Creating a new website

[Harvest]

Hi all,
I just bought a domain name for my new website, can anyone suggest the a good (free!!) tool so I can start setting up content? I had a search and found suggestions like Weebly, webs.com etc - There seems to be quite a lot out there but rather than me try a load and wait to find the holes and problems, I was hoping someone else who had started their own business and set up a new site could point me in the right direction..

Any suggestions on something quick and easy which still looks professional? I just need to be able to upload a few pictures, add a contact address and design a few basic pages for now,

thanks!

 

[DPOM]

well I'm biased but free websites tend to look "free" and there not necessarily going to be a great help for your business. Theres plenty of great web designers on here that are competitive and will actually deliver you a site that will perform better than any free site would do..if your sites generating business, it shouldn't really cost you anything..but if it isn't generating business and your spending hours and hours on it its costing you your time and that costs money!

In my opinion, Just having a website to have one isn't the answer, it needs to get found and be built properly, otherwise its akin to buying a box of brochures for your business and leaving them in a cupboard.

Get it right from the start...

 

[Sarah Charmley]

Wordpress offers professional-looking free themes and an easy-to-navigate dashboard. You can add functions using widgets - many of which are free. It is mainly a blog format which allows you to add regular content and you can use pages to post your contact details, portfolio, about page and anything else you wish to include.

 

[RebornMedia]

Hi

Just seen your post. I just wanted to drop you a quick message to offer you a few options.


Setting up a website on the cheap isn’t easy, especially if you want something that looks professional. I have done quite a lot of work for small local groups and charities so I am used to working with groups that have very small budgets.


From my experience it’s important that whatever you go with is scalable to grow as your business grows as well as something that is easy to edit. the most important thing is that it looks professional. It's where so many of the 'do it yourself' solutions fall short. It's important to not under estimate that a amateur looking site can turn business away just as easily as a good site can attract.

I run a small web agency called Reborn Media based just outside of Bedford and I would like to offer my services to get you up and running.

Obviously it would be useful to get a bit more information about your requirements but what I would propose to you is a simple wordpress site (you may have seen that mentioned in this forum a lot). We can set you up with a simple but clean template and will be able to customise it a little bit to give it a bit of a personal touch. You will have superb control over your site and will be able to add pages, images, blog posts video etc to your website. We will get you index with Google nice and quickly and will be able to guide you and support you as your business grows and develops.

Wordpress is an extremely powerful and popular platform and the best thing is its free. It can be a bit of a learning curve if you haven’t developed websites before so it's really worth working along side an agency who can get you up and running in a day.

The cost of this service will be £100 for the set up training and just £5 a month for hosting. With that, you can be up and running with your website by the end of the week.

I have recently set up a bowls club in a similar style. They would be able to provide a reference if you required one.


If you want to go for this then drop me a message and I will give you my contact details. I will be delighted to answer any questions you might have. Regardless on what you decide I will be very happy to hear how you get on and how your site progresses.

 

[marketingquotes]

Hi There,

There are a few web resources that offer 'free website design' but as mentioned already, free websites do look free.

If you do a google search 'free website design' this should pull up some resources you can use to get started.

Regards,

Marketing Quotes Support.

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Hi

It's certainly worth paying even just a little to get something far better. Many small web hosts will provide the extra service beyond hosting to help you set up a site.

At Hi Hosting we regularly do just that.

You can use the One-Click installer to setup Wordpress, which as mentioned offers some excellent free themes and if you can use Facebook you'll be able to set up a Wordpress site. The key part is setting up a static page for your homepage, so that it looks like a site and not a blog.

We're happy to help you with that.

Here's an example from one of our customers (he has no web development experience, and used a free theme): www.ryanhavinga.co.uk

On top of that we offer a professional site builder, with over 600 templates which takes you step by step through the stages of making your site and uploads it for you. Here's an example from another one our customers (done in around 30 minutes): www.bleumoon.co.uk

We provide blog hosting from just £1/month or £10 a year, where Wordpress can be installed for you automatically.

And we provide web hosting where you can use the Sitebuilder from just £2/month or £20 a year.

There's really no point in using the seriously inferior free services when you can have professional hosting for so little with proper 24/7 support.

If you need any help, feel free to contact me on here or start Live Chat on our site.

You can find us here: www.hihosting.co.uk

Whatever you choose, good luck

Thanks

Dan

 

[pcproblems]

If you want to do it your self and are after something quick and simple you could use http://kompozer.net/

 

[Harvest]

thanks all for your responses so far.

One thing to bear in mind is that i signed up for hosting with godaddy.com where i bought the domain; so does that mean that I need to change my hosting to somewhere else (ie where i create the site from). Or do i just need to change the dns? sorry i'm new to this!

also wordpress looks more for bloggers only, rather than a site for a business, am i right?

dan / hihosting - i'll check out your site.

reborn media - send me your details and i'll get in touch, i'd be interested to see some of the simples sites you've done using wordpress

 

[RebornMedia]

Hi

wordpress was originally a blogging tool, but it has since come on a long way and is suitable for most applications. That being said there might be better options available depending on exactly what you want to achieve.

We would have to look into your hosting options to see exactly what you have signed up for. There is no point in paying for hosting in two places!

My email address is ally[at]rebornmedia.co.uk

Drop me an email and we can go from there. I am happy to go through a few different options with you.




Ally

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Where you buy your domain has no impact on where you can have your hosting, so if you have a domain with godaddy you can change the dns to point to another host and have your hosting elsewhere.

People commonly do that to buy domains with cheap registrars but have their hosting with someone else.

Keep in mind that for better site and SEO performance you're better off with a UK host than a US one if your site is a .co.uk and/or intended for a UK market.

With a bit of effort Wordpress can be made into a normal site with static pages. We've helped many clients do just that.

Thanks Harvest, I invited someone to Live chat that came from this Forum so that may have been you. If you have any more questions just let me know.

 

[anthonylane13]

While it's true that wordpress began life as a blogging platform, and it remains very good as that, don't think that it can't be a fully-fledged CMS too. Have a look at this site I recently completed for a client of mine. http://goo.gl/8Es4e it's powered by wordpress, but I think you'll agree it doesn't look like a blog.

As with everything, knowledge and experience are important. If you want to make a good impression with your website and generate enquiries/ sales, a wordpress template is unlikely to cut it. I may be proven wrong of course, but I think it's worth investing in a purpose-made site if you're serious about your venture.

Best of luck

 

[Delta Web]

You may have sorted this now but I am just setting up a web business and launching it by offering free site builds using wordpress to get my services showcased.

Drop me a PM if you want any help

Dan
freewebsiteplease.co.uk

 

[Deleted member 108874]

I second Wordpress and use it on over 15 sites. Just look at all the excellent themes on Themeforest to get an idea of what's possible.

 

[Deleted member 108874]

You may have sorted this now but I am just setting up a web business and launching it by offering free site builds using wordpress to get my services showcased.

Drop me a PM if you want any help

Dan
freewebsiteplease.co.uk

Wow, I'd really recommend you don't give away your time like that. At least get launch clients to pay something, otherwise they won't respect your time. If all you are after is a portfolio, take some paid work from Fiverr or 99Designs

 

[Delta Web]

The only reason I am able to do it for free is because the hosting company I recommend covers my costs so I can still eat I also offer upgrades to the services I offer that some clients may take. The full step by step is on freewebsiteplease.co.uk

cheers

 

[DesignerNick]

You can win a free site built from scratch without using a template by clicking the link in my signature

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Wow, I'd really recommend you don't give away your time like that. At least get launch clients to pay something, otherwise they won't respect your time. If all you are after is a portfolio, take some paid work from Fiverr or 99Designs

The links he posts are affiliate links with GoDaddy and HostGator (who by the way would be a terrible idea if you/your site is UK based), so that's how he makes his money.
They're pretty standard themes, and would probably take under an hour to knock out a site like that.

A good wordpress theme to use is the Weaver theme. It's a theme of themes, with a lot of customisation options that don't require you to delve into theme code editing to get a unique look. Best of all it's free. Again, I have experience using it so am happy.

Wordpress's theme preview and ratings make it quite easy to locate a good theme that will fit your needs.

 

[websoup]

Do you still need your website designed? I just signed up to this forum so I could send you this message. I am a web designer and currently need to build my portfolio. I am willing to make you a website for FREE. Professionally designed and not a template. Built to order and I would work very closely with you. This will not be built using WordPress and will be a website built from scratch.

There is no catch, I simply need to build my portfolio. The only thing you will need to pay for is hosting and a domain name which you have already done. No need to transfer your domain etc, I can upload your website directly to your host.

My design will be optimised for the search engines and you will be able to check on your design from your location before it goes live and during the construction progress.

You wont get a better offer So let me know if I can help you.

Many thanks,

Andrew

 

[Deleted member 108874]

Designed from scratch? Not Wordpress? Seriously I do not see the point nowadays in NOT using Wordpress/similar. If you give a client a non CMS managed site you give them something they can't update or manage.

 

[Delta Web]

Agreed... If the site is not built in wordpress or similar then the site owner has to come back to you for every little amend, fix, update and is stuck on whatever you want to charge. Unless its free lifetime updates?

 

[DesignerNick]

Agreed... If the site is not built in wordpress or similar then the site owner has to come back to you for every little amend, fix, update and is stuck on whatever you want to charge. Unless its free lifetime updates?

That isn't strictly true.

Any decent developer can pick up somebody elses work (especially for a basic CMS) and see how it works.

I have picked up about 4 or 5 CMS's that are bespoke and they are a breeze to work with.

Sometimes Wordpress doesn't do what the client wants, or it simply over complicates things.

 

[Delta Web]

That makes sense. I guess it depends on the client. Do they want to be able to update it etc... without learning html.

 

[JamesM]

Wordpress gets my vote too... can't really beat it.

Easy to use, easy to theme, easy to SEO, easy to upgrade, easy to create custom plugins.

 

[mobyme]

Have a look at this site I recently completed for a client of mine. http://goo.gl/8Es4e it's powered by wordpress, but I think you'll agree it doesn't look like a blog.

Sorry, but still looks pretty much like a blog masquerading as a website to me.

 

[Harvest]

All - thanks for your help, I'm having a look at wordpress now as that seems like the consensus for a good tool

Websoup - I can't see your contact details but have just sent you a contact request, maybe that will help..

 

[Jonathanus]

I second Wordpress and use it on over 15 sites. Just look at all the excellent themes on Themeforest to get an idea of what's possible.