How To Join
If you are interested in having your website listed in the Indie Friendly™ Directory, please review the following guidelines and determine if your website meets the criteria prior to submitting your website for consideration.
If your website does not have a storefront on it, we would consider it to be a home page for your 'line' and ask you submit it to the Home Page category. We disregard the qualifications of an online store for that particular section (however, the rest of the guidelines still apply).
Site Design
An Indie Friendly™ site will exhibit the following design characteristics:
Company Policies
An Indie Friendly™ site will clearly post the following policies in a location that is easily found:
We recommend that Company Policies have a prominent link in the main site navigation. However, inclusion in an FAQ or About Us page is acceptable if the policies are easily located and contain all of the information outlined above.
Site Navigation
An Indie Friendly™ website navigation structure will have the following characteristics:
Payments Area
An Indie Friendly™ website payment area will have the following characteristics:
Truth In Advertising
An Indie Friendly™ site will adhere to a Truth In Advertising policy. By this, an indie friendly site agrees to refrain from using language or graphics on their website which deceives the customer. This includes taking the time to explain a product to the customer, providing full information on the materials used, assuring the buyer that they are going to get the product they expect.
Ready To Apply?
If you feel your website meets all the criteria listed above and you are ready to submit it to the directory, you will need to follow these steps:
If your website does not have a storefront on it, we would consider it to be a home page for your 'line' and ask you submit it to the Home Page category. We disregard the qualifications of an online store for that particular section (however, the rest of the guidelines still apply).
Site Design
An Indie Friendly™ site will exhibit the following design characteristics:
- Clean, uncluttered pages
- Simple, clear fonts
- Concise, professional language
- Attractive, professional graphics and product photos
- Complete, detailed product descriptions
Company Policies
An Indie Friendly™ site will clearly post the following policies in a location that is easily found:
- Order and payment processing
- Expected shipping time
- Shipping methods and charges
- Return policy (including time period allowed after purchase)
- Privacy policy
We recommend that Company Policies have a prominent link in the main site navigation. However, inclusion in an FAQ or About Us page is acceptable if the policies are easily located and contain all of the information outlined above.
Site Navigation
An Indie Friendly™ website navigation structure will have the following characteristics:
- Navigation is easily located (preferably in same place on each page)
- Font is clear and easy to read
- Descriptive categories and subcategories that make it convenient to find specific items
- Each page has a link back to the home page (recommended)
- Each page has a link to shopping cart/checkout (recommended)
- Each page has a link to contact the company (recommended)
Payments Area
An Indie Friendly™ website payment area will have the following characteristics:
- Payment pages are secure (https://)
Truth In Advertising
An Indie Friendly™ site will adhere to a Truth In Advertising policy. By this, an indie friendly site agrees to refrain from using language or graphics on their website which deceives the customer. This includes taking the time to explain a product to the customer, providing full information on the materials used, assuring the buyer that they are going to get the product they expect.
Ready To Apply?
If you feel your website meets all the criteria listed above and you are ready to submit it to the directory, you will need to follow these steps:
- Register for an Editor Account
- Log in to your Editor Account
- Browse to the category you want your website to appear in
- Click on "Suggest Link"
- Choose either the Free Listing or Featured Listing
- Fill in all your details and/or complete your payment
- Click Submit