Considerations when building a Website

When you are setting up a website, it's important to be informed about the choices you make to ensure your art centre is set up well for the future. 

Below are some things to consider:

• Registering and managing your Art centre domain name and renewal.
• Management and/or access to your Art centre website & hosting platform. 
  If using a third party, ensure the art centre can be provided with login access to where your website is. (eg. cPanel access).
• Ensuring a contract agreement is in place with the web designer/developer. 
  As well as the web developers terms and conditions, you need to make sure this outlines terms relevant  to the art centre and artists, including ownership and ICIP, copyright, termination rights/obligations, costs, etc. 
  Contact Arts Law for a contract template
• Table of costs for website. 
  eg. hosting, development support fees/rates for changes, plugins, subscriptions, payment gateway fees etc.

Costs

The costs of creating, maintaining, and running a website and an e-commerce store can add up. Pricing and fees should play a critical role in your decision-making process. When building a website, research all the costs, including setup, build, subscriptions/plugins, hosting, maintenance, and ecommerce, so you are not caught off guard.

There is no fee to use the SAM API; however, your developer will incur costs to set up the connection. If you are using a plugin, there could be ongoing subscription fees. Use the table below as a guide to research the costs you can expect when setting up and maintaining a website.

Choose the Right E-commerce Platform for Your Art Centre

Selecting the right e-commerce platform for your business involves finding the solution that helps you achieve your business goals and streamlines workflows. The one that’s right for you may not be right for someone else. You need to consider the platforms features and functionality, how well these integrate with SAM and your day-to-day business(if you want that feature).

Compare the costs and pricing plans, including any additional fees such as transaction fees, of each platform to determine the most cost-effective solution for your art centre.

Not all E-commerce websites are suitable for connecting to SAM; this includes Wix, Webflow, or Squarespace for e-commerce.

Below is a list of the compatibility of the most popular e-commerce platforms with the SAM API.

Speak with your web developer for more information.

Limitations

When choosing an e-commerce platform, it’s important to understand that there may be limitations to consider regarding how the SAM API integration works. Ask your developer what these are and consider these alongside the pros & cons for each system. Will the integration give you the result you require?

Pros and Cons to consider

• User-friendly interface
• Secure and reliable platform
• 24/7 support
• Monthly subscription fees
• Payment gateway fees, which can add up if you’re processing a large volume of transactions
• Customisation for themes/design, any costs associated with this
• Any additional costs for certain features and apps, plugins eg. donations, shipping
• Flexible integration with SAM
• Highly compatible, SEO and scalability
• Extensive range of tools, features, and integrations
• Easy to maintain
• How much customisation is required to integrate SAM? Will it be able to do all the functions you want?