Ask a Website Design Company

16 March 2012
Hi Cory,

Welcome to WWDC the home of great web designers.

Although there are a lot of free DIY sites out there they are not ideal for businesses. As a business you need to understand that everything you do is selling your company o potential clients and the best way to do this is to have a professional image for your business - unfortunately this is not something that can be achieved through the DIY of web sites.

Another aspect to consider is time is money. Can you afford to spend perhaps twice, three times the amount or maybe longer doing something yourself that would take a professional a shorter amount of time to complete and at higher standards. Perhaps your time would be best spent running your business without the sorry of the website and it's mechanics?

Websites do not have to be expensive and a huge overhead to a business. Comp Tek offer payment plans for startup businesses and our packages start fom ÂŁ95. We also have our own hosting solutions which are scalable which not many designers offer this and instead use third parties.

If you would like an information pack sending out please get in touch.

Many Thanks

Kevin Mason
www.comp-tek.co.uk
info@comp-tek.co.uk
07788 887382

19 March 2012
Hi Cory,

For budget strapped businesses I highly recommend ipage.com. It has a number of options for building sites in different ways yourself and plenty of tutorials and support to help you along.

I hope that helps.

Kind Regards

N: Alan Fair
P: Managing Director
W: www.contactmultimedia.co.uk
T: 0141 246 5743
M: 07793 544 852
E: alan@cmmc.co.uk

30 March 2012
Hi Cory,

I have to say "Comp Tek Web Design" is right DIY sites are not ideal for businesses.

Websites do not have to be expensive, we can do you a great looking site with something you would be after for only €200.

and you would have no monthly payments and we will look after you well with getting your site found in google

DIY site will not do this.

If this price is good with you give us a call

www.budgetwebdesignireland.com

Thanks
Shane

11 April 2012
I would suggest that you go down this route for your very first website or to get your business off the ground, or if you only need a very basic web presence. But be realistic and do not expect too much from it.

Then learn from it in an objective way and get a professional website done when your business can afford it.

Regards
Neale Gilhooley
Evolution Design
29 Dundas St, Edinburgh, EH3 6QQ
t: 0131 556 8562
e: neale@evolution-design.co.uk
w: www.evolution-design.co.uk

15 April 2012
I agree with what others have said. It is hard to get your business to look professional enough using free services. Although quick to do and you have an instant presence on the web it can often give of a cheap look to your company.

If I were you I would look at using a mid range design company who can come up with something quick, and will be unique enough for your needs.

Thanks

Noel

4 May 2012
Your website is your online shop window to your business, it says alot about how you value yourself.

We've recently written a blog that may help you understand what goes into website design - http://www.sixthstory.co.uk/blog/why-it%E2%80%99s-a-good-idea-to-invest-in-quality-professional-website-design/

If you wanted to build a house, would you go to an architect?
If you had a toothache, would you go to a dentist?

Unfortunately these "DIY" website offerings are diluting our industry much like the high-street.

30 May 2012
Hi Cory,

I dare say if you've read all the replies you'll have gotten the idea that web designers don't like the DIY sites! They have their place, and if you are a one man band, starting up on a shoestring budget with currently lots of time to do a bit of reading, then the DIY sites will get you off to some sort of start.

If you're staring a business then you'll likely want your site to generate enquiries. Before even thinking about design get yourself a book on SEO which means Search Engine Optimisation. This will give you the heads up about domain names, site structure, links and most of all content.

Without the most basic SEO in place you wont stand a chance unless you are very very niche.

With your page titles and headings keyworded as required, your content well written and broken into bite size chunks so as not to put off visitors, move onto design.

Keep it simple, look at others in your field and knick the bits of design you like, although not copying exactly of course. Stay away from to many effects and make the purpose of your site as obvious as possible.

You'll spend quite a bit of time, and if you have no design experience, be prepared to make a few blunders and be prepared to revisit your design until you have what you're happy with.

If the DIY site you choose doesn't give you access to the html code, stay well clear, you need to be able to add H1, H2, H3 alt, and link tags, like 'no follow'.

If we can be of any help email info@apered.com, they're not all bad, just don't expect a site that's going to produce a high return on the time you invest, you do, after all get what you pay for.

13 June 2012
Yet again more redundant companies giving more redundant answers.

If you are looking for online hosted website you need companies such as

SquareSpace -http://www.squarespace.com
Virb - http://virb.com/
Cargo Collective - http://cargocollective.com/

Kindest Regards




Craig Reville

14 June 2012
There are some good DIY site builders out there and the do offer a really good low budget option to get an online presence.

One of Craig's recommendations is probably my favourite platform for building your own website - Squarespace.

You only have to look at their examples to see what can be achieved by those with a little eye for design.

http://www.squarespace.com/examples/category/featured

15 June 2012
Hi Cory,

I tried and lot of hosting companies like godaddy, just host, ipage, site rack ....... I would like to recommend you Go Daddy.com. It is bit costly but the facilities are smoooooooooth............... If you are getting 100% uptime then you will get time to grow.


Sangram
AdityaHosting.com

20 June 2012
If you don't mind rolling up your sleeves then WordPress (inc free hosting) or even Blogger (inc free hosting) are good places to start. Their forums are always busy, so help is never far away.

Hope this helps

6 August 2012
My best advice is speak to local web design companies, they might have some cheaper packages that they can offer to help you get started.

9 August 2012
Hi Cory,

If you are still looking for any budget web design services, we offer a budget package for start-up companies or very small companies.

Don't hesitate to get in touch with us to discuss your project needs. You can have a browse of our many projects and clients on our profile. Ring us to get a free website review and consultation.

Kind Regards,

Netbiz Group

31 August 2012
Hi Cory,

What did you go for in the end? It's been a while since your question - it would be great to know what option you took.

If you're still considering your options then as a couple of others have said SquareSpace is a great place to get started.

All the best,

Jim