Web Design

In design, there is a famous phrase that’s says

“LESS IS MORE”

Of course, it applies to minimalist style but it is important to know which information must be on the site and which not. Think about your website and create a Site Plan (how many pages it will have, color palette, purpose, audience target,etc.) to clarify your ideas and give organization to the website.

In 10 Principles Of Good Website Design  article said that you should have the control of your website, you choose what the audience will read and its hierarchy order.
Is always better to be simple and intuitive, “Users don’t read, they scan. Analyzing a web-page, users search for some fixed points or anchors which would guide them through the content of the page.”

Here are some websites I like that are simple, neat and have the necessary information.

www.apple.com

www.mikaalvarez.com

www.allrecipes.com 

www.jennyhaas.com

Choosing a web builder for e-commerce

Choosing a web builder when you don’t know anything about web design could be boring or confusing.

If you already know what your website should have, this decision will be easier. So, write all your requirements and start to look for.
In my research I compare three web builders, my criteria were upon three requirements 1) Ease of use, 2) Pricing and 3) Good tools to customize it.

Those builders are very intuitive with a drag-and-drop interface and low-cost and they have free plans but if you really want to set up a good online store I recommend you to start paying the membership so you will have all the benefits before publishing the site.

So, here is my analysis.

Weebly.com – It is a fabulous web platform with many options to customize the site as your convenience. They have an option to sell digital products and deliver them to consumer email after payment, and it is automatic, moreover, they have an app to manage the site from any Android or iOS device. Cons, the owner site cannot build the site and host it with another hosting. To get all these options it is required to have a business membership that cost $25 per month, it is the more expensive between other builder’s membership. In this plan, you get $100 in Google Adwords and access to SEO tools.

Webstarts.com – This builder in its business plan offers $500 in free advertising and search submission in Google, Yahoo! and Bing, their marketing and SEO tools is more complete than Weebly, also they integrate social media with the site. From the programming point of view, they have HTML access and the site is portable if you want to have a web designer managing it. The best part is its membership is the cheaper but is per year, and you have to pay $250 if it has a discount.

Webs.com – they offer elegant and professional templates but they are very limited. Its relation between membership cost and benefits are not good as the three other options, $22.99 per month. They have unlimited web store items and storage but in the information, they do not offer digital product selling. So, this builder won’t be my first option.

Wix.com – I think that this builder is the most famous or at least its advertising is everywhere on the web. Its high-quality hosting is free.  About pricing, PRO membership costs $24 per month and comparing with webstarst.com, Wix.com have fewer advantages and its web store templates do not show elegance and it does not look as a professional website.

Considering every builder, their pros, and cons, Weebly.com and webstarts.com have better cost customization and ease relation.
Make your own research and choose the best for your business idea. 

Setting Business Goals

Why do you want to start an online business?
What do you want to obtain?

This is a basic. When you know where you want to go, you will know which is the way to get there. It is the same in business it’s very important to have a clear and concise goal along the business creation, it will be easier to choose between all the online business ideas and methods because you know what you want to obtain.
Depending on the main goal is how you will start your online business.
There are some tips to do that help in this process.

• If you don’t know what to sell or offer (product/service): BRAINSTORMING!
  There are many ways to Brainstorming Business Ideas, there are some.
  My favorite was thinking about your daily problems and their solutions. Maybe you found a solution that is profitable and it may work as an online business.
• If you know which role you want in this business: SET A BUSINESS MODELS THAT FITS YOUR GOALS.
  

  Business model: in a few words, it is the way a business works and makes revenue to maintain itself.

  Setting a business model will help you to know how your business structure will be and your role as owner (advertiser, broker, manufacturer,etc.) so, keep in mind what you what to obtain and find the perfect business method. There are many kinds of methods, each of them has a different business focus and structures.
  Here you can learn about them Business models on the web.

Setting goals and knowing what you what to obtain, will guide you through business decisions.

“Stay focused, go after your dreams and keep moving toward your goals.”
LL Cool J