So, I haven't been "selling" cakes very long, but absolutely love it and have started to have quite a bit of business lately.....
so........
I thought I'd join the rest of the world and have a freewebs website as well.
I'm def. not computer savvy, but would love to have ppl's comments about the website, and yes, I have my big-girl panties on so I can take the bad with the good
Anyone else have a website? I LOVE looking at other's as well, esp. those that have been doing this a while.
Anyway, just thought we could all share our sites and you can tell me what you think of mine!! Thank Ya~
www.freewebs.com/ashleymoos
yes, I use freewebs and I love it! It's the best free website I have found! Good luck with your business!
Ashley,
I really think the site is pretty. I too signed up for a free website, and am in the process of making it "pretty".
On a side bar...I just bought an apron that says, "Put on your big girl panties and deal!" I thought it was SO perfect...I was thinking of clean house at the time, but then realized she says take a big girl pill...oh well, it's still SUPER cute.
YES! I use freewebs...and I think it is a GREAT start up page!
I took a look at yours...it seems like you want some critiques. I guess...I don't mind suggesting a few things. That 'deco' background...I don't think it's easy on the eyes. I have never chosen that one because I feel that when it's not easy on the eyes people don't want to view your cakes for a long time. I even choose that circley background for a while...and it was too crazy. the color is nice though.
also, in the about me section...I remember reading in another thread something about 'things you don't like on cake websites" or something like that...where they talked about in the 'about me' section you don't want to put personal information...you want to put things in there that you've accomplished cake wise. So, that's what I changed recently...and I think it's helped with my credibility. and I think they said it looks more professional....which I agree.
I think you have a very good start...and your cakes are lovely! feel free to email me at anytime for help with the free webs editing...sometimes I even have trouble with it! lol
step0nmi,
I like how your pictures in your gallery scroll like that! how did you get that feature? I haven't found any way to customize my gallery!
I think your site is great! The only thing that I would change is on your rates and services page, it says "prices subject to changed". I would put "change". I think there must be a rule that all cake decorators must use this template. This is the one that I used and I saw another site on here today that used that same one. lol Mine isn't good enough yet to share. It's really plain. It has a home page and a photo page. That's it.
Ashley,
Your site looks great, but girl, you KNOW you don't charge enough lol! My ingredients cost me more than you charge for each of your cakes - do you make any profit at all ?!
Yep I have had several freewebs websites in the past and I have one currently. If you choose to purchase a domain name go through someone else such as Go Daddy for the domain name purchase and maintenance. I lost, literally lost my domain names via Freewebs because they didnt notify me that my registration was expiring. They have since enabled auto renew options.
All that money on business cards and paper ads with my domain name were wasted. Oh sure I could buy it back at auction for $600. UH HUH aint happening. In my attempts to retrieve the domain name the freewebs customer service people were less than helpful and said "you were emailed a notice". Let me just say NO I WAS NOT. I religiously check my email and go through every piece of trash and spam before deleting one by one. In a google search when all this happened I found three seperate lawsuits in Australia over freewebs doing the same thing. Each suit was lost by freewebs. Part of thier restitution was they had to institute a way for an auto renew to be possible to thier clients. Also to ice the cake the company offering me my domain site at auction is a subsidiary of freewebs. Quite a nice setup for them isnt it. They also bought up my .net, .biz, and .tv versions of my domain name as well. Tricky tricky this world of websites!
amoos, how did you get your pics so jazzy looking? I'm pretty dumb when it comes to using the computer and programs so my pics look really plain. I also use freewebs but my site is plain looking!
Too "anti-compute" to even try, bedsides the idea is to "stand out". My "real job" company hired a designer for $750 and got it done custom. Yes, it's $$, but worth it I think... pm me if you want a link for them...
I'll give you my thoughts.. please don't take this personal.. I am speaking only of your site and how you could make it more professional.. I like you and enjoy reading your posts so I don't want comstructive criticism to come across as me bashing you personally.. okay??
I agree about your "About Me" page. I'd get rid of it all together or change it to something that is soley related to your cake business. What you have on there now is great for a personal blog, but IMHO has no place on your business site.
I would change the "Products Page" page to be your "Flavors" page.. get rid of the pan sizes and types as this means little to a customer and it is really just clutter info.
Your Rates and Services page is a bit confusing.. Do you have a per serving price? I think it would be better to not list out your prices by size of the pans and just have your per serving price listed and your upcharges like specialty flavors and all that. Your pricing seems a bit random to me.. like you just pulled prices out of the air.. And you are undercharing girl!! I would change the title to "Pricing" to get rid of any confusion and set a per serving price so that it's easier for a customer to look and understand how you arrive at your prices
You have the same cake twice in your birthday cakes gallery.. the Happy Birthday Captain Baker cake.
I personally don't like the Customer Comments type pages.. but if you do then that is fine..
I used to have a freewebs site (the same one as you do only it was the blue one.) It worked well and it was relatively easy to manipulate. You can see it if you want here..
http://www.freewebs.com/thewelldressedcake/
I think with a little tweaking you could have a great site.
Too "anti-compute" to even try, bedsides the idea is to "stand out". My "real job" company hired a designer for $750 and got it done custom. Yes, it's $$, but worth it I think... pm me if you want a link for them...
that may be so, but for someone who is just starting out, doesn't have a lot of money or computer experience, it is a great free option. I have really loved using freewebs, its perfect for where i am in my caking!
I use freewebs as of yesterday! I saw it underneath someone's tagline and thought I would take a look at it. It seems as though it is a pretty easy website to use. If someone wouldn't mind looking at mine I would appreciate it. I'm pretty sure there are somethings people would say about it. But thats ok, only to make it better.
www.freewebs.com/sweetnovember/
Baycheeks1..
I will say that I don't really like the look of your site.. I'm sorry.. I don't want to sound mean and that is TOTALLY not my intention, but you wanted some real feedback so I am giving it..
The template you chose isn't very condusive to thoughts of a bakery.. it says photography site to me until you read the title. You switch between saying "I" and "we" in your narrative.. you need to pick one way and stick with it throughout your site so that it all flows.
On your What We Offer page starts off very unprofessionally with the phrase "Well as you can tell.." I would get rid of that. I would have this be your Flavors page.. list what you offer.. Are you not licensed and therefore you are leaving off pricing? If not then I'd add a pricing page.
Take out your About Us page all together.. it is completely useless from the customer stand point. It actually makes you seem unprofessional and that would be suited for a blog rather than a business website. It's a cute story.. but it has nothing to do with what you offer as a professional.
I'd also nix the Guestbook page too. That's something for a blog ot MySpace or something.
Like I said.. this is not mean as a bashing.. please please please don't take it that way.. I can offer some more specific help if you want/need.. I'm not too shabby when it comes to getting the point across in a concise manner.
Thanks for all the great criticisms!!! And don't worry I'm not offended at all....I asked for it
About the pricing, you're right, I don't charge enough. However, I've already "set" my prices and I'll only be living in the area a couple more months so I didn't want to go through the hassle of changing them, although I did up a little bit. I guess I'm looking at making cakes right now, as getting paid to practice, not necessarily making money. My hubby says I only charge enough to "support my habit" LOL
I will def. change to per serving price when I move, but for now I'm keeping what I have b/c my friends around here like the set up, if that makes sense.
Didn't realize about the picture in there twice, so I'll def. take that out, THANKS!
I never thought about the "About Me" section, but yea, makes much more sense to put baking stuff in there. Sadly, I don't have much info to put in there....but I'll try and tweak it a bit
I think the background is a little too busy.....now to see if I can change it, LOL. I've only used what they gave me so I'll have to play with it a little when the baby is down for a nap.
Kivia, I have no idea about my "jazzy" pics, lol.....do you mean the setup or the pics? I used Photostudio on the computer so sometimes it helps. Other than that, all I really have is black sheet and some scraps of satin that I try to make the pic look better.
Bonjovibabe.....no I don't make any money, but am working on fixing that LOL
Keyshia.....I want one of those aprons!!!!! HAHA
Thanks again for everyone's opinion, now to find the time to actually FIX the website would be a blessing....10 month old keeps me on my toes
Baycheeks 1 : I love the background, but it def. says "photography" before "cakes" if that makes sense. And from all the critiques I got, the About Me isn't great for a business site either. I def. have to change my as well. I do love how you have a calendar on it though!!! I might have to add one. Good luck with your site
jkalman: I LOVE LOVE LOVE how your cake on the front matches the background.....very classy & simple. And your setup for flavors, etc. is very easy to read.....I might have to copy that I just have to say your cakes are amazing.....sadly I could never afford you. You have a beautiful site!!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi!! I'm an Air Force wife too, we're here in Germany! I have never actually made any money off my cakes, usually I break even, LOL. Being overseas is so hard too, because the BX sure is lacking in cake decorating supplies!! I just wanted to say, what I've found to be really popular for promotion parties, etc. is the cupcake cakes,b ecause they are so easy to eat in an office. Also, people go nuts for cakes shaped like the stripes... Anyway, I love your website!! Cute baby - Julia
I'm glad some of my information has helped. There really is a whole thread about decorators talking about what 'not' to do on your cake website...when I found this is when I started changing MY site because I did like a lot of you did.
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-593774.html
also, to get my pictures like mine are you have to be in your album uploading pictures and then rearranging them...there is a pull down window that has many options for the way your album is viewed. Mine is on 'round glider' and I love it! I like to put descriptions for all of my cakes and my family and customers like that too. I think the description gives a little more credibility as well.
you guys are more than welcome to look at my site! link is below in my signature
Hi Julia, thanks......are u guys at Ramstien? I had someone today ask for a cake shaped like stripes. I personally HATE doing those. I'd rather just use the actual stripes, so much more classier in my opinion......but what do I know, I just make cakes, LOL. Well, if you think your BX is lacking try ours, oh wait, we don't have one!!!! We're at a GSU and our closest commissary/BX (which is the size of a shoppette almost) is Schinnen Army Post. Haven't done a cupcake cake yet but hope to soon....you'll have to give me some pointers on them And thanks for the comment about the baby.....I think he's pretty darn cute myself, not that I'm biased or anything
Actually, we're at Bitburg. To be honest, I've never done a cake shaped like stripes, but my neighbor does those all the time, so I guess they're pretty popular. I am trying to bid on a kopy Kake right now on ebay, so I can use the projector for the stripes, since they are symetrical and hard for me to wing... but for now, I just do chocolate transfers... So, how have you spread the word about your cakes?? I've sent a bunch of cakes to my husband's workplace, thinking they'd catch on, but he works with all men, and they aren't going to appreciate all the hard work that goes into them, lol!! So, currently I only get about 1-2 orders a month It's okay for me now though, I am pretty new at this, so I consider it practice, and also great to help me build up a portfolio. Also, I have a 2 yr old and 3 yr old, so I usually only get to do cakes at night and by then my creative juices are running a little dry... So, where do you order your supplies from?
Good luck with your cakes!
Everything looks great, just try to post bigger pictures, and maybe change the background because a lot of people on the web have the same one.
I just recently asked for feedback on my freewebs site and got some great feedback, but man jkalman, you should have critiqued mine as well. Would love to get some more tips.
jkalman, your new site is awesome.
I am a freewebs user. I opted to use a dark background. In my opinion dark backgrounds make pictures pop. I went for a less busy, streamlined look.
www.cakesbymay.com
Maywest, I see that you are in south florida, so am I. I like your site and I really love your work. I have been looking for local decorators to network with. I have turned down cutomers when I am booked and would love to refer those to you. I'll save your site and give you a call if I have to turn down someone, if that is O.K. with you.
Cynita
I love this thread I use freewebs also I am not computer savvy. And I mean my 17 year has to tell me what to do I just don't get it. Anyway my site is not done I am changing things I dont have my rate page back up yet. Jkalman tell me what you think and what I should add/change I love your honesty. Anyone else feel free to take a peek and give feedback thanks www.freewebs.com/sweetlittlethings
I am a freewebs user. I opted to use a dark background. In my opinion dark backgrounds make pictures pop. I went for a less busy, streamlined look.
www.cakesbymay.com
Hi May--
I am interested in knowing how you were able to get your domain name to come up without attaching "freewebs" to it?
Cynita, Thanks so much! I think it's a great idea. The same here about referrals, I'll have customers contact you when I am booked. Love your sculpted cakes! The lobster one is incredible!
I have a freewebs sight....my DH bought me the domain name tinassugarshack.com through godaddy.com and just made it so it automatically puts you over to my freewebs sight ONLY because I've been sooooo busy making cakes I haven't had a chance to design a whole NEW website LOL
jkalman.......I'd love your feeedback on my site too. This is the first website I've ever designed, since I'm not that computer savvy....I just wonder how it looks to someone who doesn't know me lol...all my friends and family are like...oh it's great it's great
thanks in advance if you have a chance to critique
You can get the name w/o freewebs for a fee. Freewebs should have that info on their homepage.
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