Building the Website: What Platform I Chose and Why

Starting a Native American Jewelry Business
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When you’re starting a new business, things don’t always happen in perfect order.

Right now, I need an EIN to open a bank account, but I can definitely start on the website while waiting for that to come through.

Now, I’ll be honest — I haven’t built a website in over 15 years. And these days, I don’t want to. It’s time-consuming, and copy is extremely important. I want it to look good and sound good, so I work with someone I trust — Matt Gerber Designs, who also built my CPA firm site: payrollbookstaxes.com. (Little shout out, Matt.)

Matt made things simple. He works with just one platform: WooCommerce, which is a plugin for WordPress. I’ve used Magento, Shopify, Zen Cart, and more in the past, but now I’m going to learn WooCommerce and lean on Matt’s experience.

That said — you don’t have to use WooCommerce.
I searched “best ecommerce platforms for retail jewelry businesses” and saw the usual suspects:

  • Shopify
  • BigCommerce
  • WooCommerce

Each one has pros and cons. My advice? Do a little research and find what fits your business.

What’s Important to Me in a Platform:

  • Integrations — I want the site to connect to:
    • Xero Accounting Software :white_check_mark:
    • Mailchimp :white_check_mark:
    • ShipStation :white_check_mark:
    • Stripe :white_check_mark:
    • My artwork (photo/media library) :white_check_mark:

WooCommerce checks all those boxes.

Smart Search and Cross-Referencing

This is a big one for me:

  • If I search “Morenci Turquoise”, I want it to return every item on the site with Morenci.
  • If I search “Derrick Gordon”, I want it to show me all his work.
  • If I search “Derrek Gordon” (misspelled), I still want results.

From any product page, I want to link to:

  • Other pieces by the same artist
  • Other items using the same turquoise type
  • Related blog content

Content Matters

I also want a blog, where I can write about Gallup, the Four Corners, and the connection to Native American art.

Before you build, do some planning.
Figure out your site map. Know how you want people to shop, search, and browse. Otherwise, you’ll get lost in the build.

If you’ve built your own site or worked with a designer, what platform did you use? What’s worked best for you?

a little teaser of the mock design

daisycowboy home page
daisycowboy home page1318×691 145 KB

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Very nice looking site. Very colorful. Where will you get the jewelry? Hire artists? Buy on auctions? Make some yourself? Just curious.

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Thank you. I will purchase directly from the artist. I don’t recommend this for someone who is just starting a business like this. It is just that I have worked with some of these artists for over 20 years and have a relationship with them. Also, I have a friend who was a collector and he had some pieces he was ready to get rid of. So, the site when it goes live will have a few pieces of older works, which I don’t think is something I will continue on the site. Sometimes being everything (new and old) can be confusing to the buyer and doesn’t create an identity. Don’t get me wrong, it definitely works for some companies, but I think it is better when I am going to a site and expecting to see a certain style.

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