Where to start with a website

[ssparry]

Going round in circles!

Looking at getting a simple website, a few pages - about, contact, maybe a gallery. How do I find someone to do this? There are so many around, looking at getting someone local. Got a budget of around £300, but as I said so many to chose from, how do you pick one?

 

[fisicx]

Talk to people. Ask local people who built their website and if it brings in any business. It's this second bit that is more important, no point in having a great looking website if it doesn't earn its keep. Avoid those people who promise great looking websites and focus on those who want to help make you richer. Making a site look good is the easy bit, it's everything else that often gets forgotten.

However....

If you just want a simple site with a gallery you can get WordPress for free. Pay for a bit of hosting and a $50 theme and you can be up and running by the weekend saving yourself most of the £300.

 

[GOSW]

Hi, i know how to build websites, and i would say do it yourself!!

I use wordpress, and only pay a bit of money on themes, hosting etc

If you want some extra help PM me, im always happy to share my knowledge

 

[Steve0077]

Are there also any dos and don'ts about registering a domain name? If you have no intention to develop the website just yet is simply registering the domain name on something like GoDaddy advisable?

 

[RakeMark]

Have a look at the hourlies section on PeoplePerhour.com. For low budget projects this is a good place to go. Alternatively you can just buy some hosting for about £5 to £10 per month, buy a WordPress theme and then edit it.

It comes down to time and skill vs money. If you can do some of the work yourself and don't mind spending your time looking for help on WordPress then you can get your site up and running within your budget.

Good Luck
Phil

 

[HazelC]

geekdesigns.uk created my website and they have a profile of the websites they do. They do 3-5 paged website for £300-£350 so may be worth chatting to them?

They did a great job on my website and I would highly recommend them - if you speak to them mention I recommended them (please)

 

[GOSW]

Oh, just thought, you could always use create.net they are very good cost about 2.99 pm and you sort of build it yourself but using there editors. Its very easy, if you know how to use Microsoft word you can use create.net

Any domain that is available can be purchased and kept without having a website allocated to it, just make sure its what you want and not too long

 

[fisicx]

... do 3-5 paged website for £300-£350...

@HazelC Why is the cost dependent on the number of pages? Using a CMS like WordPress you can have as many pages as you want. For free.

 

[HBR_Business_Consultants]

Use the website builder that Go Daddy provide, it is very user friendly.<Removed by Mod>

Richard Hall
Director
HBR Business Consultants Ltd

 

[EUWindowsHost]

If you are new in website, you can use Wordpress to build your site. It is really easy to use, great plugins that help you to manage your site easily. We also offer wordpress hosting to our clients.

 

[JackJackson]

Going round in circles!

Looking at getting a simple website, a few pages - about, contact, maybe a gallery. How do I find someone to do this? There are so many around, looking at getting someone local. Got a budget of around £300, but as I said so many to chose from, how do you pick one?

Here is how you should approach it....

1) Define the objective of your website

• How is it going to help you?
• What do you want to achieve with it?
• What is it supposed to do ?
• Who is it for?

2) Depending on the website's main objective (sell? inform? get more leads? get more queries about your services from clients? etc.), then you can start planning on how to achieve that objective. And to do so....

3) You need to know:

• Your prospects (ideal clients)
• Your competition

Home page --> your shop window -- its role it to get the visitor (your prospects) to chat him up, start discussion and get him to know more.

Service(s) / Offer page --> honest and logical description of what the prospect can gain by using your service.

About page --> It is a must. It should explain who you are and why your prospect should choose you. Ideally, on this page you should come up with a story that connects with a narrative that matters to your prospective client.

Contact page --> Exact details on how the prospect can contact you. Make contacting you as easy as possible. No boring credit-card-like forms.

4) Which platform to choose?

Almost 50% of top 100 blogs / websites successful world-wide are based on Wordpress. It's easy to use (you can edit it like a text doc) and Google friendly.

5) What to focus on?

Don't get into sexy things too much. Your main focus should be:

• easy to read
• easy to use
• easy to find information
• it should be for the user -- not for you.

6) Domain

Make sure you purchase the domain separately and make sure you own it -- not your web designer or hosting provider.

7) Once your website it up and running, focus on creating leads and promotion. Your website should not just sit on the internet, do nothing and wait for a miraculous visitor. Having a website is 1% of your success -- 99% is how you promote it and how much you can get back in return. Having a website that nobody visits is like having a restaurant where nobody eats -- no point of running it.

Good luck!
Jacek