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Old 01-22-2021, 08:32 AM
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Default Making a DIY website - advice & suggestions?

I'd appreciate guidance & thoughts on creating a website. This is to promote my part-time "retirement" business - antique & collectible firearms appraisals, consulting, collection liquidation, and select consignment sales -- Supica Consulting LLC. Years ago I designed, set up, and maintained two websites for my Old Town Station business - ArmchairGunShow dot com (firearms sales & collector info) and ArmsBid dot com (catalog & promote our live gun auctions). I used Publisher software and a local hosting service that's out of business. Both sites did very well with high Google rankings, rating in the top five for lots of significant search phrases, and #1 for some, but that was 12 years ago.

What I want to make now would be a version of ArmchairGunShow Light -- listings of firearms & related items for sale, with gun collecting info - old articles, photos, videos & the like. Simplicity and ease of use (on my end) are very VERY important. Flashy design - not so much.

Here's the Wayback version of what ArmchairGunShow looked like right before I sold it: Armchair Gun Show, antique guns and collectible firearms for sale I know it looks pretty crude today, but what I want to do would have similar content, function, & layout.

My questions:

WHAT SOFTWARE? I see Weebly, Wix, Squarespace and others promoted. I started a Weebly site, but backed off when it appeared that they want a percentage of each sale made on the site, which would be unacceptable for this type of business. The software needs to accommodate hundreds of individual gun-for-sale listings, each with multiple photos, and index pages by types of guns with thumbnails & links to the individual listings. Most of all, it has to be simple, easy, & idiot-proof to use.

WHAT HOSTING SERVICE? I have the impression that most of the major software packages also provide hosting services. Correct? If not, any suggestions?

WHICH DOMAIN? I've reserved GunHeritage dot com. There's a good possibility I could re-acquire my old domain, ArmchairGunShow, at some cost in time & effort. I thought it wouldn't make much difference which I used, but a website builder strongly suggested resurrecting the old name, indicating it still had a strong presence on the web. Does that make sense?

FINDING HELP. Should I have someone initially design and set up the website for me to run? Any suggestions?

ECOMMERCE - My old site didn't accept direct online sales. The buyer had to call or email to order the gun, make payment, provide FFL if needed. I suspect that is still the way to go. Does that still make sense for this type of operation?

FUNCTION - Although I didn't use them in my old business, I expect online sales sites (GunBroker, etc.) to be a primary sales vehicle this time around. I'm thinking it's still a good idea to have the website to promote the business. 1) does that make sense, and 2) any suggestions as to which online sales site would work best for selling antique & collectible guns? And, of course, for S&W's it's Smith-WessonForum.

Thanks in advance -- Jim
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Old 01-22-2021, 08:53 AM
dockmurgw dockmurgw is offline
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Use GoDaddy! Sorry, couldn't resist.
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Old 01-22-2021, 09:41 AM
Huskerguy Huskerguy is offline
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I am not going to be much help for you but I would enjoy seeing the finished product.

My daughter builds and maintains e-commerce web sites and she says it is very difficult. I watched her work on them a couple of times and it blows my mind. The basic pieces are not that difficult but, as you install features to get your site recognized it takes a specialist just for that.

I started new Christian School and we had a web site, fairly easy to set up the basic functions but we had no ecomerce with it. I would find someone that can do all the bells and whistles and hire them.
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Old 01-22-2021, 10:38 AM
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Default Making a DIY website - advice & suggestions?

Jim,

I believe that my website was launched more than ten years ago. Technology has advanced faster than the muzzle velocity of our favorite firearms. We are far more reliant on the Internet today than we ever have been in the past, and I do not see that trend diminishing. There have been several catalysts driving this change, not the least of which is COVID-19.

Just as you are doing now, I'd begin conducting my own research, which is what I did. My research would include going to the Internet and searching for websites closely similar to the one that you are planning to use.

Capture the hyperlinks for future reference (see below) including yourself (we aren't as young as we used to be), make notes regarding what you like, what you don't like, and how you would have designed it, IF you had created it yourself. You can also use "Print Screen" or the "Snipping Tool" to copy-and-paste the page in to a Word or Power Point document.

Create a document (or documents) that define your website. The information can be changed or updated when you find a better idea or learn more about your website plans.

Unfortunately, I am not a creative person. However, I can plagiarize with the very best. Some website owners may be open to a telephone call or e-mail inquiry about their website designs, especially if you tell them how impressed you are with their website, and if you remind them that you will not be in competition with that entity.

One of the current advancements is in the area of "Search Engine Optimization":

Search Engine Optimization

"Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or "organic" results) rather than direct traffic or paid traffic. Unpaid traffic may originate from different kinds of searches, including image search, video search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines."

I frequently receive inquiries from vendors who want to update my website with enhanced SEO functionality. If you search the Internet you'll see that certain websites come up first in the list of replies. These are websites that have strong "SEO Engines". That's one of their goals. Most people are not inclined to go through multiple pages to find a response. I usually go no further than page one.

At this stage, you probably have enough information to either (1) start to create your website yourself, or (2) begin discussions with a Website Designer. In my case, I went for Option #2. In my profession (CPA) having a professional website is half the battle in my quest to locate new tax clients.

This is just one of the related websites that I found - How to Create a Website: Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners (2020) this morning on this subject.

Another important consideration is website maintenance and updates. I also have the files for all of my website pages and associated documents on my hard drive. My website designer provided me with the procedures to perform my own updates whenever needed. Congress and the IRS keep me continuously busy all the time. Since tax season is starting I just updated my website myself. If you anticipate periodically updating your website, for whatever reason, you'll need to be able to do it yourself, or pay your website designer to do it for you.

I hope that this information is helpful. You have certainly done that for me during our symposiums. Please feel free to send a PM to me if additional information is needed.

Cheers,

Update - my website designer encouraged me to have a website page for a "blog" [a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.] I also use WordPress. This permits you to add information to your website "on demand" and keeps you communicating with the Internet and perspective clients.

Bill
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Old 01-22-2021, 11:04 AM
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Lots of helpful information, thanks for taking the time! -- Jim
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Old 01-22-2021, 11:06 AM
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I am using Wix for my personal website that describes my life at the cabin hermitage. It supports blogs, ecommerce, SEO, photos, video, etc. Quite affordable.

I don't sell anything and it is advertisement-free. I update it about once a month. It is designed for non-professionals, but for me the advanced functions are a little more esoteric than I am interested in learning. It would benefit from some professional help to take full advantage. The "premium service" allows me to use my own domain name, hosted on their service. Not sure if the Forum rules would support my naming it here, but send me a PM for a link if you want to check it out.

Good luck selling that "world class collection" as part of your future endeavors.
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Old 01-22-2021, 11:51 AM
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The most important thing I can add is:
Be certain the software/web hosting companies are firearms friendly.
If you don't see any mention in their terms of service, contact them for a definite answer. I learned the hard(expensive) way.
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Old 01-22-2021, 02:22 PM
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I'll pass along the results of my experience as a web site user.

1) Make sure that on the web site there is a phone number that can be easily found and that easily reaches a human being when somebody calls. I had a problem that I needed to discuss with the maker of one of my medical devices. I am not exaggerating that it took me half a day to find a phone number and then get connected to a human being after getting repeatedly kicked off the phone.

2) Remember that a significant portion of the population did not grow up with a computer in their crib. Have the system tested by people who did not grow up using computers. One of the first things I learned in a Systems Analysis class I took decades ago was that any time a new system is developed there needs to be consultation with the people who will have to use it.
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Old 07-16-2021, 09:35 AM
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A very belated update - I finally got the site up and running (somewhat). It's not all that I hoped it would be, but at least it's something. I wound up moving the hosting to Wix and using their free online software. It was a bit of a steep learning curve, but I'm feeling my way along.

If you want to see the end product, it's Firearms For Sale | Supica Gun Heritage

Thanks for the suggestions and input! -- Jim
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