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Some things that I feel are very important for Knifemaker websites....
1. The best quality photos possible, that are as realistic as possible. Potential buyers have only a photo on your site upon which to base their purchase decision. The photos MUST show off your work as vividly and as realistically as possible. Nothing will tick off a buyer more than seeing a photo of a knife on a website, purchasing it, and the knife not looking like what they saw. (limit the use of software enhancement on photos). Likewise, if the photos are poor quality, most people just go somewhere else.
2. Visitors to your website want to see YOU. By that I mean they want to get a feel for what kind of person you are. In custom knives, the customer is not just buying a knife...they are also buying a little piece of the maker, and that personal connection means a great deal. With that in mind, I often encourage makers to build and maintain their own websites. Yes, its time consuming, and there is a learning curve attached to it, but no website service knows how you wish to be represented better than you do. When I first wanted a website, I went to several outfits offering website building services. I don't know what the deal is, but they all seem to be "Sell, Sell, Sell....and hardcore at it. Thats not me, and certainly not how I wanted to be viewed. If your knives are good, they will almost sell themselves, with only a gently touch needed from you. Most of the services that I investigated are a nightmare when it comes to making any changes on your website.... "send us a disc, with what you want changed, and we'll have it posted within 3-5 days." In my experience, they get the changes wrong as much as they get them right.
3. Easy navigation. If folks can't find what they're looking for in short order, they will look elsewhere.
4. Freshen your website as often as it needs. Make any changes known on your homepage, where its readily viewable when your page pops up. In today's world, nobody will take the time to browse through an entire site (even if its only 3-4 pages) to see if any changes have taken place, so make it as easy and simple as possible for them.
5. Design something that uniquely speaks of you. For example, my website is a black background, with red highlights, which was very unique at the time I built it. Since that time I have had a number of other makers contact me, and ask if they could use the type of design that I chose. A few are now using it, but prior to that, many customers commented to me that they had forgotten what the name of my site was, but they found it again because they remembered the unique color scheme.
6. Finally: Professional.... each of us develops an "Internet Personality/Perception" just as we do in real life. Be professional in every aspect of your internet dealings. Whether that be your website, or on a forum such as this. That doesn't mean putting up a false front, but being respectful, sincere, and honest. We all make mistakes at times, so when you do, admit the mistake, apologize as required, and continue on course. Just as in person, your not going to like everyone you run into, and everyone is not going to like you, but being able to maintain a level of professionalism will be noticed by all.
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