Website

[SamRed]

I need to set up a website, nothing too fancy but I'm getting more comissions and would like to be able to direct people to sonmewhere they can have a look at the work I've already done.
Any advice for a techy newbie? I know what I know on a computer but that's about it.
Are these kind of things worth looking at...http://website.1and1.co.uk or is there an inbetween, I don't mind learning new stuff but haven't got a great deal of time (or brain power) to spend on learning a completely new skill.
Cheers.

 

[MMUK]

Could you not use the Product Showcase on here? Or would the mods frown on that? :?

 

[Mr_P]

I'm with 1and1, software great and easy to use. Knocked up a simple website from scratch in less than half an hour.

Tech support rubbish and very slow to respond to emails. Only had one problem, one of my domains not showing up and this took ages to resolve.

Lots of annoying phone calls trying to sell me extras. I've asked several times to be removed from the list.

Won't be using them again when my year is up.

 

[beech1948]

Try searching on the site for web site design as this has been discussed several times recently.

1and1 are not the best by any means...I tried them myself but found the approach they have to be too simplistic and the results were poor.

Al

 

[RogerS]

If you have a Mac then iWeb is very easy to use and set up yourself. When considering who is going to host your website then I would advise not going with the cheapest but someone who offers a good response time. IMO there is nothing that puts off prospective customers more than if they have to wait for the kettle to boil while your website loads up.

If you have a contact form using something like, say, Jotform then make a mental note to send yourself test contact notes regularly to ensure it's all working as it is supposed to be.

 

[Otto]

I recently did mine with register365.com. Easy peasy layout tools that you use from within your browser and it only cost €73 (£60?) for the year, including the sitemaker (design) software and hosting.

Customer service is good too.

this is what I did

www.customfurnitureandwoodwork.ie

 

[morfa]

I've been making websites for quite a while now (15 years personally, 8 years professionally). Personally, I'd steer clear of most of the sitemaker style places. They often produce rather naff sites. It's a bit like going to B&Q and buying the B&Q brand tools. Steer clear of places like 1&1 and 123-reg.

If it were me, I'd get an account with www.wordpress.com (ignore that it says it's a blogging platform, it's a fully featured Content Management System these days) and then buy a domain from www.gandi.net. For a small fee (around £10) you can get the domain linked up to the wordpress account. There's 1000s of themes out there for wordpress, so just pick one you like the look of and add it. If you do want a decent site, then it's easy for a web dev to move you off wordpress, or do you a nice wordpress design.

 

[DannyEssex]

I made a website for my metal detecting finds etc. And used weebly. Its a free website builder and free hosting. The only problem was I had weebly.com at the end of my site address. So I brought the domain name from 1&1 for £2 for two years and linked them together. Perfectly happy with it and its so easy to use and build. No calls just the odd email now and again.

I dont use the site anymore, should take it offline really lol

http://www.weebly.com

http://www.detectingwithcarper.co.uk

 

[Benchwayze]

1 & 1 are a pain to cancel, and they send you threatening letters (re Bailiffs) if you merely stop the Direct Debit, which of course is a customer's right.

 

[RobinBHM]

If you just want to have a gallery of images online to direct potential customers to, perhaps you may consider flickr or pinterest tostart with and then a website later on?

 

[Woodmonkey]

+1 for word press

 

[henton49er]

I have used Weebly for the design of different websites.

The free version is fine if you don't want anything too complicated and the paid for version gives lots of bells and whistles for about £50 per year (depends upon the version you pay for and the length of contract you take out). I am very happy with the results.

Have a look at www.midwaleswoodturners.com which was produced using Weebly - it does everything the club needs

 

[SamRed]

Great advice, thanks everyone. I'll have a look at wordpress and weebly.