Share your website

[mr_skittle]

I've recently made the commitment to start my own business as a woodworker. While I know there is an endless wealth of information on this forum about going independent, I'll solicit that in a different thread. For now, I'm working on a website and need some inspiration and ideas. I'm doing it myself with Squarespace and have a decent start so far. I mostly have it filled with placeholder images at the moment but I do have a professional photographer lined up to take pictures of some pieces as well as around the shop. 

I'm asking folks to share their own websites, or websites of other furniture makers that you really like. And websites you think are terrible for that matter. Sometimes knowing what not to do is equally as important as knowing what to do. Any tips or ideas are greatly appreciated. The one caveat is that I've already paid for a year on Squarespace so I"m locked into that format. Thanks so much for sharing!

[badwhiskey]

I've recently made the commitment to start my own business as a woodworker. While I know there is an endless wealth of information on this forum about going independent, I'll solicit that in a different thread. For now, I'm working on a website and need some inspiration and ideas. I'm doing it myself with Squarespace and have a decent start so far. I mostly have it filled with placeholder images at the moment but I do have a professional photographer lined up to take pictures of some pieces as well as around the shop. 

I'm asking folks to share their own websites, or websites of other furniture makers that you really like. And websites you think are terrible for that matter. Sometimes knowing what not to do is equally as important as knowing what to do. Any tips or ideas are greatly appreciated. The one caveat is that I've already paid for a year on Squarespace so I"m locked into that format. Thanks so much for sharing!

For what its worth, here's mine:  https://www.truenorthwoodworks.com/  I get very little out of it.  As much as it pains me to say, Facebook or Instagram are probably better options.  You'll get more engagement from either of those.

[packerguy®]

Not sure how to help but ill give my experience.

When I started out I had a very elaborate site. It was maybe 40-50 pages.

Now I have all but quit doing one off retail urns, and basically only do wholesale and sell them by the case (unless its a previous customer that KNOWS what they want, or a friend or family) Also, unless you plan to reorder and have a strong plan for selling them, sorry I'm not your guy (I've turned down a number of places that cant get their stuff from China and wanted "something" to offer their customers. I politely declined while I thought well maybe you shouldn't depend on the cheapest thing you can find from half a world away. But really, its more about building long term relationships, and not just one off sales. 

Now my site is one page. It shows basic info. If someone is serious, they reach out and we have a dialogue.  My sales are up almost 40% for this year so far. Helps weed out the serious from the waste of time folks. 

Starting out, maybe its not the best plan by any stretch, but its where I am at. The most important thing IMHO is knowing who you are targeting and craft the page for that. What works for some wont work for others.

https://nelsonwoodworks.net/

[mr_skittle]

Thanks for the input so far. I checked out https://www.truenorthwoodworks.com/. I'm not looking for much more in the way of content than you have. It's really just a homepage, about me, and a portfolio. I'm working on mine to be a lot more sleek and modern though. I totally hear your suggestions about social media. I'm plenty familiar with FB but Instagram will be interesting. There will be a learning curve but I recognize the necessity of it.

I am hoping to sell a couple of things off the website but I'm not sure yet how that will go. Eventually, I would like to build custom furniture and cabinets but for now, I figure I'll have to sell some smaller stuff that I can batch out. The main products I hope to sell are beer carriers that hold either growlers or crowlers, as we have something like a dozen local breweries and cideries these days. This is a really great product to sell straight to the breweries but I'm worried that they'll take off and I won't be able to keep
up.

[zaret]

Thanks for the input so far. I checked out https://www.truenorthwoodworks.com/. I'm not looking for much more in the way of content than you have. It's really just a homepage, about me, and a portfolio. I'm working on mine to be a lot more sleek and modern though. I totally hear your suggestions about social media. I'm plenty familiar with FB but Instagram will be interesting. There will be a learning curve but I recognize the necessity of it.

I am hoping to sell a couple of things off the website but I'm not sure yet how that will go. Eventually, I would like to build custom furniture and cabinets but for now, I figure I'll have to sell some smaller stuff that I can batch out. The main products I hope to sell are beer carriers that hold either growlers or crowlers, as we have something like a dozen local breweries and cideries these days. This is a really great product to sell straight to the breweries but I'm worried that they'll take off and I won't be able to catch up.

my website is very simple - http://www.curlandburl.com - and i have it there simply to drive people to call me.  all of my work is word-of-mouth, and sometimes i feel people just hit the website to ensure i have the basic competence to do their job.  then the phone rings.  works for me.

-- dz

[EightFingers]

I tried a website for about seven years, sold nothing from it. Only way it seems for people to buy woodturnings is if they can actually touch them.
I sell only through galleries now.

[6270_Productions]

Does it have to be a woodworking website?  
 

http://www.ariseatlantic.org/

[Tony Z]

Here is my website, for the company I own: www.metaltech-pm.com