Wanted.. small simple website..

[Monkey Harris]

Hi guys,
I'm looking to have a small website to host a few pics of items for sale,

To link to online sales on social media. Fb marketplace etc..

Not much traffic, but monthly updates on products..
Simple to upload to..mainly with android phone or Mac lappy..
Any advice..
TBH..I'm not sure what I need ...

 

[julianf]

If you want a nice address, then got have to pay (a pretty small) fee for that.

If you just want a website, your internet provider probably gives you a bit of server space included in your contract. It just won't have a nice address.

 

[hotponyshoes]

A lot of small businesses now seem to just set up a facebook page rather than a website now.
Then they direct traffic to that rather than the other way around.

Might even work better for stuff like product updates as it 'pushes' the stuff to your 'followers' rather than them having to check the website to see them.

 

[Paul.]

Hi guys,
I'm looking to have a small website to host a few pics of items for sale,

To link to online sales on social media. Fb marketplace etc..

Not much traffic, but monthly updates on products..
Simple to upload to..mainly with android phone or Mac lappy..
Any advice..
TBH..I'm not sure what I need ...

PM Sent.

 

[Monkey Harris]

A lot of small businesses now seem to just set up a facebook page rather than a website now.
Then they direct traffic to that rather than the other way around.

Might even work better for stuff like product updates as it 'pushes' the stuff to your 'followers' rather than them having to check the website to see them.

yes that may be easiest ,
perhaps a facebook business page..?

wondering how you display multiple products,

 

[James1979]

Following as I’m in the same boat.....

 

[Dr.Al]

A lot of small businesses now seem to just set up a facebook page rather than a website now.
Then they direct traffic to that rather than the other way around.

Might even work better for stuff like product updates as it 'pushes' the stuff to your 'followers' rather than them having to check the website to see them.

This is one for the "Things that bug me" page - companies that only have a facebook page rather than a website. I don't (and won't) have a facebook account, so it's a right pain trying to find stuff out about facebook-only companies.

 

[hotponyshoes]

yes that may be easiest ,
perhaps a facebook business page..?

wondering how you display multiple products,

I don't know.
Have a look at something like the r-tech facebook page. (Or something more relevant to what you are selling)
They seem to have 'collections' of items.
I have no idea if you have to pay for that sort of thing or not?

This is one for the "Things that bug me" page - companies that only have a facebook page rather than a website. I don't (and won't) have a facebook account, so it's a right pain trying to find stuff out about facebook-only companies.

It might bug you and that's fine.
If you want to sell stuff though it might be worth putting up with it.
I'm pretty sure facebook has more users than any website and maybe is the fastest expanding one as well?

Personally I am not a fan of it either but I do sell stuff which was originally done by word of mouth. I did have a website but there was very little traffic on it.
You either need to add so much information it becomes hard to navigate or the buyers will just ring you asking questions anyway.

I now have a facebook page and get a lot more inquiries and recommendations through that than anything else.
Even regular customers that I see once a week in person will send me a facebook message rather than wait until they see me or pick up the phone.

Obviously you would want it to suit what you are selling, used socks might want a more private/specialist website.
Used mig welders then facebook is your friend.

The main downside with it is if you are selling new, commonly available products.
All you will get is a load of comments about how it can be found cheaper elsewhere.
Even if you are the cheapest there are plenty of idiots who will find a chinese version etc. and spout on about how it's just the same but half the price.
I'm not sure if you can disable commenting but it's quite handy to leave it active as I often get a sale from somebody seeing an item and commenting to somebody else about it.

The data mining that facebook does also works pretty well (for sellers) via targeted advertising.

 

[julianf]

Wordpress is hateful, but, assuming you get a wordpress compatible package, simple stuff on it is very easy.

If you just want to show off items to sell and have people email you to purchase, then its easy enough. Its basically a blog package that has been abused for static sites and e comemerce.

You can generally spot a wordpress site a mile off, and getting it to look even slightly like a non-wordpress site is not so easy.

My own site, for my sins, is wordpress based -

The Beast – Bespoke silkscreened and engraved printed panels – Devices and hardware for the DIY music community

thebeast.co.uk

All the normal pages are just wordpress, but the shop bit is a wordpress plug in, called woocommerce. You can start with the first bit, and then add the woocommerce bit later if you like.

 

[addjunkie]

I used wix for ours, didnt like word press at all. I had a play with square space too but they all cost espescially if you want to run a shop.

Heres my efforts https://www.fernyriggalpacas.co.uk/

You can spend an awful lot of time with such things, a pal of mine had his done by a kid in sixth form as a project and its superb.

Personally I think if your a buisness now you need to do the whole social media thing, espescially if you deal with the public.

 

[daro]

This is one for the "Things that bug me" page - companies that only have a facebook page rather than a website. I don't (and won't) have a facebook account, so it's a right pain trying to find stuff out about facebook-only companies.

I boycott Facebook only companies whenever possible
A cheap website is 100 times more professional than a facebook page ,
and although it may be popular not everyone has been brainwashed into signing up

 

[Prajna]

Facebook has blocked messages on the phone unless you install their app. Ain't no way I'm gunna do that. It's not just their app, they collect and mine an unbelievable quantity of data on us all and use it for the most nefarious purposes. I certainly wouldn't engage in any kind of commerce via Facebook.

 

[James1979]

Facebook has blocked messages on the phone unless you install their app. Ain't no way I'm gunna do that. It's not just their app, they collect and mine an unbelievable quantity of data on us all and use it for the most nefarious purposes. I certainly wouldn't engage in any kind of commerce via Facebook.

I have a work phone with all that sort of stuff on it.

they can mine away. There’s not a lot really to see. The other advantage of a work phone is I don’t get pestered out of hours.

 

[Prajna]

I have a work phone with all that sort of stuff on it.

they can mine away. There’s not a lot really to see. The other advantage of a work phone is I don’t get pestered out of hours.

Well it depends on how deeply you look into who is doing all this data mining and why.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Facebook has blocked messages on the phone unless you install their app. Ain't no way I'm gunna do that. It's not just their app, they collect and mine an unbelievable quantity of data on us all and use it for the most nefarious purposes. I certainly wouldn't engage in any kind of commerce via Facebook.

They mainly use it to make money via targeted advertising.

Not what me and you might like for sure but if (like the op) you want to sell stuff it's ideal.
I don't like the idea of a facebook only business but I can't think of any big business that don't have at least a facebook page.

You could always get a cheap tablet for business use and put the facebook app on that and keep your personal stuff personal.

 

[James1979]

They mainly use it to make money via targeted advertising.

Not what me and you might like for sure but if (like the op) you want to sell stuff it's ideal.
I don't like the idea of a facebook only business but I can't think of any big business that don't have at least a facebook page.

You could always get a cheap tablet for business use and put the facebook app on that and keep your personal stuff personal.

Exactly what I did.

Only downer is Facebook is tied to the wife’s account (I don’t have one) as it needs to be that way. You can’t have a stand alone page. That I could see anyway

 

[Prajna]

Y

They mainly use it to make money via targeted advertising.

Not what me and you might like for sure but if (like the op) you want to sell stuff it's ideal.
I don't like the idea of a facebook only business but I can't think of any big business that don't have at least a facebook page.

You could always get a cheap tablet for business use and put the facebook app on that and keep your personal stuff personal.

Yeah, I could quarantine myself but, frankly, I'd rather keep as far from FB as possible. I detest it and it follows you around all over the net. Though I aspire to be a good and true man, I'd rather not be tracked and traced.

 

[Ali]

Wordpress is hateful, but, assuming you get a wordpress compatible package, simple stuff on it is very easy.

If you just want to show off items to sell and have people email you to purchase, then its easy enough. Its basically a blog package that has been abused for static sites and e comemerce.

You can generally spot a wordpress site a mile off, and getting it to look even slightly like a non-wordpress site is not so easy.

My own site, for my sins, is wordpress based -

The Beast – Bespoke silkscreened and engraved printed panels – Devices and hardware for the DIY music community

thebeast.co.uk

All the normal pages are just wordpress, but the shop bit is a wordpress plug in, called woocommerce. You can start with the first bit, and then add the woocommerce bit later if you like.

Thoroughly enjoyed browsing that.

Am I right in thinking there is Wordpress.com - a bit like Wix, then Wordpress.org - a bit harder but free and more control? Which is yours?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I used joomla for mine.

Found a template I liked and modified it to suit.

 

[Prajna]

Thoroughly enjoyed browsing that.

Am I right in thinking there is Wordpress.com - a bit like Wix, then Wordpress.org - a bit harder but free and more control? Which is yours?

You can either register on WordPress and set up your site on there or, if you already have a domain name and web hosting you can usually set up your WordPress site on that, as I have done on http://tomboy-pink.co.uk/ I use it for blog rather than business. Yes it is free if you do it this way and you do have full control.