Internet Wonderland For Quilters - Websites

A website makes a great home base on the internet. It's the place to put all the necessary information we want out there. "When do we have our meetings? Where is your store and what is its hours? What do you teach? When is the conference? What do you have for sale?" It's a great place to answer the who, what, where, when and why questions people constantly need answered. For a store, guild, business, or teacher, your website is the door to your front door.

It's also a store within itself. You can sell almost anything on the internet, and current packing and shipping companies make it possible for you to ship it anywhere. But internet sales work best only if you can offer them something no one else has. If your goal is internet sales, you need to make yourself unique either in service, price, or product.

For most groups or stores you'll find your website is more of an introduction for your store, group or service. It's their first step to finding you. Once they've found you then you become a source they trust for ideas, products and help. That's when they come to buy things from you. It also can serve as an umbrella for other media. It's a great place to park your blog, put your sales cart, and show off. It does all those things very well. Does the average person need a web page? Maybe not. There are several blog sites that are free and provide a wonderful platform for much more than just a blog. You can attach an Etsy store to a blog, put up static pages that answers the who, what, when, where, and why questions about yourself, load up picture albums and feed all of that through Facebook and Pinterest. It may serve for simple needs.

Websites offer more robust answers. Almost any kind of information source, video, photo, or text can be put there, and teaching and sales are easily accomplished. But even the drag and drop website builders require a bit of computer savvy. Blogging really doesn't. If you simply want a platform to meet people and tell them about yourself, a blog is perfect for that.

If you're planning on multiple pages, lots of information, a large shopping cart, a newsletter system, or information gathering, you need that website.

Website Concerns:

Websites can be complicated. If they don't work quickly and seamlessly, people just click to another site. Of all the social media, you might want to consider expert help with designing your website. It's more than looking good. That helps, but your site needs also to be maximized for searches and set up to be read on tablets and smart phones. For many of us it takes more than a web host. A web designer can help you fashion a site that fits your needs.

Your site is like the front door and windows of your store. Is it clean? Pretty? Inviting? Easy to find? All of those things form your image online. Now, they can find you!

How often should you refresh your sites

Depending on the site, at least change them out with the seasons. A guild or teacher may want them updated every 4 months. For a store or manufacturer, you want them to know any time there's something new. Monthly or weekly might make more sense. Small fresh updates are much easier and more important than large overhauls. Usually just changing the home page and anything that is no longer accurate will do the trick. Of course when there's a big change, your site should reflect that. Did you get a new book written? Get a special new line of fabric? Show them.

Will you need help with your website?

I would argue that most people with a slightly complicated website probably need a web designer. They can set your site up so that you update it, but it works. All the links click through. All the shopping carts work. You can arrange with them to have what you really need now, and talk about what you might want in the future. Even with drop and drag web builders, web design is in a foreign language. HTML is nothing like English and it's got a steep learning curve. If you don't enjoy that kind of learning experience, or need something done fairly quickly, get yourself some serious help. You'll only need them to do the set up and it's so worth it. And you have someone to go to when and if problems arise.