Business and website name/identity

[Serpent_Nirvana]

Hi everyone, I know this isn't the most trafficked part of BP.net, but I'm interested in getting opinions on some website and business issues before I go too much further rebuilding my site.

In addition to keeping (and, occasionally, breeding) ball and blood pythons, I also breed chinchillas. Although my original plan was to have one site for both types of critters, I ended up making two separate ones (one for snakes and one for mammals). Each one links back to the other, but they are two separate websites under two separate domains.

I did this partly to keep it more orderly, and partly because I was worried that potential chinchilla buyers might be scared of snakes and turned off by a site with a bunch of snake pictures on it.

I had also been planning, originally, to market both under the name "Nirvana Exotics," but I thought that the word "exotics" might turn off show chinchilla buyers (good-quality chinchillas aren't really an "exotic" animal; at this point they are pretty much completely domesticated). However, I thought the name "Nirvana Fauna" was too "soft" for a snake site, so I kept "Exotics" for that one.

Now, the chinchilla website (Nirvana Fauna) gets a lot of hits and has brought in a lot of traffic, as I have had good luck producing and selling chins.

The snake website (Nirvana Exotics) has pretty much fallen by the wayside, as I have not yet produced enough babies to justify the maintenance of the site. This year I am sincerely hoping to reach that point (oh please oh please ) and so I'm planning on getting the snake site updated before that time.

However, I'm wondering if, with the relative success of the chinchilla site (Nirvana Fauna) in terms of traffic, it might not be easier to just have a "Snake" section and a "Chinchilla" section showcasing breeders and available babies of both species, plus maybe some care sheets.

So, I guess my questions are:

1. Do you think that the animals being sold and the markets for each are different enough to justify two different websites for chinchillas and pythons;

2. Do you think that there is an advantage to having one versus two separate business entities (I do hope to register as a business this year);

3. Do you think that "Nirvana Fauna" is an okay name for a snake business, or do you expect to see something like "exotics," "snakes," "pythons" or "reptiles" in the name;

4. Do you think that the website might be too cluttered with both chinchillas and pythons being showcased?


I apologize for the length of this post and my sincere thanks to anyone who can skim through my drivel and offer a comment

[Elise.m]

So, I guess my questions are:

1. Do you think that the animals being sold and the markets for each are different enough to justify two different websites for chinchillas and pythons;

I think you bring up a good point. I could definitely see a chin owner being all turned of by some snakes on a website. It would be convenient for you to have 2 websites in 1, but I'm not sure how the chin owners would react.

2. Do you think that there is an advantage to having one versus two separate business entities (I do hope to register as a business this year);

IMO, only the benefit of making sure your chin customers don't get scared off.

3. Do you think that "Nirvana Fauna" is an okay name for a snake business, or do you expect to see something like "exotics," "snakes," "pythons" or "reptiles" in the name;

I think that's fine. It's your business name, name it what you want!

4. Do you think that the website might be too cluttered with both chinchillas and pythons being showcased?

If you have two pages showcasing each one, I don't think it would be cluttered. Just like people have pages showcasing cresties then gargoyles.


Hope this helps! I thought something would be better than nothing.

[Serpent_Nirvana]

Thank you for the feedback Elise; much appreciated!

I am leaning towards keeping them separate, both because of the issue of very different customer bases, and also because I work with more than one type of python, so the "snakes" section might get really cluttered on just one website.

I could conceive of some day merging them into one ... For now, though, I think I will keep them separate especially since the snake site is already built.