Advice On Creating Own Website
- Thread starter Mikeee
- Start date
Avoid website builders like Wix, Weebly or those supplied by major hosts such as Go Daddy or 1+1
You'll only have to remake the site later on if you want to move elsewhere (which you will because they perform very badly in the search engines)
Wordpress or Joomla are your best options - most hosts will supply a one click installer in their control panel allowing you to easily get up and running.
You'll only have to remake the site later on if you want to move elsewhere (which you will because they perform very badly in the search engines)
Wordpress or Joomla are your best options - most hosts will supply a one click installer in their control panel allowing you to easily get up and running.
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Agree with @ryedale to avoid those site builders, what you save in money you will spend double in time that will cost more in the long run.
Why do you need to build a website, what is the business type? It might be easier and more cost effective to have one developed for you. If you do make one yourself then wordpress is the best all rounder.
Why do you need to build a website, what is the business type? It might be easier and more cost effective to have one developed for you. If you do make one yourself then wordpress is the best all rounder.
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The most recent site I've built was using a bootstrap template from Envato. It doesn't require Wordpress or any other easily hacked bit of code, is easy to modify, lightning fast and can run on just about any hosting plan on the planet.
If you don't really need all the whistles and bells of Wordpress, why bother?
You can pick up a template like that and have it customised with your content, from many people on this forum (not me) for 200 or 300 quid, and end up with a great site.
If you don't really need all the whistles and bells of Wordpress, why bother?
You can pick up a template like that and have it customised with your content, from many people on this forum (not me) for 200 or 300 quid, and end up with a great site.
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- Original Poster
- #7
Thank you for the information everyone. We are flat roofing contractors and offer a service and products but do not sell anything from the site at the moment, however this may change. We already have a site but we`re not to pleased with the company that designed it or the company that is optimizing the site at the moment. I feel by creating my own site I will be able to get the information across how I would like it presenting, along with some case studies and customer reviews.
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wpmechs.com
If all you need is a typical business site, i.e. promote your services, showcase/sell your products, start a blog etc, then WordPress all the way 
Check out Themeforest dotcom for thousands of WordPress designs you can choose from.
As for hosting, there are lots of reputable hosting companies. We use Leaseweb but Hostgator is a popular (and inexpensive) option.
Check out Themeforest dotcom for thousands of WordPress designs you can choose from.As for hosting, there are lots of reputable hosting companies. We use Leaseweb but Hostgator is a popular (and inexpensive) option.
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Hi Mikeee
There are plenty of options for building your site. As others have said, if you use something like WordPress, the learning curve is relatively small and you can build your site visually using a page builder with something like Divi. This way you can have complete control over what you would like to do.
WordPress would also allow you to have functions such as contact forms, live chat systems etc. Failing that, you could always use a website builder of sorts. They would both do the job for you.
Best of luck!
There are plenty of options for building your site. As others have said, if you use something like WordPress, the learning curve is relatively small and you can build your site visually using a page builder with something like Divi. This way you can have complete control over what you would like to do.
WordPress would also allow you to have functions such as contact forms, live chat systems etc. Failing that, you could always use a website builder of sorts. They would both do the job for you.
Best of luck!
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I'm sure you know what you're talking about but I have used Weebly for the last five years and my sites perform spectacularly on Google. I used Adwords for a few months but soon turned it off because I was getting far more enquiries than I could handle. Since then I have never been out of the top 3 search results in my (rather niche) field.
Flat roofing contractor is a similarly niche field and I see no reason why Weebly wouldn't work just as well there.
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T
TomJ83
Hi Spongebob. How does it work with hosting on weebly? Do you do it with them or do you find a third party hosting provider?
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I had my own domains before I went with Weebly and retain them through a third party who I know well. They simply link to the domains I bought via Weebly who also host them. I pay Weebly around £150 per year for hosting two separate websites.
It's as cheap as chips, works well, and is really simple. I can add photos etc within seconds of taking them via my phone. I can't imagine the hassle of working via a website designer.
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TomJ83
Apparently @Spongebob thinks £150 per year to host 2 websites is cheap as chips. £150 might be cheap to some people and expensive to others. What do you suggest when it comes to hosting?
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Considering that they bring me a quarter of a million quids worth of new business every year I'm very happy.
£150 pa is my entire advertising and marketing budget!
Oh, apart from getting golf balls printed with my company name on - all of which I leave hidden on golf courses around the UK for potential customers to find!
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The most recent website I build was a WordPress website, It is a simple platform to create and manage a website and has all the tools and features one could need.
For domain, I would say Godaddy as their prices are very reasonable and they provide many services along with buying domain names.
For hosting services you can go for Hostgator as they are the best and quite affordable, also their tech support is very good.
For domain, I would say Godaddy as their prices are very reasonable and they provide many services along with buying domain names.
For hosting services you can go for Hostgator as they are the best and quite affordable, also their tech support is very good.
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Considering that they bring me a quarter of a million quids worth of new business every year I'm very happy.
£150 pa is my entire advertising and marketing budget!
Oh, apart from getting golf balls printed with my company name on - all of which I leave hidden on golf courses around the UK for potential customers to find!
Wow, thats pretty good then if you are bringing in that kind of revenue. I just say it is expensive for someone whos just starting a small business/startup as that is who my client usually is.
Yes, cheap to others, expensive to some. If you are just launching a site and have no revenue just yet then there are definitely cheaper alternatives out there.
Few companies that I recommend - A2 Hosting, Siteground, StableHost.
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Another vote for WordPress . If you're looking for inexpensive hosting, have a look on eBay (seriously). Lots of start-up web hosting companies and resellers list very good deals there just so they can get feedback and testimonials. I've hosted a number of websites over the years on providers I've found on eBay, and have only been let down once - which isn't a bad percentage.
TIP - Buy your domain name separately from the hosting as that will give you more flexibility and stop you from being held to ransom if you decide to change hosting company. Lesson learned the hard way.
. If you're looking for inexpensive hosting, have a look on eBay (seriously). Lots of start-up web hosting companies and resellers list very good deals there just so they can get feedback and testimonials. I've hosted a number of websites over the years on providers I've found on eBay, and have only been let down once - which isn't a bad percentage.TIP - Buy your domain name separately from the hosting as that will give you more flexibility and stop you from being held to ransom if you decide to change hosting company. Lesson learned the hard way
.
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In my opinion stay away from wordpress it is rubbish and quite slow if you do not optimize it.
Start with getting proper fast hosting. A good service can cost you between 60 - 120 a year including ssl. wordpress requires a lot of work to get it fast working and secure. If you don't mind a bit of work I would use drupal 8 with a custom theme bought in. Coming from opencart, magento and drupal I tried wordpress and it is a mess at best.
Start with getting proper fast hosting. A good service can cost you between 60 - 120 a year including ssl. wordpress requires a lot of work to get it fast working and secure. If you don't mind a bit of work I would use drupal 8 with a custom theme bought in. Coming from opencart, magento and drupal I tried wordpress and it is a mess at best.
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TomJ83
You seem to have a lot of experience when it comes to hosting and websites. Do you have any good suggestion of proper and fast hosting providers?
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many many moons ago I worked for a roofing company and do not think that a high ranking website gives you any business. The website even in the top 5 doesn't mean much until you have a marketing campaign driving leads customers to your site. Keep it simple and expect a lot of inquiries for shopping around. The most leads I generate are from a simple email contact us option compared to our fancy request a quote system that nobody uses. For every quote request i get about 10 email request. Expect people shopping around and at least contact 4 other competitors of you.
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Nochexman
Without wishing to get into the minutiae, why are you not pleased? It is possible to do things better yourself, but it is worth understanding what you think might be wrong in the first place.
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