New business, website advice

[Oakley Domestic Services]

Hi all

I'm about to start a small cleaning business. I was going to do a free website (moonfruit etc) but reading through other threads people recommended against it.

Can someone tell me what I need to do to get a basic website up and running? I have created a website before on webs.com but know nothing about doing a website with one of the pay monthly/yearly ones, that apparently everyone thinks gives a better image. I am on a very tight budget but would prefer to look professional than amateur with adverts popping up etc! A complete package would be great, eg website builder software, domain name, hosting all in one. At least I think that's what I need!!!

All advice greatly appreciated, and if you can recommend a good one for a tight budget, even better!

 

[Faevilangel]

For tight budgers, WordPress will be more than adequate.

You will need a domain (around £8 for 2 years), and some hosting (from £15 per year from a UK host).

Install WordPress (there are one-click installs in some hosts) and then you can add any of the 1000+ free themes with unlimited pages and edit the colours etc as you wish.

 

[Bright-Future]

Agreed with the above, Wordpress is perfect for those who simply need a website for a small, localised business.

If you are going to create a website you should do a bit of research into SEO as, while your website will be on the net and no matter how good it looks, if the site is not search engine optimized then chances are it will get lost amongst all the other millions of sites.

There are simple steps to SEO and some more technical aspects that could move you up to the next level but it does take time and a bit of reading. There's plenty of blogs out there that can help, though.

 

[ChalkyJim]

I dont flaff around like that ..

I rent mine £ 6 a week including 2 videos and 20 pages .. domain hosting and they do the seo all in.

Brilliant i do not have to worry in the slightest.

 

[BusyVids]

If you really must do your own due to budget restraints then Wordpress is the way to go.

 

[ChalkyJim]

If you really must do your own due to budget restraints then Wordpress is the way to go.

I tried that wordpressing first , couldnt get to grips with it spent days messing , thats why in the end i went the easy better route , best move i ever did , now i just worry about products and not silly flaffing about.

 

[Remys]

If the business is UK only then only buy a .co.uk domain name.

You only need a very basic hosting service of no more than £5 a month.

Keep the site simple, so use a Wordpress blog with a free template. You can get people to do it for you on the cheap at Fiverr

 

[Alan]

Wordpress is fine if you have a technical eye and enjoy researching and refining your site.

If you totally DIY your own site you need to read up on a range of subjects from SEO through backups through security and go through a learning curve, as you do with any technology.

For people with technical background this can be educational and rewarding, for others it is just faffing around that frustrates them and distracts them from their real goals of managing their business.

 

[Metalfrogboss]

Simply make sure that your offering is clear with good imagery, talk to me through your website, hosting should be reasonably cheap but keep in mind that speed of page load is not only a mid- range search engine ranking factor, but will also affect the usability. Slow sites you don't wait for. If you want to be ranked on Google you need to know all about the top 10 for the keyword or phrase you want to be found on. Remember, your site will be stagnant without good optimisation. 94-96% of all UK Internet users don't go past page 1.
Make me understand, as the viewer, what you want me to do, be transparent about your business and make it simple to contact you.
Hope that helps
Chris

 

[Oakley7]

Before you do anything decide EXACTLY what you want your website for and what it needs to achieve.

This is a fundamental error in deciding what to do and what package to choose. Many people think they need a website but don't know why.

Take stock and write a list.

Is it literally only for a online "presence" with the mimimum of info stating what you do and where you are, or do you need it to be more complicated for things like taking orders etc ?

If you REALLY don't need something then do not put it on your list. Having things "just because it's technically possible" is not a good enough reason.

Be strict and identify key objectives for your website, only then can you decide what you need to build it.

 

[Jolt.co.uk]

Hi all

I'm about to start a small cleaning business. I was going to do a free website (moonfruit etc) but reading through other threads people recommended against it.

Can someone tell me what I need to do to get a basic website up and running? I have created a website before on webs.com but know nothing about doing a website with one of the pay monthly/yearly ones, that apparently everyone thinks gives a better image. I am on a very tight budget but would prefer to look professional than amateur with adverts popping up etc! A complete package would be great, eg website builder software, domain name, hosting all in one. At least I think that's what I need!!!

All advice greatly appreciated, and if you can recommend a good one for a tight budget, even better!

+1 on WordPress. Much better and way more flexible than the website builders in the log run.

There's plenty of free/paid themes around to customise it to your business.

For an all in one type deal, have a look at a special partnership we recently formed - http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10593029.htm

Matt

 

[Oakley7]

Yes you could do it yourself, but the sort package offered by Matt and partners above could be invaluable if you new to something like WordPress. There might be a cost element but the amount saved in time (and time is money) may make it something for consideration.

(An no I'm not on Matts payroll, in fact I'm probably one of his competitors lol !)

 

[StaceyPreedy]

123-reg. It has everything and it costs me 11.99 a month for the builder. pretty much nothing at all for the domain name. £50 a year for hosting and that's it. No adverts either I would completely recommend it.

 

[fisicx]

123-reg. It has everything and it costs me 11.99 a month for the builder. pretty much nothing at all for the domain name. £50 a year for hosting and that's it. No adverts either I would completely recommend it.

Or you pay £50 per year for decent hosting and nothing at all each month.

123-reg is great for registration but pants at everything else.

 

[NextPoint]

Before you do anything decide EXACTLY what you want your website for and what it needs to achieve.

This is a fundamental error in deciding what to do and what package to choose. Many people think they need a website but don't know why.

Take stock and write a list.

Is it literally only for a online "presence" with the mimimum of info stating what you do and where you are, or do you need it to be more complicated for things like taking orders etc ?

If you REALLY don't need something then do not put it on your list. Having things "just because it's technically possible" is not a good enough reason.

Be strict and identify key objectives for your website, only then can you decide what you need to build it.

I agree - this is a topic I've recently wrote about whether startup businesses need a website . You might find starting with a Facebook page and using websites like Gumtree to be better - these already have audiences and the time/cost to getting started is much lower than setting up your own website. That's not to say you'll never need a website, but not necessarily to start with.

 

[transcom]

Many company's include a domain name within a hosting package, and will setup the raw site for you, so you can either just FTP up your content, or use the online application suites to automatically install wordpress if you want to go this way.

Make sure you get a good control panel from your hosting provider so you can add email address's etc.

 

[Danmon]

Hi all

I'm about to start a small cleaning business. I was going to do a free website (moonfruit etc) but reading through other threads people recommended against it.

Can someone tell me what I need to do to get a basic website up and running? I have created a website before on webs.com but know nothing about doing a website with one of the pay monthly/yearly ones, that apparently everyone thinks gives a better image. I am on a very tight budget but would prefer to look professional than amateur with adverts popping up etc! A complete package would be great, eg website builder software, domain name, hosting all in one. At least I think that's what I need!!!

All advice greatly appreciated, and if you can recommend a good one for a tight budget, even better!

If you are have a legitimate business why don't you try and get a free domain name form gbbo.co.uk. Its a Google venture to help businesses go online.

Once you have a domain name you will need hosting. I have built websites for Cleaning companies and its basically around a 10-15 page website. You can add a blog to give it a fresh look if you want.
This should not take a lot of hosting and you can get cheap deals with 1&1, Hostgator or some reliable reseller. I have seen people selling shared hosting as cheap as £3/month.

The most common CMS platform that people use today is Wordpress. Its easy to learn & very flexible.

They also have 100's of predefined themes to choose from. wordpress.org/extend/themes/

 

[JonathanSEO]

Building your own website is a bad idea. It's not going to look good.

You'd be better off spending the time it'd take to cobble together a web presence on finding new cleaning jobs / contracts and then paying someone to do you one professionally when you have the funds.

 

[Alan]

If you are have a legitimate business why don't you try and get a free domain name form gbbo.co.uk. Its a Google venture to help businesses go online.

Once you have a domain name you will need hosting. I have built websites for Cleaning companies and its basically around a 10-15 page website. You can add a blog to give it a fresh look if you want.
This should not take a lot of hosting and you can get cheap deals with 1&1, Hostgator or some reliable reseller. I have seen people selling shared hosting as cheap as £3/month.

The most common CMS platform that people use today is Wordpress. Its easy to learn & very flexible.

They also have 100's of predefined themes to choose from. wordpress.org/extend/themes/

gbbo scheme has ended - but a .co.uk domain only cost about £4 a year so hardly something to influence decisions.

Of course I agree with @JonathanSEO, given that we build and support low cost Wordpress websites, why would you want to learn about building and supporting websites when you could clean a 2 bedroom flat and have enough to pay for a half decent site?

 

[crystalballltd]

If you're in the domestic cleaning market, I'm guessing most of your new business will come from existing customer referrals.

Facebook is ideal for this and as most people in the uk spend a large chunk of their time online inside of Facebook it means you're getting infront of potential new customers more regularly! Plus as your service is no doubt focusses on a fairly small localised market (5-10 mile radius?) Then your target market is probably going be friends and neighbours of the current customers who live in this same area.

Trying to rank a brand new website for domestic cleaning using one of these all in one packages, requires a substantial amount of SEO work and your probably not skilled to do this work yourself (more expense).
Also it takes time and based on the localisation restrictions on your business probably won't provide you with enough output for the effort you'll need to input.

If you decide to take the Facebook route then you need to make sure that you setup a Facebook business page (not a personal account setup to run as your business)

Then start making connections with your current clients and ask them for a referral/recommendation posted to your wall. Their friends will see this activity and if they 'like' your page, they will start to see updates from your business in their feed.

Then it comes down to the type of updates/content you post on your Facebook page.

You probably want to post helpful cleaning tips, pictures of you and happy clients with more of their glowing recommendations, new service updates if you decide to offer services your current clients aren't aware of! Possibly the odd quote on the subjects of having an organised lifestyle.

To gain interactions you might want to pose questions like "What's the cleaning job you dread the most?" "In a toss up which are you: Clean the oven or Clean the shower?"

They can be fun, but what you'll also see is people getting pretty passionate about these types of things and these posts can really take off and get a lot of likes, which means you'll end up getting into more peoples feeds and potentially attract new customers.

If you really need a site with your own URL, for say your business cards. Then take a look at Google Sites