Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi all,

I`m new to the site and to the "small business" world.  I am hoping to start up my business in April.  I would like to sell products (e.g., clay and strips) made from edible ingredients that can be used to define a shape of a cake.  There are many more details on my website.

Once I have finished all of the paperwork that goes with starting up a food business, I intend to sell the products online via the website and to local stores.

My website is www.shapeacakeclay.com.  I designed it myself and have been working on it for the past month or two.  My weekend project is to incorporate frames into the site, so that the left-hand menu bar doesn`t move as you scroll down the page.

I`d appreciate any advice that you have, including any ways to improve my rankings on searches, any possible compatibility issues, and your general impression of the site/products.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Kate

First of all, I think it`s a fabulous idea! That said, I would strongly recommend making a distinction between the edible clay and the shaping clay. I really wouldn`t want to eat anything named "clay" so you should consider changing the name of the sweetened, frosting stuff.

If you mean Iframes, don`t. They inhibit search engine spiders from crawling your site; it would effectively kill your pages being followed and indexed. Also, your menu needs a link back to your main page. If you don`t want scrolling, or less of it, you can make your fonts and images smaller, or place less content on the pages and move some content to additional pages.

Place your css into an external file and import it.

Some pages have a DOCTYPE and opening html tags, some don`t. Your meta keywords are much too long. Add alt tags and maybe some descriptions to your images.

The dark reddish text on the goldish background is not really easy to read, and the main font, in my opinion, could be livened up. You have a creative unique product, so let your site reflect that. I think a better laid out site would be helpful.


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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

Isn`t "marzipan" sort of like edible clay?

Hoo-hah! I wrote the above first, reading the commentary and not visiting the site. I like to get a feel for how the site`s coming across first, then look at it myself in situations like this. So, then I went to the site!

What I`m seeing is that you`re "almost" explaining what it is you`re offering, but there`s confusion in the mix. That`s if I`m getting the idea myself.

From what I saw of the first three pictures, it appears to me as if you`re selling a type of "clay" that can be formed into a "mold" and used to shape ordinary cake batter into whatever shape someone would like. Is that correct?

If so, it`s an awesome idea, unique, inexpensive, and would be a whole lot of fun for kids and families! However, if I have the idea right, then there`s a combination copywriting and photography issue.

Am I getting the idea right?

Thanks for all of the replies and supportive comments!

RCubedJewelry - I will think about another name for at least the decorating clay (as it`s really the only one I`d eat in significant quantities).

What do you mean "Place your css into an external file and import it"?

What`s the consequence of long meta keywords?  I will add the alt tags and image descriptions.

I`ll think about the font color/layout and see if I can come up w/ something better.

Craig - there are 3 products:
1) Yes, you`re correct.  The clay forms a mold, cake batter is poured into the "mold" and the cake has that shape.
2) Strips are bent to form essentially "walls of a cake pan".  So the top of the cake is flat, but the strips define the perimeter of the cake.
3) Decorating clay has a consistency like playdough.  Use it like playdough - making decorative shapes, but then put it on top of your cake.

Hi Kate.. :-)
This is an AWEsome idea!!

The reason I say there are copywriting and photography issues is that what you currently have doesn`t at all do justice to the idea! In my opinion, you (like many entrepreneurs) have come up with a fantastic idea, but the *marketing* isn`t your forte.

I would strongly suggest that you take some amount of money--not a huge amount---and have an initial consultation with someone who specializes in marketing. You have the idea and concept on the current site, but it`s too much "blurred," for want of a better word.

I can envision a vivid color site, built along the lines of an infommercial (but not as tacky) that "zooms along" on a customer journey, shows all the excitement of the end results, and is filled with kids and smiles.

Did you see those infommercials for the "ball" cake? It`s a form for footballs and baseballs. They had the "pizazz" and energy, all for a fixed-mold that can be used only for those forms. Your invention (I assume it`s copyrighted?) expands the creative potential to anything!

I could point out each individual part of the content and so forth, but it`d be a shame to lose the momentum of your site by bogging down in details you can easily outsource. Totally cool invention!

The keywords from just your main page ....

"Shape-A-Cake,Shape A Cake,shapeacake,Shape-A-Cake Clay,Shape A Cake Clay,shapeacakeclay,Shape A Cake Clay Strips,Cake Strips,shape cake,cake,shape,
form,Shape A Cake Strips,Shape A Cake Clay Strips,Cake Strips,Shape-A-Cake Strips,
Shape-A-Cake Clay Strips,Cake-Strips,Shape-A-Cake Strips,Shape A Cake Decorating Clay,
Decorating Clay,Shape A Cake Decorations,Shape A Cake Decorating Clay,Shape-A-Cake Decorations,Shape-A-Cake Decorating Clay,edible clay,shape cake,custom cake, personalized cake,birthday cake,graduation cake,christmas cake,easter cake,valentine`s day cake,number cake,letter cake,cake decorations,decorated cake,decorate a cake,baker`s dough,cake pan,custom cake pan,cake mold,custom cake mold,eat clay,eat play-doh,eat playdough,edible play-doh,edible playdough,playdough,Play-Doh,kids,children,bake a cake,two dimensional cake,three dimensional cake,2-d cake,3-d cake,special cake,guitar cake,cake design idea, cake pan mold,character cake,lamb cake,animal cake pans,race car cake,butterfly cake pan,horse shaped cake,special cake,birthday cake pans, child birthday cake,fun cake design,flavored clay,flavored dough,cake mix,cake batter,bake clay,bake cake"

You need to narrow this down to maybe a dozen at most ..... the more you have, the less effective they become. Some search engines don`t worry about them much, but make them effective if they are in there.

By importing css, you place all of the css information into another file, name it "layout.css" or something with a .css extension, then link to it from your head section in your pages.


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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

• Bullet points- you have about 5 seconds or less to get your point across
• Bullet points- the paragraph text runs together
• Bullet points- It would improve the look of your site

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Greg H.

High Quality, low cost, real estate and automobile ads

But......what about bullet points?

Again - thanks for your reviews.

Craig - what would you estimate that the marketing investment that you describe would cost?

Webline - thanks.  I`ll narrow down the keywords.

Greggory - thanks.  I`ll look for opportunities to incorporate the bullet points.