Help building ecommerce site

[SkyBlueSilver]

Hi, Are there any tech wizards out there who can advise me on what to do? I have a domain name hosted by 'hostpapa' and it comes with lots of opensource software to build a store with, but I have no idea how to use it? I don't really know where to go from here, should I get a web designer in to sort it for me and can anyone recommend one, or should I cut my losses (about £100) with the hosting company and move my domain name to someone else? I have another site I built on Moonfruit, but it doesn't generate much traffic so I need something with SEO or something. As you can see I don't know where to start, can anyone help?

 

[Faevilangel]

You have a couple of options:

1) Get a web designer to set up the site (using the OS system of your choice) and then show you how to use it. Costs will be <£300 as it would be just setting up and training you.

They would use a pre-built theme to skin the system, so you're online and ready to go.

2) Get a web designer to skin you a custom theme, and do the full set up of the site (products, seo settings etc). This will come in at anywhere from £500 to £10k depending on complexity and how much work is needed.

#1 is a basic install to get you online, you will need to do a lot of stuff yourself
#2 is a full site install, customisation to your needs and most things will be done for you

#1 can be re-skinned later on if money is tight, so you could start on #1 and get the customisation done later on.

 

[faradaykeynes]

try prestashop , it comes with decent theme , you can change it later if you like. There must be software to install prestashop, you can do that with few clicks.

 

[GotLiveChat]

Hi, Are there any tech wizards out there who can advise me on what to do? I have a domain name hosted by 'hostpapa' and it comes with lots of opensource software to build a store with, but I have no idea how to use it? ....

Have you tried contacting the hosting provider to see what added services (help) they can offer? Maybe they'll offer to help get your shop set up for an added fee.
The other option is to find a host that has the e-commerce/shopping site set up, and it just needs your products. I know Magento has a "GO" service where the host the store; you just add your information to get selling. Monthly fee if I seem to remember...

 

[Websitehandyman]

I would be happy to hold you hand via email, it's the sort of thing i do all day for people. I don't charge for the email service.

 

[serendipitybusiness]

I think your best option would be to hire a web developer to set up something for you and to support you later on. It sounds like you want someone to hold your hand and guide you through it so an independent developer may be better for you than an agency the only downside is if the independent dissapears you will need to find a replacement.

The one click installs on your hosting are just the beginning but pretty simple to do and quite standard on many hosting solutions. I would leave it where it is for now and see how it performs once your site is up there as that is the main reason to move hosting providers not for the scripts they offer. I would also not look to hire web development from your hosting provider, many don't offer this service anyway but their core business is hosting and running servers not web development and ebusiness so even if you do find one that offers this service you may find it is poor in comparison. There will be exceptions this of course but whether you will be able to spot them without experience is difficult.

Many people will jump on and recommend all kinds of ecommerce platforms for you every developer has their favourite system but of course it depends on what you want to sell and how you want to sell it. Mine is woo commerce as the flexibility and freedom it offers to help improve traffic to conversion is fab.

It is built on wordpress which will be in your list of scripts and you add it as a plugin, its free. However you may need someone to help you with updates in the future and setting it up.

If I was you I would stay away from magento if you don't have budget, it is a great system out of the box but it can be very expensive down the line to get developers to adapt. Most of my geek collegues have moved from magento to woo after I recommended it and have never looked back.
Prestashop is good as a base but limited (in comparison) in features that can be added as your business grows.

Hope this helps

 

[SkyBlueSilver]

Thank you for your comments.

 

[BusinessDeli]

I set up an opencart site using hostpapa as host. happy to share the experience!

 

[PDC]

From reading your email I agree with the above, you need to speak to a professional to get some guidance. I'd recomend geting quotes/metting some local website developers and taking it from there.

A colleague of mine is using Prestashop at the moment and he was pleased with it so that might well be a solution.

 

[glynnbed]

Hi,
It can be a bit of a minefield out there but I just think you need to decide on your options a you have a few available, first I think you should focus on reducing these, decide which you want to do?

1 You can keep trying to do this yourself, the cheapest option
2 You can pay someone to help you with this, more financial outlay
3 You can pay to have a site built.
4 I think you should remove SEO from your thoughts on this, as this is really a seperate issue to focus on when you have your site up and running.

I recently had a very good site built for me which cost £300, including 2G+ hosting. I have almost 500 products on this site.

Will pass this information on if you need it, but personally I would keep trying to build it yourself and try to find someone to help as you have already paid for this.