How hard can it be to get a website made

neneromanova

Just asked Hubby who runs a website company with my Dad and he said the best Free eCommerce to use is something called Magneto. I've personally never heard of it, but I've been out of the website game for a couple of years (see below for the reasons :rotfl: )

All you would have to do it buy a domain name and host the site somewhere. I'd personally stay away from 1&1. Useless company if you ever have a problem. Brilliant if they can get money from you. We use Fasthosts/UKReg for everything. £2.49 a month for hosting and .co.uk's are £6.99 for 2 years.

mojod

neneromanova wrote: »

Just asked Hubby who runs a website company with my Dad and he said the best Free eCommerce to use is something called Magneto. I've personally never heard of it, but I've been out of the website game for a couple of years (see below for the reasons :rotfl: )

All you would have to do it buy a domain name and host the site somewhere. I'd personally stay away from 1&1. Useless company if you ever have a problem. Brilliant if they can get money from you. We use Fasthosts/UKReg for everything. £2.49 a month for hosting and .co.uk's are £6.99 for 2 years.

Yeah, Magento is one of the more popular e-commerce systems. I've used it, but still prefer osCommerce, maybe just because I've done more work with than anything else. osCommerce gets a bit of bashing from time to time for being "old" etc, but really there are so many add-ons for it that are updated regularly, it just takes a bit of time to put together something that is SEO friendly, secure, looks good etc. Neither osCommerce or Magento or similar are really DIY jobs for someone who just wants 1 working site as it's quite a steep learning curve, but if anyone does have the inclination and time, it's a good free solution that can be added to over time as needs change.

Fully agree with your view of 1&1 - looks cheap, but loads of hidden extras to pay for, uses a control panel system unlike any I've seen before (or did do anyway last time I had to use it) and they were just a nightmare to work with. It got to the stage where if a potential client was already using 1&1, I'd explain and arrange for them to be moved to my own hosting at my expense, not theirs ... just saved so much hassle.

I'd be wary of any really cheap hosting - there are some good deals though if you look around and dig enough (a support forum is always a good sign and lets you see what their existing customers have to say). I did try a couple of free or nearly free hosts just for testing some stuff and they were OK, but had a lot of restrictions that you had to upgrade and pay to get rid of them.

And yes - domains are really cheap and it doesn't really matter where you get them so long as they do actually register it for you. I paid £1.29 for .com and £2.99 for a .co.uk last week (each 1 year).

Mulder00

lesleydn wrote: »

I have the same problem. I want to develop a basic website to establish an on-line presence and finding it tough. Methinks those of you are web-savvy do not realise how difficult it is when starting from a zero knowledge base. I cannot understand why some Members post unhelpful or negative comments to well-intentioned, albeit possibly naive questions - why not just ignore, rather than telling us what 'numptys' we are?

I have had various quotes from ridiculously low to high, but the use of jargon etc makes it so hard to compare and understand what you are actually going to get for your money. I want to improve my knowledge so I can understand the key issues and came to the MSE forum as a potential source of research - can any Member recommend an independent source of information on website development for beginners?

I think the problem with the OP's request is that they wanted a web designer to do EVERYTHING. If you want to open an e-commerce site (and that's all you are doing), you should at least have a basic understanding of what it is that you are doing and understand what you are asking for so that you don't get done in.

I see the OP's request the same as me going to a builder, asking them to build me a shop, layout the shop, fit the shop and the tills, set up the credit card system links to my bank, do marketing for people to come and visit my shop, help me understand why my sales are poor and pay my utility bills for me every month. It might be that a builder is only good at building - otherwise they would probably be running a shop somewhere!!!

Forgot to answer the actual question. Google is your friend.

neneromanova

Mulder00 wrote: »

I think the problem with the OP's request is that they wanted a web designer to do EVERYTHING. If you want to open an e-commerce site (and that's all you are doing), you should at least have a basic understanding of what it is that you are doing and understand what you are asking for so that you don't get done in.

I see the OP's request the same as me going to a builder, asking them to build me a shop, layout the shop, fit the shop and the tills, set up the credit card system links to my bank, do marketing for people to come and visit my shop, help me understand why my sales are poor and pay my utility bills for me every month. It might be that a builder is only good at building - otherwise they would probably be running a shop somewhere!!!

Forgot to answer the actual question. Google is your friend.

A good web designer/programmer should do all the things I have bolded above (obviously for a website, not building a shop :rotfl:

EDIT: just asked OH what price he would charge for something as bespoke as you want and he said, not knowing the design, nothing less than £3500

mojod

neneromanova wrote: »

A good web designer/programmer should do all the things I have bolded above (obviously for a website, not building a shop :rotfl:

EDIT: just asked OH what price he would charge for something as bespoke as you want and he said, not knowing the design, nothing less than £3500

Well said Only thing I'd add in bold is the bit about marketing and gaining visitors to the store. Not all webdesigners want to touch that side of things, but it does all sort of crossover into ecommerce in general and most can give at least some advice on it and recommend someone to help with that side of things if it's not a service they offer themselves. I used to send clients a free DIY marketing guide (took a while to put together but it was sent out so often, it was worth it) and I'd say around three quarters attempted it on their own for free with varying results, another 10% or so didn't see that they needed to attract customers and the remainder paid myself or someone else.

It's all a minefield!

carrot-cake_2

To those that say I need to find out more/research/learn about the MAKING of websites, I'm sorry but I don't think it is alot to ask to be able to go to a web designer, trust them, get what you pay for etc.

If I wanted a builder to come and build me an extension, why should I need to know how to build an extension myself???

Also, the person that said if I am having problems at this early stage then I will struggle running my own business, I have ran a business before and having worked as an Accountant and also in business development/business performance AND also worked along side someone running the same business I want to run, I think I'm pretty knowledgeable and capable to be honest just because I don't have much experience of websites and I'm wary of who I give my money to doesn't make me an imbecile.

GolfBravo

Carrot-cake, how is your website progressing?

carrot-cake_2

GolfBravo wrote: »

Carrot-cake, how is your website progressing?

I have been quoted £2000+VAT from a webdesigner that has been highly recommended to me by one of my accounting clients. She has a very successful homeware online store and her website is really professional she gets ongoing support and I have to say the £2000+VAT I would gladly pay for a similar website. So I have been speaking to them about what design I would like and hopefully it should all be up and running by January

mojod

carrot-cake wrote: »

I have been quoted £2000+VAT from a webdesigner that has been highly recommended to me by one of my accounting clients. She has a very successful homeware online store and her website is really professional she gets ongoing support and I have to say the £2000+VAT I would gladly pay for a similar website. So I have been speaking to them about what design I would like and hopefully it should all be up and running by January

Ouch, but if they are good it'll be worth it. Hope it works out for you

carrot-cake_2

mojod wrote: »

Ouch, but if they are good it'll be worth it. Hope it works out for you

Thank you :beer: