online webstore worth it?

[Winfield]

for the folks that already have online webstores is it worth putting one up? I know a store will only do as good as you advertise it but would be nice to know how others stores are performing to see if its worth spending the money on putting one up or just keep networking, Thanks - Winfield

Up and running:
http://www.winfieldclockcompany.com

[DayDr]

It's worth it. The cost is ZERO......what have you got to lose. But you hit the nail on the head when you said.....ADVERTISE.

:D

[Winfield]

well i'm gonna get a www, does'nt look like to many people are into the business side of woodworking as i would have expected more replies. I don't want the woodworkingcrafts dotcom in my address so i'll pass on the free store for a real domain. Hopefully i can sell more clocks, we'll see - Winfield

[Admin]

The cost of putting together an entire site with shopping cart can be quite expensive. If you're a programmer you can do it yourself but most folks want to just stick with the thing they do best - woodworking.

Getting your own domain is definitely a good idea if you are going to be in the business a while and see things growing.

One option to start out small and have the ability to grow would be to purchase a domain name of your choice and point it to one of our free cart packages. Someone types in your domain, it goes to your cart - later when you have your own full site up you don't need to advertise a different web site address.

[Winfield]

your right, pointing a domain to the free cart here is no doubt the best alternative for a start-up that wants to test the waters first. I'm in no hurry right now but i could always mask the domain so no one saw the woodworkingcrafts domain also !!!

[Winfield]

well i took the jump and got http://www.winfieldclockcompany.com yea yea yea i know its ghetto right now but give it time ;)

[StuW]

Winfield,

I was retired and now am semi-retired having designed several websites which is what I did for a living before I retired. So, having some experience with websites, I can tell you that they can be very lucrative. However, it won't just happen. The first isuue is getting the search engines to give you a reasonably high page ranking so people will get to your site. In the header of your source code there are items listed as 'meta tags'. The search engine robots read the meta tags to get keywords and keyphrases that will explain your site. So a good list of keywords is very important. You must also put in some code that will tell the robots to look at your sub pages, not just your home page. And also tell them to repeat the visit to your site regularly. Go to Google or Yahoo Search and look for "meta tags". You will get lots of input. Next there are marketing tips about page layout and text that will sell your site. This message is getting long. Have to end.

StuW

[Winfield]

well i'm working on my new site during the holidays, it will be ready in a few more days and you'll need to strap on your seatbelts because its going be a wild ride - Winfield

01/05/04 - Almost done kiddies, waiting on some DNS changes...