Multiple sites

[oldcelt]

We have Actinic business plus.

My client is not happy with the way pricing works and would like to be able to offer users a choice of 3 currencies without showing a secondary currency. Norprice doesn't go far enough in that the primary Actinic currency is still used when checking out and some people find the presentation of two currencies confusing anyway.

I wish Actinic would address this problem which must affect many international traders especially as other shopping carts can do it.

In the meantime, I think maybe a sledgehammer approach may be necessary: i.e. three identical stores but each one priced in a different base currency and a selector on the site index page to take users to their required store.

My question is: can three stores exist on the same server in three different directories without causing problems in the scripting files (i.e. everything contained in cgi-bin)?

Ken

[Duncan Rounding]

Three stores can certainliy exist, configure the network settings accordingly, each one in a subdomain perhaps, then set the script IDs to be different for each store. Your host may also allow multiple cgi-bins.

[oldcelt]

Ah, yes. Different script IDs seem to be the answer and subdomains are no problem. TVM

Ken

[chris ashdown]

For SEO it would be better to have each site based in its own country and with its country domain otherwise you may find search engines not being the most friendly now and who knows what in the future

[oldcelt]

What's SEO?

[leehack]

Web designer who doesn't know what SEO is? come on you having a giraffe?

Search Engine Optimisation

[oldcelt]

Not all of us speak in tongues

Seriously, if three stores are set up using subdomains - e.g ukstore.url.com; usstore.url.com; europestore.url.com, would that cause SEO problems? Isn't it possible to use robots.txt to ensure only one store is used for reference?

[grantglendinnin]

I think I'm even more shocked that somebody who owns an e-mail address doesn't know what SEO is. Apparently it's a popular business in New Delhi, as this is where all the companies that e-mail me on a daily basis are based. Though due to the piss-poor Orange mail servers, I'm unable to confirm this

Next you'll be telling me you've never heard of viagra, credit cards, loans or shipping expensive items to Ghana

[oldcelt]

Well, at least I know when to use who or whom!

I knew I shouldn't have stayed so long in the pub this lunchtime

[grantglendinnin]

Well, at least I know when to use who or whom!

Must be a banter-on-Fridays-only person

[TraceyHand]

Must be a banter-on-Fridays-only person

sheesh, honestly, Grant...what WERE you thinking?
banter on a Monday?

[oldcelt]

Well, if you're going to be a pedant you've got to get it right

[chris ashdown]

The English and close countries would probably search for .co.uk, The guys over the pond would use .com and the french .fr. I dont think you can generalise to much but that would probably be the best domains to chose for the largest returns.

Then you would need the servers in the relevant countries to get the best results

What you suggest works but unless its a country specific item range you sell like say English Football shirts then most people I suspect would search their own country first

As time goes by who knows what the search engines will do to narrow down the search results to help you with relevant links rather than wide ones at present

[oldcelt]

Thanks Chris.

This particular site sells Elvis Presley memorabilia; jewellery in the main. The biggest markets are USA and UK but a lot of interest comes from Germany, Belgium, France, Netherlands and Scandinavia. Using .fr would be a bit too restrictive maybe and setting up a url/store for every European country would be a mammoth task.

It's a thorny problem I know and it all stems from Actinic's inability to deal effectively with international currency handling. I'm beginning to wish I'd opted for a different shopping trolley (like os... something ) which can be configured to handle currencies efficiently. I only went for Actinic because it was easier to get things up-and-running quickly and the retailer was in a hurry. It wasn't so much of a problem as long as the exchange rates remained fairly stable but with the £ going down the drain it's causing real problems.

[Rich Brady]

Just becasue a software offers multiple currencies does not equate to more internation orders.

I have a client that ships all over the world using Actinic. All of their prices are in GBP. They may get the odd customer email for a quote in their own currency (usually from the states) they just tell them to run the price through an online currency convertor.

If a great deal of your business will be stateside then a .com url on a US server will be best for SEO, as Chris has already mentioned and .co.uk hosted here in the UK.