Danae's new Website

[Dani Girl]

A friend suggested WIX is a pretty easy website builder so I had a go and came up with this

http://engravingbydanae.wixsite.com/handengraver

Please let me know if there is anything I should alter or anything you dislike... feedback is fabulous.

Hey Sam, I just remembered your website comes up under hand engraver doesn't it? Should I change the name?

 

[dlilazteca]

Looks good, but the site where you built is, just does not sit right with me, i believe that the url should be short and something someone can remeber easily, i would buy the url on fatcow for example, its not very expensive and has templates to build your site.

GunEngraver.com Guns, Knives & More

 

[Dani Girl]

If I pay them $16 a month I can have a short url and sell straight off the site.

I see what you mean though.

 

[dlilazteca]

16 can be alot or a little, i pay that a year give or take, just my two cents worth.

GunEngraver.com Guns, Knives & More

 

[Jan Hendrik]

The website looks great!

 

[Mike_Morgan]

If you want a shorter URL, you can leave your site right where it is, register ANY URL that you desire, and have it redirect to the sites current location

 

[Dani Girl]

Mike_Morgan. I am afraid I am at my wits end and if there is a chance of you talking me through that would be great.

Thanks everyone for the encouraging feedback.

 

[sam]

The site looks great and yes, you should definitely register a domain name and have it point to your Wix site. $16 a month seems like a lot of money. How much does Wix charge per month for your site as it is now?

You can register a domain for less than $16 a year. But that long URL you have now is going to be impossible for people to remember and you run the risk of typos when they try to type it, so keep it short and sweet. yourname.com or something similar works well.

I've used NameBargain.com for years to register domains. Once registered, you will have to point the domain to your Wix page. If you've never done this be prepared for a bit of a learning curve since the process and jargon will be unfamiliar to you. Wix has instructions: http://www.wix.com/domain/connect-domain

 

[Dani Girl]

Thank you Sam.

As is I have so far paid nothing and am not expecting to.

Looks like to link another domain name I would have to pay the higher fees. I am tempted to leave it as is for a little bit but it might be a mistake to run it like this for a while. If I get the shorter name one day and folk search for my site with the old long name will it come up.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Dani

I've just been through all this with Wix as I've updated my web site.............they have the best HELP links I have ever seen.

At the moment you are on the Wix free plan..............To connect a domain name www.whatever.com you need to go onto a paid Wix plan. That's the hook.

You have a choice of registering a name through wix when you buy one of their plans in which case it will automatically link you up when you go to the paid plan.............or you can get a domain name from somewhere else and link it to the Wix site........but you still have to pay for the plan first.They have a few options for the paid web hosting.

The first thing you have to decide is what exactly do you want the web site for??? Brochure, selling, shopping or to get commission work...........then you have to point everything in that direction(s)

At the moment you are all over the place and I will give you an example..........On the gallery page nobody cares if you use Lindsay tools or a microscope. Stick to what the photos are about and your work. Are you talking to engravers or customers??? Sell the pictures to the customers.

On the services page...you can either do something or you can't. Telling prospective clients that you are working to improve your bulino engraving is not a good look or very professional. It screams amateur..................translated that means sell yourself and what you do.!!!!!

There are a few pages that need attention in the BUY NOW part. Look at the text and you will see what I mean. Especially the return and refund policies plus a few other things.

You also need a lot more text. At the moment there are a lot of pictures which is great.........but bugger all else to tell the clients what you do, how you do it and why they should use you to do any of it. Again, sell yourself and what you do!!!!

Your contact page needs an engraving photo and the contact panel pulled over the photo so the page is more condensed horizontally. The contact panel doesn't show up on an iPad............and you need to link your email address so it pops up in email.

Have a good look through your web site and try to look at it as others will see it.........not how you see it. There is a big difference between the two view points.

Don't worry about your domain name at the moment. Research it but before you make any links to a new domain name or putting the web site out there.............keep working on the free site till it is a lot better. Then link and pay for a Wix plan etc etc.

Cheers
Andrew

Your above question........Once you link to a new domain name your free wix site name will disapear.

 

[Dani Girl]

1. The first thing you have to decide is what exactly do you want the web site for??? Brochure, selling, shopping or to get commission work...........then you have to point everything in that direction(s)

WELL... I guess I was hoping to pick up more commissions from people who might find me via a website who wouldn't be looking for me where I am now... Facebook, Instagram, and Blade forums and sell my wares to them too. I thought it would be good to have a nice clear place where I could list what I have for sale and that viewing those items could help people considering commissioning me to understand the sort of prices involved. Yes, I'm all over the place.

2. At the moment you are all over the place and I will give you an example..........On the gallery page nobody cares if you use Lindsay tools or a microscope. Stick to what the photos are about and your work. Are you talking to engravers or customers??? Sell the pictures to the customers

WELL... I thought maybe folk having some idea what tools were involved might make the prices seem more reasonable. It's hard to explain to people that it costs money because it's done by hand not a machine and that the tools to set up are kinda expensive so they're better off getting me to do it instead of trying themselves to save money

3. On the services page...you can either do something or you can't. Telling prospective clients that you are working to improve your bulino engraving is not a good look or very professional. It screams amateur..................translated that means sell yourself and what you do.!!!!!


WELL... Deleted that bit, yep that read a bit silly.

I have never given a second thought to a returns policy

4.
but bugger all else to tell the clients what you do, how you do it and why they should use you to do any of it. Again, sell yourself and what you do!!!!

WELL... I don't know how to tell them why they should, I am ... what's one mm short of incapable ... of selling myself.


5. I gotta shout you lunch one day Mr. Biggs. You've been a huge support and really you've helped immensely.

http://engravingbydanae.wixsite.com/handengraver

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Dani

Yes, selling yourself and your skill is actually quite hard......but it is something you must learn to do. You have to project confidence to the potential customer so they have the confidence to choose you as an engraver.

Selling yourself is not in the tools you use. Your true value/price lies in the skill, quality and knowledge you have learnt and acquired over the years. That is the part you want to project toward the potential customer. The only people really interested in tools is other engravers but the customers don't really care.

Do you engrave only knives?.....where do you tell the customers that you engrave jewellery, guns, or whatever else you engrave. never assume the potential customers know any of this. You have to tell them!!!

The returns & refunds policy on your BUY NOW pages is a generic Wix wording designed for you to either delete or replace with better wording.

The contact page is much better

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Bluetickhound]

I probably don't have any business poking my nose in here (as I have never had a website and know next to zilch about how they work) but as an outsider looking in I have to say... Your work is spectacular... It speaks for itself and a bit less commentary in the gallery may be something to consider. Also, in the available pieces section... Is there a way to add a cart where prospective buyers could streamline the process? It would definitely be a more polished approach, less "wonky". These are, of course, nit picks and as I said, the opinions of someone who may do better to butt out.

On another note, your FB page is fascinating and has been duly "liked"!! What you call "scribbles" I would be showing off to anyone who would look!

 

[Dani Girl]

I have been working on the website uploading more pictures to the gallery and I've just found the button to turn the pictures upright which is nice.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, encouragement and support.

I have plenty to learn

 

[Big-Un]

Dani Girl, I'm going through the same process trying to set up my website, wasting more precious time trying to figure out a process absolutely foreign to me, time I really don't have enough of, so I've bitten the bullet and decided to contract it to someone in the business of making websites, a professional, not someone that does it for a hobby (think high school kid that is unproven). I have been frustrating myself for almost a year and I've had enough. I applaud your efforts and willingness to undertake your website, and it seems well thought out, but minor issues require more of your time to tweak it for the proper effect you need. Good luck. I'm not that brave.

Bill

 

[Dani Girl]

Thank you Bill.

When it comes to computer stuff it's a wise choice to say to yourself that pulling someone in who has spent an immense amount of their life doing it is just money well spent. I am just doing everything my brain can handle then I plan to find someone who knows what they are doing to finish it off.

I expect there is a lot more tweaking to do than I have noticed yet. But it's started... that's exciting. I have finally started

Yay. Yipeeee. Woohoooo I actually got around to it.

 

[Dani Girl]

Hey Andrew just wanted to say congratulations on your new website it looks fantastic. Bravo

I got on mine and added some pictures... a few words here and there. Slowly working through it.

 

[Dani Girl]

Does anyone know somebody who is great at working on websites that I could pay to spend a couple of hours working on my site to make it better?