Knocking up a free website...
Discussion
Hi all.
Trying to limit overhead as much as poss because we are investing in growth, and that mainly involves buying cars, recruiting staff and direct marketing.
I do want to get a basic presence on the web, but I don't want to shell out hundreds for a professionally designed site. I've got all my logo's and stuff made up, and can get some good photography done. All I need is a bare bones site design that I can add stuff to.
Are there free layouts available that I can adapt to my purposes? ie: Fiddle with the xhtml code etc to change colours and content.
I know it's cheap and a cop out. But I want to save on professional design until I need a pukka one made (the eventual one will need a load of clever scripting and be database driven).
Cheers for the help - If indeed anyone can point me in the right direction
Trying to limit overhead as much as poss because we are investing in growth, and that mainly involves buying cars, recruiting staff and direct marketing.
I do want to get a basic presence on the web, but I don't want to shell out hundreds for a professionally designed site. I've got all my logo's and stuff made up, and can get some good photography done. All I need is a bare bones site design that I can add stuff to.
Are there free layouts available that I can adapt to my purposes? ie: Fiddle with the xhtml code etc to change colours and content.
I know it's cheap and a cop out. But I want to save on professional design until I need a pukka one made (the eventual one will need a load of clever scripting and be database driven).
Cheers for the help - If indeed anyone can point me in the right direction
Serif do software to design a website, as do Microsoft, and you might already have the latter as it is part of many Office packages.
I think you are potentially right as most people who want a taxi are not going to turn to the internet to find one. They might look at Yellow pages, but are more likely to ask friends. So any website does only need to be informative and cheap.
However where I think a website would be a benefit is if you have executive cars for trips to airports/London/weddings etc. People will be spending more money on those and therefore be more willing to look online.
Certainly when looking for a way of fetting from our wedding reception to Heathrow we looked on the web, but I wouldn't dream of it if I wanted a taxi to the local station.
I think you are potentially right as most people who want a taxi are not going to turn to the internet to find one. They might look at Yellow pages, but are more likely to ask friends. So any website does only need to be informative and cheap.
However where I think a website would be a benefit is if you have executive cars for trips to airports/London/weddings etc. People will be spending more money on those and therefore be more willing to look online.
Certainly when looking for a way of fetting from our wedding reception to Heathrow we looked on the web, but I wouldn't dream of it if I wanted a taxi to the local station.
Get an account with a CMS system if I were you. Otherwise you will have to dip in to your pockets each time you want a change.
Try something like this: http://www.dnn-portals.co.uk/DNNhosting/tabid/56/D... . There are plenty others out there.
Try something like this: http://www.dnn-portals.co.uk/DNNhosting/tabid/56/D... . There are plenty others out there.
I'd agree with the last comment.. your site will reflect your business. But that said, there's no reason you can't do a good job.
As an easy starter for 10 consider having your navigation on the left & your logo\banner at the top with your content in the middle. It's pretty boring but works well, is familiar to your visitors & can give professional results.
To produce it, if you are familiar with Microsoft products - front page will do just fine. There are plenty of free packages out there but I'd steer clear if I were you. I've used Netobjects fusion (cheap & cheerful) for basic sites - very quick to get something up & running. Download the trial & have a play.
One other thing.. make sure your images\logos & photo's are up to scratch.. nothing worse cr@p ones lol... also it's really worth spending time on your images, cleaning them up & making them just so.
enjoy & good luck.
As an easy starter for 10 consider having your navigation on the left & your logo\banner at the top with your content in the middle. It's pretty boring but works well, is familiar to your visitors & can give professional results.
To produce it, if you are familiar with Microsoft products - front page will do just fine. There are plenty of free packages out there but I'd steer clear if I were you. I've used Netobjects fusion (cheap & cheerful) for basic sites - very quick to get something up & running. Download the trial & have a play.
One other thing.. make sure your images\logos & photo's are up to scratch.. nothing worse cr@p ones lol... also it's really worth spending time on your images, cleaning them up & making them just so.
enjoy & good luck.
fade2grey said:
I'd agree with the last comment.. your site will reflect your business. But that said, there's no reason you can't do a good job.
As an easy starter for 10 consider having your navigation on the left & your logo\banner at the top with your content in the middle. It's pretty boring but works well, is familiar to your visitors & can give professional results.
To produce it, if you are familiar with Microsoft products - front page will do just fine. There are plenty of free packages out there but I'd steer clear if I were you. I've used Netobjects fusion (cheap & cheerful) for basic sites - very quick to get something up & running. Download the trial & have a play.
One other thing.. make sure your images\logos & photo's are up to scratch.. nothing worse cr@p ones lol... also it's really worth spending time on your images, cleaning them up & making them just so.
enjoy & good luck.
Cheers mate. Some good stuff As an easy starter for 10 consider having your navigation on the left & your logo\banner at the top with your content in the middle. It's pretty boring but works well, is familiar to your visitors & can give professional results.
To produce it, if you are familiar with Microsoft products - front page will do just fine. There are plenty of free packages out there but I'd steer clear if I were you. I've used Netobjects fusion (cheap & cheerful) for basic sites - very quick to get something up & running. Download the trial & have a play.
One other thing.. make sure your images\logos & photo's are up to scratch.. nothing worse cr@p ones lol... also it's really worth spending time on your images, cleaning them up & making them just so.
enjoy & good luck.
fade2grey said:
One other thing.. make sure your images\logos & photo's are up to scratch.. nothing worse cr@p ones lol... also it's really worth spending time on your images, cleaning them up & making them just so.
Especially so for me! www.blokewithacamera.co.uk - my photos and all made using the much-reviled FrontPage 
oh and of course, if I can help you with you decent photos do get in touch!
Chrisgr31 said:
Simpo Two said:
Don't forget your website reflects your company. If it looks crap, people will assume you are too.
Suppose I should have mentioned that! Just because it's free/cheap doesn't mean that it has to be crap.Mind you different people have different views about what is crap!
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