Building a website on a budget - your answers & advice

Lots of pages are not always the answer.

Minimise your pages to allow a quick and easy call to action.

The above will lower costs.
Nothing more wrong- minimalistic webs are good for onetime events, or promotions- easy call to action and can be used as satellite ones to main page. Having just minimalistic ones might not let you show whole spectrum of wares and services.

How to do it wright? Idosell Shop method be right answer for satellite webs installation with proper WMS and invoicing.

Happy to advice
Marek
 
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Nothing more wrong- minimalistic webs are good for onetime events, or promotions- easy call to action and can be used as satellite ones to main page. Having just minimalistic ones might not let you show whole spectrum of wares and services.

How to do it wright? Idosell Shop method be right answer for satellite webs installation with proper WMS and invoicing.

Happy to advice
Marek

It depends on your services.

Do your customers know what they are looking for? If so fast call to actions with minimum pages is the way to go in my eyes.
 
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Depending on the website... If it's a simple page (even basic eCommerce site) I would recommend WIX. It's a doddle to use! but it's really basic, if you need anything more complicated you will need a web designer and they're not cheap!
 
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CanBrown

Free Member
Mar 27, 2017
3
0
Hi guys,

Happy Monday!

I'm in the process of setting up my new business, and have come to the stage of designing the website. My plan is to use wix.com as I don't have any budget to pay for a designer to do it for me - thankfully the website is only there so people can get in contact with me so I don't need too much fluff going on.

I have got my head around using wix after playing around with some of the features so I feel confident I can create a website with the necessary content and more, and make it look good (fingers crossed)!

After reading up I know I'll need a domain, a hosting site and a couple of email addresses, but the problem I have now is I have no idea who to go with! My initial go to was godaddy but some friends have had bad experiences with them, so can anyone offer any advice? I've also seen that wix offers a similar service so that could be an option too.

I'm only a small business essentially working as a freelancer so I'm guessing I won't need a huge amount of data - if that's even the word for it!

Thank you so much!
 
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fisicx

Moderator
Sep 12, 2006
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www.aerin.co.uk
My plan is to use wix.com as I don't have any budget to pay for a designer to do it for me
Don't use Wix
Don't use Wix
Don't use Wix
Don't use Wix
Don't use Wix
Don't use Wix
Don't use Wix
Don't use Wix

There are loads of better alternatives and all of them are free. You don't need to pay a developer anything. Use this service: http://www.hihosting.co.uk/bloghosting.html

Pay for the starter option and you will have a site up and running in minutes. @Dan_HiHosting is a member here and will help you out with everything.

You may just want a simple site now but I'd put money on your wanting to do more later on. Wordpress will give you some much more than Wix ever can.
 
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TotalWebSolutions

Free Member
Sep 29, 2009
3,627
616
Stockport
You may just want a simple site now but I'd put money on your wanting to do more later on. Wordpress will give you some much more than Wix ever can.

100% agree with this. Start as you mean to go on rather start and then restart. It will save you money and time in the long run and allow you to adapt/grow with much less stress.
 
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I can't see the problem with wix if you need a simple website that you can design yourself. Of course if you are a web designer it must be torturous but for a majority of people that aren't, it offers a pretty easy to use platform. I tried wordpress before and didn't get on with it.
 
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Alan

Free Member
  • Aug 16, 2011
    7,089
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    I can't see the problem with wix

    Historically WIX was hated by web designers as technically it was awful, in that it used 'flash' technology to create websites, and one impact was that Google basically ignored it.

    For a businesses, many websites have an objective of providing businesses through organic search as so that made WIX pointless as platform.

    Even then, after moving to html, WIX ignored fundemental SEO and right until late 2016 WIX sites still had major issues that stopped or de-ranked them on Google.

    However in late 2016, WIX refresh their architecture and resolved SOME of these issues and WIX sites do get listed on Google.

    But WIX still uses javascript/AJAX to dynamically generate most of the content, and to that end Google, although getting better at crawling Javascript, still has some issues.

    The big issue with WIX is you have no control over the source code, so there is no way you can respond to SEO needs as they arise or adjust for SEO needs.

    So there is nothing really wrong with WIX if you want to bash up a placeholder website attached to your domain - IF YOU DONT CARE ABOUT GOOGLE, don't want to tweak code, don't want complete control, except there are much cheaper ways of doing the same including FREE such as Google Sites ( with FREE Google Account and a FREE Cloud Flare account to handle naked domain redirection, if any one is interested PM me and I'll write a blog post how to do this in 3 steps or whatever )

    (p.s I don't actually know how Google Sites perform on Google - I'd be making assumptions that I can't back up to say Google likes its own products - Google Sites predominantly is designed as an intranet site for G Suite Business users )
     
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    @Alan That doesn't explain why I got a website to 8th place on the first page of Google having spent barely any time doing it and it being a WIX site... (it took about a month).

    It was pretty easy, but then again it may be my competitors are useless I guess!

    I did get it after the last update I must say and you seem to have a fair amount of control with the code of it but I can see why it could be a nightmare. It does work for me, but I would be interested in potentially looking at other options!
     
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    Alan

    Free Member
  • Aug 16, 2011
    7,089
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    8th place for a local search isn't much to shout about.

    Research shows click through rates drop dramatically 30% in first, 12% in third, to around 5% in 7th and 3% in 8th.

    Needless to say the top 7 aren't built in WIX.

    How are you now going to tweak you code and performance to move up. Don't ask me, I never have used WIX in anything more than an experiment.
     
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    D

    Deleted member 69011

    I would really recommend square space for a total DIY website. It handles domain, hosting, email and an SSL certificate which is essential if you want to sell on your site.

    There are some amazing free tutorials available to help you get started, and its a solid platform.

    I've use wordpress, squarespace, joomla as well as custom sites for all my clients and I would say square space is the simplest to self manage - as long as you use a tutorial to get set up so you understand the basics. And its good fun to learn!
     
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    WHGB Tom

    Free Member
    Jan 17, 2017
    82
    5
    I have to agree on the Wix issue. It isnt built well to perform in terms of search engine ranking. Most decent web hosts will either have some kinda of html block driven builder. Or, try having a go at using a page builder coupled with WordPress. It really isnt that difficult nowadays to get something up which will do the job very nicely, and you will have a lot more control over everything.
     
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    I am going to be writing some short guides and to-do checklists in relation to websites and ecommerce. I've many many years professional experience in the industry and have loads of tips i can pass on.

    I'll post the stuff in the forum somewhere when they are ready.

    I'm not sure what the requirements are and who's allowed to contribute but you could post them as articles for the 'UKBF STORIES' sidebar on the left.
     
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    W

    Wesley@Create

    The biggest difference between building your website on your own and paying someone else to do it for you, and is very rarely mentioned is the support aspect. So many victims of companies charging obscene amounts for support. A website should be a long term commitment and no matter how well it starts off, it is important to consider how to keep it running as well!
     
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    KarolinaBlanco

    Free Member
    Dec 19, 2017
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    According to my experience, every successful, secure blog depends on a stable and secure hosting solution. Computer criminals worldwide use automated tools to test blogs for exploits. This is one of the reasons why a trusted hosting solution should be considered as one of the main steps to success. And as regards a secure hosting provider it should cover several key areas. The first probably the most important one is if the hosting provider offers online backup services that can bring back your website.
     
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    Violinni

    Free Member
    Dec 21, 2017
    131
    12
    Varna, Bulgaria
    According to my experience, every successful, secure blog depends on a stable and secure hosting solution. Computer criminals worldwide use automated tools to test blogs for exploits. This is one of the reasons why a trusted hosting solution should be considered as one of the main steps to success. And as regards a secure hosting provider it should cover several key areas. The first probably the most important one is if the hosting provider offers online backup services that can bring back your website.


    Not only that. 99.9% of the web hosting companies that offer shared hosting packages will hide the specs of what you’re getting.

    Most of the times you’ll get no more than 1-2GB of RAM, 1 core and 700MHz of the CPU.

    And if the person X is “smart enough” to place a heavy WordPress / Drupal / Joomla platform on it, or a big HTML portal or something, the website will throttle all the time and it’ll return an error or it’ll simply — not load at all.

    That’s one of the ultimate failures a starting business can face.

    The average time a user spends on new websites is around 2 seconds. People still think “people will wait because my website is worth it”.

    Nobody cares, mate.
     
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    socktorelS

    Free Member
    Feb 5, 2020
    3
    0
    There are some plugins, but I recommend building up SEO yourself. WordPress is good as it offers various features including the variety of plugins. To bring more sales I'd recommend doing some unique marketing, approaching people and expanding your social networks. Don't force people in buying the product and be understanding.
     
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    A

    Alexander Denholm

    Sometimes it is just unrealistic to expect to get onto the first page of google with a limited budget. However, google local (google places) can give your business a chance if you are reliant on local customers.

    I therefore think you can get away with creating a free website but place extra attention on google places to give your website good exposure.

    There are some good free templates out there to allow you to do this. I think wix.com offer some really good templates that give you the opportunity to create a very unique and professional looking website for free.
    Agree, Depends on your SEO targets - are you looking to start with local or going nationwide from the offset? If local, you can start with free tools
     
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    Forseti

    Free Member
    May 15, 2020
    11
    2
    And if the goal is to create your own information resource on the topic of health and sports. If I create a site on a free hosting, can I properly promote this site? For example, on WordPress, you can create a block on the subdomain of the same name for free.
     
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    BringInLeads

    Free Member
    May 31, 2021
    4
    3
    Seems as though the discussion about 'website' is focusing on the code powering the website, at the expense of the the content.

    Mapping out the navigation hierarchy, including which pages will go where, how many are needed initially, how many words per page, what graphics are required, all are really what a website is about. The framework sitting on Apache/IIS is merely the translator.

    If you spec out the above nav/pages/content, it's like shooting fish in a barrel when it comes to getting bids for the work. If you're long on time and short on money, then write it all yourself. Otherwise, find a reputable writer from the forum here or possibly a 4* or 5* writer from TextBroker.

    After you've got the framework in place with content added, you'll probably need some SEO type person to review and tweak things (at least the title, meta description, a few keyword/synonyms on the page and internal link anchors). Again, if you're a DIY type, do a bit of reading on top SEO blogs/sites/forums and figure out how to do this. Mediocre skills will get mediocre results, so be forewarned.

    Completely agree - SEO & Content, give your audience something they want no matter what your budget :)
     
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    fisicx

    Moderator
    Sep 12, 2006
    46,673
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    www.aerin.co.uk
    Website on a budget?
    Yes, don't start with one.
    Meet your potential clients through social media
    Depends on what you are selling. Social media doesn't work for everybody.
     
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