Its important to think about what you want the website to achieve and to concentrate on that one part of your business, sometimes we get website owners wanting to target many markets and then they realise that its not going to be cost-effective or technically ideal to try to hit many targets with one throw. This sample exchange demonstrates how a huge amount of requirements can be narrowed down to a specific requirement.
[Chocolate Fountain Company] I have tried to put a list together of what I need and would like.I am trying to learn the correct lingo for the processes that I need my website to have, I can explain them in layman’s terms but not sure I know the right terms. All my advertising and business coming in is done through pay per click…Google Adwords…(no seo’s for me!). I am looking for someone to build my new website to my ideas on what I need and want.
About the business: My main business is based on a very classy and upmarket top quality premium service offered for an event or function..i.e. a chocolate fountain, we do the job, take photos.
The other angle to the business is that I am going into using my services (popcorn, candy floss, waffles etc.) outside in my pop up Gazebo at Fairs and festivals.
Starting up meant even though I knew nothing about websites , I knew I needed one to start…so found a website I liked , found the makers, and as I needed it quickly did not research properly and made a huge mistake by paying web designers that could only make a website that was limited by their software (which I do not need this time I need a site that has no constraints as to design/build or change and has an easy system for change /amend that I can use after the website is completed, which I can then change and amend and add to at my leisure). They subsequently took advantage of me and conned me into spending a vast sum of money and am currently stuck with them paying a very large £30 per month just for doing nothing more than hosting my site. I cannot wait to move on from them. I have quickly out grown my current website, to which I own the domain. What I would like now is a website with full screen photos such as something like see: The Mitre Hotel..Hampton court website….see the full screen photos.
I would like only my own photos showing of my products, services, dips ext. on the website …no royalty photos such as I have on my current website now.
I have probably forgotten things…but I think you get the idea…..you will have to make suggestions to me as we go along….
Examples of separate points of build that I would definitely like copying to my new website please:
( please note I have only made reference to wordpress sites because that was all I could find at the time of writing)
In wordpress I have seen a featured website called ‘Landscaper’ – I would like my front page built with the full screen picture ( one of my own) and with the same left hand navigation menu which opens out – as shown on this website. I would also like the menu to light up when clicked on. I would like the navigation to open out in white and light up not black as they have it. As shown in the same website where it shows the name Landscaper this is where my company name could be shown in a font/style of my choosing. I have a logo, which will go nicely top left in the corner.
The black bar that runs along the top and bottom need to be bigger and not as shown in landscaper I like the size of the top hand black bar and the navigation in it, with the size and font style. I love the look of the front page full screen images.
My inside pages enclosing my content: All To be set with the back drop of my corresponding full screen photo for each specific service I Offer. (which would be photos of my specific services relating to the particular navigation tab that had been clicked ). Please see how the content is presented in a white box that pops up on the right hand side of the page and at the same time with 2 smaller images which are shown to the left hand of the page…I like this feature. Alternatively the content box could pop up in the same position but on top of a full screen photo which I also like..The white background could then me made opaque and semi-transparent to allow the full screen photo to show through, but still allow the text to be clear and visible. I would like to be shown a proof of both designs so that I could choose which one I liked. Perhaps the white box could be the shape of a large Champagne Bottle or a large Strawberry? (just to be a little different!!) I would like to see all 3 designs, to see which I like best. I would like my gallery pages to be as large and run the same and have the same function / set up /build as in the website example given
Things I may need to add to my website at a later stage as my company grows and evolves:
I may need to add a management system such as ACT or to have one custom made at some point, so my website needs to be able to accommodate change/build at a later stage.
Videos….not sure??
A custom made system for automated quoting.
Credit card payment
I note that wordpress says : not good if lots of moderations need to be made because it might make site to break up!
I do not need or want ‘sound’ added to the website..
I have tried to be as thorough as I can to give you a clear picture of what I need and the type of design I would like. Will assume that ecommerce can cover everything and in any quantity and every description one wants to sell, I need one ecommerce system not 2 because I want to be able to sell whatever I want to sell at any given time could be photos and boxes or chocolates, presents etc whatever I want at the moment it is photos and presents covering chocolate, booze, etc). I do sell other things from my website from edible creatures to boozy/chocy treats and would like the functionality to be able to do so.
Over to you now ……Can you help, how long would build take, and how much would this cost please? One thing I did not ask is what about hosting?
[Delicious Webdesign] Firstly wow, you certainly have provided some information here, there is loads I could ask you and could spend some time answering all of your requests but think we can simplify this for you nicely and you have to assure you that you dont need to worry about the technical side of anything we do as it will be industry standard, built to last, w3c compliant (Internet standards) and multi-browser compatible (including mobile devices).
The site you are describing is something we have done before (or a combination of a couple we have done before) and can easily do exactly what you want and need to you to your exact requirements.
I believe, from the example websites you have shown, that you have great and already my guys ave said they look forward to building something to your ‘taste’ but some parts of the design (specifically) the 4 part graphical menu is unusual and not ‘standard’ for the website and it may not be best for its ‘website promotion’ or SEO.
You mention that SEO isnt for you but really having a website that gains natural / organic ‘free’ visitors is the best possible way forward and the good news is that our sites are built with ‘love’ to ensure they rank highly for their specific sector. We have local, nationally and internationally highly ranked websites achieved through ‘clever website building’ and SEO and see no real evidence of their SEO as the ‘basics’ have been overlooked on your site
It sounds like you have been mis-informed about the PPC vs SEO idea, we do both and have clients that spend over £150 a day on PPC and have websites that naturally rank highly and websites that have been moved from position 56 to position 1 for their primary search term after a SEO project so know about all aspects of website advertising / promotion, the important thing to know is that you don’t switch one off and one and switch on the other but to know that any website we build is created with the search engines in mind, we practise ‘holistic’ website design meaning every website look good / works good and ranks well among other things, this can only benefit you financially.
SEO isn’t a ‘add-on’ or something to be avoided all of our sites are optimised ‘polished’ for the search engines and we have had massive success in doing this and also doing seo projects for other websites. In your sector we have lots of wedding related websites ranking highly to avoid them having to pay PPC / Adwords costs.
Whatever has happened to your site previously isn’t really SEO and I would doubt the credibility of the company that done it as there are some basics that haven’t been looked at / changed. In your website’s current state no real SEO work would be that effective as so many basics have been ‘overlooked’.
Getting to your requirements you have asked for some general things that I don’t understand exactly so here are some questions to allow me to understand more about what you need:
1, Understand 100% that you want an ecommerce photography website but then you state you need ‘e comerce for online shop’ as the photography system is a customised ecommerce system for photos are you saying you want another ecommerce system to sell other products? this is very unusual and you havent indicated what else you would want to sell.
As I mentioned previously ecommerce photography systems are great but tailored to photographs and can build two systems for you but suggest having only a photography ecommerce system unless you are committed to selling other related products
Here are some links and information and about photography e-commerce websites. We have created a few photography e-commerce websites and so far our clients have only good things to say about their usability / features / functions.
Clicking on the ‘clients’ or ‘shop’ or ‘clients gallery’ or ‘buy’ links on the sites below brings you to the e-commerce / shopping part of the site
The recent Photography and E-commerce websites we have completed include:
The look can be customised to a certain extent but to have the complete / total functionality of selling photos online I can only suggest that the look ‘works’ and have proved massively popular on those example sites earning their owners lots and lots of orders.
www.garrysandison.com – Most recent photography / Ecommerce site
www.pinkonwhitewalls.com – click on clients as an example of the e-commerce part of the site
www.essex-photography.co.uk click on clients for e-commerce part of the website
www.roastphotography.co.uk new one with no galleries in the ecommerce side of the site yet
www.duckmania.co.uk this is selling prints not photos (click on buy to view the e-commerce part)
I see you specifically said you only want one e-commerce system but to have a bespoke photography e-commerce system and a full e-commerce system to sell other items from the website there is only one solution and that is to have two different systems meaning two ecommerce systems within the same website, I cant say I have ever seen this before as normally photography websites simply sell photography products and other ecommerce websites sell ‘standard products’ that don’t need the functionality of a photography ecommerce website. You need to acknowledge that this increases your admin / costs and that you will not be able to order prints from the photography ecommerce shop and store them in your cart then add ‘non-photography’ products to the same cart. You will need two individual purchases.
[Website Client] Does flash mean my navigation tabs will light up when clicked on etc.? as this is what I would like to happen
[Delicious Webdesign] You really dont want it like you have it currently, your current Flash navigation is terrible for the website / SEO / usability. If you look at your website on an ipad / Iphone or non-flash enabled browser you will see what I mean
[Website Client] I did not mention that I will need to be able to amend/take away or add pages as and when I need to. This I would like to be able to do myself. I will definitely need to add pages and or navigation tabs that open out, as my business grows and evolves.
A1 I really don’t recommend having and using the facility to add / remove pages for a standard business brochure website like the one you are talking about, the reasons are
i) It adds complexity to the website coding (cost and effort)
ii) If you make a mistake you can potentially corrupt the whole website
iii) I anticipated it is really rare that you need to add / remove pages
iv) There are website / SEO consequences of simply deleting pages
v) Its a fairly simple exercise for us to add more pages / change your menu when you require it
vi) If a system is delivered to you that allows you to change your own menus, I would anticipate that the cost / effort of giving you this system outweighs the savings by simply giving us a website change request when you require changes.
We have built hundreds of websites and then changed, updated them as the business evolves and anticipate that we can do this for you perfectly.
[Delicious Webdesign] Regarding development – its not just before development but at every stage of every part of each build!
[Delicious Webdesign] Each customer is totally independent, confidentially is assured, you found us as we built a very search engine friendly chocolate fountain company website and that is what we intend to do for you
[Chocolate Fountain Company] Please keep the name of my company a secret from
my competitors, this project is completely confidential I hope. Can I have your word that there will be no mention of me to any current future competitors at any time?
[Delicious Webdesign] Can I sum up your business as a premium services supplier for events and the services you can supply are varied and include Photography / Chocolate Fountain Hire / Candy Cart etc…
[Chocolate Fountain Company] no…Business is primarily Chocolate Fountains then Events services
[Delicious Webdesign] Now we are confused after reading this and seeing your existing website that doesn’t feature photography apart from one page, is the photography ecommerce part of the new site something that is a pre-requisite?
[Chocolate Fountain Company] The gallery on my current website is for everyone to view my set ups ( which has not recently been updated for a very very long time!)
The page I was going to use to sell my photos to the corporate market after each function is there but never finished!
[Delicious Webdesign] Is the photography ecommerce part of the new site something that is a pre-requisite?
[Chocolate Fountain Company] yes
[Delicious Webdesign] What search term would you think someone would use to find you in a search engine
[Chocolate Fountain Company] Chocolate fountain hire
[Delicious Webdesign] Can I assume that Essex / Kent and London is the area you operate in
[Chocolate Fountain Company] Mainly yes
[Delicious Webdesign] Can you show me your logo as that may dictate some of the styling / colours
[Chocolate Fountain Company] I will attach my logo but my colours are gold, black, white and champagne bottle blue please see attachment of a flyer of mine. Colours/styling will need to be discussed with me before every part of the build please so that there will be little room for error and less work and wasted time on your behalf.
I note you say you like to discuss what client wants before build…..what I would like is discussions before every new part of each specific build…so that we do not move onto the next bit of build before the current part of the build is correct…this is very important to me otherwise it becomes very time consuming correcting errors, and is expensive for you and I, and is extremely stressful for me.
[Delicious Webdesign] We also understand exactly what you mean about full-screen websites. £30 per month for hosting is extortion, we have the most premium hosting available in the UK (ranked 1st by PC Pro Magazine last month) and charge £45 per year!
[Chocolate Fountain Company] Fantastic to hear about your hosting, I would like to know more when the time comes. Please can you supply me with some sites you have built showing varied use of different builds/software to show different looks?
[Delicious Webdesign] We have got three pages of websites to review that we have build
https://www.delicious-webdesign.com/portfolio-website-design.html
https://www.delicious-webdesign.com/portfolio-website-designs.html
https://www.delicious-webdesign.com/essex-website-portfolio.html
there are totally different designs within the portfolio
Here are h some of the full screen websites we have built for you to view.
http://www.scrap-car-king.co.uk
http://craftycarptours.co.uk
http://www.kosel.co.uk
The Kosel website is more like it…….. much more my cup of tea…….a bespoke and classy website……different to the others you have listed!! The other 3 are built in exactly the same way, this is not what I am looking for, with content box bang smack in the middle of the webpage…spoils the effect totally!!
Sorry to be so blunt….but better to be honest and specific in this instance!!
I notice having viewed the other website and now the other photography websites that you have enclosed links to for me to view that it seems to me that they are all built using the same software…is this correct….they all seem very similar in build and visually all the same from the layout to the font/layout etc etc …and obviously this is not the look I am going for. I need to know that you can make the build exactly as I have shown by the websites I have provided as examples of font, layout, size of items, side bars design etc.
[Delicious Webdesign] The photography ecommerce websites use the best solution available so there are look / functionality similarities but Kelly’s website is not the same but a ‘standard’ website. If you want a certain look we can achieve that for you. Rest assured we can build the website exactly as you want
[Chocolate Fountain Company] Sorry to be so specific, but I need to know this time before I embark on a new web build and spend money that it will be as I would like exactly and need.
[Delicious Webdesign] With reference to money, can you tell me your approximate budget for your project, I only ask as recently we have spent weeks on project planning only to find that the client’s expectation compared with their budget is completely miss-aligned.
[Chocolate Fountain Company] Regarding the graphic menus I have set my heart on this now so they are an essential part of the design for me.
I understand the point about SEO but I need to be no 1 and I would have to pay still to be number 1 even if I was number 4….in a few years I will switch to SEO but not
now. I paid for Seo for 8 months at £180 and it got me to ist page about 8th position just for chocolate fountains London( the other pages were 3 ,8 etc)….I have learnt I need to be position 1 to get all the passing trade and the only way to do this is to be on google Adwords pay per click.
It was meant to be link building / Seo and once we get started I will send you over all the info from the website design studios who were doing for me…I always felt I was being ripped off!! In fact I am still in on-going negotiation to reclaim £180 from whence I used them and stopped
Regarding the look of the ecommerce photography websites this is the idea exactly…the function is correct the only problem is I don’t not like the look/visual of the software used. The best one out of all is duckmania…but I do not like how it looks from the font/to the layout etc etc. I would have to see one that I like to show you. But yes the function is correct.
So far so good!! I am pleased with what you have told me so far. What would be the time of build from start to finish and making live please? I understand where you are coming from, but I would rather start with you giving me a quote, please, then I can do one of two things
I can see then if I can afford to do and the other is to measure your quote against a couple of others.
Can you answer these individual points please, that way matters are exactly clear to me and I know exactly what is and what isn’t …and that there is no confusion on my side..Please be very specific in your answers, which do not need to be long and answer each point separately..
[Website Client] I need a very large special gallery on a carousel, the gallery sells my business for me…this is what gives me my bookings so needs to be good and special.
[Delicious Webdesign] yes easy and revolving image galleries are great
[Website Client]I also need to be able to upload all the photos we take at each function we cover and be able to offer the client a private link for them to view their photos of the event and be able to purchase and download them from my site. I like : www.colorworldimaging.co.uk this seems to have most of what I need to be able to sell my photos online. (also see image file) with maybe unlimited portfolios.
[Delicious Webdesign] yes, the photography ecommerce part of the site will give you full / complete functionality including private / public galleries and clients can order directly from the website, you control everything about the photos / prices / sizes etc
They have a product that allows you to sell your prints on their website for £22 this isnt anything like what you want I am sure and if it is then I have totally misunderstood your requirements – our bespoke / made to measure photography ecommerce websites start from £1500 and give total customisation / control of the website / seo / function. Colourworld is simply an ‘agent for print processing’ from what I see.
[Website Client]My drop down tab for Dips, the photos for these I would like on a revolving (all full screen) carousel.
[Delicious Webdesign] assuming you are talking about a drop down selector for dips that the client wants for their chocolate fountain, a drop down menu wouldnt be as effective as tick boxes (to allow multiple selections)
[Website Client] I need paypal as I have now on my current website.
[Delicious Webdesign] yes thats the default payment method for our ecommerce websites
[Website Client] Need a links-banner tab/page.
[Delicious Webdesign] yes that’s almost a default for most websites we do
[Website Client] Need the website linked to Google Analytics.
[Delicious Webdesign] yes that’s a default for all websites we do (you can get dynamic access or monthly reports of your website visitors)
[Website Client] Do I need Drupal or Joomla ….. ? what technical software do you use please?
[Delicious Webdesign] We favour Joomla and WordPress but use lots of ecommerce software including prestashop, zencart, opencart, oscommerce
[Website Client] I need my website to look professional, classy and be user friendly…clean, crisp and clear.
[Delicious Webdesign] that’s exactly what we can give you
[Website Client] I need to be able to discuss with my web builder before every part of each and every stage of the build so that no unnecessary changes have to be made. Not just before development but at every stage of every part of each build!
[Delicious Webdesign] Glad you mentioned this as this is the way we work, we want to know exactly what you want and need before we begin development…
[Website Client] I need HTML so that my website can avail my products and services serving dedicated mobile solutions, and individuals can acquire my services from their mobile device.
[Delicious Webdesign] Not sure you need to worry about the language for the website but yes HTML is the building blocks to all websites and be assured your website will use the most modern coding methods which are xhtml / css and php / MySQL and that it will look and work perfectly on all browsers and mobile devices (tablets, phones, Ipad etc)
[Website Client] Maybe need a featured thumbnail for my gallery? I need a gallery for me for my website with thumbnails at the bottom perhaps revolving /or thumbnails at the bottom and the main full screen picture revolving. On a separate tab button and page.
For my gallery I need to be able to add / upload to any quantity and take away at my leisure. This will be a constantly evolving process for me as I pick and choose the best shots each week taken from the events we do weekly to upload to my gallery.
I also need separate photographer’s gallery for my clients to view and choose and buy online for with individual gallerys showing different events, this also to have its own page and navigation tab.
[Delicious Webdesign] Are you saying you need a ‘master gallery’ that then links to individual galleries ? like this http://www.denva-interiors.co.uk/brochure-galleries.html
We love website galleries and agree it enhances the website but traditionally you wont be able to control your main galleries as this is a technical skill and even if these revolving image galleries could be handed to a website client we wouldn’t advice it as I think there are far too many downsides compared with simply sending some new photos and letting us update the gallery for you. We are very much in favour of letting website client’s taking control of their websites but really don’t recommend giving control of complex / technical galleries.
The Photographer’s Gallery is one of the pre-requisites already noted – you can have an unlimited amount of galleries that can be headed by event name
[Website Client] Drop down or side opening menu that opens up.
[Delicious Webdesign] yes that’s fine
[Website Client] Need contact form. And email.
[Delicious Webdesign] of course 🙂
[Website Client] Need ecommerce for online shop ( selling products online)
[Delicious Webdesign] reading the other comments about this it seems you want the functionality of a photography ecommerce shop but then the ability to be able to sell other products. Photography ecommerce software is specialised and customised to show / display and sell photos and its not correct to use the same software to sell other products so you need to decide if you really want / need to be able to sell other items online as this is very unusual for a chocolate fountain / events company and think the photography ecommerce side is what you should concentrate on.
I see your products online on your existing website and can easily add this ecommerce functionality.
I would suggest that not many people would actually order items from you online but request them for you to bring (include) as part of your chocolate fountain package.
Fully widgetized so can add more functionality if need to as and when if evolving.
[Delicious Webdesign] yes all websites are updatable and can be added to at a later date
[Website Client] Need a very easy editable content management system for me to use.
[Delicious Webdesign] yes no problem
[Website Client] I have a PayPal account hooked up to my current website, and will need the same.
[Delicious Webdesign] yes that’s our default payment method
[Website Client] I need hooked up to social media…twitter, Facebook, etc. as I have now and all relevant links.
[Delicious Webdesign] agreed
[Website Client] Having looked at all your websites. I have to say they are all good and very appropriate for the type of business they are representing. Well done! But they are not for me. I like Abigail’s collection website the way the photos pop up when clicked on…but not the ones in the gallery
What I would like now is a website with full screen photos I would like only my own photos showing of my products, services, dips ext. on the website …no royalty photos such as I have on my current website now.
[Website Client] Want to review and agree all work at every stage
[Delicious Webdesign] I think from your specific requirements we will allocate you our graphic designer to design each page visually before you agree it and we begin development work on it to get it on your website.
