Starting point for a new trial venture?

[ypftrading]

Hi there, I currently run a couple of small companies here in the UK and SE Asia. Im looking into something a little differant and was hoping you guys could offer me a few pointers.

I want to build a smaller informative website, nothing expensive as its just a trial. I've looked on google and there seems to be a million and one companies offering DIY website building offers (not sure if im allowed to mention them, appologises if Ive broken the rules) such as 123-reg, vistaprint to name but a couple. Could anyone recommend one to me that I can start with?

Following on from that, once this is up and running, how on earth do I get the website on the top of the google listings? I see terms like ad words, pay per click? I haven't a clue about any of it. I read an article in the gaurdian I thought it imformative but then the comments at the bottom claim it was a complete load of rubbish. So in short can anyone guide me some literature that I can read through to get a better understanding of building a website and getting it noticed?

Finally if I decided to employ the services of a web designer. What sort of money are we looking at for a basic website 10-20 pages etc. Im dont want a shopping cart etc Im not selling anything, just offering a service/consultancy here in blighty and SE Asia.

Well I'd like to thank you all in advance for taking the time to read through this and any suggestions or comments are appreciated.

Kindest regards
Patrick

 

[Chilcott]

Firstly please stay away from the DIY websites like 1 and 1, 123 reg etc.... As they are an absolute nightmare to deal with, they look bad and are a pain to get on the 1st page of google! I'm not just saying this because I want your business but if you ask any web design company thy will say the same so please go with a professional because your get a lot more of a return of investment this way.

Me personally I would use Wordpress as its agreat it basically allows you to update your website with text and images etc... Very easy to use and you can have a custom design to make you look professional.

To get on the 1st page of google can be straight forward depending on the keywords? Do you have anything in mind? What keywords do your competition use?

 

[ypftrading]

Thanks for the info. I'll have a look at word press. Assuming I go down this route and not bothering with an "instant site" What are the likely costs going to be to have the site on the net? Whats involved etc

Thanks

Patrick

 

[cart-com]

Serif is ok. No techie skills needed really.

 

[Chilcott]

Hi Patrick pm your email address and I'll put a quote together for you

 

[serverhouse]

Following on from that, once this is up and running, how on earth do I get the website on the top of the google listings?

You need to undertake SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

There are companies that'll do this for you or you can use people like woorank to see what they suggest (It's free)

You can also spend an unlimited amount of cash with Google for ads on every site going

SEO is rocket science to get right in a competative market without spending lots of money on google ads, but rocket science is still possible.

There is a forum on SEO here to (I think).

G

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Thanks for the info. I'll have a look at word press. Assuming I go down this route and not bothering with an "instant site" What are the likely costs going to be to have the site on the net? Whats involved etc

Thanks

Patrick

Any decent web host will offer Wordpress support/One-Click installation.

Using us with the UKBF discount for example you can have your own Wordpress site hosted for a year with a free domain for life for £15. You can even select Wordpress when ordering and it'll be installed for you.

I'd then recommend you use a web designer (there are plenty on here that specialise in creating Wordpress sites) to design the site for you. You could use a premium theme, which you can buy for e.g. 20-40 pounds which the designer can then use to keep costs low.

Using wordpress you can easily add a blog to your site. You'd then make posts relevant to the services you offer, some of the issues people can encounter, advice and so forth, and link in those posts to your services. And if you want to rank well for certain keywords you'd include those in there. That will help you rank well organically (in search results). Google likes fresh, relevant content.

You'd then also want to link to the blog posts on forums, and other sites relevant to your website and services, to get some 'link love'. The idea being, if your site is linked to, it's relevant. So google looks at relevant inbound links, and uses these to determine your pagerank, which in turn affects where you get listed in a SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

Adwords and PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising have nothing to do with getting on the first page of google, other than that you pay to have your advert appear on the right hand side of organic listings, which means you can quickly drive traffic to your site even though it's very new.

If you'd like to try out AdWords we provide our clients with a £50 voucher, which is a great no commitment way of seeing if it's for you.

I hope that helps. If you've got any questions just let me know. Good luck!