new website advice

Piriz

Hi,
I recently launched a LoveDublin brand with a small collection of products available in five retailers in Dublin city centre.

I would like to have a website where I can sell my products and also blog about different thing that relate to Dublin and build my brand, with twitter feed and facebook link etc.

I purchased a domain name and i havnt a clue about how to proceed with the rest.

I'd like to work from a template if possible where I can build and manage this myself and also keep costs very low hopefully.

any advice is greatly appreciated..

Cunning Alias

Look into free Content Management Systems. Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal.

These will then have free plugins or extensions for eCommerce.

There is also Magento which is an eCommerce platform out of the box.

Edit: Not sure about Magento but the other CMS have loads of free templates.

Piriz

great thanks, i'll have a look...

skimpydoo

I would also take a look at Shopify. With it you can create a basic online shop in around 15 minutes.

tramoreman

woocommerce plugin for wordpress its easy to use

KonFusion

I'd also recommend Shopify. Great support and lovely themes.


And I don't just say that as the only Shopify accredited expert in Dublin... *cough* *cough*

Really though, Shopify is a lovely platform.

Graham

+1 for WooCommerce if you're looking to put something together yourself on a tight budget. If you're not familiar with it, it's based on WordPress so your blog requirement is also covered.

devildriver

I would say don't ruin all of the good work you've done on your brand with a cheap and nasty looking website.

I would go the Shopify route with some professional help as mentioned above, rather than a DIY Wordpress site.

Piriz

devildriver wrote: »

I would say don't ruin all of the good work you've done on your brand with a cheap and nasty looking website.

I would go the Shopify route with some professional help as mentioned above, rather than a DIY Wordpress site.

I appreciate your advice but i'm on a small budget for this... Shopify will not allow me to blog...

KonFusion

Piriz wrote: »

I appreciate your advice but i'm on a small budget for this... Shopify will not allow me to blog...

Actually, Shopify will allow you to blog

From their site:

Shopify includes a full blogging platform to help you get involved with your customer community.

Publicize and categorize articles, create lookbooks, encourage discussion, and moderate comments on your Shopify blog.

farfallaa

as an old fashioned SEO I would advice you to go with anything related to wordpress (+woo commerce). I love how Google appreciates the platform..

M.T.D

I would agree with part of Devildriver's post
"I would say don't ruin all of the good work you've done on your brand with a cheap and nasty looking website."
For the second part I would modify, Any platform can produce a "cheap and nasty looking website" if done by somebody that does not know what they are doing and almost any platform can produce a quality site if done by an expert.
A website that looks home made is like turning up at business meeting in your gardening scruffs, so unless every meeting is with the allotment committee you will make a much better impression if your site is smart and business like.