October’s website of the month winner was Swap Boards, a beautifully designed community and ecommerce store focused around UK snowboarding enthusiasts.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and Swapboards.com?

Basically I’m passionate about snowboarding (probably second only to my children!), I actually only took it up later in life about 7 years ago to be exact when I was 26, lessons as a gift my in-laws to be!And I’ve been hooked ever since! I’ve always been a bit of an adrenaline junky and really wished I’d took it up early in life, but very much better late than never!

Whatever I have an interest in, I immerse myself in, so didn’t take me long to not only learn about the technical side of the products but also about the history and routes of snowboarding.

I’m a salesman by trade, not something I ever really strived to be but it has definitely thought me a lot of life skills and still enjoy it to this day, I have pretty much always worked on a commission basis, which is much like being self-employed and I think because of this have always wanted to work for myself.

Having always wanted to keep up with the latest technologies in the snowboarding industry I’m forever changing/updating my gear (much to the annoyance of my wife), so I guess this is where the idea for Swap Boards came from and in April this year as I lay in bed telling my wife to put 50 Shades of Grey down and go to bed I had a light-bulb moment, Swap Boards! My first thought was that there must be someone doing that already so out came the iPhone! After a few searches it came apparent that there wasn’t anything similar, after a week or so I decided to go for it! You only get one chance at life and all that so why not, so Swap Boards was born.

The main feature of the site is the ability for my customers to trade in/part exchange their old snowboards and bindings against my new stock, and also sell and swap their unwanted products with likeminded people. We also have (or at least will have very soon) the latest park plans from all the indoor slopes around the UK, videos, pictures, links and competitions.

How have you promoted the website so far, and what are your plans to keep the momentum going?

My budget is small (unfortunately) so a lot of the initial promotion has been done via social media which has definitely helped get the ball rolling, but realistically only a small percentage of my actually customers will come from this avenue so in the very near future I will be advertising on online bannerswith the Snowboard Club UK, which is the most visited snowboarding site in the UK, and magazine advertising. I also do some filming at Milton Keynes Snowdome and have also helped sponsor a charity event there a few months ago.We have also just come back from the Ski and Snowboard Show in London where we had a stand for the week which was a great success, both visitors and other retailers were very intrigued by the whole concept of the business! (hopefully they won’t pinch my ideas though!)

Snowboarding equipment is quite a niche market in the UK. What are the pros and cons (if any) of focusing your business in this area?

It is a very niche market and that in its self is a bit of a ‘con’ but by the same token, if I can create a name for myself by providing an excellent customer service and something a bit different to the norm I believe this will help me stand out from the crowd and Swap Boards will become part of the snowboarding community.

You chose Websmart Design to create your website. How did you go about selecting a design company and how did you find the process of working with Websmart?

Unfortunately for me they weren’t my first choice (I really wish they were!), the first company I went with called Quantum went into liquidation (with a fair amount of my money) apparently for the fourth time! Very bad choice on my behalf, unfortunately I didn’t know anyone that’d had a website designed so searched on the world wide web and found Quantum. That is a long distant memory now though as luckily for me I came across Websmart right on my door step frustratingly about 500yds from where I work! If only I had opened my eyes! Once meeting with them I was confident they could give me what I was after and I’m very glad to say that this time I chose right. They are a pleasure to work with, always on hand and have worked at some ridiculous times of the evening/morning to get things completed, Martin has emailed me at gone midnight on a few occasions with updates! That’s dedication! (I hope I’ve not made a rod for Martin’s back there).

How much input did you have in the design, and what kind of look did you want to achieve for your site?

I had a pretty clear view on what I wanted the site to look like and had a fair amount of input which both Martin and Stuart encouraged, but the guys came up with some really important elements which brought the site to life.

What makes Swapboards different to other ecommerce websites out there?

My main issue with a lot of ecommerce sites out there is that they look just like that, an ecommerce site!One of the first things I discussed with Martin and Stuart was the fact I wanted it to look different and stand out from the crowd and not too much like shop but more of a hub or information source for the UK Snowboarder, and the guys at Websmart have done exactly that.

What advice would you give to someone looking to have a website designed by a professional company?

Firstly use someone locally, someone you can build a relationship with and of course someone you are confident in, do your homework (unlike me the first time)!I did get a few quotes both times round and although cost is an obvious factor, more than anything it’s about getting your moneys’ worth, and I definitely feel I have got this from the guys at Websmart; the hours they have put in and with the end result that’s been achieved I have most definitely got my money’s worth. I would strongly recommend Web Smart Design to anyone looking for a professional design company!

Why did you choose to host your website with Heart Internet?

Because of the trust I had in the guys at Websmart, they recommended so I was more than happy to go with Heart Internet.

How would you like to develop Swap Boards further over the next year?

I’m already in talks with other brands so that I can offer more fantastic new products to my customers, I also plan to go into other board sports for the summer months; although Snowboarding is my back ground and passion the crossover with skate boarding, surfing and kite boarding (to name a few) would be easy for me to move into – hence the name Swap Boards, basically anything to do with boards! I’ll draw the line at ironing boards though!