Website Opinions

Business By clb307 Updated 14 Nov 2006 , 6:20am by susiecho

clb307 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
clb307 Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 3:35pm
post #1 of 16

Hi all

I'm starting to put together a website. I'm not knowlegable on web design and the program that the hosting service i'm using is really annoying. My husband is a programer and said that he could write me something but he's got enought to worry about at work without him coming home and doing more programing!

So please give me any feedback that you may have. Good or Bad. I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks!

www.courtneyscakes.com

15 replies
FunCakesVT Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FunCakesVT Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 3:42pm
post #2 of 16

Cute so far.

wendysue Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
wendysue Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 3:47pm
post #3 of 16

Love the colors on your site! Here are a couple suggestions, since you asked. icon_wink.gif I'd be sure and have a couple of your cakes on the home page and also make navigation easier for potential customers. Maybe you need a sidebar with links to your gallery, testimonials, pricing, etc. rather than having the links at the bottom of the home page... harder to find. I like the layouts that freewebs offers. If you want to check my cake site out, the link is below (click on the freewebs site, not the blog). I like this layout better because I feel like it's easy to find what you're looking for. Sometimes the site's a little slow though.

Good luck with everything! I wish you much success! thumbs_up.gif

rezzygirl Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
rezzygirl Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 4:04pm
post #4 of 16

Hi, I like the general layout and the colors. I agree with wendysue that you may want to put a pic of your cakes on your homepage or maybe a pic of you decorating one. Also are you a licensed cake decorator? If not, maybe you'd want to remove the statement about operating out of your home. If you are, I would state that you are licensed. Also, you may want to put some text on your gallery page. Overall, good looking site.

pinkopossum Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
pinkopossum Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 4:08pm
post #5 of 16

nice! I like the setup thumbs_up.gif

clb307 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
clb307 Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 4:10pm
post #6 of 16

There is a side bar to navigate. It's on the right side though instead of the left. Perhaps I should make the buttons larger to make it more obvious.

rezzycakes - why do you suggest me taking the statment of me working from home out?


Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it icon_smile.gif

wendysue Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
wendysue Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 4:20pm
post #7 of 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by clb307

There is a side bar to navigate. It's on the right side though instead of the left. Perhaps I should make the buttons larger to make it more obvious.




Oops! I see it now. icon_lol.gif Sorry I missed it. Should have made my window larger.

surfergina Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
surfergina Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 4:35pm
post #8 of 16

Hi, I checked out your website. Good job! I have one advice for you - it would be good idea to sort your pictures into a specific catgeory (Baby, Wedding, Birthday, etc), so the person doesn't have to look for it.

I think rezzycake is trying to tell you to protect yourself from getting trouble. If you're operating without home bakery license, you could get fined for that. Sometime Dept of Health or Dept of Argiculture do monitor bakers' website to see if they're licensed or not.

ge978 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ge978 Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 4:43pm
post #9 of 16

I'm not really good at giving advice on websites, but I found a few typos. Under Specialty Frostings....instead of scratched...it should be scratch & there should be a c in recently not an s. Sorry, I couldn't be more help...I just thought you might want to know . thumbs_up.gif

clb307 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
clb307 Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 5:05pm
post #10 of 16

I guess I need to look into licensing. In Indiana I know you don't have to register an at-home type of business. You only need to register it if it's a partnership, an llc, ect. So in my mind I said "Great! Then I don't have to do anything!"

Do you all know how I would find out about lisence stuff?

wendysue Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
wendysue Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 5:13pm
post #11 of 16

There's a link under "New Articles" on the Cake Central homepage that you might want to start with...

Wanting to start a Cake Decorating Business, but where do I begin?
- Apr 06 2006
Here's the link for Indiana...

https://secure.in.gov/sos/bus_service/online_corps/name_search.aspx

Hope that helps. I don't live in Indiana, but I know in Kansas you have to be licensed to operate a bakery from home. It's more about consumer safety than anything. icon_wink.gif

The link above seems to be mostly for chosing a business name... sorry just realized this!

KHalstead Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
JoAnnB Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
JoAnnB Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 7:09pm
post #13 of 16

Bad new, it looks like Indiana requires a commercial kitchen. You don't need a business license, but the food police won't allow home baked items to be sold to the public. Many decorators do, but you won't be able to use a website to advertise until you are legal.


http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-7398-indiana.html

amylynn8 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
amylynn8 Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 7:25pm
post #14 of 16

Your website looks wonderful... but I have a few suggestions.
1. I would move the links to cakes , prices, flavors, etc. to the left side-- that is where the links on most sites are and if you put it on the left side people typically see it right away and go directly into thier needed links.
2. I would also make the links stand out more by maybe just making the font bigger or in bold.
3. I agree with some others with maybe putting pic's of you decorating or your cakes on the homepage instead of clipart. And I would also put your pictures into categories.

other than that your site is awesome!! thumbs_up.gif

amylynn

wendysue Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
wendysue Posted 6 Jun 2006 , 7:48pm
post #15 of 16

About the legalities of things... if you want a site while you work out the kinks in getting legal, try and just showcase your talents as a hobby. That's what I do. icon_wink.gif My sites don't list prices, flavors, or anything that could land me in trouble. I mostly make cakes for family and friends anyway, but did what I could to keep from looking like I was operating as a business. Occasionally a friend of a friend will want to see my cakes and I offer them my website. I make a couple cakes a year this way, but like I said my best customers are people like my own mom ordering cakes for her church!

One day, when I'm able to run a real business, I'll update my sites and show it all. Until that day, I'm basically just building a portfolio. Like I said though, it's a good way to "showcase your talents" if you happen to have someone interested. icon_wink.gif

susiecho Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
susiecho Posted 14 Nov 2006 , 6:20am
post #16 of 16

i agree with the previous posts concerning the navigation. from a web design standpoint, navigation is most easily accesssible from either the top or the far left. Also, your site is a bit wide...as a general rule of thumb, the width of your site should be about 780 pixels. That way all the most important info is right up front, and the user doesn't have to scroll too much. Additionally, on my computer, I couldn't view any of the images. Otherwise, I love the color choicessuper fun!

Hope this helps, and good luck to you!

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%