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Web page advice, please...

opieopie subscriber Posts: 15
edited March 2007 in Business Planning
I am now ready to get a web site started, and don`t want to pay several hundreds to have someone design it for me, and have been thinking about doing my own, with one of those website builder companies.   
Here`s what I`m looking for:  I need something very user friendly.  I do not do HTML or anything like that.  I need something where I can have a shopping cart to process credit cards.  I would like many (thousands?) of graphics to choose from.  I would also like it to be reasonably priced.  Am I asking too much, or does something like this actually exist? 
Two that have been recommended to me are Homestead and BlueVoda.  Have any of you used those?  What ones do you suggest?  Thanks!!opie2007-2-23 11:59:30

Comments

  • NancysmithNancysmith subscriber Posts: 4
    Hi, my name is Nancy and you CAN make your website and make it great with Frontpage. Check out mine.
    www.nancysvacationsite.com
     
  • stonesledgestonesledge subscriber Posts: 608 Silver Level Member
    There are plenty of web builder offerings. The problem is that they can look generic and have many limitations. Why don`t you have your site build and use a third party shopping cart so you can control the backend of your store? Your sites image will tell folks about the professionalism of what you do and what you are offering. There are no shorcuts. How about if you are building your own site, use a decent template to get started. It does pay you to have a clean and professional site and the ROI does payoff when using a company to build it for you. DIY sites by someone who knows nothing about html or coding at all can be a mess. What is your site about? What are you selling. Will it be mostly the online store, ecommerce? Then go with a great shopping cart. If it is a content and ecommerce site then I suggest getting it professionally done.
    Erin
  • thomorthomor subscriber Posts: 6
    if your site  really that simple, you can get a copy of Microsoft frontpage and do it yourself. Pretty much what you can do then, is just find a template on the web and edit out the text to fit to your needs. I`ve used homestead before frontpage, and it really doesn`t give you
    any options. With frontpage you can actually make a website that
    actually looks decent.i.e. when I was doing that site, I just googled for templates, and found a 300 mb file with like 1000 different templates, then browsed those until I found a design I liked. As long as you can use word, you`ll be able to make a decent website. It`ll look decent, and the only downside is that it`ll look like crap when someone reads the sourcecode.For graphics you can pretty much just use google image search, or one of those free graphics sites.
  • Wirehead321Wirehead321 subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    Well, creating a website is not a dauting task I teach classes to business owners about building websites that will reflect their business. First layout your site in words you know what you want your website to say. Then look at your website has if you where a customer coming to your site for the first does your site tell in one sentence you what you do and why I should by if it does then move to step three.planning the site. You can use Frontpage, or something like Coffecup editor if you know HTML,or you use templates many of them free or lowcost. You can go the with a company. such as Webmaxstudio. That will get you a site with some help of a webmaster. Far and way the best is you and a professional map out a site that includes design, web maintaince for at least a year, Search Engine Optimazation, and marketing strategies. It`s the most costly and your ROI may not be in real online sales, but you will have a 24/7 rep for your company. Oh by the way I do that type of work. Check our our website www.technocrats.bravepages.com
  • wantonewantone subscriber Posts: 1
    I`ve built 2 and then decided to just hire someone. Your site will require a few components: 1. database, 2. graphic/design, 3. text, 4. shopping cart, 5. security, 6. payment gateway (eg. paypal) 7. maintenance. I decided that my core competence is in the business and procurement aspect not the IT so I dedicated someone to build it. A good source for freelancers is craigslist.org. Go to the section called gigs and in no time you should have a few replies. Good luck!
  • PokermanPokerman subscriber Posts: 5
    Anyone can build a website.... some do it better than others.  Professional web designers can do it for you for not all that much money, but again.... some do it better than others. (remember that anyone with a computer can call themselves a professional web designer)
    If your website is going to be a major portion of your business, I highly suggest that you start out with a very detailed requirements document.  Know exactly what this website needs to do before you start.
    Mock up your site using one of the free content management systems that are available.  You won`t need to know any code and it doesn`t necessarily have to be fully functional but all the elements need to be in place.  You can use this mockup when you approach a professional, if you need to go down that road, and save yourself considerable cash.  You may find that you don"t need a professional after all.  Remember.... if you use a professional you will most likely be tethered to that individual or firm for quite some time to come as they will be your only recourse if you need changes.  Their initial charge is only the beginning so the more you can do yourself the better.
    Have your text and all images that you want to use ready before you farm out the work.  A web designer will then be able to incorporate this into your site with relative ease and it gives them a much better idea of your target market.
    Remember that a web designer and a web developer are two different animals.  The designers deal primarily with look and feel and developers create functionality.
    Good luck with your business.Pokerman2007-3-16 9:50:37
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