How many people have a free website??

[bellabeautie]

Hi everyone,

Well, title says it all really! I want to create a website, I would like to create a free one as times are hard!!

Where did you get your free website from and do you really recommend it?

Thanks xx

 

[mercedes69]

I did have one but it's disappeared into thin air :cry:

All my moozik and butterflies gone!!!

Mine was with freewebs...but seeing as they lost it I wouldn't recommend them!!!

Luckily I need to do a new one anyway....but I am not sure who to go with or whether it's worth paying a little bit of money to get something a bit better...

xxx

 

[bellabeautie]

Hi, I was actually just looking on their website....theyve changed their name from freewebs to just "webs", maybe this is why youve lost yours? I think it sounds better now, because is not www.yourname.freewebs.com its www.yourname.webs.com which I think sounds a lot better! I know the free ones wont be half as good as a paid for one, but I just cant afford to pay for one at the mo :cry: and as I am registered on lots of online sites it would be nice to be able to put a link to a website address which can explain in more detail to people what I do xx

 

[mercedes69]

Aye I think the reason was because they changed to just webs...
It was a pants website I had anyway....no loss.

I would say after looking at loads of free sites....the freewebs-now-webs site is the easiest IMO anyway....

Vistaprint are doing websites....they have a months free trial and the monthly cost after that isn't much....but Vistaprint can have a bit of a bad rep at times ( I've always found it okay though ).

I think it's probably good to start off with a free site....see how you get on with it...if it works for you then why pay money?

Good luck x

 

[kylieb]

To be totally honest and no offence what so ever to anyone that has them. I just don't like them. They all look the same and professional ones just look so much better. More unique I guess. I had a free one and didn't get one client from it.
All of my clients come from my professional website. I have been really busy and haven't even advertised.
xxx

 

[mercedes69]

To be totally honest and no offence what so ever to anyone that has them. I just don't like them. They all look the same and professional ones just look so much better. More unique I guess. I had a free one and didn't get one client from it.
All of my clients come from my professional website. I have been really busy and haven't even advertised.
xxx

Thats what I'm thinking....( need a scratching the chin smiley :lol: )

Do people get put off by the freesites.....?
Does a professional ad-free website induce more clients?

But if you don't have the funds then it's a catch 22 situation.

 

[TIPTOP]

I personally love my free site, I like the fact that its all my work, don't get me wrong if I had the funds I would have a professional site made for me, its what you do with your site after that counts, I have trawled the internet looking for free advertising sites and have added my site to quite a few and I am reaping the benefits of this.

Its each to their own, perhaps you could have a free one and then pay for one at least you are getting yourself out there in the world wide web lol

Sue xx

 

[Ruth Mills]

Not everyone charges silly money to design a web site though!

But what tends to put me off with the "free" ones are the google ads at the top of the page (which could be advertising your competitors on what is meant to be *your* web site), and that the range of templates can be restrictive, so other people can end up with a site that looks very similar to yours!
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[Blue Rose]

Not everyone charges silly money to design a web site though!

But what tends to put me off with the "free" ones are the google ads at the top of the page (which could be advertising your competitors on what is meant to be *your* web site), and that the range of templates can be restrictive, so other people can end up with a site that looks very similar to yours!
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Totally agree
Mrsite do inexpensive websites which can look a bit more individual or there's Build Your Own Web Site : DoYourOwnSite! : Create Your Own Website UK

Personally though I have gone with Websites for Therapists - Welcome to HealthHosts who have some great starter packages which you can upgrade as you get more funds.

 

[Tracey Park]

For a more professional site I think it is better to avoid free sites as all the additional advertising can make a site look messy. IMHO.

I have been doing my own site now for the last 5 years and it has evolved over time however with my increasing clientelle and lack of time I enlisted verve design who are very resonable and do a great job to. Carl has done a lot of work for me and been 200% happy with everything that he has done.

Custom made sites dont have to be expensive and Carls costing ensures that he can reach the tightest budget. Check him out and see what he can do for you - you could be happily surprised.

hth

 

[Vetty]

I pay for an enhanced Freewebs site which means I use my own domain name and have no advertising. Take a look www.vnails.co.uk - I don't think it looks like a free site but it only costs me about £7 a month.

 

[Ruth Mills]

Tracey - I'd agree, Carl is a genius at graphic design.

Vetty - as well as the domain name and the lack of Google ads, what are the other advantages of the paid-for Freewebs service? And does the £7 per month include the evil VAT?
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[mercedes69]

You have a really beautiful website Vetty....
I was ready to book an appointment :lol: especially for those Minx feet!!!

It does make me wonder if it's worth those extra pennies...because that did look so professional and nice.

 

[littlekate]

I have a free site through microsoft office live and I think its great to be able to add things whenever you need to and change it around easily. They also give you feedback on how many visits your site gets a month and what pages people read which is very useful. I get a lot of business from my site.

 

[Vetty]

Vetty - as well as the domain name and the lack of Google ads, what are the other advantages of the paid-for Freewebs service? And does the £7 per month include the evil VAT?
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I get increased capacity as well as much more freedom to personalise my site - I'm not tied to their templates. But tbh it was the domain name and the no ads which I was prepared to pay for!

As for the cost, it is on the site in dollars and I'm rubbish at checking bank statements so I don't know if I pay VAT or not...... How bad am I :o?!?!? It's $99.95 for the year I think!

 

[Vetty]

You have a really beautiful website Vetty....
I was ready to book an appointment :lol: especially for those Minx feet!!!

It does make me wonder if it's worth those extra pennies...because that did look so professional and nice.

Thanks Jo, and if you pay my travelling expenses you can have any Minx feet you like, lol!!!

 

[jes]

I used freewebs for my website, but I was so happy with it that I soon upgraded it to a premier account to get rid of the advertising.

I had no idea what I was doing, but it's grown and evolved into something that's a real mess with keywords and "click here" and there all over the place.

One of my clients is a professional website designer and he's always telling how bad it is and what I've done wrong (even though I've no idea what he's talking about). However I get so many "normal" clients who find me from that website and comment about how much they liked it!

I often wonder if my website stands out because it isn't professionally designed?

Jes

 

[mercedes69]

Thanks Jo, and if you pay my travelling expenses you can have any Minx feet you like, lol!!!

I'm just checking with Ryanair, see if they have any more free flights :lol:

 

[mercedes69]

I used freewebs for my website, but I was so happy with it that I soon upgraded it to a premier account to get rid of the advertising.

I had no idea what I was doing, but it's grown and evolved into something that's a real mess with keywords and "click here" and there all over the place.

One of my clients is a professional website designer and he's always telling how bad it is and what I've done wrong (even though I've no idea what he's talking about). However I get so many "normal" clients who find me from that website and comment about how much they liked it!

I often wonder if my website stands out because it isn't professionally designed?

Jes

If it works it works!!!

I looked at your website...and to be honest there is a lot going on in it....
but at the end of the day if it is getting you clients and they comment that they like it then keep it that way.

However....would a more professional looking site create more clients? :lol:

There is probably many pro's and con's for both free and paid for sites.

 

[Ruth Mills]

One of my clients is a professional website designer and he's always telling how bad it is and what I've done wrong (even though I've no idea what he's talking about). However I get so many "normal" clients who find me from that website and comment about how much they liked it!

I often wonder if my website stands out because it isn't professionally designed?

Jes

If he's a pro website designer then he will probably be checking the underlying HTML syntax of the page (which you can see by doing a "view source").

Many of the template driven web sites are notorious for churning out "messy" HTML with syntax errors in, e.g. unmatched start and end tags, or that specify a particular DTD (document type declaration) but then include HTML elements or attributes in there that are not allowed in that DTD.

Fortunately most web browsers are pretty lenient to those sorts of errors though, so you should not have too much of a problem (even though it's a bit naughty from an accessibility and interopeability point of view).

Ironically, even if you have a website that has perfect HTML and CSS from a validation standpoint, it still might not look right on all browsers though, as some (most notably IE6) don't implement the standards properly, and you have to put workarounds in to make the site display properly.

It can be a bit of a "black art" if you ask me!
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