Website help! One on one?

[lwasdall]

Hi geeks was wondering if anyone has used one on one to build a website or similar companies or products and if any good? Thanks.

 

[fewleh]

These sorts of 'build a site with a template' systems are never that great from my experience. The designs are poor, they look cheap, and they have no useful functions on them. They are quite simple though to use. That is their only benefit. There are also issues with many of them getting ranked well on google, due to the way the website is created & the code outputted. You're better off just finding a low cost web developer, who can create you something much more friendly to the search engines, and a slicker style, for not a lot more money. Ask them to use a CMS (content management system) such as joomla! as this allows your site to 'plug and play' with new features as you need them on your website, and also allows you to update text, prices etc in a similar way to using microsoft word, or like 'one on one', but without the drawbacks.. and it's futureproof. I work for a company building websites for salons - this is what we recommend to people who ask us about those easy build systems. Good luck.. and remember, you get what you pay for!

 

[ssuk]

jack shaw (on here) is my designer of choice.

there are a few designers here but havent seen there work. google salon sites

Sent from my GT-S5830i using SalonGeek

 

[stephjames]

I tried one of these build your own web sites and it was a nightmare.. I found it really difficult to do and even though it looks really cheap, you only get about 6 colours to choose from, if you want more you have to pay extra. They tie you into contracts and when you phone them I found them very rude and un helpful..
I ended up paying someone private who was cheap very professional and far better than what I was going to get by a build it yourself web page.
PM me and I will show you my web page and put you in contact with the web designer for a quote if you like..
steph. xx

 

[enlivenbylouise]

I use vista print for my site and have always been happy with it. I hope it doesn't look 'cheap'. I like it :-\

Sent from my GT-I9100P using SalonGeek

 

[lwasdall]

Thanks everyone, has anyone used the cd you can buy and build yourself?

 

[salon90]

I am with 1&1 for my hosting site but wouldn't use them for web designing. They make it look so easy on TV . If you rather build a website yourself and always able to update it when you can, then I would invest into coffeecup visual site designer (not expensive and well worth the money). Pretty easy to use and to make a website look professional.

 

[Jack Shaw]

These sorts of 'build a site with a template' systems are never that great from my experience. The designs are poor, they look cheap, and they have no useful functions on them. They are quite simple though to use. That is their only benefit. There are also issues with many of them getting ranked well on google, due to the way the website is created & the code outputted.

Totally agree, the back end code is full of errors, high server requests(hits), large js files, they are never w3c compliant, googlebots crawl rate takes it a few visits to index the site correctly. The list could go on and on

Free web builders do not offer advice on other things that are needed on the site, ie 3 simple pages, one of which could get you into a little bit of bother.

"Terms of Use"

"Privacy Policy" - If you have any data collection ie contact form, newsletter etc etc then you need to have a privacy policy to tell the user what you intend to do with that data.

"Cookies" The new eu directive, this is the latest, EVERYONE who has a website in the UK must have a cookies page, explaining what cookies you use.
They did come out with some stupid maximum £500,000 fine and did a little back pedal after all the complaints, but you still need a link to show you are complying

Have a read

Cookies Regulations and the New EU Cookie Law - ICO

You're better off just finding a low cost web developer, who can create you something much more friendly to the search engines, and a slicker style, for not a lot more money. Ask them to use a CMS (content management system) such as joomla!

As much as I love Joomla, if someone asked me to create a bespoke site in joomla then it would cost a little more than what I would do a dynamic site for.
Joomla is not all about the WYSIWYG editor, it comes with its own problems like that of the free web builders, if you are not fully clued up with Joomla then you may as well use Mr Site, it can get quite complicated for layman too.(especially if your adding "Plug & Play" addons)

 

[JensJuice]

Each post makes decent arguments regarding salon websites. The salon that I know best, Pinup Salon, located in Seattle, used wordpress to make their site and it looks and works great!

They made only the most needed pages and I believe they also reached out to an SEO (search engine optimization) company so they rank higher in search engines like Google and Bing. Not sure which company it is but I bet it wouldn't be to hard to find out. Anyways, I have been looking at other salon sites and their are definitely some better looking sites out there, but Wordpress definitely worked for them and they even have an integrated blog.

Some other website builders I know of are Weebly, Wix, and Nakea. Some are free, others are not.

This is my first post on here so I hope I answered your question correctly!

 

[Jack Shaw]

Wordpress definitely worked for them and they even have an integrated blog.

They have an integrated blog because that is what wordpress is supposed to be used for. A blog, not a website

Some other website builders I know of are Weebly, Wix, and Nakea. Some are free, others are not.

All have awful back end coding though.

As for the SEO, 90% of the people on here run a local business, there is no need to employ a SEO Company for local business, if for arguments sake say the other 10% want to rank well for keywords like "Beauty Products" on a national level then not only would seo cost you a small fortune the last thing they would want to work with is a Mr Site Free web site.

As long as you stick to basic rules of seo then your site should do well, the trouble with site builders is that you do not have the same control as that of a website that has been created for you, nor do you have the mass amount of pointless code that site builders bring.

 

[Jen889]

They have an integrated blog because that is what wordpress is supposed to be used for. A blog, not a website.

My website is Wordpress based with a Cms. I started with absolutely no blog and it still looked great!. You can actually do some great websites (as im sure you know) on a Wordpress as A LOT of web designers use this. My boyfriend is a Web designer/front end developer and designed my website with a total custom Wordpress theme. I love it!

 

[fewleh]

Indeed, Wordpress (very similar to Joomla!) can be very good for salon sites too, and at least allows non technical people to update text on the site & some other info like pricing. The styling is usually clean, modern & professional too, and blows the socks off any of these 'website builders', which are too limited in many ways.

I agree with Jack, if you just follow basic SEO on your website you will have a presence on the search engines unless you live in a large competitive town. In some cases a short campaign of 3 - 6 months could be useful to strengthen your place at the top of the search engines. You can receive a lot of new business through this. Make sure you create a local business listing with Google, which will put you on the 'map' - http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...HFBou61v-XN97AHeQ&sig2=CDdmZB2x-9pb5DGWHUL2UA

 

[Jack Shaw]

My website is Wordpress based with a Cms. I started with absolutely no blog and it still looked great!.

No you started with a blog and turned it into website.

I am not disputing this is what people do with WP, web designers too, if it fits the bill then use it, but for someone with no CMS knowledge and if your server does not supply a one click install then it can be quite difficult to even install for someone with no knowledge, and if you want to create your own bespoke design then this is not the way to go (unless you have time and are ready for a massive learning curve)

CMS's are fine if you have someone design, install for you and all you are interested in is updating text through the WYSIWYG editor.

As for the SEO of sites, Free, Cms or whatever then you have to play the googlebot game. Like fewleh mentioned google places is a must. but there is plenty more to go off than just that to reach page1 slot 1 in the organic search, all quite easy and straight forward too. But I am not going into a JK Rowling mode and hijacking the thread.

 

[Mimo9]

Okay so to defy all other opinion I used 1and1 and found them to be really good! My website is eyecatching and classy and I get shocked looks when I tell folk that I did it by myself. It only costs me about £30 a month and having had a really expensive e-commerce site some time ago I am very impressed. Totally get the complaints about the back end stuff though...not so good!

 

[Wellyb]

I'm in the throws of making my site using weebly am I wasting my time???

 

[lwasdall]

So much good advice just stuck in a rutt with wat to do. Thanks everyone!

 

[Jack Shaw]

I'm in the throws of making my site using weebly am I wasting my time???

I am a against theses free websites, for obvious reasons, but if I put up a post like

I am just about to open my own hair salon, I have got my kit

Am I wasting my time.

You don't get an Electrician to fix a leaking tap, if you see my point

 

[fewleh]

Okay so to defy all other opinion I used 1and1 and found them to be really good! My website is eyecatching and classy and I get shocked looks when I tell folk that I did it by myself. It only costs me about £30 a month and having had a really expensive e-commerce site some time ago I am very impressed. Totally get the complaints about the back end stuff though...not so good!

Appreciate that it's worked for you.. but £30 a month is a lot.. on going. Most sites cost £3 - £7 a month, unless you have a payment gateway or something to pay for where it would increase. I guess you have had no upfront costs though.. so in that sense... it's not so bad. You have to follow the recipes cooked up by 1&1 though and with the similar platforms.. it's all very pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap .. but they are better than nothing

 

[fewleh]

So much good advice just stuck in a rutt with wat to do. Thanks everyone!

For a successful end result.. you could do a lot worse than build a site with Gantry (http://demo.gantry-framework.org/ - this is a live demo). Or get someone to help you. It's great. And everything is 'responsive'. i.e. the website re-orders and optimises for phones, ipads, laptops, desktops.. which is more and more important these days. Plus it has lots of other good features.. and will do well in search results with some basic SEO. Did I mention it's free? You just need time / skill to implement it.. or find a good value web developer. A well built beauty site should be somewhere between £700 - £1200 in basic form I would suggest.

 

[fewleh]

I'm in the throws of making my site using weebly am I wasting my time???

It's definitely better than nothing.. but there's much better options out there in the long-run.