Need a Website, Help Please!!
Discussion
I'm looking into developing a side line business, one of the fundamental elements will be a good quality website with the ability to purchase online.
There is a ready-to-go Flash template available online that, after some cosmetic tweeking, would just about do the job but the the online shopping element isn't included. I'm guessing that getting the pages without the e-commerce stuff is a little bit like putting the cart before the horse?
I've looked into Worldpay and Fastpay who seem to offer what I need in terms of merchant services. However I would prefer a website where the customer isn't redirected to another site to pay. (I may have to eat those words, beggars and choosers and all that!)
Basically, I don't know where I should start, who I should look at for hosting; online transactions; design and importantly how much I should be thinking about spending on any of these. Can anyone help or point me in the right direction please?
Thanks
Jo
There is a ready-to-go Flash template available online that, after some cosmetic tweeking, would just about do the job but the the online shopping element isn't included. I'm guessing that getting the pages without the e-commerce stuff is a little bit like putting the cart before the horse?
I've looked into Worldpay and Fastpay who seem to offer what I need in terms of merchant services. However I would prefer a website where the customer isn't redirected to another site to pay. (I may have to eat those words, beggars and choosers and all that!)
Basically, I don't know where I should start, who I should look at for hosting; online transactions; design and importantly how much I should be thinking about spending on any of these. Can anyone help or point me in the right direction please?
Thanks
Jo
Addressing your points in random order...
Integration with Worldpay results in a payment page that looks like your site so the fact that it's not within your site isn't really as much of an issue as you might think. It's how the PH shop works.
Don't build the site around a Flash template. HTML is essential and a Flash alternative is just a nice to have.
Your basic approach should be to choose your shop software and processing system and then wrap the site around it.
Seek expert help though. It's not complex so any web designer should be able to do it at a very reasonable price rather than you spend months trying to save a few hundred quid and ending up with something that's obviously home-brewed. A professional look is essential if you want people to trust you with their money.
Integration with Worldpay results in a payment page that looks like your site so the fact that it's not within your site isn't really as much of an issue as you might think. It's how the PH shop works.
Don't build the site around a Flash template. HTML is essential and a Flash alternative is just a nice to have.
Your basic approach should be to choose your shop software and processing system and then wrap the site around it.
Seek expert help though. It's not complex so any web designer should be able to do it at a very reasonable price rather than you spend months trying to save a few hundred quid and ending up with something that's obviously home-brewed. A professional look is essential if you want people to trust you with their money.
PetrolTed said:
A professional look is essential if you want people to trust you with their money.
I have seen numerous websites that look home done and are clearly bog standard Frontpage templates with a button that takes you to a payment website of some sort. Terrible. I'm willing to spend money on the development as it has to be right; it will not appeal to my target market unless it looks slick/professional and secure. However, as with most new start's the pot is only so deep, hence the desire to find some 'off the shelf' shop software or better still a complete solution that will allow me to amend the content but not the operating structure. (I hope that makes sense?)
I'm going to revist the PH shop now!
Edited due to spelling with a lisp!
>> Edited by Chim_Girl on Wednesday 10th November 17:44
The Register1.net VDS Pro comes with OsCommerce built in.
This is basically an opensource shop in a basket.
I have heard many good things about OsC, coupled with it being free, it could well be a good starting point.
I am sure given the wide availability and usage of it, there will be plugins/HowTos for the popular payment gateways.
Just click the banner in the top right for more info / feel free to mail me via my profile.
J
This is basically an opensource shop in a basket.
I have heard many good things about OsC, coupled with it being free, it could well be a good starting point.
I am sure given the wide availability and usage of it, there will be plugins/HowTos for the popular payment gateways.
Just click the banner in the top right for more info / feel free to mail me via my profile.
J
Jamie's right, and thats exactly what I was about to recommend...
osCommerce is an OpenSource (Free) solution to the e-commerce problem and pretty much does everything you will want of it (assuming you want a large shop) or someone with a decent nonce and PHP experience can change the code to make it look like what-ever you want while retaining the functionality of the background.
My experience comes from a Uni group project last year where we used osCommerce as the basis for a bigger and "better" (
) shopping cart.
A couple of points mind:
* The coding of the site IMO is terrible and is exceptionally bloated and hard to read.
* The inbuilt security is good, but if you don't intergrate properly with something like WorldPay/Barclays/BOS/PayPal... security disappears (it very secure and then just emails your cc details
). The site does tell you it only does that mind.
* The look is so generic that I can spot osCommerce site a mile off, even if they change the colours. It's a quick, easy and potentially dirty way of getting yourself online. If I were you I'd be looking at changing the way it looked quite drastically to get rid of the standard "boxes". "Easily" done mind.
I know of someone who started a bussiness up recently and after a few discussions with people discovered he could have got a 40% grant for tooling and setting up from the goverment, he also launched before been ready to do so. I'm pretty sure his, albeit decent idea, has disappeared now.
He did tell me one thing however, he started to sign up for a Merchant account with a popular Building Society come bank and apparently the TAC was such that that popular bank could sieze all bussiness attributes...
Most important thing therefore is get someone on board who knows what they are doing, the web stuff is easy and can be done yourself with help in reality, the bussiness side needs proffessionals!
And as an aside, I'm hosted with Jamie and have no major complaints at all Fully recommended by myself.
osCommerce is an OpenSource (Free) solution to the e-commerce problem and pretty much does everything you will want of it (assuming you want a large shop) or someone with a decent nonce and PHP experience can change the code to make it look like what-ever you want while retaining the functionality of the background.
My experience comes from a Uni group project last year where we used osCommerce as the basis for a bigger and "better" (
) shopping cart. A couple of points mind:
* The coding of the site IMO is terrible and is exceptionally bloated and hard to read.
* The inbuilt security is good, but if you don't intergrate properly with something like WorldPay/Barclays/BOS/PayPal... security disappears (it very secure and then just emails your cc details
). The site does tell you it only does that mind. * The look is so generic that I can spot osCommerce site a mile off, even if they change the colours. It's a quick, easy and potentially dirty way of getting yourself online. If I were you I'd be looking at changing the way it looked quite drastically to get rid of the standard "boxes". "Easily" done mind.
I know of someone who started a bussiness up recently and after a few discussions with people discovered he could have got a 40% grant for tooling and setting up from the goverment, he also launched before been ready to do so. I'm pretty sure his, albeit decent idea, has disappeared now.
He did tell me one thing however, he started to sign up for a Merchant account with a popular Building Society come bank and apparently the TAC was such that that popular bank could sieze all bussiness attributes...
Most important thing therefore is get someone on board who knows what they are doing, the web stuff is easy and can be done yourself with help in reality, the bussiness side needs proffessionals!
And as an aside, I'm hosted with Jamie and have no major complaints at all
Fully recommended by myself.
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