Using Weebly now, but.....

[artanis50]

I have created my website using Weebly. So far it's been working just fine. I pay for the highest account (I think it's called PRO) and it runs me about $30 a month. Our sales are really low right now so it's getting expensive to pay for it each month.

I like Weebly a lot because it's all drag and drop for the design aspect and super easy to maintain and make changes. I don't have the skill or knowledge to build my own site so it's really been a good fit. Easy to add products, the shopping cart is integrated and it all just works. It's not perfect, but right now I can deal with the flaws.

I am looking for alternatives though due to price. Is anyone aware of other options that may be a good fit for me with a lower price tag? I have a shop on Etsy too, but do not want to go to Ebay. I really want to focus on growing our own standalone site.

Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

[Khall]

have you looked at GoDaddy website builder and store?

[artanis50]

Yes. And I didn't find it all that intuitive.

[krymson]

If you can't afford $30 a month and that's all it takes to keep your business visible to the public on a stand-alone platform then you need to rethink your business strategy. In the business world $30 is nothing and in the web world $30 is nothing, I spend that on hosting a month. If I were you i would dip into my personal funds and pay for it until you can figure out how to increase your sales to the point where the company is self sufficient again. Your website is your biggest asset, if you're not marketing that asset, you should take some courses in marketing.

But at the end of the day $30 is an extremely small price to pay for your business.

[Harold Mansfield]

I have to agree with Krymson. If you're already at $30 a month and saying you want to do better, but budget is a problem you may not be ready to dive into running your own business.

The folklore that getting into business online is cheap is wrong on so many levels. Sure, you can do the absolute minimum and pay bare bones and get something online, but is it the quality that you need to actually attract business? Most times not. Especially if you have no technical or design skills.

If you don't have the skills to do things yourself, nor the budget to pay anyone to do them, then you're pretty much stuck where you are. Switching to another low budget option isn't going to be much better than what you already have. The good stuff costs money. Doing it professionally costs money. Fast, secure hosting costs money.

I have the skills to build my own sites and yet I still spend more on a project site than most people spend on their business sites all year. Because I know you can't just do enough to get by and expect to make any money. I also know that I can't do everything myself...that doesn't mean it still doesn't need to be done. I'm also the kind of person that would rather wait and do it right, than do it half ass and make a bad impression or ruin credibility.

To answer your question about options, if you want to run it yourself you should look into self hosted WordPress. There's a learning curve, and you should have a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, Copy writing, SEO, and a decent grasp of how to use imagery if you plan to build anything decent yourself.

If you want a better option for the drag and drop, all in one services then check out Squarespace.

[Kyle Johnston]

Look into wix, square space or a wordpress website. These can be good alternatives. I'm not sure of the price comparison though.

[krymson]

Look into wix, square space or a wordpress website. These can be good alternatives. I'm not sure of the price comparison though.

all of them are going to cost the same or more, because it's a shopping cart. I wouldn't move unless you're planning to upgrade and move away from Weebly. It would cost you more in the long run to move than it would to just stay on Weebly until you can afford a self hosted website that will work and function the way you need it to.

[artanis50]

Very good points!! I can afford the $30 but leaves very little left ... We are just starting out so everything is moving slowly and I need to be patient. I think I'll stay where I am for now. Thanks for the perspective. Sometimes I need someone to give me a good slap!

Thanks again

[vweconsulting]

I checked out your website, and you actually did an excellent job for someone who used drag and dropped. And with the niche you're in, you have so much potential for growth that I would love to help you grow your business if you're open minded to suggestions???

[artanis50]

Wow, thank you so much! I'm always open to suggestions and constructive criticism. 😊

[longnhvietnam]

Weebly is so costly. Why don't you create a new website from Wordpress? I suppose that Woocommerce plugin on Wordpress site will help you easily manage your E-commerce website.
Using Wordpress may be just a bit difficult than Weebly. Don't worry. :)

[turboguy]

Let me start of by saying many of the people here are web designers and have more knowledge on the subject in their little finger than I do in my empty brain. However I have around 8 web sites for my business and have been building them one way or the other for around 15 years. I am always looking at web sites for ideas to improve mine. So, even though I am not an expert here are my thoughts.

Wow, you did a great job for a drag and drop web site. In many ways it is among the nicer web sites I have seen. It almost made me feel like going out and buying a dog so I could buy some of your biscuits. You tell a nice story about the benefits of the biscuits and personalize it enough that people would want to buy from you.

Where I think you are lacking is on the SEO front. For example the title of your home page is "Home - "Wicked Biscuit" How would that tell a search engine that it is dog biscuits? I would change the title to something like "Wicked Biscuit - Healthy, natural dog biscuits" Maybe I just missed it but I did not see a Description meta tag at all. That is important and should be 150-180 characters with key words. Maybe something like "Wicked Biscuits, Healthy natural dog biscuits for a great dog treat" It is also important to use keywords in your text. By keywords I am talking terms someone might search by. On your home page you don't use the phrase "dog biscuits" or "dog treats" even a single time. You can have the best product in the world and the best web site in the world but if no one can find it......................

I can understand wanting to watch costs. The internet is actually pretty inexpensive. I have a bunch of domains, a number of hosting accounts and spend a fair amount of money myself on the internet. I am always looking for ways to reduce those costs even though they are very affordable for me. I don't think the issue you need to worry about is reducing costs. The amount you are spending isn't bad. The thing you need to concentrate on is getting more traffic and getting more sales so that your costs are more affordable.

[turboguy]

While I was writing my last post there were two new posts, one recommending WordPress and one recommending Magento. I don't know much about Magento but the comments I have heard about it are good. I have started playing around with WordPress and if you do want to reduce your costs it might be a good option for you. Wordpress itself is free and there are lots of free templates for it. It installs with one click and installation is easy. You could probably cut your cost per month at least in half maybe more. I have not gotten to the point of adding online shopping to the first site I am working on but the Woo Commerce plug-in gets good reviews. Many of the free templates are laid out much like your site is now.

You will often hear you can have a WordPress site up and running in an hour. Someone would have to be a lot smarter than I am to do that. To be honest I hate WordPress with a passion and it sometimes drives me crazy (a short trip). Never-the-less, I am working on my first WordPress web site and plan to convert 4 or 5 of my sites to WordPress when things slow down for me. It would be a good choice for you. Should you decide to go that way I would be happy to give you a few tips that might keep you from pulling out as much of your hair as I have done.

[Thinkbooks]

Great website. Simple and cute. Love the name !!!

$30 is probably the best you are going to get for a online shop if you can't build a site yourself. I am on Shopify and love it but it's costing me over $40 for the entry level option. It's a small price to pay for your business. You focus now should not be reducing the cost of your site but increasing your initiative to get more sales. you need to get more people to your site. It's just that simple.

Good Luck !!!!

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[Owen]

Well, last time I checked HostGator offers Weebly on their shared hosting. I would check that out ;)

[PHCProducts]

Have you heard of SquareSpace? They offer an $8/month service that would be comparable to your experience on Weebly.

[HSteele]

The cost of $8 is just for annual submission. In a way of month-to-month submission there's $12 price. I've reviewed many comparison between site builders (also Weebly vs SquareSpace). <edited>

[Lamech]

Why i think woocommerce is good for you according to your statement. Using wordpress ecommerce ( Woocommerce ) helps you with a low budget and doesn't demand any monthly fee once setup. You can talk more about your product on the platforms with nice and responsive pages. You can accept paypal and other payment gateways. Am a web developer and i know what am talking about.