business website - where to start?

pingua

Sorry, this has probably been asked loads before but I really am thick about it all.

All I am after is a page listing services,prices and contact details and the area covered.

How do I start ??

Fortyfoot

Try Microsoft Offive Live.
I am not too technical but find this quite easy, free or cheap too.

Fortyfoot

Reggie_Rebel

You'll need somewhere to host it. Avoid free sites as you are likely to end up with an advert for your competitors on your site

isofa

Review a few hosting companies, most come with simple templates/applications to put together a basic site with little knowledge,and no adverts. But as it's for a business, you are trying to impress clients, employ a web designer for something decent, it's simple to see companies that have freebie websites - it looks unprofessional.

Discodave

isofa wrote: »

Review a few hosting companies, most come with simple templates/applications to put together a basic site with little knowledge,and no adverts. But as it's for a business, you are trying to impress clients, employ a web designer for something decent, it's simple to see companies that have freebie websites - it looks unprofessional.

in what way? - theres cheap and nasty - but cheap that do the job!

thebaldwindowfitter

http://websitesbytigger.co.uk/ design
http://hydrahosts.com/ domain name and hosting and hosting at £10 a year it aint worth going for free hosting

Discodave

pingua wrote: »

Sorry, this has probably been asked loads before but I really am thick about it all.

All I am after is a page listing services,prices and contact details and the area covered.

How do I start ??

could possibly help you there, drop me a PM!

totalsolutions

Place an ad in Yellow Pages

isofa

Discodave wrote: »

in what way? - theres cheap and nasty - but cheap that do the job!

As a business, surely you want to look professional, typing in a domain, only to get routed to mslive or 999freehosting, doesn't inspire customer confidence.

Myself and many others wouldn't trade with a company who are taking your money for goods, but can't afford to invest it in a good website.

peteb23

What are you trying to achieve with your site? How will you promote it? If you are expecting to generate business solely from people finding you via search engines then you will need more content than your name, address and services.

Couple of points though:

1: register your own domain name - make sure you are the legal owner (use somebody like 123-reg.co.uk). They're on quidco as well. I wouldn't use them for hosting but they are good for domains (esp .co.uk's)

2: don't just go for the cheapest host - hosting is an expensive business if a company is charging buttons then how can they invest in their hardware, network or customer support? Make sure you do a search about the company and see what other people are saying. Every host will quote 99.9% uptime but have they got the resources to sort out problems when they do occur?

And 3: make sure you set up a domain specific email address like [EMAIL="you@yourdomain.co.uk"]you@yourdomain.co.uk[/EMAIL] - it looks really unprofessional (IMO) to have your site on one domain and use another for your email (especially your ISP's) eg [EMAIL="yourbusiness53@btintenet.com"]yourbusiness53@btintenet.com[/EMAIL] (plus what happens when you change ISP?)

Post again or drop me a pm if you need any more info.

peteb23

Discodave wrote: »

in what way? - theres cheap and nasty - but cheap that do the job!

I could use string to tie my shoes but if I was trying to impress a client I'd probably invest in a pair of laces.