Build an e-commerce site in 30 minutes

 

Gallery

By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 7 Dec 2007 at 13:28

Mr Site has released a new software package, Takeaway Website Pro, aimed at allowing business customers without technical skills to create a fully working e-commerce site within half an hour, including the setting up of a domain name and hosting.

The package is intended to allow quick and simple website creation, without losing advanced features such as search engine optimisation, advanced checkout features and stock tracking.

The software costs £99.99, and includes 12 months subscription to the company's hosting and domain name registration service. After the initial year, users can keep the site running for £7.99 per month.

Creating a site is very simple, with the wizard taking care of all the behind-the-scenes stuff. The only issue is that you must choose one of the existing design templates. This limitation is the price you pay for simplicity, though.

The checkout system processes all payments using PayPal, but will accept credit and debit card transactions. For another £20 per month Mr Site will offer a service that enables credit card transactions to take place over post, telephone or fax.

The included SiteBoost search engine optimisation provides a simple way for users to improve their ranking in search engines, providing a higher profile for their site and bringing in larger numbers of more relevant visitors.

When the user creates the site, they input certain keywords which are added as meta-tags. The software tells the user which words have more competitors with a simple colour coding system, allowing them to tweak the keywords associated with a site.

The company also offers a range of services that build upon the website, which small businesses may find useful. For example, the software can design stationary such as business cards and letter heads, which can be exported as PDFs or professionally printed using Mr Site's built-in ordering system.