Last night, Gabriel and I partied with web design guru Miah Petersen of Studio Tomi at his house in central Austin. Miah has designed many websites, and he was willing to advise us as we continue toward building the new Storyville website.
Our biggest challenge right now is to make sure that the new website is 1) tied to our in-shop inventory system (Quickbooks Point-of-Sale), 2) is search engine optimization-friendly and that 3) our to-be-determined web designer can build on top of whatever Quickbooks and SEO friendly platform we go with.
Right now we're talking to Quickbooks about online inventory management and in-shop integration. We're also talking to Joe McFerrin of Interior Web Design about a long-term SEO strategy. We're also talking to several individuals about designing the new site.
Special thanks to Miah for being willing to talk shop over sangria and cucumber salad. We're trying to put together the puzzle that is e-commerce and we're learning a little more every day.
Here's what we've figured out so far:
Our current website will definitely have to be retired. We're not exactly sure when that will be, but probably in 3 - 6 months. Either we need to roll out the new site in early Fall or wait until January 2009. It wouldn't be a good idea to flip the switch during the holiday shopping season, when we see our best online sales.
We're not going to rush the new website; we're going to make sure that it's done right. Storyville2.com is definitely going to be worth the wait.
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