Want to set up a website and need advice

[simplymel 10]

hi im wanting to set up a website so that i can sell my handmade cards online. not really got a clue where to start, any advice would be brilliant thank you!!!!

[Gembalina 10]

vista print do a basic site for £2.99 a month

 

you can choose from their designs or make your own

 

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[Love2print 10]

Are you wanting to set the website up yourself? Or looking to pay someone else do it? If it is the latter then there are plenty of web designers on this forum or you can use google to find lots more.

 

Maybe you could give a bit more information on what you are wanting to know? If you can tell us a bit about your business that might help.

[sophiec1979 10]

my website is hosted by moonfruit and i designed it (with a bit of help from a friend who had used the site before)

 

the hosting is free, but the domain names have obviously been purchased.

 

my mums site is different, she bought a package from mr.site which includes the hosting costs over a year. there are e-commerce packages available from them also so if you click on the link on the bottom of her site it will take you to their page.

 

i would love to have had a bespoke site built, but my budget just simply doesnt stretch to it.

 

 

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[steveroberts 10]

Depends what the site is for. Is it simply to support other marketing activities (i.e. an online brochure) or do you want to find customers via the Web?

 

If the latter, you need a professional web design and SEO company to help you out (unless you know what you are doing yourself)...a word of warning though...greeting cards is the second largest market (by volume) after flowers in retail (I know...I used to have agreetings card business) which means big big competition for those elusive top 10 rankings in Google (and the likely cost of any pay per click campaign you might have in mind)...and as your cards are hand made, I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be uneconomic for you to do.

 

Good luck...its a tough market you're in

[sophiec1979 10]

based on steveroberts's comments....what about trying folksy to test the market online first?

 

ive already started a thread about folksy in the craft section and if you want more info about it, click the link in my signature and head the FAQ section.

 

so far ive found it easy to set up and useful to guage interest,

 

best of luck,

 

 

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[Provesta 10]

We've taken to using Google Sites which enables you to get up and running very quickly with templates and lots of versatility. The bonus is that it is free.

 

It isn't for everybody but if you can't afford or don't want a web designer then it is pretty effective and as your confidence builds you can make it do some interesting things if you want to get under the hood.

 

It is also useful if you DO want a web designer but want to play with a few ideas for the structure of the site and the content of the pages. A designer can then use that to help them get to a solution faster, making their life easier and saving you a few pounds too.

 

Whether you think that Google ensures that they index their own sites is for you to cogitate on.

[indizine 10]

The free options are OK if your last option is that you have no budget for a website however, there are other options that can be free (if you know how to set them up with a little technical knowledge) or cheap to set up if you pay someone.

 

The problem with the free sites is they are hosted on the providers own domain so you would have a sub domainsomething like http://www.mywebsite.moonfruit.com and if you ever reach a point where you do want your own website, you will be starting from scratch with a new domain name and have to build up your PR/link value from your new domain all over again. So even on a tight budget you can find a low cost solution that allows you to host your website on your own domain name on your own hosting space.

[damo 10]

The free options are OK if your last option is that you have no budget for a website however, there are other options that can be free (if you know how to set them up with a little technical knowledge) or cheap to set up if you pay someone.

 

The problem with the free sites is they are hosted on the providers own domain so you would have a sub domainsomething like http://www.mywebsite.moonfruit.com and if you ever reach a point where you do want your own website, you will be starting from scratch with a new domain name and have to build up your PR/link value from your new domain all over again. So even on a tight budget you can find a low cost solution that allows you to host your website on your own domain name on your own hosting space.

 

You can always get your own domain from the start? and most free website builders allow you to transfer the code to another site

[sophiec1979 10]

You can always get your own domain from the start? and most free website builders allow you to transfer the code to another site

 

this is true...and what ive done.

 

 

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[Provesta 10]

Absolutely and we've assisted a few other people to get themselves up and running using Google Sites who are using their own domain, http://www.coteriegallery.co.uk who I believe are also members on SF now. You could ask them what they think as their website is 100% Google sites and they are definitely not web designers but it suited their needs.

 

I wouldn't dream of taking business from some of the great web designers we have in Sheffield but as I said in the earlier post not everyone wants to can afford a bespoke solution to begin with so it's an option for those people. One of the big problems that most small business has is that they can't afford to pay designers every time they need to change something so they need a CSM system which adds cost and limits flexibility.

 

Options like Google Sites and Wordpress can produce good results but with all of the template formats I do think that you have to be disciplined with what you want and need to understand the limits of the technology to get the best results.

 

Could any of the pro's suggest what price point gets an effective simple site? I tend to think that any budget less than £500 might as well be done using a template solution. Thoughts?

[sophiec1979 10]

One of the big problems that most small business has is that they can't afford to pay designers every time they need to change something so they need a CSM system which adds cost and limits flexibility.

 

this is precisely why i wanted to be able to manage my own site.

 

i have spent my budget on a contact who is a freelance SEO specialist...what he has achieved in 3 hours would have taken me 3 weeks and the difference he has made to my web traffic in this time is astounding!

 

 

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