Starting a website

#1
Rocky-Top 10EC

Rocky-Top 10EC

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Jan 2, 2008
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#1
I have some questions about developing a business website. Should I buy the domain from GoDaddy? Should I use Wix? What do you guys suggest? Any and all info will be appreciated.
 
#3
#3
Yes, on GoDaddy.

I would use a website designer, if you want it to look nice and professional. It's really quite complicated if you don't know what you're doing, and they can link and embed stuff you might have trouble with. I used an independent designer for my practice's site and it was not terribly expensive.
 
#4
#4
If you give me a rough idea as to how many pages you plan to use, what you want to link (Google business link with map, etc), if you plan to embed audio or video, etc, I can get you a rough cost from my designer. Will be much less expensive than a big firm.

Also, would you be hosting or do you need that service, too?
 
#5
#5
I do digital marketing including building the occasional site as well as managing aspects of some of our clients sites. In my experience I would say...

Buy the domain on godaddy for sure. They generally have the best prices and a user friendly back end for managing them.

I've been in the back end of Wix before and think it's a clunky mess. Plus it will be branded Wix at the bottom. That may not matter to you but it always stands out to me.

I've been in the backend of Squarespace before and thought it was OK for the DIY no code skills all in one options.

Personally I prefer WordPress. It's the most versatile CMS out there. You don't really need to know code but there will be a bit of a learning curve to get comfortable with the back end. A few YouTube tutorials will help you get started. You will need need your own hosting and Godaddy is a good option for that. WP is free and will have a one click install on godaddy as well.
 
#6
#6
If you build a website, invest in SEO too.

A lot of local SEO companies are simply reselling ReachLocal's products.

https://www.reachlocal.com/us/en
 
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#8
#8
Holy crap! Thanks guys, had no idea it was like this will post some info tomorrow so we can do something
 
#9
#9
GoDaddy for sure.

Are you going to be selling products online or just making a presence known?
 
#10
#10
Be very careful about how you invest in SEO. It's what I do for a living. SEO agencies are notorious for selling customers temporary rankings. Meaning they manipulate google and you look good now, but in the long run google figures out what you're doing and you're ****ed.

I would be very wary of any SEO company that makes lofty promises, like "#1 spot on google, guaranteed". If you ever want me to review a company, or work they've done for you, I can do some quick auditing of your site.

Also, since it is tough to find a good SEO company, let me recommend Web Marketing Services | Web Marketing Company | SiteLadder. I don't work for an agency anymore, but I used to work for the guy that owns siteladder, and I actually currently purchase services from them myself (I can't do everything for my sites, so I outsource). They do legitimate, white hat SEO. The owner has like 10 years of experience programming and in SEO. It's really hard to find that kind of experience. It's usually one or the other, and the 2 go great hand in hand.

Also, I recommend Wordpress, especially if you will be managing it.
 
#11
#11
n_huffhines said:
Be very careful about how you invest in SEO. It's what I do for a living. SEO agencies are notorious for selling customers temporary rankings. Meaning they manipulate google and you look good now, but in the long run google figures out what you're doing and you're ****ed.

I would be very wary of any SEO company that makes lofty promises, like "#1 spot on google, guaranteed". If you ever want me to review a company, or work they've done for you, I can do some quick auditing of your site.

Also, since it is tough to find a good SEO company, let me recommend Web Marketing Services | Web Marketing Company | SiteLadder. I don't work for an agency anymore, but I used to work for the guy that owns siteladder, and I actually currently purchase services from them myself (I can't do everything for my sites, so I outsource). They do legitimate, white hat SEO. The owner has like 10 years of experience programming and in SEO. It's really hard to find that kind of experience. It's usually one or the other, and the 2 go great hand in hand.

Also, I recommend Wordpress, especially if you will be managing it.
Click to expand...

You can spend a small fortune on SEO. It's best to partner up with a good online marketing professional that will understand the business and where it's best to deploy the dollars. For some businesses, landing one customer out of 500 contacts might be very good. For other operations it might not help them to stay open. Some might do better with online display or a social media presence or something else. You get what you pay for. If a company does a ton of SEO, they could bypass the middle man and deal directly with companies like ReachLocal and maybe save on a 10% markup. If a business just wants a web site to basically use as a modern day phone directory, then a simple website will do. In this case the customers will know how to find the website. If promoting a website to generate business is an objective, then things like SEO will come in to play. Best way to go is often hiring an advertising agency that knows how to promote the business... online or otherwise.
 
#12
#12
Thunder Good-Oil said:
You can spend a small fortune on SEO. It's best to partner up with a good online marketing professional that will understand the business and where it's best to deploy the dollars. For some businesses, landing one customer out of 500 contacts might be very good. For other operations it might not help them to stay open. Some might do better with online display or a social media presence or something else. You get what you pay for. If a company does a ton of SEO, they could bypass the middle man and deal directly with companies like ReachLocal and maybe save on a 10% markup. If a business just wants a web site to basically use as a modern day phone directory, then a simple website will do. In this case the customers will know how to find the website. If promoting a website to generate business is an objective, then things like SEO will come in to play. Best way to go is often hiring an advertising agency that knows how to promote the business... online or otherwise.
Click to expand...

Did he say what the nature of the business is? I missed that, I guess.
 
#13
#13
The only domain registrar that doesn't bug me in one way or another is Namecheap. 1and1 is a nightmare, network solutions is an expensive spamming nightmare, Godaddy will upsell the crap out of their services and are overpriced to begin with.

Unless I had a coupon making the purchase nearly free, I would never use Network Solutions, 1and1, Registar.com, or Godaddy.

Namecheap.com or possibly Google's new domain offerings are the first places I would look.

http://namecheap.com / https://domains.google.com/
 
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