setting up a web site

[macky12345]

I require some assistance in setting up a web site i belive it is free to do this

but not sure how to go about it?

[TWD-Tony]

As with most things is life... You get what you pay for...

Let's have a look and see what you need and look at the free vs paid options:

Design:

FREE - You can use many of the available online site creation software's that are available, you will have to use their included "templates" and just put your own text in... These site's are quite often badly coded, ignored by the search engines and offer little value in terms of customer (visitor) satisfaction - in other words they look like template websites!

PAID - You hire a designer to design your website, some are cheap and some are not so cheap... Again you get what you pay for generally BUT there are some good cheap designers out there. You don't have to spend thousands on a website but you should budget for a few hundred.

Hosting:

FREE - You will probably have to show advertisements on your website that the host forces on you, you will have no control over these adverts... If your site get's popular you then face your website being "pulled" for over using the little resources that the free host's give away. You are unlikely to get things like business email and the hosting can go down frequently without warning and without comeback for the host. You may also get a stupid domain name like yourwebsite.freewebhosting.com which looks totally pants.

PAID - You will not have anything on your website that you don't want, you will be in full control and you will get all the "bell's 'n whistles" like email, detailed stats and the ability to use scripts. (blogs, forums etc which free host's don't usually allow)

Domain Registration.

FREE - I don't know of many people that give away domain names, and if they do you can bet your life that you don't actually own the domain name - it is just registered on your behalf... Not a good position to be in.

PAID - Domain names are peanuts these days (less than £10 per year) and you should at the very least get your own.


At the end of the day, if you want a site for your business then I would budget for at least £400 all in - I have done projects before on that kind of budget for startup businesses.

[JustOneUK]

You can get a free site at moonfruit.com I believe, or even go and get a free blog from blogger.com... but as mentioned, if you want to be taken seriously I'd consider getting a proper (paid for) domain, a little hosting package and someone to make you a site.

regards
James.

[macky12345]

Thanks so much for the clarity - Want to have the best site i can have and not cut any corners again thanks........

[macky12345]

Thanks again for the clarity ...... Corner cutting is not my forte , I want to have the best site i can have for the line of buisness i intend focusing on and potentially one that would make me proud !

[fisicx]

All good advice but before you start spending money think carefully about why you want a website. Do you want to sell something? Are you providing a service? Is it an information site? Who are your potential customers? What do you want the website to achieve?

For example, if you want to sell widgets you may need an online shop. But if all of your widgets are bespoke what you actually want is for people to get in contact. If your widgets are for teenages then you need a whizzy site. If your widgets are for reps then you need a wap enabled site. If you want to be the widget expert maybe a blog would be more suitable.

The last think you need to worry about is the actual website. Decide what it is you want to acheive and start writng content. Don't even think about colours layouts, images, fonts, navigation and so on until you know what it is you want to publish.

[OldWelshGuy]

Good advice so far. you should decide NOW the absolute reason for your website, AND where it fits into your business model AND how it can improve your business model AND if it can save you money by collecting/delivering information, AND where it 'might' go in the future to ensure you plan for it and avoid any costly mistakes.

A few hours of time now could save you hundreds of hours of suffering later.

[macky12345]

Thankyou all very very much for the advice - I think no....... i know now what my options are

Best Regards

[CanzDesign]

TWD Tony, thats extremely good advice.... couldn't have said it myself.

[majmes2412]

Hi,

You can do it for free if you're very technically able but other wise you'll need some help.

Have you got a domain name yet? I have a conatct that specialising in obtaining cracking domain names at a really good price.

Marie