Need simple website
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Ruth Mills
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As far as I know, there are 2 main ways of creating a web site yourself without requiring too much technical knowledge:
(1) Use one of the online template driven sites, such as Webs/Freewebs, Yola, Weebly, Vistaprint, Microsoft Office Live, 1and1 site builder, etc. Costs from free upwards depending on which provider and package you choose.
(2) Use site builder software such as Microsoft FrontPage, Dreamweaver or Mr Site. You will normally need to sort out a hosting provider for your web site too if you choose this route (although Mr Site provide hosting for people using their software).
However, you need to be aware of the potential pitfalls of both methods, such as templates and software churning out "messy" HTML code, and some providers limiting you to a fairly small choice of templates, so you may end up with a site that looks similar to lots of other people's.
(1) Use one of the online template driven sites, such as Webs/Freewebs, Yola, Weebly, Vistaprint, Microsoft Office Live, 1and1 site builder, etc. Costs from free upwards depending on which provider and package you choose.
(2) Use site builder software such as Microsoft FrontPage, Dreamweaver or Mr Site. You will normally need to sort out a hosting provider for your web site too if you choose this route (although Mr Site provide hosting for people using their software).
However, you need to be aware of the potential pitfalls of both methods, such as templates and software churning out "messy" HTML code, and some providers limiting you to a fairly small choice of templates, so you may end up with a site that looks similar to lots of other people's.
swindonbig
Member
Ruth makes a good point about the template-based free sites. They can all look very similar. Have a go and if you need an ubiased opinion, just shout.
Ruth Mills
Well-Known Member
Another thing to bear in mind is that your site will look more professional (and will have a higher search engine ranking) if you have your own domain name rather than a subdomain of a free website provider.
e.g. mysalon.co.uk is better than mysalon.freewebs.com
Also beware the Google advertising on some of the free websites. They have to make their money somehow, so often plaster a banner with Google adverts at the top of each web page, which detracts from the overall look of the site. And there is always the risk that an advert for a competitor could appear at the top of your web page!
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e.g. mysalon.co.uk is better than mysalon.freewebs.com
Also beware the Google advertising on some of the free websites. They have to make their money somehow, so often plaster a banner with Google adverts at the top of each web page, which detracts from the overall look of the site. And there is always the risk that an advert for a competitor could appear at the top of your web page!
Posted via Mobile Device
SunSpray
Well-Known Member
Ruth created (along with Carl from Extensionize on the design) a lovely website for me recently at a very reasonable price.
I could never, ever have achieved such a professional-looking website myself, and if you can just stretch your budget a little bit, have a word with Ruth too.
My website is SunSpray Mobile Tanning - 07740 176167 - South Buckinghamshire, East Berkshire - Welcome
xx
I could never, ever have achieved such a professional-looking website myself, and if you can just stretch your budget a little bit, have a word with Ruth too.
My website is SunSpray Mobile Tanning - 07740 176167 - South Buckinghamshire, East Berkshire - Welcome
xx
Hi SunSpray,
Site looks good, I would however ask your designer to make your h1 (heading 1) tag that is in your website visible. At the moment it is set to not show, this has been done for SEO reasons and is bad practice.
Google may see this and Red Flag you and then your chances of getting a good position are nil.
geoffb
Site looks good, I would however ask your designer to make your h1 (heading 1) tag that is in your website visible. At the moment it is set to not show, this has been done for SEO reasons and is bad practice.
Google may see this and Red Flag you and then your chances of getting a good position are nil.
geoffb
Ruth Mills
Well-Known Member
Right I will nuke the H1 tag later then. I want an image for the logo, not text, hence setting the style to display: none;
Of course the image has alt text saying SunSpray too though.
Actually, I have a better idea. I will make the text initially visible, but then fire a JQuery to make it not so when the page actually loads.
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Ruth Mills
Well-Known Member
Fixed!
H1 tag is initially visible, but set as position: absolute; so as to not interfere with the layout of the page.
Then when the page loads, a JQuery fires, which sets the H1 of that particular CSS class to display: none; - conveniently hiding the text.
The title might flash momentarily like a "subliminal message", but hopefully the outcome will be that the Googlebot will see the page in a more favourable light
steve@nouvatan
Well-Known Member
I can honestly say hand on heart that Ruth's ur gal for this. She's amazing!!!! xxxx
Kim Lawless
Grande Dame of the Brazilian Wax for Men and Women
SunSpray
Well-Known Member
Fixed!
H1 tag is initially visible, but set as position: absolute; so as to not interfere with the layout of the page.
Then when the page loads, a JQuery fires, which sets the H1 of that particular CSS class to display: none; - conveniently hiding the text.
The title might flash momentarily like a "subliminal message", but hopefully the outcome will be that the Googlebot will see the page in a more favourable light
Whilst reading these posts I've found myself nodding like I actually know what it is you're talking about. Ha!
Ruth,
I would seriously get rid of the hidden H1 header by using js. The js only kicks in a second after the page is 'Fully Loaded' and if you got a slow browser, or you provider is on a busy time and your transfer rate is slow it sits there showing a large headline text as well as the same logo image, then one just vanishes when your js kicks in.
Why hide it, be imaginative enough to use it in the right place, with the right visibility for the right SEO purposes.
geoffb
I would seriously get rid of the hidden H1 header by using js. The js only kicks in a second after the page is 'Fully Loaded' and if you got a slow browser, or you provider is on a busy time and your transfer rate is slow it sits there showing a large headline text as well as the same logo image, then one just vanishes when your js kicks in.
Why hide it, be imaginative enough to use it in the right place, with the right visibility for the right SEO purposes.
geoffb
Ruth Mills
Well-Known Member
Well given the other text on the page, I'm in agreement with you that the "hidden" H1 was superfluous - and has been summarily evicted from the database :green:
sorted,
I would place it at the top of the main context page, and if there is a spacing issue, as H1 tags auto place a large bottom margin, add some css and bring it down to
h1 {margin-bottom:0.75em;} or something.
Can I also suggest some SEO help and change the Title description from this:
SunSpray Mobile Tanning - 07740 176167 - South Buckinghamshire, East Berkshire - Welcome
to something like this:
SunSpray Mobile Tanning-South Buckinghamshire-East Berkshire
No point in having a phone num, or the word welcome in the title.
And one final on SEO, in the meta tag for description write about 20 key words, but readable text for Google/Viewers.
Like: Mobile spray tan, fake bake and TanTrick for those special occassions covering East Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire
geoff
I would place it at the top of the main context page, and if there is a spacing issue, as H1 tags auto place a large bottom margin, add some css and bring it down to
h1 {margin-bottom:0.75em;} or something.
Can I also suggest some SEO help and change the Title description from this:
SunSpray Mobile Tanning - 07740 176167 - South Buckinghamshire, East Berkshire - Welcome
to something like this:
SunSpray Mobile Tanning-South Buckinghamshire-East Berkshire
No point in having a phone num, or the word welcome in the title.
And one final on SEO, in the meta tag for description write about 20 key words, but readable text for Google/Viewers.
Like: Mobile spray tan, fake bake and TanTrick for those special occassions covering East Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire
geoff
Ruth Mills
Well-Known Member
Thanks Geoff
Well I already had an H1 that said "SunSpray" at the top of the home page (below the logo of course), and that had margin-bottom: 5px; as the style (and still has).
I know that Carol's very keen on making the phone number prominent (for human beings rather than Google), so am guessing she'd want it to be in the title, so that people will see it in their browser bar.
The page name (appended to the end of the title) changes for each page - so it's particularly useful on pages like the Weddings page for example.
But I've updated the description meta tag - thanks for the heads up on that especially...
No worries Ruth,
On the tel number note, it wont fit into people web tabs anyway, so it's useless to be honest.
Would just also change font from Century Gothic to maybe Lucida Sans Unicode sans-serif, the Century font is very pixelated.
Just a little css info for you to for future (it all helps make our design process easier and faster), when applying same value padding or margins to style sheets
ie: padding: 20px 20px 20px 20px; or padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; use these values instead, req less typing (padding:20px; or padding:0;
geoff
On the tel number note, it wont fit into people web tabs anyway, so it's useless to be honest.
Would just also change font from Century Gothic to maybe Lucida Sans Unicode sans-serif, the Century font is very pixelated.
Just a little css info for you to for future (it all helps make our design process easier and faster), when applying same value padding or margins to style sheets
ie: padding: 20px 20px 20px 20px; or padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; use these values instead, req less typing (padding:20px; or padding:0;
geoff
naturalnails
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