start up website - advice

[Inspectorclueso]

Hi there. Just after some advice as finding this a tricky one to navigate, not being an expert in this area and I need to move quickly and get this right !

Just starting a business, largely just want an internet presence for forthcoming bids and marketing opportunities it does not have to be designed at this stage for online transactions, just a description of the service we will provide, contact details etc. I have identified suitable domain names which I can purchase and will come with email hosting.

I have attempted to contact a couple of local website companies, they seem like one man bands and hence, either are busy when I've called, or have not come back to me. Had one 'experience' with what seemed like a larger company, which when I spoke to someone was clearly a well oiled offshore sales machine.

So, I'm thinking do I persevere and find someone who can do this well (I'm sure there are lots of people, somewhere) or do I just use a self build service like Go Daddy etc...

If I go self build, any recommendations ? I would prefer it not to have the self build brand referenced on the website, but it's not a deal breaker.

[akirk]

Inspectorclueso said:

Hi there. Just after some advice as finding this a tricky one to navigate, not being an expert in this area and I need to move quickly and get this right !

Just starting a business, largely just want an internet presence for forthcoming bids and marketing opportunities it does not have to be designed at this stage for online transactions, just a description of the service we will provide, contact details etc. I have identified suitable domain names which I can purchase and will come with email hosting.

I have attempted to contact a couple of local website companies, they seem like one man bands and hence, either are busy when I've called, or have not come back to me. Had one 'experience' with what seemed like a larger company, which when I spoke to someone was clearly a well oiled offshore sales machine.

So, I'm thinking do I persevere and find someone who can do this well (I'm sure there are lots of people, somewhere) or do I just use a self build service like Go Daddy etc...

If I go self build, any recommendations ? I would prefer it not to have the self build brand referenced on the website, but it's not a deal breaker.

It is very difficult to give generic advice as there are lots of options and ideally you pick the right option for your business...

To do things yourself, there are a couple of ways you can do it:
- wordpress
- squarespace / wix / etc.
- your own coding if you are happy to learn it...
- find a company

Wordpress is very widely used - has a lot of extendability through plugins and can run a good size business website - the downsides are that it is probably the most hacked code ever, so you must keep it up to date / if you are a technical beginner it is not always clear how to use it / it still holds onto its roots as a blogging platform and everything that it does outside that is still slightly compromised by those origins...

Hosted - DIY solutions - Squarespace is probably the best option out there for this type of website - WIX, is probably the worst (at a technical level), but either will get information up and onto a screen...

Your own coding - if you are happy to learn the basics / are comfortable with technology, then it is not impossible to find a template, download it and tweak it - eminently doable, but subject to a desire to do it and the spare time!

Finding a company - the web world is a very weird place, it is split into types of business which seem to fall into primarily:
- one man band
- agency (with sales people / staff to look after you / coders / database people / designers / etc.)

the one man band probably has low overheads, and if good can work really well - however, the risk is in several places:
- often younger, so may have little business / real world experience - can they advise you on how best to build your business online?
- Probably good at the technical solution, but websites are about so much more than just the technical (psychology of how they are used, and the business strategy being two obvious extras that are needed)
- not unknown to be working part time alongside a job elsewhere - which can present issues if you can't work within those constraints...
- often as they get older / married / have other commitments, may move off to work for someone else with a more reliable income stream

the agency has other benefits and hazards:
- a high overhead to maintain, so will usually cost more
- skills are often siloed so the person coding may not have the same skills as the person who understands your business - a good agency will manage that, a bad one will find it causes issues
- because of their overheads, projects need to have a certain financial value - if you are not big enough, will you be important enough?

So, where do you go - ultimately it all depends on how you are trying to build your business:
- if all you need is your contact details online - go cheap, simple and easy, try squarespace (we have clients who simply have a single page website with contact details).
- If your need is to validate your business online, so that prospective clients who visit to see how substantial you are get an understanding of your experience and ability etc. - then look to spend anywhere from c. £750 - £1k at the cheaper end for a very simple one -> few page static website; or £1,500 - £2,000 for a more complete multi-page static website... or install wordpress and build it yourself...
- If you need to build a website that can start out simple, but which needs to increase in sophistication over time, then consider using a company to help you - start now with a static site for simplicity, then add in business processes / transactions / etc. as your business builds...

but drive it / make your choices based on what will help grow the business - unless it brings greater returns to the business than it costs, it is not worth doing!

if you want to chat - happy for you to call me - can help point you in the right direction...

[Inspectorclueso]

Thanks very much for the reply and taking the time to do it in detail. If you don't mind I'll take you up on the offer of a call, I'll give you a try shortly / this afternoon. Cheers. Rob.

[jonamv8]

All comes down to budget really. Akirk above is spot on with advice but ultimately your budget will direct your decision

[RobDickinson]

I have some wordpress sites and a squarespace one ,and an opencart one, and my job is building websites(in part)...

I find squarspace is the best out of the box hosted option for nice looking web presence , not the best for content/blogging or stores etc but for a straight up here we are this is our info site its easy.

[bigweb]

I own a small web design/digital marketing agency. We design and build in house and you can speak directly to one of our designers if you like?

If you want to talk about your options send me an email on [e-mail]

[alfabeat]

I would add, that it in my experience, it is better to deal with a company local to you. Having had a few business web sites built over the years, it was much easier dealing with a local company, who I could go and sit with. They will need a lot of input from you, and it is time consuming and more difficult to do this over the phone or email.

Where are you located?

The most recent company I used were Voodoo Chilli based in Hereford. They were excellent to deal with at every level and very reasonable price wise.

https://www.voodoochilli.com/

[Inspectorclueso]

Thanks for all the replies. I’ve gone self build for now, I can then learn what I need as the business develops and maybe go to a local professional on this at that stage. Thanks for all of the advice guys, much appreciated.

[Leylandeye]

Inspectorclueso said:

Thanks for all the replies. I’ve gone self build for now, I can then learn what I need as the business develops and maybe go to a local professional on this at that stage. Thanks for all of the advice guys, much appreciated.

Are you going Squarespace or Wordpress?

[tpalmer]

Hi OP,

We're relatively local to you judging by your profile (We're in Worcestershire, and a 2 man team) - I note you've already gone self-build which sounds ample from the limited details you've shared.

If you get stuck and need to pick someones brains, please don't hesitate to give me a shout: tristanpalmerstudio.com / info[at]tristanpalmerstudio[dot]com
Given the current global circumstances, more than happy to help any start-ups with advice and guidance if we can to try and help people with 'weathering the storm' etc.

We also have a newly launched hosting company too, so can gladly provide hosting and associated server support for you, if you're going the Wordpress route.

Cheers, T.

[Herbs]

We are in the need of redoing a website and possibly a second venture which we were looking at using Wix for due to its simplicity allowing us to do it in-house.

It was mentioned above that its the worst, in what way?

[akirk]

Herbs said:

We are in the need of redoing a website and possibly a second venture which we were looking at using Wix for due to its simplicity allowing us to do it in-house.

It was mentioned above that its the worst, in what way?

In its ability to be technically compliant across many browsers
In its ability to expand into a more complex website
In its ability to allow users to put in content that then breaks the structure

Most of our clients come to us moving on from a website they built for themselves - generally the worst we see are the ones based on wix- I would choose squarespace first - however if very simple then wix can work... just depends on what you need and your ability / desire to check it across lots of platforms...