Official Luthiers Forum!

I finally put up a website. Tell me if it works for you. Of interest to you guys might be my use of what I call "The Poorman's CNC" at the bottom of the in the shop page.

http://goatrockukulele.com

PS. A web developer I'm not.

_________________
http://goatrockukulele.com

It looks great! Very simple yet informative - the pictures do all the talking. Your ukes are amazing, very inspirational. I like that you try to recycle woods and use local materials. Great work.

You don't have to be a web developer. It's all about conveying the right information in a simple, uncluttered fashion. I've seen tons of 'flashy' websites that tells me very little about the actual product, in fact many of those sites just seem to annoy me.
Yours does the job. I would have chosen a more neutral background colour on the photo's page, something that would offer more of a contrast. Some of the pics seem to merge too easily with the background.

Looks great, as do some of the inlay pictures posted. I really like the background shot on the home page with tools scattered around the instrument on the bench, great idea.

Fred

_________________
Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Really nice website with some fantastic photography and workmanship. Well done

_________________
http://www.bobmatthewsguitars.co.uk

Michael,
It really is a beautiful website, full of great photos of inspiring work. The overall design is great, too. I say this as a career-long professional advertising and marketing consultant who came to my profession as a graphic designer. What your site is missing is a little information about pricing. Okay....you establish right up front that each instrument is one of a kind. But still, many people are going to be reluctant to inquire about pricing if you don't have some sample prices up there. I think you should also post the usual number of hours (relate that to calendar time) to build a custom commission. Remember to post some general guidelines, too: You required deposit, your terms of payment when finished or at various construction stages, etc. etc.

Now...I expect you're going to say something like "I want them to call me for the pricing conversation." That's okay if that's what you want, but I think you'll get more inquiries if you post some pricing info up front.

Alternatively, if you have an inventory of instruments currently for sale, simply add a link that says: "Current inventory" or whatever, and then post pictures and prices. And don't be shy about asking for big money. It appears to me your instruments are worth serious money. You should probably also add sound samples of each featured instrument. People love sound samples--even if they can't play as well as the musicians who recorded the samples.

Well....I would have billed any of my clients for this advice. It's free to you. The problem with free advice is that it's worth exactly what one pays for it. I won't be surprised if you don't take it to heart, but I sure hope you do.

Best regards,

Patrick

Nice job, Michael. Well done! I see only two relatively minor issues.

First, the wording of "Welcome to the Goat Rock Ukulele" seems odd to me. Your company name is Goat Rock Ukulele, right? If that is so, I would either drop "the" or add "website." Personally, I prefer the first option. What you have now is like pulling into your local fast food burger joint and seeing, "Welcome to the McDonalds" up on the golden arches.

Secondly, I tried two different browsers and both had problems displaying the text on your "about" page. It appears in different sizes and perhaps even different fonts--I can't quite tell. Also, you have a couple of typos in that section. You might want to check that over one more time.

All in all, an excellent effort and your ukes are super-sweet!

Good luck,

_________________
George :-)

looks fantastic Mike ... and stunning work - truly

_________________
imagination is more important than knowledge, knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world

Nice site. I did not have trouble with the about page in Firefox on XP.

Amazing ukes!


Mike

_________________
Mike Lindstrom

As a professional web developer myself I give you a big thumbs up for that site. Straight to the point no nonsense, well done.

Thank You so much for the positive responses and suggestions everyone. Really helpful and heartening.

_________________
http://goatrockukulele.com

Good job, it looks nice to me!

_________________
Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Michael,

I loved the website, but your work is out of sight. The designs, wood selection and inlay really knocked me out. Can you give any info' on how you did the website? What software did you use, etc.? I would like to do a website and don't know where to start.

Thanks for sharing!

Regards,

Max

_________________
Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

What can I say. A black cyclone! How sexy is that. Seriously. Site looks great as well as your work. If I was a uke player with a lot of money I would give it to you. Sadly though, the 1920 music link wouldn't work for me.

Super nice website, and super nice Ukes.

_________________
I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/