailing list. But needs some serious updating!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4RK RZ Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 Just thought I'd mention the SEO optimised Magento Ecommerce software (http://www.magentocommerce.com), there are many companies specialising in this software package. An example of a company in the UK would be NuBlue - http://www.nublue.co.uk (I have no links to them!) If your selling something unique (ie: Guatamalan Midget Nymph lube) then SEO would be easier than something more common (ie: toothpaste). Bear in mind that relying on Search Engines alone to bring in custom is not the best approach, SEO is important, but so is promoting your business through other mediums. The most time consuming part (hence the initial cost) is building the catalog of items you will sell (creating categories, attributes, sourcing images, product information, etc)...it is very time consuming! I have used Magento Ecommerce (demo version) . I found a web site with free templates loaded with Mangento and CRE packages. Im not sure how to use the templates tho - do I down load them and then upload to a web space? Im guessing its not as simple as that, it seems you can edit many things in the templates using the CRE or Magento software (free versions are avalible for SOHO business - seems good) Should this be the way to go and not 123 reg? Here is the link: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/25/35-free-high-quality-e-commerce-templates/ what do you all think? Can you suggeest the best out of the bunch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angarak Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 You would download themes and upload them to the web server for whichever ecomerce package you opt for. In Magento for example, themes can either be uploaded manually by yourself or via the Magento Connect Manager (Magento Admin Back end) which will install the theme for you automatically (it auto-downloads the theme from another server). You need to look at the features offered by the various ecommerce packages, find one that meets your needs (some may be too basic, others too complex, etc). Several ecommerce packages also have 'bolt-ons' which add further functionality, for example in Magento these are called 'Extensions'. You may want to consider getting some quotes from designers to get an idea of your likely costs, if the quoted costs are outside the limits of your budget then you can look at trying it yourself and possibly purchase a book or two on a given ecommerce package. I couldnt comment on 123reg, I've never used them. You should note that Magento requires a certain operating environment to perform well (it uses quite a bit of memory), therefore if you did opt for Magento make sure you use a host who specialises in hosting it - such as NuBlue for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallshinyant Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Lots of those templates looks nice, depends what type of item you will be selling, don't forget to give you're firm some kind of social media account too(i.e. twitter). i like simple designs. Uncluttered, so i can be sure what i am clicking on. I hate waiting for loading times so keep it clean and don't put any music on it(my pet hate). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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