Not your average coffee website

[MenAndCoffee]

www.menandcoffee.com

This is my own website, if self-promotion is not allowed here, please just let me know!

Either way. My brand isn't solely about coffee, it's about Men and Coffee, TOGETHER (what more do you need?)

I have built quiet a large community on social media and have some very loyal fans. I figured I'd let you guys know about it.

You can check us out on instagram as well at: instagram.com/menandcoffee

Please enjoy! Thanks!

 

[caprisun]

Hi MenAndCoffee,

I really like the idea of your site and the pictures on it are great It is also nice that your shop is in the background and not immediately pushed upon the visitor when entering the site, as most other online shops do.

Nonetheless I would still consider adding some more content. Especially an "About Us" section with some more information on your shop would be useful in my opinion.

May I ask you what program or content management system you used to create the site? I'm guessing WordPress right? The reason I ask is that I am also creating a small business site, so I'm thinking if it would be better to get it hosted on WordPress or use a specialized eShop builder like this one here. My web dev knowledge is only very basic, mostly limited to some HTML and some CSS, so I'm looking for a fast and simple solution to build the webshop. I would like to keep the design and navigation as simple as possible, just like on your site.

So if you have any advice on a good website builder or webdesign software, please let me know I have what I think is a good idea, but I'm still quite confused on how to translate all that into a website and ideally a functioning online business.

Best regards,
Lucia

 

[MenAndCoffee]

Hi MenAndCoffee,

I really like the idea of your site and the pictures on it are great It is also nice that your shop is in the background and not immediately pushed upon the visitor when entering the site, as most other online shops do.

Nonetheless I would still consider adding some more content. Especially an "About Us" section with some more information on your shop would be useful in my opinion.

May I ask you what program or content management system you used to create the site? I'm guessing WordPress right? The reason I ask is that I am also creating a small business site, so I'm thinking if it would be better to get it hosted on WordPress or use a specialized eShop builder like this one here. My web dev knowledge is only very basic, mostly limited to some HTML and some CSS, so I'm looking for a fast and simple solution to build the webshop. I would like to keep the design and navigation as simple as possible, just like on your site.

So if you have any advice on a good website builder or webdesign software, please let me know I have what I think is a good idea, but I'm still quite confused on how to translate all that into a website and ideally a functioning online business.

Best regards,
Lucia

Hi Lucia! Thanks so much for your comment. You are right, it does need more written content and I am actually in the process of doing that. I want to have an about page, as well as a blog. Blogging is not my strong suit though..

Anyway, yes my site is a wordpress site. I purchased the theme for about 45$ USD. It is called FINCH and can be found on this site: Envato Market
The theme came with a page builder that easily allows you to add elements to each page on your site. It is very user friendly so I definitely recommend looking for a theme that includes that. It also included 'woocommerce' which controls the functionality of the online shop.

I did have to use some HTML and CSS knowledge to edit it to my liking, but nothing too advanced. Most of the themes come with support from the author so that is very helpful to have to when you are trying to make changes.

About your last comment, thinking you have a great idea but not sure how it will translate.. My advice to you is to just jump in! I didn't know how my site was going to translate to a consumer either, nor did I think I'd ever be able to turn it into a "Shop" of any sort, but I just started working on it and you start realizing that some things work, and some don't, and eventually you'll end up in a good place! Go for it!

Thanks again,

Alex

 

[caprisun]

Hi Alex, thanks a lot for your answer!

Your advice is really useful to me, because at the moment I'm feeling a bit lost with so many things that have to be considered when creating a site.

I really liked the Finch wordpress template that you are using for your page. It's just neat, simple and clean and does not look as overloaded as most other sites and webshops.
I hope to have a good idea for my site and shop, at least my hubby seems to think so, but he may not be very "neutral" on that I'm afraid But you are right, it all comes down to just giving it a try and even learning from failures when some things don't work out as intended.

May I still ask you if there is any introductory book that you would recommend on HTML/CSS, WordPress or web dev in general? If not I'm just going to see what my local library has in store.

Congrats again on your site and on successfully starting your business!

Best
Lucia

 

[JohnD18]

There are a lot of great books for web dev, but it all depends on how deep you want to go. Wordpress is built in PHP and works with the MySQL database, so if you plan on making functional changes to the site, you will need to have a working knowledge of those two languages. If you're simply looking to edit the site aesthetically, HTML5 and CSS3 are going to be your main tools besides getting into Javascript which may or may not be something you want to deal with.

Great books:
HTML/CSS - HTML & CSS design and build websites by Jon Duckett (Duckett also makes a Javascript book if you feel like getting into that)

PHP/MySQL - PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites by Larry Ullman

WordPress - Smashing WordPress Beyond the Blog by Thord Daniel Hedengren

Hi Alex, thanks a lot for your answer!

Your advice is really useful to me, because at the moment I'm feeling a bit lost with so many things that have to be considered when creating a site.

I really liked the Finch wordpress template that you are using for your page. It's just neat, simple and clean and does not look as overloaded as most other sites and webshops.
I hope to have a good idea for my site and shop, at least my hubby seems to think so, but he may not be very "neutral" on that I'm afraid But you are right, it all comes down to just giving it a try and even learning from failures when some things don't work out as intended.

May I still ask you if there is any introductory book that you would recommend on HTML/CSS, WordPress or web dev in general? If not I'm just going to see what my local library has in store.

Congrats again on your site and on successfully starting your business!

Best
Lucia

 

[kristinacampbell]

You do have a great site. Keep it up!

 

[ExoticCafe]

Hi MenAndCoffee,

I really like the idea of your site and the pictures on it are great It is also nice that your shop is in the background and not immediately pushed upon the visitor when entering the site, as most other online shops do.

Nonetheless I would still consider adding some more content. Especially an "About Us" section with some more information on your shop would be useful in my opinion.

May I ask you what program or content management system you used to create the site? I'm guessing WordPress right? The reason I ask is that I am also creating a small business site, so I'm thinking if it would be better to get it hosted on WordPress or use a specialized eShop builder like this one here. My web dev knowledge is only very basic, mostly limited to some HTML and some CSS, so I'm looking for a fast and simple solution to build the webshop. I would like to keep the design and navigation as simple as possible, just like on your site.

So if you have any advice on a good website builder or webdesign software, please let me know I have what I think is a good idea, but I'm still quite confused on how to translate all that into a website and ideally a functioning online business.

Best regards,
Lucia

Lucia, you can also take a look to Shopify to build you eShop. Easy to build, customize and you can add more functionalities as you business grow.

 

[BloomSay]

Nicely built site, great original idea too!