DIY website building

Anchorhandler · 12 March 2012, 12:35

Hi all

Just looking for some advice about building my own website....

I need to build a site to advertise my own company and was thinking about doing it myself.... Quite some time ago (about 10 years

) i played around with a software package called 'dreamweaver' and managed a few simple sites.

Im aware that things have moved on considerably since those days and was wondering what the best route to take would be.

Do I

Buy a simple/cheap website building software package and spend time learning how to use it but eventually finish up with a better quality site or..

Do I use one of these on-line company's that offer web building (Moonfruit.com etc..)

If i go the route of buying some software, any recomendations?

Any other options available apart from the two listed above?

We use Windows 7 on our PC's and the site will be hosted by a French company.

Thanks

Simon

SPR · 12 March 2012, 12:45

look at Joomla or Wordpress - both easy used and are free, once set up.

www.stirlingcruise.org.uk is Wordpress rattled up in an hour !

www.eesc.org.uk is Joomla with alot of free plugins...

regards

Dry Run · 12 March 2012, 14:22

Hi,

I think building you own website is a great idea - providing you know what you are doing.

There rae free website design packages, but in my experience they are not compatible with "search engine optimization" - in other words, getting found on a Google search.

There is no point in having a site if no one can find it on a google search!

There is no point in being found on Google if you website doesn't convert that "hit" into something more concrete (an enquiry, a sale, etc.).

So you need a well designed site, a Google friendly CMS (content management system) and some training to allow you to build and correctly SEO your site.

In my experience that would cost about £350 + vat.

Please feel free to PM me if you would like any help.

Good Luck

Steve

Anchorhandler · 12 March 2012, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dry Run

Hi,

I think building you own website is a great idea - providing you know what you are doing.

There rae free website design packages, but in my experience they are not compatible with "search engine optimization" - in other words, getting found on a Google search.

There is no point in having a site if no one can find it on a google search!

There is no point in being found on Google if you website doesn't convert that "hit" into something more concrete (an enquiry, a sale, etc.).

So you need a well designed site, a Google friendly CMS (content management system) and some training to allow you to build and correctly SEO your site.

In my experience that would cost about £350 + vat.

Please feel free to PM me if you would like any help.

Good Luck

Steve

Thanks Steve, appreciate the advice...Cant argue with your logic either.

I had a site built for me a few years back for another business but found it a bit awkward dealing with the company building the site...it involved an awful lot of email communication back and forward with pictures etc...trying to get the pages as i wanted them. This is why i was tempted to do it myself this time.

I think i'l have a go using one of the free sites as per SPR's post and see how they turn out? Most seem to be free so nothing lost if in its not up to scratch.

I can always refert back to a company if im not happy with it.

Thanks again

Simon

Poly · 12 March 2012, 21:13

Simon,

I've used both Wordpress and Joomla. Joomla is probably the more powerful of the two but is harder for a complete novice to find their way round. Wordpress has a lot going for it will be absolutely capable of almost anything you can think of (through plug ins / add ons) but my current preference for total novices is actually Concrete5 (another free package).

There are free templates around for all of these. Paying £20-50 will get you something really impressive or if you have a clear view in your mind what you want - it can be built for you at a cost - if you don't want to delve into that level of development.

You can get hosting on a site supplied with Wordpress or Concrete5 built in for less than £30 a year. If you NEED to host in france then probably look at getting those on your server - but otherwise someone like Cloudnext will give you everything you need.

Both Wordpress and Concrete5 (and Joomla) will give you SEO friendly sites with little effort. However the key to successful SEO is not the package you build in - it is the content (and inbound links). And the magic about SEO is knowing what your potential customers might be searching for, not what you assume they type in!

I'd avoid the "on line site builders", but if you want a free instant site then "Google Sites" would probably tick most basic requirements at no cost.

rigi36 · 12 March 2012, 23:04

I have a lot of experiece with wordpress and it's simple.

Install it on your host.

Pick a free theme and upload/install that.

Modifications/alterations to the free theme can be taken from there.

Log in to wordpress.

Set up menus and pages and you're there.

benc · 13 March 2012, 01:04

Simon

If you like, I can set you up a wordpress and a joomla site for you to have a play around with and see if you can get on with either of them.

I used to use joomla a fair bit - but found it a bit complicated to set it up the way a customer would want to maintain it - have used wordpress quite a bit lately with good success.

Feel free to PM me for my number and we can discuss if you like.

Regards

Ben

Zippy · 13 March 2012, 08:53

dont know how complicated you want your website but i put together a site last year when selling the rib using the standard software on my Macbook.

very easy to get a good looking website with photos, video, contacts etc etc. (all the sorts of things i needed to sell the rib).

Took be about 3 hours from start to finish. total cost was nill as a friend hosted it on his server but dont suppose this would be too expensive if you are buying the domain name. when we sold the boat we took the website down so cant link it to you.

Having just gone through this exercise with our company website, i can fully understand why you want to stay away from relying on someone else to look after it for you

longjohn · 13 March 2012, 10:26

If you want it all done for you then hows about this:

Business website needed? Create a small business website with 1&1

Anchorhandler · 13 March 2012, 13:03

Wow, information overload with all this, wasn't expecting so much good advice....

Im at work at mo' but will digest it all and reply a bit later on.....

Thanks though, all advice greatly appreciated.

Simon

Trailer Guy · 13 March 2012, 14:45

Built mine myself, on Mr.Site

Costs me about £30 a year, for them to host it etc.

I'd never built one before and have to admit I'm more of a spanners and hammers chap, but I don't think it's too bad for an amateur!

www.compasstrailers.com

Trailer Guy · 13 March 2012, 19:46

Having said that, the title page has just bu88ered up!

SPR · 13 March 2012, 22:51

just in concrete 5 looks very friendly compared to Joomla and more website than Wordpress.

Time to play with it! Thanks Polwart never heard of that one!

longjohn · 14 March 2012, 01:20

You might also try this for something very easy and free!
Weebly - Create a free website and a free blog