+olaggie01 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Hi all I'm starting a consulting business in the next month or so and I need some help with my website. I own the site cdrconsulting.net but need some help getting it hosted etc. I purchased the domain from google and am looking for a simple website to list what my company does, etc. I have created a page on LinkedIn and plan to create on on Twitter as well but I'd like to point clients to my website. Any help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Most of the big domain name registries (Godaddy, etc) have built-in services where you can put together a simple site. My advice would be to dump the twitter (it's a high maintenance medium that requires that you actively "recruit followers". are you potential clients likely twitter users?), and rather maintain something simple on LinkedIn ("Hey this is what we do, if you want to know more check out my website"). A friend of mine is a web designer makes outstanding sites, but isn't cheap (if reefers know anything, it's that quality can be expensive). He's currently the creative director for frontgate tickets. http://heyitshunter.com/ what kind of consulting will you be doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Speaking generally since I don't know exactly what you are looking for, but I would hire someone to make a clean and simple site. I have never found a out of the box software program that is worth anything compared to an actual web designer. Realistically a 1 page site with a contact form on the home page is a good start and shouldn't break the bank. We do this for some of our outside reps and have had good results. For hosting, I would go with something like hostgator or pretty much any non-godaddy setup. I have hosted there in the past, and it's one of those, never again experiences. Some people like them but the restrictions they have on everything make it a burden to try and develop on their servers. If you need any advice or suggestions let me know. I've been programming, designing, and running ecommerce and service sites for about 10 years. I don't really have time for side projects but would be more than happy to give suggestions on anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 yeah, sounds like you should definitely listen to that guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 shoot, for a simple single page, I would load it on personal FTP space and use a dns that offers url masking. Point the domain and all set... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I use SquareSpace for my site (www.emilytannert.com) and it's extremely user-friendly and easy to manipulate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Having never even remotely done anything like building a website, I was able to put this up http://www.fishonguideservices.com . It took about 6 hours to build the basic website as you see it and a couple of hours of tweaking to get Richard happy. I used http://www.bluehost.com and the whole enchilada set me back about $180. That was for the domain name, 3 years of hosting, plus 2 different template lay out design sites with about a total of 300 prebuilt lay outs that you just copy paste until finished. They have their own technical forums and about 200 other tools to completely build a site from ground up if you don't want to use a template. Check out Wix.com for another really nice host/tools/design page. I think your first mistake was buying a domain name and not hosting it at the same place. The all in ones make it so easy. Now you've got to link your domain name to a host. It's not super complicated, just another kink in the pipeline that could sour over time. As in, if something goes down, or a kid hacks it for Anon points, you've got to figure out how to get it back up and what they messed with. Do note, if your site gets hacked, AKA "Kinged", then it is your responsibility to get it fixed. The Host won't help, or at least very little will be done. They look at it like "It's your site, your content, we just host it. You secure it." So at least with the AIO you don't have to worry about which server, or part of the site got hacked. Google around for tips about rankings. It's easy to build a simple site and it''s easy to host. The difficult part is finding it later. The search engines don't find content that is not being ranked. It takes about 2-3 weeks for your site to even creep into Google Land. Blue Host offers free coupons for Google listings and offers discounts to help with getting your site noticed. If all you want is a site linked from a business card or email, then don't worry about the search engines. I did a little to help Richard get his site noticed but his business cards, word of mouth, and free koozies worked much better at getting his ranking up. Do search around for listing tips though as certain things matter more than others such as "key words" being within the first 25 words on the site. You link those key words with your online description and the crawlers will find it easier. I'd be willing to help a little if you decide to do it on your own. Of course as a full disclaimer, I obviously have no idea what I'm doing but in a couple of hours you can have a site up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bimmerzs Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 You can check out guru.com also, for what you need it will be pretty cheap. Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Go up to the local community collegel... tell a few students what you want. Ask if any of them want to make it their semesters project (offer a bit of cash for the poor student) You will have them fighting over the chance to build your site. Also offer to allow the site to be entered into their portfolio. This is super easy, super cheap work and often they dont do anything complicated so the next guy can come through and spiff it up more later if you like or maintain it since it would be written in very simple code. You can also use dream weaver if that makes anything easy for you. I'd offer to build the website for you but I HATE java and website building. I stick to building in languages like python, ruby on rails, vb.net and such... java pissed me off one time where I spent 6 weeks read a code everyday only to find someone put a comma and not a period. Last time I did a group java project and last time I touched java. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Go up to the local community collegel... tell a few students what you want. Ask if any of them want to make it their semesters project (offer a bit of cash for the poor student) You will have them fighting over the chance to build your site. Also offer to allow the site to be entered into their portfolio. This is super easy, super cheap work and often they dont do anything complicated so the next guy can come through and spiff it up more later if you like or maintain it since it would be written in very simple code. You can also use dream weaver if that makes anything easy for you. I'd offer to build the website for you but I HATE java and website building. I stick to building in languages like python, ruby on rails, vb.net and such... java pissed me off one time where I spent 6 weeks read a code everyday only to find someone put a comma and not a period. Last time I did a group java project and last time I touched java. That's not a bad idea with the CC. I wonder if ACC has something like that. I'll check it out. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 You can check out guru.com also, for what you need it will be pretty cheap. Cheers, Thanks Ron. I'll check it out. It sounds similar to fiver.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Having never even remotely done anything like building a website, I was able to put this up http://www.fishonguideservices.com . It took about 6 hours to build the basic website as you see it and a couple of hours of tweaking to get Richard happy. I used http://www.bluehost.com and the whole enchilada set me back about $180. That was for the domain name, 3 years of hosting, plus 2 different template lay out design sites with about a total of 300 prebuilt lay outs that you just copy paste until finished. They have their own technical forums and about 200 other tools to completely build a site from ground up if you don't want to use a template. Check out Wix.com for another really nice host/tools/design page. I think your first mistake was buying a domain name and not hosting it at the same place. The all in ones make it so easy. Now you've got to link your domain name to a host. It's not super complicated, just another kink in the pipeline that could sour over time. As in, if something goes down, or a kid hacks it for Anon points, you've got to figure out how to get it back up and what they messed with. Do note, if your site gets hacked, AKA "Kinged", then it is your responsibility to get it fixed. The Host won't help, or at least very little will be done. They look at it like "It's your site, your content, we just host it. You secure it." So at least with the AIO you don't have to worry about which server, or part of the site got hacked. Google around for tips about rankings. It's easy to build a simple site and it''s easy to host. The difficult part is finding it later. The search engines don't find content that is not being ranked. It takes about 2-3 weeks for your site to even creep into Google Land. Blue Host offers free coupons for Google listings and offers discounts to help with getting your site noticed. If all you want is a site linked from a business card or email, then don't worry about the search engines. I did a little to help Richard get his site noticed but his business cards, word of mouth, and free koozies worked much better at getting his ranking up. Do search around for listing tips though as certain things matter more than others such as "key words" being within the first 25 words on the site. You link those key words with your online description and the crawlers will find it easier. I'd be willing to help a little if you decide to do it on your own. Of course as a full disclaimer, I obviously have no idea what I'm doing but in a couple of hours you can have a site up and running. Thanks for the pointers. I'll definitely look into it. I went with google since that was the easiest way I knew to get an email address etc. I have had a consulting business since 09 but have never really acted much on it. This will be my first time to actually develop the business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 I use SquareSpace for my site (www.emilytannert.com) and it's extremely user-friendly and easy to manipulate. Thanks. I'll check out squarespace as well. I like the way your site is laid out. Very simple, which is what I'm looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 shoot, for a simple single page, I would load it on personal FTP space and use a dns that offers url masking. Point the domain and all set... Completely greek to me Derrick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Speaking generally since I don't know exactly what you are looking for, but I would hire someone to make a clean and simple site. I have never found a out of the box software program that is worth anything compared to an actual web designer. Realistically a 1 page site with a contact form on the home page is a good start and shouldn't break the bank. We do this for some of our outside reps and have had good results. For hosting, I would go with something like hostgator or pretty much any non-godaddy setup. I have hosted there in the past, and it's one of those, never again experiences. Some people like them but the restrictions they have on everything make it a burden to try and develop on their servers. If you need any advice or suggestions let me know. I've been programming, designing, and running ecommerce and service sites for about 10 years. I don't really have time for side projects but would be more than happy to give suggestions on anything. Thanks for the info. I've heard stories of godaddy. I'm only really looking for a 3-4 page website. No ecommerce, etc. Just a home page, an about us and a contact page. Not much else is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Most of the big domain name registries (Godaddy, etc) have built-in services where you can put together a simple site. My advice would be to dump the twitter (it's a high maintenance medium that requires that you actively "recruit followers". are you potential clients likely twitter users?), and rather maintain something simple on LinkedIn ("Hey this is what we do, if you want to know more check out my website"). A friend of mine is a web designer makes outstanding sites, but isn't cheap (if reefers know anything, it's that quality can be expensive). He's currently the creative director for frontgate tickets. http://heyitshunter.com/ what kind of consulting will you be doing? Quality and Regulatory consulting for Pharma/Medical Device Good point about twitter. I've never been on twitter so I have no idea how it really works. I have started a page on LinkedIn and will hopefully link my website to it and vice versa. I got a quote for a website and some marketing / branding info and it was around $1500. A little steep for what I'm looking for a this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bimmerzs Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Sent you a pm Chris. Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 My club site is on godaddy. Ive had 0 issues. Days not over yet though lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Just another option - one of my band parents does graphic design and websites. www.chickmandesigns.com. He maintains our band website, www.evband.org. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesreyn Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I used webs.com for my site. Before I got started I had never tried to build a site in my life. It is a simple drag and drop for what you want on each page. I built this site partytimebooths.com without any experience at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted September 19, 2012 Author Share Posted September 19, 2012 Thanks everyone. Found some help on guru.com. Ended up needing a few more things than just a host and then guy on guru has been great. Thanks for the suggestions Ron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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