Ah you are sooo helpful you guys! This is priceless!!

To Jason: Thanks for the SEO answer, I won't worry about that.

So if my menu moves to the top of the page when you change your browsers width,............does that mean I'm good as things are now? Or does everyone still think I need to move the menu location? (I like it to the side because it keeps my title clean. If I put the menu on top it makes you have to scroll down even more to view my pages...that's SS's program.)

"Also make the images on the pages unclick able" I can't do that, their software won't let me.

I can't change some fonts with-out negatively effecting others. So I can't limit the number of fonts on my front page any better then I did when I changed my menu font. Hopefully it looks better?

"I love the simplicity of the site, the fonts etc" I hope that comes across as my design style and not that I lack artistic skills?

"Also there is a lot of scrolling, and the images take up a lot of space, and the menu seems a bit confused, like it could flow better." I can't adjust the amount of scrolling with-out creating more pages and doing that makes my menu look too busy. Square Space doesn't allow sub-categories in their menu drop downs. 

"Hi Stitches!  I LOVE the cover page photo - it looks like it is the cover photo of a fabulous young hipster "Perfect Birthday Celebration"!  It looks like it was taken by a professional, and sells the whole celebration idea, and how I need that cake if my party is going to be that great."  Thanks, that is what I was going for, using it! I also corrected my phone number on the footer, thanks for drawing my attention to that!

To Jenje: THANK-YOU so much for the grammar and phrasing corrections!!!!!!!!!!! I will totally use your suggestions!
 

ALove your cakes! I agree with the scrolling a lot comment. Also, you may want to either put different styles of cakes on different pages, or make the separation between styles more obvious. As I was scrolling I was just looking at all the beautiful cakes and didn't notice the headers. It went sort of like this "beautiful, beautiful, ooh, beautiful, beau- wait, what is that? Is that a finger? And entrails? What the heck? It took me a minute to see the holiday header and the other scary cakes. Totally my style when prepared for it, but was a bit of a shock and I'm a horror movie fan. I imagine others might be put off by that.

I have circled a few of your cakes that really stand out in my opinion, mostly because of the way the photograph was taken to be honest as your cakes are all wonderful! If you PM me your email I'll send you on the pic; if I upload it in the thread it'll pop up on the new cakes ribbon on the home page and my PM won't let me attach anything...

I really like the way you set out the 'simple' cakes section: one big lovely pic with a few variants beside it though I would change 'simple' to something like 'modest'

The very worst part of creating your business website for me, my "about me" page.............god help me, I really stink at this! Sooooooooo to start, I've been criticized to death over my poor writing skills..........and even laughed at by my hubby over my poor content, so please be kind. You all are the first to review this version.

 I'm seeking both critiques' on content and writing skills by all you experts out there, please? Keep in mind that this was REALLY hard for me to do. I've tried to establish myself as an expert, as many articles I've read tell you to do. I hope I did so with-out totally making a fool of myself....

https://wendy-debord.squarespace.com/about-wendy/    (p.s. I don't have any better photographs of myself)

tia

AIt's a good start. If you don't have access to a professional copy editor or proofreader I find it's helpful to have someone read the page to you aloud while you take notes on a printed copy of the page. It's important to have the reader speak slowly and enunciate, with special emphasis on punctuation (e.g. pausing for every comma). This should help you with grammar and flow.

Content-wise: personally I prefer writing an "about me" page in the first person, but that's subjective. Quotes around a word can sometimes be interpreted as an indication of irony, e.g. "real" cake not actually being real. You also pose the question "is there fake cake" but this question is never addressed. What is fake cake, and how is it different from your real cake? Do you really want to provide almost unlimited flavor choices?

Don't abbreviate "C.C." Something like this might work better (note the "rule of three"): "In 1990 Wendy became a pastry chef and developed unique Xs, Ys, and Zs for the area's finest country clubs, including Bull Valley, Barrington Hills, and Royal Fox."

Also, saying you will work with a customer "from design to taste" doesn't seem comprehensive enough, especially if you offer tastings before the final product is created. "From design to delivery" might be a better choice, with a bonus of added alliterative appeal.

BTW congrats on owning your business for over 800 years. ;)

Thank-you for your suggestions Jason. I did make the corrections you saw. It still needs some tweaking.......... I'm definitely open to any ideas anyone has.

I agree with Jason, if it's About Wendy, then it should be in the first person.  Also, a couple of typos - should be reflects, not reflexs, and unless the bakery was owned by multiple families, should be family's (shows ownership) instead of families (plural).  As far as the picture, it's not a bad picture, but consider having a friend take one with you in a chef's coat, or with a cake.  It only takes a minute and I think your professional background and skill level warrants a more professional picture rather than just a pretty one probably taken at a social gathering.  Just my 2 cents.  

Still a big fan of your cakes, and I like how you have separated the cake sections now.  Also, I know some were not thrilled with the idea of a "modest" cake section, but I think it will appeal to many brides wanting to stick to a budget.  They can pick a beautiful cake and make it their own with the little details.  Very nice!

Thank-you FrostedMoon, I did take your advise and made corrections. Hopefully, I changed my writing correctly into first person?

I agree with your comments on my photograph (I was hoping to squeeze by with just a friendly shot), but hubby was looking over my shoulder and made fun of it. I'm going to leave that one there until I can get a better shot, than replace it.

I did decide to keep my 'modest' line wording. It's accurate and it's a reflection of who I am and what I'll do for my clients. My target clients are not pretentious people.

I hope you don't mind me putting this in here.  I've made changes in blue.  After reading this a few more times, I'm still not sure the average person is going to understand what a "genuine real item" is in regards to a cake.  Are you talking about fresh ingredients? What specifically makes your cakes the best product possible? Cakes made from basic real ingredients like flour, butter, sugar, etc?  I kid you not that my husband has no clue what it means to make a cake from scratch vs a box mix, and he's watched me make cakes for years!  You have to remember that not everyone is aware of this type of difference!  You may want to throw something in there like "my products are made from quality ingredients such as fresh eggs, flour, and sugar, not hard to pronounce chemicals." If that is what you are going for, of course.

"Some may wonder why I chose the name Real Cake.  Is there such a thing as fake cake? My business name reflects my values and commitment to making the best products possible.  My products are the genuine real items you so rarely receive anymore. Real Cake provides almost unlimited flavor choices because I have the expertise to do so.

I have been a Professional Chef since 1980. I am a second generation Chef who began cooking and baking at my family's bakery and catering company ‘The Pastry Cart’ in Long Grove, IL. In addition to being a Chef, I am also an award winning artist who's exhibited at many Chicago area fine art juried exhibitions and shows.

 In 1990 I began specializing as a Pastry Chef. As such, I've worked as the Pastry Chef at some of Chicago Lands finest Country Clubs; Bull Valley, Barrington Hills, Crystal Lake, Royal Fox & Shoreacres Golf Club. I've worked hard honing my craft and attending many professional level pastry courses to perfect my recipes and skills.

 In 2012 I began Real Cake, Inc., now my work is available to everyone. I will work closely with you to create an unforgettable cake for any of your special events!"

Of course I will in no way be offended if you choose to not make these changes, just my opinion!

Some may wonder why I choose
chose

the name Real Cake,  is there fake cake?
the name Real Cake, is there fake cake? (delete extra space)

Our products are the genuine real items, you so rarely receive anymore.
Our products are the genuine real items you so rarely receive anymore.

Real Cake, provides almost unlimited flavor choices because we have the expertise to do so.
Real Cake provides almost unlimited flavor choices, because we have the expertise to do so.

I am a second generation Chef whom began
I am a second-generation chef who began

In addition to being a Chef, I also am a award winning artist who’s exhibited at many Chicago area fine art juried exhibitions and shows.
In addition to being a chef, I also am an award-winning artist who’s exhibited at many Chicago area fine-art-juried exhibitions and shows.

 In 1990 I began specializing as a Pastry Chef. As such, I've worked as the Pastry Chef at some of Chicago Lands finest Country Clubs; Bull Valley, Barrington Hills, Crystal Lake, Royal Fox & Shoreacres Golf Club.
 (delete extra space)In 1990, I began specializing as a pastry chef. As such, I've worked as the pastry chef at some of Chicagoland’s finest country clubs; Bull Valley, Barrington Hills, Crystal Lake, Royal Fox, & Shore Acres Golf Club.

I've worked hard honing my craft and attending many professional level pastry courses
I've worked hard honing my craft and attending many professional-level pastry courses

 In 2012 I began Real Cake, Inc., now my work is available to everyone.
 (delete extra space)In 2012, I began Real Cake, Inc., now my work is available to everyone.
 

a award-winning artist

an

In 1990 I began

In 1990,

& Shoreacres

and Shore Acres

In 2012 I began

In 2012,
 

Thanks, I made those improvements too! Shoreacres really is one word.

I'm wondering if I should remove the sentence ..........."Our products are the genuine real items you so rarely receive anymore."? That line and talking about real verses fake is sort of like opening up a topic and not explaining it completely. Yet, my customers come to me because they know my product quality. I couldn't quite figure out how to talk about the differences with-out saying something negative about others. Should I just take it out, or is it o.k. leaving it there?

AConsidering it's the name of your business and one of your competitive advantages I think it's pretty important to include it in your about page. Providing a few examples of what you consider real ingredients and what you consider "fake" ingredients should drive the point home, e.g. all-natural butter made from milk vs. artificial shortening made from oil that has been chemically transformed into a solid state through a hydrogenation process.

And don't forget the rule of three. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_three_%28writing%29

I would like to give you some suggestions about your domain name and using a free email account. You have a domain name, use that. Get ride of the gmail links on your page. Create yourself an email account under your domain name. Looks much more professional. That is one rule that I have when dealing with people online. If they do not take enough pride in their website and domain, then the service, product they are selling, is not of high quality. You can forward email from your gmail account into your domain account for a while, and for certain a email certain email address. So if you use the same account as a personal account, which you should never do, it will forward to your domain account. Or you could also use a forward and have it auto reply with a nice message stating that your email address has changed, please use this one in the future.

Create a form on the site, do not tell the user to only use a certain application. You cannot control that. Set up a form to allow the user to fill it out accordingly, and save all the data into a database. Once there, you can setup notification that can email you that someone just left a message, or an order, depending on the form. I would use more than one form. One for ordering, and one for questions.

Code your menu so that the menu keeps the selected item on focus. Once I selected a link from the menu, the menu collapsed, and I had to find my way back into the menu.

I am like everyone else, way too many pictures on a single page. Create a picture gallery that is organized by category or type of cake.

This path is way too large. use only relative paths, do not force the webserver to go all the way out to the DNS server, only to have the DNS server perform a reverse name lookup that returns exactly where it began. A server still has to process all that string. The smaller that you make everything in your code, the faster, more efficient it will be. And the less problems it will cause when troubleshooting an issue.

http://static.squarespace.com/static/519bd33ee4b090350a29ae2e/51a2af62e4b03e3c0123b25a/51a2afbbe4b018b736e23639/1369616327592/w20130510_34.jpg

So instead of that long path, simply use a relative path like this:

w20130510_34.jpg or i/w20130510_34.jpg

Keep all your images of the confections, in a separate directory away from the site images. I just rendered a few of your images, and I was able to keep the same physical size, but decreased the file size of the ones I tested by more than 50Kb for each graphic. All that adds up really quick, and will affect your page load time. I personally will not stay on a site for more than a few seconds to wait for the page to load. I changed the Open Lilly graphic from 142 Kb down to only 13 Kb, and kept the same dimensions. If each of the graphics are 140Kb and you have 12 on that page alone, that is equal to 1.68Mb and 13Kb each for 12 graphics is only 155Kb a mere one tenth the total size that the server and the network has to move. Not a real big deal if you are on a nice GigaBite network, but most people at home have only a 1.5Mb network, and your phone is even less than that.

This is the message that I am presented once I fill out your mailing list form:

If you'd like to be added to our mailing list please fill out the form below. If you'd like to receive special offers please include your home address in the message box. (We never share or sell your information!)

It should not state that, I have already filled out the form, and the form fields are no longer there. I was also able to submit data in the form that the form should not allow. I added numerical values to a first and last name. Never, ever seen a persons name that is numeric values. I was able to use an email address that is not of a valid domain name type, and I was able to submit a SQL Injection command. If you are storing this in a database, I would be able to easily destroy your database and all your data.

This is the link on your site, not sure what it really is because the address is not properly formatted as either a website address or an email address.

We all have things in life that we do extremely well, you create beautiful works of art, and that is shown in your graphics. Keep doing that, because you are very good.

I hope this helps you.

Andrew

Andrew..........wow!!! Just wow!

That's a lot of info. for me to sort through and understand. I do GREATLY appreciate it and I will go through each of your points and try to correct them on my site........that's going to take me a while..........

AI agree with everything Andrew said above, but I'm not sure if SquareSpace has the flexibility to make the necessary changes.

Just to clarify how serious a SQL injection attack is: it can potentially be used to modify the content of your web site without your knowledge, including adding porn, redirecting to malicious sites, installing malware on your customers' computers, etc.

Andrew, when I click on your link it goes to a business in Charlotte, NC but your location on this site says CA, did you just move?

Hi Wendy

We have two locations, and soon to be another one in Charleston SC, we hope. We love that city.

I am in the process of changing our domain name as well. Our original domain name was SanDiego-AllOccasionCakes.com But now, since we have another location, that domain name was not working. And I was not about to try and admin two or three different domains with the exact same content. So, by changing the domain name, I can now take advantage of sub-domains such as Charlotte.AllOccasionCakesBakery.com and Carlsbad.AllOccasionCakesBakery.com etc... all pointing back to a single website.

We have homes in two locations for the time being. We had to go to Charlotte for family issues with both sets of parents. Just that time in one's life when things like that can happen. We do travel back and forth at times. But with cameras and mics in both locations, I can see everything from home if needed. That and we have all really Fabulous managers. We have never had any issues with anyone. I perform extensive background checks on everyone we hire. I have a top secret clearance with the government, and I go almost that in depth with employee background checks. We have policies and training in place to help each person perform in a highly professional manner always.

Andrew
 

Ha.........oh the stories I could tell............to keep things polite and simple; this is a very elite club, far more private than your average private club. They do silly things to mess with "outsiders". For example, they do rent out their course occasionally (to only the right people) for golf outings BUT out on the golf course they refuse to put signs up declaring which is the men's room verse the women's, intentionally. If you don't know all the secret in's and out's...........your definitely 'out'....

AOh Stitched, I know exactly what you mean! In high school and college I waited tables and worked banquets at a couple of golf clubs. The things I saw and how people were treated still turn my stomach! Now as an adult I live in an area where many golf and belong to country clubs. I still have a chip on my shoulder against the golf club world and am thankful my husband has no interest in membership or the game!

AIt looks like your domain is hosted at bluehost, if so you can create email addresses for your domain here: https://my.bluehost.com/cgi/help/417#new

You can either set up the email addresses to forward to another address, or you can configure your mail client to check email on bluehost's servers. Gmail can also be set up to check an external email address and automatically apply a label, this is what I did with our business email.

Jason...........I'm almost in tears...........I was getting so lost on how to do this......thanks for you last post maybe I can follow that and get this done, hugs!!

ANo problem! If that doesn't work (for example if bluehost is only providing the domain and no email services, I'm not sure who you've paid to do what) you could set up your email through GoDaddy, but instead I would recommend transferring the domain to your current web host to avoid working with too many different companies, email is usually included free with a web hosting package. If your current web host is Squarespace you should be able to cancel your GoDaddy account once you transfer the domain.

Since your domain is locked (as it should be to prevent unauthorized transfers) you would need to get authorization from the current domain registrar (should be bluehost) before you can transfer it.