Websites - where to start?

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Miss Sylk

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Feb 27, 2008
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Hiya, i have someone i know to do my website, but they are needing a kick up the backside in the direction of "what i want", but i really dont know what i want LOL!

Did anyone else let their website designers just 'do their thing' or did you all have a part in the designing?

How much did you pay if you dont mind me asking?

Id love to see peoples, i wont copy, in fact ill probs just say "i want it black and professional" lol!

Has anyone got an olnine shop? does it cost much?

The BIG question - Do you think they actually generate many clients??
XX
 
In my opinion, any web site designer worth their salt would start out by asking what you want; if you are in need of ideas, then good places to start are by looking at your existing marketing material (e.g. business cards, flyers, price list brochures etc), as it is a good idea to go for a web site that reinforces your existing brand identity, as this will help you build a strong brand across all media (which will help people remember your salon better, e.g. if they see your website, and then an advert in the local paper with the same graphic design and colours).

If there are already web sites that you like the look of (perhaps in terms of layout or navigation), and you already have existing printed marketing material, then it would be a good idea to suggest that your web designer tries to integrate the "look" of your existing material in with a similar layout/navigation to the web site that you like. But it's never a good idea to blatantly rip off the design of someone else's site!

If you're starting out, and don't have a brand identity/logo/printed material, then it would make sense to speak to someone who has both strong graphic design and web design skills. As that way, you would be guaranteed a strong brand identity across all media from the start. A good starting point being a logo and colour scheme.

The primary difference between most "static" websites (which just display plain HTML content that doesn't change unless someone uploads new HTML files or images etc) and sites which offer an online shop, etc, is that a lot of additional technology is required on the web server to manage the online shop.

Most "static" web sites will be served up by a web server such as Apache, or Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services); an online shop will require a database to store details of products, stock levels, customer details, orders, etc, and associated code to "power" the interactive features of the website, usually written in a language such as Java, PHP or Microsoft .NET - this will require a lot more work on the part of the web designer and they will likely also need additional software engineering skills - hence such sites are generally a fair bit more expensive. Some companies do offer "off the shelf" e-commerce solutions, however, but you would need to be sure that they would meet your requirements before committing yourself.

Then you would need to consider issues such as security and data protection legislation; I would consider it a necessity for payment details (e.g. credit card numbers etc) to be sent over secure HTTP (HTTPS/SSL), for example (as this encrypts the data so that it can't be "intercepted" in its journey across the internet between the customer's web browser and the online shop's server); it's almost certainly good practice to use HTTPS for customer name and address details too. Then there is the need to register with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if storing details of individuals on a computer system that could be used to uniquely identify them. However, a reputable company should be aware of such requirements and advise you accordingly.

In terms of whether a web site generates you any clients - well a good starting point would be to make use of web statistics software, such as Webalizer (which is an open source [i.e. free] web statistics analyser that I know works very well with Linux and Apache - but would require the web host to install and configure), and Google Analytics (which works by adding a snippet of code to your web pages, and transmits data to Google every time someone visits your web site, and then you log on to Google to view your web traffic - but be aware of the privacy implications of Google storing this information). Both these systems will give you details of how many people visit your site each day, which links they click on to get there (e.g. a Google search result, an advert on Gumtree, etc), and (using something called Geo IP location), a rough guide as to which country they are visiting from. If you find that the number of new clients increases with the number of hits to your site, then you'll be able to place a fair bet that your site is working to bring you in new clients.

Of course there are other things that could help with that too, e.g. having a "contact form" on your site, where prospective clients can email you to find out more about your services, and (better still) an email list facility, where people can sign up and will then receive periodical email messages from you, perhaps giving details of new treatments/products, and special offers, etc. Another thing you could consider is a "testimonials" page, where happy clients can leave feedback about your services.
 
hi

have a look at mine for ideas if you want. Ruth Mills designed mine and it was very reasonably priced and done so quickly aswell. I wasnt really sure what i wanted but after seeing a fewn that Ruth had done I gathered the bits i liked from each and with some input from both of us came up with it all and i love it xx
 
I knew Ruth must have a bit of web experience by that post!lol

Thanks Ruth, ill pick out what i do understand from that (lol) and pass it on to my web designer.

Thank Ali. xx:)
 
I knew Ruth must have a bit of web experience by that post!lol

Thanks Ruth, ill pick out what i do understand from that (lol) and pass it on to my web designer.

Thank Ali. xx:)

Cool, hope that helps :)

Am sure your web designer will have a good grasp of the techie side of things (servers, etc) anyway.
 
I got lost and gave up on Ruth's reply :lol: Ruth you lost me on your last reply to my last post but at least I did look into the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) so confirmed the company I'm going to use are registered with them.

All I can say Miss Sylk is that the advice I have had so far is that a website alone will be lost you need to have links to your site (get me I sound like I know about something here but I'm just repeating what I've been told), and you need people visiting your site.

In terms of cost Appointment-Diary.com - Online Appointment Diary and Scheduling Software provide you with a simple 1 page website that you can update yourself plus you get this fab online booking system for just £10 a month and there is no contract, so you can cancel anytime, good huh! I asked about extra pages and my input on the design and their costs are low compared to anyone else I go quotes from. Worth a look anyways xx
 
I got lost and gave up on Ruth's reply :lol: Ruth you lost me on your last reply to my last post but at least I did look into the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) so confirmed the company I'm going to use are registered with them.

All I can say Miss Sylk is that the advice I have had so far is that a website alone will be lost you need to have links to your site (get me I sound like I know about something here but I'm just repeating what I've been told), and you need people visiting your site.

In terms of cost Appointment-Diary.com - Online Appointment Diary and Scheduling Software provide you with a simple 1 page website that you can update yourself plus you get this fab online booking system for just £10 a month and there is no contract, so you can cancel anytime, good huh! I asked about extra pages and my input on the design and their costs are low compared to anyone else I go quotes from. Worth a look anyways xx

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with that system; how easy are the web pages to update? What extra features are on offer on top of the appointment booking? e.g. can you set up an online shop? And how much do they charge for extra pages?

From a "techie" point of view, I did notice a couple of minor issues with the system so far:

(1) If you bookmark the login page, then close your browser for a while/restart your computer/etc, then when you try and go back to the login page, you get an error message: http://appointment-diary.com/appt/logon.do

(2) From what I've seen so far, the system just uses standard HTTP (unencrypted); this theoretically means that it would be possible for someone to "snoop" on the information on its journey across the Internet. Whereas if the site used secure HTTP (HTTPS) over SSL, then the information would be encrypted, and far harder to intercept.

If they design you a website I would love to see it too...
 
Hey Ruth thanks for that, I cut and past what you said and had a reply back explaining that what you have said is true to a point but payment details would be sent via Paypal so very secure.
The bookmark thingy, like they say most people bookmark your homepage don't they??

I'll let you know when I have my site up and running! Thanks for the advice!! x :hug:
 
Hey Ruth thanks for that, I cut and past what you said and had a reply back explaining that what you have said is true to a point but payment details would be sent via Paypal so very secure.
The bookmark thingy, like they say most people bookmark your homepage don't they??

I'll let you know when I have my site up and running! Thanks for the advice!! x :hug:

Cool, great stuff! Aye, Paypal is really useful as all payment details are sent securely. And the bookmark thingy is only a fairly minor issue anyway (but I'm a perfectionist lol)...

Hope it all works out well for you :)
 
Ruth your brill thanks for all your advice plus I've found out that it's a flat £10 no extra costs for any extras they add!!! Cool huh! :) xx
 
Ruth your brill thanks for all your advice plus I've found out that it's a flat £10 no extra costs for any extras they add!!! Cool huh! :) xx

Well that does sound very fair - as well as a hard act for anyone to follow - you'd have to offer the moon on a stick for £9.50 per month :green:

But I'm working on it ;)
 
Wow Ruth, the sites you've designed are so clean. Not too much stuff going on that you don't know where to look. And very easy to navigate. Great colours, layout, set up...

I designed my own website from NIL experience with websites, html, and pretty much anything else electronic - took me three months!! And now I'm in the process of moving everything to my new domain name... ha ha ha

It was so challenging but the end result was coming out knowing more than what I went in with :green:

I applauded any one (Ruth) who puts together websites... it takes great skill, knowledge and an understanding of design and colour!
 
Wow Ruth, the sites you've designed are so clean. Not too much stuff going on that you don't know where to look. And very easy to navigate. Great colours, layout, set up...

I designed my own website from NIL experience with websites, html, and pretty much anything else electronic - took me three months!! And now I'm in the process of moving everything to my new domain name... ha ha ha

It was so challenging but the end result was coming out knowing more than what I went in with :green:

I applauded any one (Ruth) who puts together websites... it takes great skill, knowledge and an understanding of design and colour!

Thank you, always nice to hear good feedback :)

Although I'm now also working with Carl (Extensionize) on here, as he does have the edge when it comes to the graphical side of things, and it means I have more time to focus on the techie stuff lol...
Posted via Mobile Device
 
Hi
I found a good quick way to look at websites is to go on to www.yell.com put in beauty salons, and the page where the list of salons appears you can directly click on their website and go back and forth and see a whole range of websites that way. I did that and saw some amazing websites and got an idea of what colours I like etc.
Hope that helps:Grope:
 

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