Build a website........

save-a-lot · 3 November 2007 at 6:40PM

Hi

Look at building a site as a long term strategy and choose something you like or else it can turn into a chore, I am building a local interest site which will eventually be a fantastic resource (see my profile) but I am in it as a 3 year project to get it to anything like decent content, this is because to build the content I need to do research... it is a walking site so I need to walk the walks and explain the routes. Rich content sites do far better than sites that are on very common themes such as the sites sold as opportunities for adsense advertising.

save-a-lot · 3 November 2007 at 6:42PM

For free website template try the many 1000s at https://www.oswd.org - that is a good start for anyone.

gypmaster · 5 November 2007 at 6:48PM

I think building a website is the easiest part!

The difficult (and much more important part) is getting relevant traffic which is ready to spend money.

Frugaldom · 5 November 2007 at 7:18PM

I look at it longterm and for the benefits of those I communicate with on a regular basis. It's great being able to add a website address to your stationery as there's every possibility that people will go for a look and see what it's about. THEN it's up to you how you choose to encourage them to stay there and perhaps even buy something. I use google ads and several other affiliate programmes and, although I do not have a really busy website, the sales and commissions do pay the annual costs of the doman names, my Internet access, my telephone bill and I still have some left over. It then becomes a compulsive hobby with financial fringe benefits

djkaizen · 6 November 2007 at 10:33AM

Personally, I'm not a web designer, but a graphic designer and I useJoomla for all my sites https://www.joomla.org. Its an open source (free) software that you upload to your server (as outlined in other posts here). From this you can add different modules (such as chat functions or shopping carts, forums or anything you want0. There are plenty of successful businesses built on joomla sites.

I've built over 30 now & done all the graphics for the templates I use - friends family and local businesses mainly.

Its cheap, easy & can do almost anything you want with just a bit of learning.

Read as much as you can on the joomla site and if you need any help, post a message up here and I'll do my best to help.

Before you rush out and get hosting check that it meets the requirements for a joomla site.

Linus hosting & a mysql database are a must. I use siteground.com. They're the best for the money €5.99 a month.

For example of what joomla can do look at https://www.canecutters.co.uk

(None of the sites above are mine)

Frugaldom · 25 November 2007 at 12:18AM

I'm now looking at how this PageRank mallarkey works. I just did a search for my own site and it says ranked 3/10 with a page ranking of 1,377,448 so I think I just worked out what another of my 2008 challenges is going to be! LOL Methinks I need to move up the scale a bit and lose the million. So, I'm going to try to get that number down below 999,999 as soon as I can. I'm not a web designer and I've not much of a clue about search engine optimisation, so any ideas are welcome. I don't mind how far-fetched they sound, so long as they can help me sort that big number so it's a digit shorter next year. On a plus point, I googled one of the items on my site and it came up number one!! I am well-chuffed!

kisto · 25 November 2007 at 12:46AM

I have used http://www.nvu.com/ to build websites. It's freeware and easy to use. I managed to get my non techy brain around it anyway! It has a WYSIWYG mode making it good for beginners.

Zebedee69 · 25 November 2007 at 11:57AM

Dont forget your landing pages....

I used to run a website that sold airport parking. My Website was split like this:

Homepage - Contact us - Resources - T's & C's - Privacy Policy - Blog

Aberdeen

Aberdeen Airparks
Belfast

Belfast Q Park
Birmingham

Birmingham Airparks

Birmingham Pink Elephant
Blackpool

Blackpool On Airport Parking
Bristol

Silver Zone

On Airport Parking

NCP Flightpath
Cardiff

On Airport Parking

Charles Gate Parking
Dublin

On Airport Parking
Blah Blah you get the idea!

Basically just putting links everywhere doesnt seem to work for me. I find you have to target your website and therefore the visitors. I would build a webpage specifically for Heathrow Pink Elephant Parking for Terminal 2 and have 1 link to a recieving page where bookings can be made easily. This page had a load of content about that specific car park, opening times services advice for people with disabilities how quick the transfer are.

The website had 286 webpages and made a tidy profit £180 per month.

Annie021063 · 25 November 2007 at 3:34PM

I have always liked the idea of owning/running a website and the possibility of earning some extra cash from it. It wasn't until recently though that I realised that I actually had quite a good idea for one. It would be a good place for parents and professionals to exchange ideas about a relevant and important subject. Now I do not want to go into too much detail now for obvious reasons but I was hoping that someone might point me in the right direction of where I might start. I'm thinking it could contain what could be a great blog, it would be informative and interesting for parents, it could be a great place for advertising. But where do I start.
All advice would be gratefully recieved.
Thanks

Frugaldom · 25 November 2007 at 6:11PM

Hi Annie, I'm no expert but I did start with a basic free site with a domain name pointed at it but then had to buy commercial server space to avoid my pages being inundated with adverts by the provider. If you are planning on running any sort of commercial website I think (not 100% positive) you need your own server space as very few, if any, free space providers allow you total control of the space with regards to selling and introducing advertisers. In saying this, Google ads works fairly well as it picks up tips from the page and then only adds relevant content, for which you get paid each time someone clicks their links. It's in dollars, so the benefits of this are shortening, somewhat! Good luck with your idea. There are loads of free add-ons for your site. I now have a shop and use the free services of eBid for my listings, shopping basket and invoicing. I did try eBay, but I'm not that advanced a seller to risk losing too much by way of listing and re-listing fees.

Build a website........

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