Converted custom admin website to WordPress in September 2019. Added WooCommerce gift shop of hand-made goods November 2020!
Google, Can You Be More Disjointed/Fragmented?
Really, Google. Must you make it SO HARD for all of us small businesses?
I have been managing Google Business (business.google.com) for a number of clients for 15 – 20 years. From that sub-site of the Google empire, a developer or business owner can manage their listing and be found in Google maps (maps.google.com). Quite sufficient for a good long time. Now you’re offering us to add products, yet there is a whole new spinoff, Google Merchant Center which does same.
Along the way: Google + and Google Places have been retired. Google Adwords is still in play. Analytics is still going strong and was the first of the Google sub-sites (analytics.google.com) to require us to put a site verification code in our header or DNS.
The “new” shopping tab in the search results makes it so we must establish a Google Merchant Center and add our products–not enough that we do that in our own websites–or use a feed manager. The Merchant Center (merchants.google.com) also asks us to add a site verification code.
While trying to help a particular client, I couldn’t yet get into their merchant center, even though I am authorized through Google Business. Job unfinished.
While poking around I also found Google Search Console (search.google.com), something I hadn’t yet known about even though I’ve been doing site optimization for natural/organic search placement my entire internet career. I was able to login with my own Google user and add the particular client I’m currently helping, but NO, the rest of the 20 or so clients in Google Business do not automatically get pulled in. Thanks, Google. This sub-site also offered an opportunity to add a site verification code, so I did, and it verified, BUT it was NOT the same verification code that the Merchant Center specified. And it had to be added to DNS–not the more easily accessed header code that a client might feel more comfortable doing.
DOES ANYONE AT GOOGLE TALK TO EACH OTHER? What a ROYAL pain in the a__!!! All kinds of extra work. They don’t care about customer service because they don’t have to. I think they like making us jump through hoops so they can show us just how powerful they are. Do you really think small business clients have hundreds of extra dollars to pay us to help them through this process?
Fayston Forager, LLC
Fayston Forager, LLC, offers wild-harvested, fresh-processed Japanese Knotweed Tincture. This tincture is made in small batches, using nutrient-dense, old-growth rhizomes from a select and pristine location in the heart of the Green Mountains of Vermont. Each rhizome is hand-selected for size and health, and the deep orange flesh is hand-shaved and processed with healing intent, and a whole lot of love. The resulting tincture is very potent.
The website utilizes the WooCommerce shopping platform. The owner and I worked together to set up Google Merchant Center and a feed to provide product visibility in Google’s shopping tab.
Complexions
Joanie Kavanaugh and I worked on converting her facials and waxing services website Complexions to the WordPress platform, and modernizing and giving it a fresh, new look.
Finca Monte Galan
Located in Costa Rica, Finca Monte Galan (con loco tico) is a farm located in a rural mountainous region between the country’s capital of San Jose and the Pacific Ocean.
Windy Ledges Metalworks
Located in Central Vermont, Windy Ledges Metalworks has been providing unique designs of metal and wood furnishings by hand-crafted methods since 1999.
Robert Beall is the owner, founder, and sole craftsman at Windy Ledges. Rob will work with clients to design custom furniture and collaborate on projects with other local artisans and designers. His products feature unique pairings of a variety of materials including metal, wood, upholstery and commercial finishes.
Rob was a frequent vendor selling his products at the Waitsfield Farmers’ Market in years past. In addition to home furnishings, he also crafted a unique array of signs and garden accents from metals. He has grown to serve ski resorts and restaurants in addition to residential clients.
McGeorge Building & Remodeling
McGeorge Building & Remodeling is a residential construction company in Waitsfield that focuses on quality construction throughout the Mad River Valley. Owner Graham McGeorge has been working in the field for 32 years on all phases of construction from framing to finish including new construction, renovations, additions, kitchen installations, bathrooms, flooring, windows and doors, decks, and porches. Doing great work and building trusting relationships has resulted in referrals from many past clients!
Kaleidoscope Resort Wear
Fashion forward casual clothing styles and designs that can be found in retail stores from Maine to California, the vacation resorts of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Mexico, and the surf shops of Hawaii. Originally D.Flax from Provincetown, Massachusetts. Visit website.
Kaleidoscope Imprints
New marketing site for national supplier of screen printed apparel, embroidered apparel, and promotional products. Kaleidoscope Imprints provides custom imprinting on many brands of apparel such as Carhartt, Under Armour, The North Face, Sport Tek, Champion, Adidas, Pacific Headwear, Dickies and Charles River. Their services also include laser etching, sublimation, and graphic design. Visit website.
Small Business Selling Online
Family businesses, micro businesses, buy-local businesses are often on a small budget and seeking an inexpensive way to sell products online. The following solutions can pertain to you if you have a technical inclination, especially the PayPal button options. To implement an eCommerce solution, I recommend that a business have a reasonable budget for technical web development assistance. I also suggest that establishing your PayPal account will go quicker and smoother with the assistance of a developer that knows the ins and outs. [Read more…]
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