| Website
Redesign
The first thing I did when I started there is to give
the entire website (some 1000 pages) a redesign. I tried
to incorporate the stores chosen color scheme and make
the pages all fall with in the same appearance. I also
created a new logo design to be used for the website
as well as with all of their letterheads and advertising
in one incarnation or another.
What
was being used for this function was a photograph of
their store sign.
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Another
reason for the redesign of the website was
to ready the site to be optimized for better
visibility in the search engines. After all
if the site can't be found in the search engines
it really cuts down on the reason for a site
in the first place. |
Search
Engine Optimization
The next thing I did after being hired to work for Bargain
John's Antiques is to increase the daily visitors to
the website. This was accomplished through a combination
of three things.
| 1. |
Cleaning
up of the pages themselves |
| 2. |
Optimizing the pages to better express what they
are about. |
| 3. |
Starting a link exchange strategy. |
Within
a couple months I was able to see my efforts come to
fruition as is shown in the graph I have shown below
 |
| Red
dot indicates approximate date of hire. |
| The
first and last months shown on this graph do not
represent a full months data, resulting in lower
requests. |
Generation
of ideas to monetize the website.
| monetize\Mon"e*tize\,
v. t. To convert into money; to adopt as current
money; as, to monetize gold. |
No site can make a sale on every visitor. People end
up on the page by mistake, the asking price is to high
for them, or they were only using the site as a informational
tool, whatever the reason, people do leave the site
without making a purchase. This is something that cannot
be changed. The wise web developer is the one that knows
this and will use it to create income as well. By using
tasteful, uncompetitive and relevant ads that the surfer
can use to leave, the site can generate an income
even if it is not generating sales.
Improvements
in operation methods
(website, email handling, inventory)
Some of the changes I made while working for them
was to cut down the time or resources needed to do
some tasks. These changes fall pretty much into two
categories. Changes made in the way resources were
handled for the website and the way that outside business
issues were handled.
One
of the changes I implemented was to change the way
the pictures for the website were handled. They were
taking pictures of their inventory with a sense of
urgency whether or not appropriate lighting was available
thus ending up rephotographing at a later time. Also
after the pictures were taken they were saved into
one area on the computer, edited and saved again into
another area effectively doubling the amount
of time needed for each picture to be added. I changed
this by managing the time at which new inventory was
unloaded to a time when good natural light was available
ensuring that the best possible pictures were taken
initially and saving the best pictures directly into
the place they needed to be.
(as
a side benefit, this procedure also cut down on the
space taken up on the hard drive by duplicate files)
Another
of the improvements I made was to change the way the
logo appeared on the website pages. The way it was
being done was that there were distinct pictures
placed on each page. These pictures were of the same
appearance but they were named differently.
This would cause problems if one wanted to make a
broad sweeping change, as each picture would have
to be changed individually. I changed this by making
each page reference the same picture. Thus if they
wanted to change the picture (i.e. add a "big sale"
blurb) it would only have to be done once, saved
once, and each page would then show the new picture.
Another
of the changes I made to the daily business operations
was to change the way emails were handled. The way
things were being done was when an email was received
that should be directed to another of the crew it
was printed out and handed off to the person
to reply to. I changed this by having separate email
accounts set up and used as an interoffice messaging
system. This not only cut down on the amount of paper
wasted but also helped the sender of the original
email since by forwarding the email to the intended
recipient the original message was included.
Creation of letterhead and envelope
While
at Bargain John's I also created a envelope and letterhead
set that
fell within the same appearance of the site.
Creation of ebay listing design
Bargain
John's also sells some of their inventory at Ebay.com
(an online auction house) The appearance of their
listings was bland and didn't present the appearance
of a brick and mortar upscale antiques store that
had been in business for nearly forty years. I created
a customized listing template that they are able to
continue to use.
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