I need lots of websites.

[S-Marketing]

Right, first off, this is not in the tenders section for a reason. No pm's offering your services please, at this stage.

As some of you may know if you read any of my ramblings on here I am a marketing and business development consultant for any business offering a service or trade.

I also offer a service whereby I teach service and trade business owners how to market their own businesses. This is becoming increasingly popular and I now need to do some research into having websites made to target specific markets to advertise this service. The way I have chosen to do this is to design and build between 5 and 10 sites, and log the interest and conversion rates.

I dont need anyone to tell me if this is a good idea, or if I should be doing it another way (i'm a qualified and experienced marketing consultant and market researcher), what I do need is advice on how to achieve it.

I currently have a very good designer lined up to design and build me a site from scratch which will be the long term plan, but was wondering if the way to get a few sites up would be to use Wordpress or similar. I had a member on here put a couple of themes onto some hosting for me a while ago thinking I would have time to sort them out myself, but I don't.

So, what's the most cost effective way of getting between 5 and 10 sites done, that will look reasonably professional, while at the same time not needing me to learn any new skills.

 

[fisicx]

One site.

Breadth and depth all in one place.

And even if you do get someone to bung a WP site together you will still have to maintain the thing. Fire and forget isn't an option as you will have no idea until you launch if the site is even going to work.

 

[MancunianCreative]

If you go down the template route, Joomla and Wordpress, mainly you can choose a corporate looking template (with a few changeable colours/layouts) have them installed professionally pretty cheaply and then manage and maintain yourself. I reckon you'd get that done, with the right template for £75-100 per site.

 

[Faevilangel]

Right, first off, this is not in the tenders section for a reason. No pm's offering your services please, at this stage.

As some of you may know if you read any of my ramblings on here I am a marketing and business development consultant for any business offering a service or trade.

I also offer a service whereby I teach service and trade business owners how to market their own businesses. This is becoming increasingly popular and I now need to do some research into having websites made to target specific markets to advertise this service. The way I have chosen to do this is to design and build between 5 and 10 sites, and log the interest and conversion rates.

I dont need anyone to tell me if this is a good idea, or if I should be doing it another way (i'm a qualified and experienced marketing consultant and market researcher), what I do need is advice on how to achieve it.

I currently have a very good designer lined up to design and build me a site from scratch which will be the long term plan, but was wondering if the way to get a few sites up would be to use Wordpress or similar. I had a member on here put a couple of themes onto some hosting for me a while ago thinking I would have time to sort them out myself, but I don't.

So, what's the most cost effective way of getting between 5 and 10 sites done, that will look reasonably professional, while at the same time not needing me to learn any new skills.

WordPress multi-site. unlimited WP installs on one "master" WP site. Each site has it's own admin panel or you can login as admin and edit all of them. Each has own templates etc.

Cost? 1 WordPress template and someone to set up WPMU (Multi-user). It can be as cheap or as expensive as you need.

 

[S-Marketing]

WordPress multi-site. unlimited WP installs on one "master" WP site. Each site has it's own admin panel or you can login as admin and edit all of them. Each has own templates etc.

Cost? 1 WordPress template and someone to set up WPMU (Multi-user). It can be as cheap or as expensive as you need.

Now that sounds interesting. Any more info you have on that would be great.

Im perfectly capable of editing text and images etc on a cms site to keep it up to date. It's the original set up and theme modification that is struggle with.

 

[WPsites]

The default WordPress twentyeleven theme can be turned into a pretty decent looking business website.

With twentyeleven you can

• modify the header image from the admin
• it's responsive so resizes to a size that works well on mobiles
• if you have lots of pages, providing they are structured with the correct hierarchy you'll have drop down menus in the navigation
• it's pretty search engine friendly (especially if you install all-in-one-seo or similar)

You could even get someone to come up with a variation on that theme keeping the same features/flexibility yet adding things like the facility to change background image from the admin panel, change the colour scheme, even things like turning off rounded edges of certain elements. Obviously all that extra stuff will cost initially but then you would end up with something pretty flexible.

Here is a twentyeleven variation I did earlier.

If you combine that with a multisite enabled WordPress install you'll have the flexibility to create as many sites as you need, giving each it's own URL, content and style without getting any developer involved. Plus you only have a single WordPress install to keep updated.

 

[She Says]

I can recommend themes by http://mysitemyway.com/ I bought the awake theme and the forum is very helpful if you get stuck or have questions. I think they look professional, have good colour options and lots of ways to personalise your wordpress site easily.

I haven't finished my website yet otherwise I'd show you!

 

[jhardy2008]

use same template in all sites with different color and theme.

 

[S-Marketing]

I can recommend themes by http://mysitemyway.com/ I bought the awake theme and the forum is very helpful if you get stuck or have questions. I think they look professional, have good colour options and lots of ways to personalise your wordpress site easily.

I haven't finished my website yet otherwise I'd show you!

Thanks for that, those templates do look quite good, although I cant seem to see the one you said you were using.

I have been told by a colleague, who's opinion I value, that if using Wordpress I should get someone who knows what they are doing to 'cleanse' the code so it is not obvious to hackers or spammers that its not a Wordpress site. True or False?

Thanks guys (and girls)

 

[Faevilangel]

Thanks for that, those templates do look quite good, although I cant seem to see the one you said you were using.

I have been told by a colleague, who's opinion I value, that if using Wordpress I should get someone who knows what they are doing to 'cleanse' the code so it is not obvious to hackers or spammers that its not a Wordpress site. True or False?

Thanks guys (and girls)

Kinda true... Spammers will search for certain variables within WP to try and get access to the site e.g. they will go to domain.co,.uk/admin and try and guess the admin login, they will look in the core code to see if the site is running an old version of wp,and then try to hack the site using known conflicts / bugs.

Using some code available on the wordpress site, you can try and hide the existence of WP on a site e.g. hide the version #, redirect /admin/ to /panel and remove the wordpress logo from the login form.

Personally I don't do this unless asked, as long as WP is kept upto date and you have the right settings, and the right server, then you are not likely to get hacked.

 

[S-Marketing]

Kinda true... Spammers will search for certain variables within WP to try and get access to the site e.g. they will go to domain.co,.uk/admin and try and guess the admin login, they will look in the core code to see if the site is running an old version of wp,and then try to hack the site using known conflicts / bugs.

Using some code available on the wordpress site, you can try and hide the existence of WP on a site e.g. hide the version #, redirect /admin/ to /panel and remove the wordpress logo from the login form.

Personally I don't do this unless asked, as long as WP is kept upto date and you have the right settings, and the right server, then you are not likely to get hacked.

Nice one. I think I get your point, although I didn't actually understand much of what you said.

Do you have any more info about the multiple site installs you mentioned yesterday. I would be happy to receive a pm from you regarding price etc.

 

[Faevilangel]

This site gives a basic run through of what multi-site is... It did used to be a separate wordpress install but now it's built into WP 3.0 so you just need to enable it.

Cost wise, it would depend on what things you would like done e.g. installation, set up, domain mapping, theme installation, custom theme creation etc.

 

[gezzagregz]

One site.

Breadth and depth all in one place.

And even if you do get someone to bung a WP site together you will still have to maintain the thing. Fire and forget isn't an option as you will have no idea until you launch if the site is even going to work.

Follow this advice. Do not waste time making 5-10 seperate websites

 

[S-Marketing]

Follow this advice. Do not waste time making 5-10 seperate websites

I did mention in my original post that I do actually know what i'm doing, I just need assistance as I know nothing about the technicalities. Having the separate sites is the best thing for me to do, but thanks for your input.

I know Fisicx advice is good, and usually I would agree with what he said. However, on this occasion I am going to ignore it and give my idea a go.

 

[Lynne Ivatt]

Hi

Another alternative to WordPress MU is to get one site done to how you want it. This really isn't difficult it's just a matter of loading some plugins and a theme if you don't want Twenty Eleven (which is pretty good BTW as stated)

As far as security goes you absolutely need to add in a couple of plugins that will help you I use WP Secure Wordpress, Login Lockdown and I do a couple of tweaks to my .htaccess. Takes a few minutes.

Hacking is a very real problem I was bombarded last week by a brute force discovery program. They didn't get access

Then once you have your first site as you want it use a cloner like WPTwin or get someone who has a cloner to copy the site to your other 9. That takes a few mnutes per site Good for full backups too.

Then if you want the new sites different just tweak the bits that you want to change, even the theme.

That's it less than a days work

Thanks
Lynne

 

[GortonBorn]

What she said!

Hi

Another alternative to WordPress MU is to get one site done to how you want it. This really isn't difficult it's just a matter of loading some plugins and a theme if you don't want Twenty Eleven (which is pretty good BTW as stated)

As far as security goes you absolutely need to add in a couple of plugins that will help you I use WP Secure Wordpress, Login Lockdown and I do a couple of tweaks to my .htaccess. Takes a few minutes.

Hacking is a very real problem I was bombarded last week by a brute force discovery program. They didn't get access

Then once you have your first site as you want it use a cloner like WPTwin or get someone who has a cloner to copy the site to your other 9. That takes a few mnutes per site Good for full backups too.

Then if you want the new sites different just tweak the bits that you want to change, even the theme.

That's it less than a days work

Thanks
Lynne

 

[S-Marketing]

Hi

Another alternative to WordPress MU is to get one site done to how you want it. This really isn't difficult it's just a matter of loading some plugins and a theme if you don't want Twenty Eleven (which is pretty good BTW as stated)

As far as security goes you absolutely need to add in a couple of plugins that will help you I use WP Secure Wordpress, Login Lockdown and I do a couple of tweaks to my .htaccess. Takes a few minutes.

Hacking is a very real problem I was bombarded last week by a brute force discovery program. They didn't get access

Then once you have your first site as you want it use a cloner like WPTwin or get someone who has a cloner to copy the site to your other 9. That takes a few mnutes per site Good for full backups too.

Then if you want the new sites different just tweak the bits that you want to change, even the theme.

That's it less than a days work

Thanks
Lynne

Hi Lynne,

Thanks for the info. It may be a days work for you, but it certainly wouldn't be for me.:redface:

What I really need I suppose is one site set up properly with all plug-ins and anything else I might need adjusted so all I need to do is learn how to use the basic CMS functions to add text etc. Once that was done I think i'd be on my way.

How much is that going to cost me?

 

[Lynne Ivatt]

It shouldn't be too bad cost wise.

If you would like me to help you just drop me a pm, I would need to ask a couple of questions and then give you price.

No worries either way

 

[fisicx]

What do you wanna know, exactly?

Read the thread you numpty

 

[S-Marketing]

Read the thread you numpty

Thanks mate, saved me typing it.

 

[S-Marketing]

It shouldn't be too bad cost wise.

If you would like me to help you just drop me a pm, I would need to ask a couple of questions and then give you price.

No worries either way

Lynne,

I sent you a pm and then looked at your site.

Ill be honest, it doesn't inspire confidence. Your contact page doesn't work, the layout has gone a bit wrong in certain areas, you have no contact details on the site and all your prices are in Dollars. Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong, but I wouldn't say its the site of a web 'expert'.

 

[WPsites]

Your contact page doesn't work, the layout has gone a bit wrong in certain areas, you have no contact details on the site and all your prices are in Dollars. Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong, but I wouldn't say its the site of a web 'expert'.

Looks more like a squeeze page than a webpage selling the services of a WordPress expert for hire.

 

[S-Marketing]

Looks more like a squeeze page than a webpage selling the services of a WordPress expert for hire.

Thanks, I have never heard that phrase before.

 

[Lynne Ivatt]

Ouch!

This site is aimed at the American market that is why it's in dollars alot of the members are Internet Marketers from around the world so they are used to paying in dollars

The layout, what browser are you using it's fine for us in tests on FF, Chrome and IE Explorer

Now there is a glitch on the Contact Us I will give you that it will be fixed in a jiffy it was fine when originally set up and last tested, can't say I check it that often!

Thanks for point out your concerns

Lynne

 

[Lynne Ivatt]

Thanks, I have never heard that phrase before.

It isn't intended to have anything to do with offering you services I didn't have it in my signature. That is just a training site.

Also it isn't a squeeze page that is something that captures email addresses.

It's a sales page for that service nothing to do with anything else I was talking about here guys

Thanks
Lynne

 

[WPsites]

Just saying when you first look at it, it looks more like a squeeze page than a website selling services of a WordPress professional.

 

[ChrisAITY]

I don't think theres anything wrong with your website, but it does look like one of those sites you'd expect to see advertising 'loss 10 stone in 2 months' or 'gain abs in just 2 weeks or your money back' that sort of scheme......

 

[Lynne Ivatt]

Just saying when you first look at it, it looks more like a squeeze page than a website selling services of a WordPress professional.

Hi

No problem as I said I wasn't and don't actively sell web design I wasn't linking to the training site that I have at all as you will see. I don't have it, nor have ever had it in my signature.

I only joined a few days ago and popped the name in my profile, which is why there is confusion I guess.

I know it's easy not to trust people online and for good reason been there done that for 10 years

Thanks
Lynne

 

[Lynne Ivatt]

I don't think theres anything wrong with your website, but it does look like one of those sites you'd expect to see advertising 'loss 10 stone in 2 months' or 'gain abs in just 2 weeks or your money back' that sort of scheme......

Yup, that is what our main market for this, the American market are used to.

It's an interesting insight into how things are perceived across the pond here in the UK

If we ever offer training here the site would need to be very different

Thanks

Lynne