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Ryan Bell

Printed From: ProductCart E-Commerce Solutions
Category: ProductCart
Forum Name: Getting Started
Forum Description: Installing, activating, and getting started with ProductCart
URL: https://forum.productcart.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=149
Printed Date: 24-November-2024 at 12:12pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: Ryan Bell
Posted By: Ryan Bell
Subject: Ryan Bell
Date Posted: 09-March-2006 at 12:57pm

Hi there.  Quick question.

I checked out Template Monster, and for our line of business (skin care), there aren't any templates that look like what we want. I'm not a web designer, and I can't make anything look professional enough in Dreamweaver.  Also, most bids we've gotten for making a site are in the $10-20k range, which is too much.

Having said that, are the any other places you would recommend I look into (something like a Template Monster, etc) to find something that would work well with your product?  Just curious.  Any help would be greatly appreciated. 



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-- Ryan



Replies:
Posted By: cptkoi
Date Posted: 10-March-2006 at 10:49am

Hi

Have you seen something that you would like to acheive?

Its pretty easy to modify the header and footer files and in doing so plug the cart into your website.

The developers should be able to help you modify the cart further.............



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"I need a hug, I need love, I need fun, I want to feel happy. Thats the world I want to live in!"


Posted By: watercrazed
Date Posted: 29-March-2006 at 3:37am
Tell us more.  For 10K they better have been planning to do more than just design and implement a graphic overlay for your site.

If you want to get an idea of the low end of site development check out rent a coder. I had one mid level design job that I had a firm do, and about 6 months later doing a google I found where they had subbed out alot of my job there.

My experince at hiring outside work has shown that most of the cost in developing is in the product import and setup. The overall design and implementation of the look should be very reasonable. I doubt you can use a 3rd party template service.  Some carts come with a varity of graphic temples designed for the cart, this is not one of them, there are a few preprogramed layout options.

Can you get your products loaded into the cart and display ok. If so developing a graphic template to overlay that should be pretty reasonable. When I went looking for bids they ranged 5k-50K. Ended up geting functional but not pretty for about $500. I offshored the import of about 1500 products and did the interface myself. (it shows ) but it works and sells. 

Another issue is SEO, product cart is friendlier then some but it will be a rare site that inner level products have any PR or do well on 1 or 2 word search phrases.

If I could do it over, I would stage it.  1st add the products to the cart, get the individual product pages with the info layed out well. keyword in the short descrp. headers and bullet points. No real design talent required. But ability to write sales copy about your products is required and hard to hire. Then determine what SEO issues are important to you and have someone address productcarts shortcomings re SEO.  Then have  some one  with asp  and graphic skill  do your header, memus and footers the way you want them, without messing the SEO issues up, or compensate for them, ie if you just have to have graphic javascipt menus make sure there is a good site map program in place.

Well I have to go, to make a long story short, spend  a month or so  educating yourself  at  a  site like webmasterworld, checkout rent a coder for the low end pricing, decide what you can do inhouse, and save 5 to 15K or check references spend the 20k and keep your fingers crossed that they do have a clue beyond what looks pretty.

With that said, I do think that there are a couple of developers here that know what they are doing. And there is no cheap AND easy way to develop a large effective site.



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John

http://www.ultimatewatermassage.com - massagers, heat therapy, buckwheat pillows and more


Posted By: ProductCart
Date Posted: 29-March-2006 at 7:11pm

Ryan, I would recommend that you contact between 5 and 10 ProductCart resellers and have them quote you for the job. http://www.earlyimpact.com/partners.asp - http://www.earlyimpact.com/partners.asp

Designing a professional graphical interface can be time consuming and therefore costly. However, the more work you do on your end in terms of specifying exactly what you want, the more resonable the quotes should be. What's really time consuming is the "back and forth" that can occur when a Web designer creates a design, you don't like, they create a new one, you don't like it, etc. Something that helps a lot is to point out 3 or 4 sites that you really like, so that the designer has an idea of what you have in mind.

You should definitely be able to have a professional graphical interface for your ProductCart store designed for less than 5K (we are referring to the design only, no changes to the ASP source code - that can definitely add to the overall cost). If all the quotes you get from our resellers exceed that amount, please contact us at mailto:info@earlyimpact.com - info@earlyimpact.com to let us know.



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The ProductCart Team

Home of ProductCart http://www.productcart.com" rel="nofollow - shopping cart software


Posted By: Ryan Bell
Date Posted: 06-April-2006 at 12:18pm

We will do that starting today.  I will contact several re-sellers.  The first two I contacted were in fact re-sellers, and even with a detailed plan of action (on our end), they still came in at well over $10k. 

What I really need to know is this:  Are there any pre-designed, *high-end* templates available for your software (something like what templatemonster.com makes for ZenCart and OSCommerce)?  That's what I really need.  No one appears to be doing this for your software (I can't imagine why not).  Do you know of anyone who does this? 



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-- Ryan



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