Advice On Website

dave_dj1

I am contemplating hiring a "kid" to build me a website. One of my good customers highly recomends him, the customer is a professional photographer.
Aside from him being a highschool kid, what exactly should I ask him to include? My customer thinks I should have 2-4 pages, include some of the neat projects I've done and I am even bartering with him to take som e current pics. Keep in mind that I am completely ignorant as far as web building goes. I am sure he will have some ideas but for me to make any suggestions, I will need your help. I would research but we are very busy with work and I've been under the weather so any help/advice will be greatly appreciated. Oh and please keep it in laymans terms so I can understand it...LOL
thanks so much,
dave

JamesDibben

Post some links of work this 'kid' has done.

Many of us around here are HUGE fans of Wordpress web sites. NOT a wordpress.com site, please don't sign up there for your site.

Wordpress is something that, once installed, is very easy to learn how to use.

__________________
Blue Collar Coaching Podcast

dave_dj1

I will when I get the meeting scheduled, my customer is setting it up for me.

ESSaustin

I aasume you have viewed some of his past projects and like them. Just like when you bid a job, what he should "include" is whatever the customer wants/can afford.

__________________
Environmental Site Services, LLC
Construction Waste Recycling and Disposal
www.EnvironmentalSiteServices.com

LeadSafeList

Dave,

I would have to agree with James on this one. WordPress is free, and very flexible. I will also recommend that you go with a non-Windows hosting platform.

When starting out, don't concern yourself with the number of pages, since WordPress is capable of an unlimited number of "pages." In fact, you could almost get away with a one page site to start with, just so long as you provide the information that your customers or prospects would want to know before giving you a call.

Bradley Barrett

Mike's Plumbing

I'm building a wordpress blog/site using the thesis theme.

I was going to have somebody build me one but I'm a control freak so I decided to do it myself.

My website is very different that what most people are used to, in fact, is borderline insane so i'm worthless on advice but still, when it's all said and done you have to ask yourself one question.......What does the customer want, you, more than anybody else, knows this answer.

Mike

__________________

LoneStarSA

Another vote for wordpress here. I have used it for awhile now with great results.

__________________
San Antonio Remodeling | San Antonio Interior Designers | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Lone Star Remodeling And Renovations 202 N Loop 1604 #113, San Antonio, TX 78232 (210) 690-4663

Abdullahabin

The biggest problem with getting someone to do it on the cheap is that you may have to spend money long term in improving your sites SEO, which can be damn expensive.

__________________

asley

Thanks for such tips of marketing

tinner666

Get yourself a domain name as close as possible to the company name. That will help with overall SEO and being found.

Does the kid know about name submissions?
SEO?
Content that's readable and understandable.?
Use your own pictures and update regularly. Name your pictures appropriately.
Detail pictures work much better than ones taken from across the street.



DO NOT POST THE NAMES YOU ARE LOOOKING FOR ONLINE ANYWHERE!!!!!!!

Domainers search for posts like this and reg the names to resell to endusers every minute of the day! Not just that, but to NOT search for domains without registering right away. The web has eyes, and if you search for domains and not register IMMEDIATELY, they will disappear from availablity in as little as a few hours.

Put the names on notepad.
Leave OFF the .com, .net extensions.
Go to your registrar when you want to buy.
Look around for 'register domains', and find the drop down menu and select "Bulk Register", or something similar.
C &P your list there and select your extension, then enter any code needed.
Register ALL that are available! There is usually a discount offered too.
Use the shortest one for your site and 301 all the others for SEO purposes.
Seriously!! NO searches until you are ready to reg! And only do it at the site you're regging from! The bulk reg tools let you search for many name combos at once, and let you reg only the ones you want, within minutes, of your search.
Examples: Type in slateroofspecialist.com to see what I mean by type in traffic and SEO.

__________________
Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.

ryanjm

I also add my vote for a Wordpress site. If this kid doesn't know about them, you will be doing him a favor anyway by making him learn how to use the program. He can buy a theme for your site and have something really high quality done inside of a week after he learns how to get the program working.

Another benefit from Wordpress is that if you ever want to make updates (add pics) or changes, even if you don't want to learn how to do them yourself, it will be very easy for anyone to come in and make those updates.

Since you're just getting started and don't yet understand the value of SEO, I won't try to sell you on it other than to ask the kid to make the site as SEO friendly as possible. That way, if later on you decide to start devoting more resources to getting your site high on the search engines, it'll be less work (hopefully) for the next guy you hire.

__________________
Cleveland Home Builders

cbscreative

I obviously can't assume this "kid" doesn't know what he's doing, that would be an unfair assumption. I'll ask a few questions that you should be asking yourself. When you're satisfied with the answers, then you should be able to make a decision.

Does the designer have the ability to understand your business concerns?
Can they plan an effective site that meets the real needs of your customers?
Does the designer's work show up high in search engine results?
Is the designer just trying to show off their capability, or do their designs serve a specific purpose?
How will the finished web site help your business?
Does this web designer communicate with you effectively, or does he/she only talk tech?

This list should get you off to a good start in making your decision.

__________________
Steve Chittenden
Web/SEO Geek • Graphic Artist • Writer • Marketing Guy
One reason I know so much about the web and marketing is that I don't have to know as much about construction.

RemodelerPro

Another vote for Wordpress here! It is easy to make Wordpress look and function like any website- plus it is so easy to work with you should be able to change content, photos, etc. yourself.

User60231

Wow, so many positive responses for WordPress.

I, like Dave, I am just starting out (well, he may not be just starting out, but I am) and know little about this subject, but want to learn all I can. Ergo, I will do some more poking around here in this forum, and elsewhere. But I trust that someone here is able to answer how reasonable is WordPress to set up effectively? And am I understanding it is free?

I have to admit that a lot of what Tinner666 wrote above is mostly Greek to me. So it only makes sense for me to inquire about it in hopes of clarifying it in my mind. Such as domain names, they do cost money don't they? And if I were to get one (or how ever many would be optimum), I shouldn't search for domain names without registering my name immediately or soon thereafter? Moreover, I should search for a name that is short, not long like the actual name of my business?

And what does SEO stand for?

Okay, enough of my never ending questions, I will go now and poke around a while hoping to find some answers about these things. I really am glad I stopped in here for a look-see, as I now know there are so many other things I need to be considering as I start up my remodeling business. I've known that I do indeed need a good website, but I always thought it was something that was quite expensive to do.

Thanks to all for taking the time to post here in this thread!

Mike's Plumbing

Seo= Search engine optimization

Check out this link for some available sample wordpress blog themes for less than $100.
http://www.premiumwp.com/best-news-a...theme-gallery/

Mike

__________________

User60231

That link is really awesome! I just never knew such was available. I always assumed building a website was going to be more of a burden on my limited budget.

Thanks!

User60231

This is going to sound stupid, but could you explain the differences? If I am understanding this correctly, the WordPress is a theme or program that needs to be hosted by another site? And wordpress.com is a blog hosting site? My apologies for asking something so rudimentary for most everyone else.

Edited to add:

I don't want to be someone who is more of a nuisance by asking a gazillion questions here (which I do have). But was wondering if someone could recommend a website, or book, or thread in this forum, or whatever else where as I can peruse to find the answers I'm looking for.

Mike's Plumbing

jeff, check out these three links. One is for frugal and the other is thesis. Both are very popular.

The last link is a comparison between the two.

http://diythemes.com/showcase/

http://frugaltheme.com/

http://www.wpdesignclub.com/thesis-v...-theme-review/

__________________

Mike's Plumbing

Go to youtube.com and search out the phrase "thesis wordpress tutorial"

Keep your search narrow and focus on either thesis or frugal. I did that and just learning about these two cleared alot of things up for me.

Mike

__________________

dave_dj1

WOW! I had no idea there was soooo much to this. I am glad to have asked this here and getting all this great input. thank you all.
I will check out some of the links and let it digest a little, I'm more of a "hands on" type of person and sometimes my reading comprehension takes a lot of focus and re-reads. Show me once and I'll never forget..LOL
thanks again,
dave